The Mountain Tree

The Mountain Tree

Zhuangzi was walking in the mountains when he came upon a large tree with luxuriant branches and leaves. Woodcutters had stopped beside it but would not take it. He asked the reason and was told, "It is of no use." Zhuangzi said, "This tree, by being useless, has been able to live out its natural span!"

When he came out of the mountains, he lodged at the house of an old friend. The friend was delighted and ordered his servant boy to kill a goose and cook it. The boy asked, "One of the geese can cackle and one cannot. Which should I kill?" the master said, "Kill the one that cannot cackle."

The next day, Zhuangzi's disciple asked him, "Yesterday in the mountains we saw a tree that, by being useless, was able to live out its natural span. Now the master's goose, by being useless, was killed. Where will you stand?"

Zhuangzi laughed and said, "I will stand between usefulness and uselessness. Between usefulness and uselessness—this seems right but is not really so, and so one cannot entirely escape trouble. But if one rides the Way and drifts freely, it is not so. Neither praised nor blamed, now a dragon, now a snake, transforming with the times and never willing to be one thing alone; now ascending, now descending, taking harmony as one's measure, drifting at the source of all things—making things things without being made a thing by things—how could one be troubled by anything? This is the model of Shennong and the Yellow Emperor. But as for the true nature of all things and the traditions of human relations, it is not so. Union leads to separation, completion leads to ruin, sharpness leads to being blunted, being honored leads to criticism, action leads to failure, being schemed against if one is worthy, being cheated if one is unworthy. How can one be certain of anything? How sad! Remember this, my disciples: there is only the realm of the Way!"

Shi Nan Yiliao visited the Marquis of Lu. The Marquis had a look of worry on his face. Shi Nanzi said, "Why does Your Lordship look worried?" The Marquis said, "I have studied the Way of the former kings and cultivated the achievements of my predecessors. I reverence ghosts and honor the worthy, and I personally put this into practice without a moment's departure from it. Yet I cannot escape calamity. That is why I am worried."

Shi Nanzi said, "Your Lordship's method for removing calamity is shallow! The plump fox and the patterned leopard dwell in the mountains and forests, hide in the rocky caves—this is their stillness. They travel by night and rest by day—this is their caution. Though hungry and thirsty, they still go out to seek food along the rivers and lakes—this is their resolve. Yet they cannot escape the calamity of nets and traps. What crime have they committed? It is their pelts that bring disaster upon them. Now is the state of Lu not Your Lordship's pelt? I wish Your Lordship would strip away your form and peel off your skin, cleanse your heart and banish your desires, and wander in the wilderness where no one dwells. In the south of Yue there is a settlement called the State of Jiande. Its people are simple and plain, with few private concerns and few desires. They know how to work but do not know how to store; they give but do not seek repayment. They do not know where righteousness leads, they do not know where ritual goes. They act wildly and recklessly, yet they tread upon the Great Way. Their lives are joyful, their deaths are properly buried. I wish Your Lordship would leave your state and abandon custom, and walk in harmony with the Way."

The Marquis said, "The way there is far and dangerous, and there are mountains and rivers in between. I have no boat or carriage. What can I do?"

Shi Nanzi said, "Let Your Lordship have no arrogant bearing and no attachment to dwelling, and this will be Your Lordship's carriage."

The Marquis said, "The way there is dark and remote, and there are no people there. Who would be my companion? I have no provisions. I would have no food and would starve. How could I get there?"

Shi Nanzi said, "Reduce Your Lordship's expenditures, diminish Your Lordship's desires, and even without provisions you will have enough. Your Lordship should cross the river and float upon the sea. Look for it and you will not see its shore; the further you go, the more you will not know its end. Those who see you off will all turn back from the shore, and Your Lordship will be far away from there! Therefore, he who possesses things is burdened; he who is possessed by things is troubled. Thus Yao neither possessed things nor was possessed by things. I wish to remove Your Lordship's burden, to eliminate Your Lordship's trouble, and to wander alone with the Way in the vast and boundless realm."

A boat was crossing the river when an empty boat came drifting and struck it. Even a person of irritable temperament would not become angry. But if there were a man in the boat, then one would shout at him to pull in or push out. If one shout went unheeded, and a second shout went unheeded, then on the third shout one would certainly follow with angry words. Before there was no anger, now there is anger; before the boat was empty, now it is occupied. If one can empty oneself and wander through the world, who can harm one?

Bei Gong She was collecting taxes for Duke Ling of Wei to make bells. He set up an altar outside the city wall, and in three months the bells were hung, both upper and lower tiers complete. Prince Qingji saw him and asked, "What method did you employ?" She said, "In a state of oneness, I dared not employ any method. I have heard: 'After all the carving and polishing, return to the plain and simple.' I was blank and without awareness, hesitant and doubtful. I gathered together in confusion, sending off the old and welcoming the new. Those who came, I did not forbid; those who left, I did not stop. I followed the forceful and went along with the compliant, relying on their own efforts. So whether collecting taxes in the morning or the evening, not a hair was harmed—how much less would those on the great path be harmed!"

Confucius was besieged between the states of Chen and Cai, and for seven days they could not cook a meal. Tai Gong Ren went to console him, saying, "Are you nearly dead?" Confucius said, "Yes." Tai Gong Ren said, "Do you hate death?" Confucius said, "Yes." Tai Gong Ren said, "Let me tell you the way of not dying. In the East Sea there is a bird called Yi Dai. As a bird, it is feeble and seems incapable. It flies only when led and supported, and roosts only when pressed to do so. It never dares to go first, never dares to go last. It never dares to be the first to taste food, but always takes what is left. Thus it is never driven from the flock, and outsiders can never harm it, so it escapes calamity. Straight trees are the first to be cut down; sweet wells are the first to be drained. I suspect you have been adorning your knowledge to startle the foolish, cultivating your conduct to highlight the filthy, going about as conspicuously as carrying the sun and moon—that is why you cannot escape. Formerly I heard from a man of great accomplishment: 'He who boasts of himself has no merit; merit completed will decline; fame completed will be ruined.' Who can cast away merit and fame and return to the company of the common people? The Way flows but does not dwell in the light; virtue acts but does not dwell in fame. Plain and ordinary, one becomes like the mad. One erases one's traces and abandons one's position, and does not act for merit or fame. Therefore one makes no demands upon others, and others make no demands upon one. The perfect man is not known. Why do you delight in it?"

Confucius said, "Excellent!" He broke off his associations, dismissed his disciples, and fled into the great marshes. He wore coarse fur and rough cloth, and ate chestnuts and acorns. When he entered among the beasts, they did not scatter; when he entered among the birds, they did not scatter. If even birds and beasts did not shun him, how much less would men!

Kong Qiu asked Sang Hu, "Twice I was driven out of Lu, in Song they cut down the tree [under which I taught], in Wei they erased my tracks, I was trapped in Shang and Zhou, and surrounded between Chen and Cai. Having met with these several calamities, my close friends have grown more distant, my disciples and companions have scattered—why is this?"

Sang Hu said, "Have you alone not heard of the people of Jia when they fled? Lin Hui abandoned a jade disc worth a thousand gold pieces and carried a nursing child on his back as he hurried away. Someone said, 'Was it for the profit? The profit from a nursing child is small indeed. Was it for the burden? The burden of a nursing child is great indeed. Why abandon a jade disc worth a thousand gold pieces and carry a nursing child on your back?' Lin Hui said, 'That one was joined by profit; this one is bound by Heaven.' Those joined by profit, when pressed by hardship, calamity, and harm, will abandon one another. Those bound by Heaven, when pressed by hardship, calamity, and harm, will hold fast to one another. And the distance between holding fast and abandoning is very great indeed! Moreover, the friendship of the junzi is bland as water; the friendship of the petty person is sweet as ale. The junzi is bland and thereby draws close; the petty person is sweet and thereby severs the tie. Those who join without cause will also part without cause."

Kong Qiu said, "I respectfully receive your instruction!" He walked slowly and wandered freely back, abandoned his studies and gave away his books. His disciples no longer made formal gestures of greeting before him, yet their love for him grew ever deeper.

On another day, Sang Hu said again, "When Shun was about to die, he solemnly commanded Yu: 'Take heed of this! In form, nothing is better as following [nature]; in feeling, nothing is better as being spontaneous. Following, one does not stray; being spontaneous, one does not toil. Without straying or toiling, one does not seek outward ornament to adorn the form. Not seeking outward ornament to adorn the form, one fundamentally has no need of external things."

Zhuang Zhou wore a coarse cloth robe patched together, with his shoes tied to his feet by cords, and went to see the King of Wei. The King of Wei said, "What makes you so worn and exhausted, sir?"

Zhuang Zhou said, "I am poor, not exhausted. When a scholar possesses the Dao and its power but cannot put them into practice, that is exhaustion. To wear tattered clothes and broken shoes—that is poverty, not exhaustion. This is what is called not encountering the right time. Have you not seen the soaring monkey? When it finds catalpa, nanmu, and other tall trees, it swings and climbs among its branches, reigning and commanding even in their midst—even Yi and Peng Meng could not look askance at it. But when it finds itself among brambles, thorns, and bramble bushes, it moves cautiously and looks sideways, trembling and terrified—not because its sinews and bones have stiffened and lost their suppleness, but because it finds itself in a situation that does not allow it to display its abilities. Now I find myself among a muddled ruler and disorderly ministers, and yet I wish not to be exhausted—how could that be possible? This is what was behind Bigan's having his heart cut out—a clear proof!"

Kong Qiu was trapped between Chen and Cai, and for seven days they had no fire-cooked food. With his left hand he leaned on a withered tree, with his right he struck a withered branch, and he sang the songs of the Feng clan. He had the instruments but not the proper measure, he had the voice but not the proper pitch—the sound of wood and the sound of the human voice fell naturally upon the hearts of men.

Yan Hui stood with hands folded and turned his eyes to watch him. Zhongni feared that Hui would magnify him and create greatness, or love him and create grief, so he said, "Hui, it is easy not to receive injury from Heaven; it is hard not to receive benefit from man. There is no beginning that is not also an ending—man and Heaven are one. Now, the one who is singing—who is it?"

Hui said, "May I ask what is meant by 'it is easy not to receive injury from Heaven'?"

Zhongni said, "Hunger and thirst, cold and heat, being trapped and blocked so that one cannot move—these are the operations of Heaven, the transformations of things. It means simply to go along with them and pass on together. Even a minister serving his ruler does not dare to abandon this. If even holding to the way of a minister is like this, how much more should this be so in one's relationship with Heaven!"

"What is meant by 'it is hard not to receive benefit from man'?"

Zhongni said, "When one is first employed, success opens in all directions—rank and emolument arrive together without end. The benefit that comes from external things does not truly belong to oneself—one's fate has something that lies beyond one's control. The junzi does not act as a robber; the worthy person does not act as a thief. If I were to take such things, what would be the reason? Therefore it is said: 'No bird is wiser than the shi and er. When its eyes see a place that is unsuitable, it does not look closely—and even if it has dropped its fruit, it will abandon it and fly away. Yet it fears humans, and takes shelter among human habitations, because the altars of soil and grain keep it safe.'"

"What is meant by 'there is no beginning that is not also an ending'?"

Zhongni said, "It transforms the ten thousand things, yet no one knows who carries out the succession. How then can one know where it ends? How can one know where it begins? Simply be upright and await it—that is all."

"What is meant by 'man and Heaven are one'?"

Zhongni said, "That there is man—this is Heaven. That there is Heaven—this is also Heaven. That man cannot possess Heaven—this is his nature. The sage is calmly at ease, embodies transformation, and comes to his end."

Zhuang Zhou was wandering in the wilderness of Diao Ling when he saw a strange magpie coming from the south. Its wings spanned seven feet; its eyes were an inch across. It brushed against Zhuang Zhou's forehead and settled in a grove of chestnut trees.

Zhuang Zhou said, "What kind of bird is this? Its wings are enormous yet it does not fly away; its eyes are huge yet it does not see clearly!" He lifted his robe, strode quickly forward, and raised his pellet bow to shoot it. As he did so, he saw a cicada that had found a lovely shade and had forgotten its own body; a mantis seized a leaf and struck at it, seeing its gain and forgetting its own form; the strange magpie then followed to profit from it, seeing profit and forgetting its true nature.

Zhuang Zhou started with alarm and said, "Ah! Things indeed entangle one another—these two kinds call each other forth!" He threw down his pellet bow and turned to flee. But the park warden chased after him and berated him.

Zhuang Zhou returned home and for three months did not come into the courtyard. Lin Ju followed him and asked, "Master, why have you been so very reluctant to come into the courtyard these past days?"

Zhuang Zhou said, "I was guarding my form and forgot my body. I looked at turbid water and became confused about the clear deep. Moreover, I heard from the Master, 'Enter their customs and follow their customs.' Now I was wandering in Diao Ling and forgot my own body; the strange magpie brushed against my forehead; I wandered in the chestnut grove and forgot my true nature; the chestnut grove's warden took me as an intruder—that is why I have not come into the courtyard."

Yangzi was going to Song and stopped at an inn. The innkeeper had two concubines, one beautiful and one ugly. The ugly one was honored, and the beautiful one was despised. Yangzi asked the reason. The young innkeeper answered, "The beautiful one thinks she is beautiful—I do not know her beauty. The ugly one thinks she is ugly—I do not know her ugliness."

Yangzi said, "Disciples, remember this: practice worthiness and put aside the conduct of thinking yourself worthy—wherever you go, how could you not be loved?"