Free and Easy Wandering

北冥有魚，其名為鯤。鯤之大，不知其幾千里也。化而為鳥，其名為鵬。鵬之背，不知其幾千里也；怒而飛，其翼若垂天之雲。是鳥也，海運則將徙於南冥。南冥者，天池也。《齊諧》者，志怪者也。《諧》之言曰：「鵬之徙於南冥也，水擊三千里，摶扶搖而上者九萬裡，去以六月息者也。」野馬也，塵埃也，生物之以息相吹也。天之蒼蒼，其正色邪？其遠而無所至極邪？其視下也，亦若是則已矣。且夫水之積也不厚，則負大舟也無力。覆杯水於坳堂之上，則芥為之舟；置杯焉則膠，水淺而舟大也。風之積也不厚，則其負大翼也無力。故九萬裡，則風斯在下矣，而後乃今培風；背負青天而莫之夭閼者，而後乃今將圖南。

In the northern sea there is a fish whose name is Kun. How huge Kun is, no one knows for how many thousands of li. It transforms into a bird whose name is Peng. How broad Peng's back is, no one knows for how many thousands of li; when it rouses itself and flies, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. When the sea stirs, this bird will migrate to the southern sea. The southern sea is the Pool of Heaven. The Qi Xie is a book that records strange things. The Qi Xie says: "When the Peng migrates to the southern sea, its wings strike the water for three thousand li, and riding the whirlwind it circles up ninety thousand li, going off on the wind of the sixth month." Wild horses and dust are all things blown about by the breath of living things. Is the blue of the sky its true color? Or is it only because it is so distant it has no end? Looking down from there, it would also look just like this. Moreover, if water is not piled up thick, it has no strength to bear a large boat. Pour a cup of water into a hollow in the hall, and a blade of grass can serve as a boat; place a cup there and it sticks, because the water is shallow and the boat is large. If wind is not piled up thick, it has no strength to bear huge wings. So when it reaches ninety thousand li, the wind is beneath it, and only then does it ride the wind; bearing the blue sky on its back with nothing to obstruct it, only then does it plan to fly south.

蜩與學鳩笑之曰：「我決起而飛，榆枋，時則不至，而控於地而已矣，奚以之九萬裡而南為！」適莽蒼者，三而反，腹猶果然；適百里者，宿舂糧；適千里者，三月聚糧。之二蟲又何知！小知不及大知，小年不及大年。奚以知其然也？朝菌不知晦朔，蟪蛄不知春秋，此小年也。楚之南有冥靈者，以五百歲為春，五百歲為秋；上古有大椿者，以八千歲為春，八千歲為秋。而彭祖乃今以久特聞，眾人匹之，不亦悲乎！

The cicada and the little dove laughed at it, saying: "I shoot up and strike the elm and sapan trees, and sometimes don't even reach them and just drop to the ground; why must one fly ninety thousand li to go south!" One who goes to the nearby green suburbs takes three (meals) and returns with a belly still full (the original text here reads "three and return," probably lacking the word "meal"); one who goes a hundred li must pound grain the night before; one who goes a thousand li must gather provisions for three months. What do these two little creatures know! Small knowledge cannot match great knowledge, and a short lifespan cannot match a long one. How do we know this is so? The morning mushroom does not know the end and beginning of the month, and the cricket does not know spring and autumn; this is a short lifespan. In the south of Chu there is the Mingling tree, for which five hundred years is a spring and five hundred years an autumn; in remote antiquity there was the great Chun tree, for which eight thousand years was a spring and eight thousand years an autumn. And Pengzu is now famous especially for having lived long, and ordinary people compare themselves to him; is that not sad!

湯之問棘也是已。窮髮之北有冥海者，天池也。有魚焉，其廣數千里，未有知其脩者，其名為鯤。有鳥焉，其名為鵬，背若太山，翼若垂天之云，摶扶搖羊角而上者九萬裡，絕雲氣，負青天，然後圖南，且適南冥也。斥鴳笑之曰：「彼且奚適也？我騰躍而上，不過數仞而下，翱翔蓬蒿之間，此亦飛之至也。而彼且奚適也？」此小大之辨也。故夫知效一官，行比一鄉，德合一君，而徵一國者，其自視也亦若此矣。而宋榮子猶然笑之。且舉世而譽之而不加勸，舉世而非之而不加沮，定乎內外之分，辨乎榮辱之境，斯已矣。彼其於世，未數數然也。雖然，猶有未樹也。夫列子御風而行，泠然善也，旬有五日而後反。彼於致福者，未數數然也。此雖免乎行，猶有所待者也。若夫乘天地之正，而御六氣之辨，以遊無窮者，彼且惡乎待哉！故曰：至人無己，神人無功，聖人無名。

Tang's questions to Ji speak of just this. In the barren north there is a dark sea, which is the Pool of Heaven. In it is a fish several thousand li wide, and no one knows how long it is; its name is Kun. There is a bird there, whose name is Peng, with a back like Mount Tai and wings like clouds hanging from the sky, which rides a whirlwind like a ram's horn circling up ninety thousand li, passes through the cloud-qi, bears the blue sky on its back, and then plans to go south, about to go to the southern sea. The quail laughs at it, saying: "Where does it intend to go? I leap up and come down after only a few fathoms, and flit among the tangled weeds, and that is the utmost of flying. And where does it intend to go?" This is the distinction between small and great. So those whose wisdom is enough for one office, whose conduct unites one village, whose virtue suits one ruler, and whose ability wins the trust of one state, see themselves just like this quail. Yet Song Rongzi laughed at them. Moreover, though the whole world praises him he is not more diligent for it, and though the whole world criticizes him he is not more dejected for it. He fixes the distinction between inner and outer and discerns the boundary between honor and disgrace, and that is all. He does not hasten and strive for the world. Even so, there is still something he has not established. Liezi rode the wind and traveled, so light and wonderful, and returned after fifteen days. He did not hasten and strive for good fortune. Though this spared him walking, he still had something he depended on. As for one who rides the correctness of heaven and earth, drives the changes of the six qi (the flowing stuff that constitutes and pervades all things), and wanders in the infinite, what would he still depend on! So it is said: the perfect person has no self, the spiritual person has no merit, the sage has no name.

堯讓天下於許由，曰：「日月出矣而爝火不息，其於光也，不亦難乎！時雨降矣而猶浸灌，其於澤也，不亦勞乎！夫子立而天下治，而我猶屍之，吾自視缺然，請致天下。」許由曰：「子治天下，天下既已治也。而我猶代子，吾將為名乎？名者，實之賓也。吾將為賓乎？鷦鷯巢於深林，不過一枝；偃鼠飲河，不過滿腹。歸休乎君，予無所用天下為！庖人雖不治庖，尸祝不越樽俎而代之矣。」

Yao offered the world to Xu You, saying: "The sun and moon have already come out, and yet the torches are not put out; would it not be hard for them to give light! The seasonal rain has already fallen, and yet one still irrigates; would that not be wasted effort for moistening! If you, master, were established, the world would be well governed, yet I still occupy this seat; I see myself as very inadequate, and ask to hand the world over to you." Xu You said: "You govern the world, and the world is already well governed. If I came to replace you, would I be doing it for the name? A name is the guest of reality. Would I go and be a guest? The wren builds its nest in a deep forest and takes only one branch; the mole drinks at the river and takes only a bellyful. Go back and rest, my lord; the world is of no use to me! Even if the cook does not tend the kitchen, the impersonator of the dead and the invocator would not leap over the wine vessels and chopping boards to take his place."

肩吾問於連叔曰：「吾聞言於接輿，大而無當，往而不返。吾驚怖其言，猶河漢而無極也，大有逕庭，不近人情焉。」連叔曰：「其言謂何哉？」曰：「『藐姑射之山，有神人居焉，肌膚若冰雪，淖約若處子。不食五穀，吸風飲露。乘雲氣，御飛龍，而遊乎四海之外。其神凝，使物不疵癘而年穀熟。』吾以是狂而不信也。」連叔曰：「然。瞽者無以與乎文章之觀，聾者無以與乎鍾鼓之聲。豈唯形骸有聾盲哉？夫知亦有之。是其言也，猶時女也。之人也，之德也，將旁礡萬物以為一。世蘄乎亂，孰弊弊焉以天下為事！之人也，物莫之傷，大浸稽天而不溺，大旱金石流、土山焦而不熱，是其塵垢秕穅，將猶陶鑄堯、舜者也，孰肯以物為事！」宋人資章甫而適諸越，越人斷髮文身，無所用之。堯治天下之民，平海內之政，往見四子藐姑射之山，汾水之陽，窅然喪其天下焉。

Jian Wu asked Lian Shu: "I heard some words from Jie Yu, big and without any fit, which once spread out cannot be taken back. I was alarmed by his words, endless like the Milky Way, far from ordinary reason, and not in accord with human feeling." Lian Shu said: "What did he say?" Jian Wu said: "'On Mount Miaogu there lives a spirit person whose skin is like ice and snow and who is gentle and fair like a maiden. He does not eat the five grains but breathes the wind and drinks the dew. Riding the clouds and driving flying dragons, he wanders beyond the four seas. His spirit is gathered, so that things are not harmed and the grain ripens.' I took this to be mad talk and did not believe it." Lian Shu said: "So it is. The blind have no way to take part in viewing patterns and colors, and the deaf have no way to take part in the sound of bells and drums. Is it only the body that can be deaf and blind? Knowledge can also be. These words are exactly about you. That kind of person, that kind of virtue (the capacity that the Way shows when realized in specific things, not virtue in an ethical sense), will blend with and unite the ten thousand things as one. The people of the world seek to be governed; who would bustle about taking the world as a matter of concern! That kind of person cannot be harmed by things; a flood reaching to the sky would not drown him, and in a great drought when metal and stone melt and earth and hills are scorched he would not be hot; his dust and chaff alone could be molded into Yao and Shun, so who would bother with external things!" A man of Song sold ceremonial caps in Yue, but the people of Yue cut their hair and tattooed their bodies and had no use for them. Yao governed the people of the world and settled the government of all within the seas, and went to see the four masters on Mount Miaogu north of the Fen River, and was dazed and lost his world.

惠子謂莊子曰：「魏王貽我大瓠之種，我樹之成而實五石。以盛水漿，其堅不能自舉也。剖之以為瓢，則瓠落無所容。非不呺然大也，吾為其無用而掊之。」莊子曰：「夫子固拙於用大矣。宋人有善為不龜手之藥者，世世以洴澼絖為事。客聞之，請買其方百金。聚族而謀曰：『我世世為洴澼絖，不過數金；今一朝而鬻技百金，請與之。』客得之，以說吳王。越有難，吳王使之將，冬與越人水戰，大敗越人，裂地而封之。能不龜手，一也；或以封，或不免於洴澼絖，則所用之異也。今子有五石之瓠，何不慮以為大樽而浮乎江湖，而憂其瓠落無所容？則夫子猶有蓬之心也夫！」

Huizi said to Zhuangzi: "The King of Wei gave me seeds of a great gourd, and when I planted them, the fruit grew as big as five shi. Used to hold water, its solidity was not enough to lift it by itself. Cut open to make dippers, they were too flat and shallow to hold anything. It was not that it was not big, but I considered it useless and smashed it." Zhuangzi said: "You are truly not good at using big things. There was a man of Song who was good at making a salve that kept hands from chapping, and for generations his family had made a living bleaching silk floss. A guest heard of it and asked to buy the recipe for a hundred gold. They gathered their clan and discussed it, saying: 'For generations we have bleached silk floss and earned only a few gold; now we can sell the skill in one go for a hundred gold, so let us sell it.' The guest got the recipe and went to persuade the King of Wu. When Yue invaded, the king made him commander, and in winter he fought the people of Yue on the water and utterly defeated them, and the king apportioned land and enfeoffed him. It was the same salve to keep hands from chapping; one man was enfeoffed because of it, and another still could not escape bleaching silk floss; the difference is in how it is used. Now you have a gourd of five shi; why not tie it as a waist-float and float on rivers and lakes, instead of worrying that it is too flat and shallow to hold anything? Your mind is still stuffed with thatch!"

惠子謂莊子曰：「吾有大樹，人謂之樗。其大本擁腫而不中繩墨，其小枝捲曲而不中規矩，立之塗，匠者不顧。今子之言，大而無用，眾所同去也。」莊子曰：「子獨不見狸狌乎？卑身而伏，以候敖者；東西跳梁，不避高下；中於機闢，死於罔罟。今夫牛，其大若垂天之雲。此能為大矣，而不能執鼠。今子有大樹，患其無用，何不樹之於無何有之鄉，廣莫之野，彷徨乎無為其側，逍遙乎寢臥其下？不夭斤斧，物無害者，無所可用，安所困苦哉！」

Huizi said to Zhuangzi: "I have a great tree, which people call chu. Its great trunk is swollen and does not fit the carpenter's ink line; its small branches are curled and do not fit compass or square; standing by the road, carpenters do not even look at it. Now your words are big and useless, and everyone discards them." Zhuangzi said: "Have you not seen the wildcat? It crouches low and lies in ambush, waiting for prey that wanders out; it leaps east and west without avoiding high or low; stepping on a trap, it dies in the net. Then there is the yak, huge as a cloud hanging from the sky. It can be big, yet it cannot catch a mouse. Now you have a great tree and worry that it is useless; why not plant it in the village of Not-Even-Anything, the wide open wilds, wander beside it in non-action (not forcing intervention by subjective will but letting things run according to their nature, which does not mean doing nothing at all), and lie in free and easy rest (Zhuangzi uses this word, xiaoyao, for that wandering which depends on nothing and suits itself, not for leisurely comfort) beneath it? It will not be cut short by the axe, nothing will harm it, and having no use, where could there be trouble!"

南郭子綦隱幾而坐，仰天而噓，嗒焉似喪其耦。顏成子游立侍乎前，曰：「何居乎？形固可使如槁木，而心固可使如死灰乎？今之隱幾者，非昔之隱幾者也。」子綦曰：「偃，不亦善乎，而問之也！今者吾喪我，汝知之乎？汝聞人籟而未聞地籟，汝聞地籟而未聞天籟夫！」子游曰：「敢問其方。」子綦曰：「夫大塊噫氣，其名為風。是唯無作，作則萬竅怒呺。而獨不聞之翏翏乎？山林之畏隹，大木百圍之竅穴，似鼻，似口，似耳，似枅，似圈，似臼，似窪者，似汙者；激者，謞者，叱者，吸者，叫者，譹者，宎者，咬者，前者唱於而隨者唱喁，泠風則小和，飄風則大和，厲風濟則眾竅為虛。而獨不見之調調、之刁刁乎？」子游曰：「地籟則眾竅是已，人籟則比竹是已。敢問天籟。」子綦曰：「夫吹萬不同，而使其自己也。鹹其自取，怒者其誰邪！」

Nanguo Ziqi sat leaning on his armrest, looked up to heaven and exhaled, his body loosened as if he had lost his counterpart. Yan Cheng Ziyou stood attending before him and said: "What is the matter? The body can certainly be made like withered wood, but can the mind certainly be made like dead ashes? The one leaning on the armrest now is not the one who leaned on it in the past." Ziqi said: "Yan, you ask about this, and you ask well! Now I have lost myself; do you know it? You have heard the piping of men but not the piping of earth, and have heard the piping of earth but not the piping of heaven!" Ziyou said: "May I ask the principle of it?" Ziqi said: "The great earth exhales breath, and its name is wind. It simply does not stir, but once it stirs, the ten thousand apertures roar. Have you not heard that whooshing sound? In the steep slopes of the mountain forests, in the hollows of great trees of a hundred spans around, some are like noses, some like mouths, some like ears, some like square sockets in beams, some like pens, some like mortars, some like hollows, some like stagnant pools; some sound like rushing water, some like flying arrows, some like scolding, some like inhaling, some like shouting, some like wailing, some deep, some mournful; those in front sing 'yu' and those behind sing 'yong'; a small wind brings a small chorus and a great wind a great chorus, and when the fierce wind stops, all the apertures are empty. Have you not seen that swaying, that trembling?" Ziyou said: "The piping of earth is the many apertures, and the piping of men is instruments made from bamboo flutes laid side by side. May I ask about the piping of heaven?" Ziqi said: "The wind blows on ten thousand different things and lets them stop of themselves. All of them are as they are of themselves; who then is the one stirring them!"

大知閑閑，小知間間；大言炎炎，小言詹詹。其寐也魂交，其覺也形開，與接為構，日以心鬬。縵者，窖者，密者。小恐惴惴，大恐縵縵。其發若機栝，其司是非之謂也；其留如詛盟，其守勝之謂也；其殺如秋冬，以言其日消也；其溺之所為之，不可使復之也；其厭也如緘，以言其老洫也。近死之心，莫使復陽也。喜怒哀樂，慮嘆變慹，姚佚啟態，樂出虛，蒸成菌。日夜相代乎前，而莫知其所萌。已乎，已乎！旦暮得此，其所由以生乎！非彼無我，非我無所取，是亦近矣，而不知其所為使。若有真宰，而特不得其朕，可行已信，而不見其形，有情而無形。百骸、九竅、六藏，賅而存焉，吾誰與為親？汝皆悅之乎？其有私焉？如是，皆有為臣妾乎？其臣妾不足以相治乎？其遞相為君臣乎？其有真君存焉。如求得其情與不得，無益損乎其真。一受其成形，不亡以待盡，與物相刃相靡，其行盡如馳，而莫之能止，不亦悲乎！終身役役而不見其成功，然疲役而不知其所歸，可不哀邪！人謂之不死，奚益！其形化，其心與之然，可不謂大哀乎？人之生也，固若是芒乎？其我獨芒，而人亦有不芒者乎？夫隨其成心而師之，誰獨且無師乎？奚必知代而心自取者有之？愚者與有焉。未成乎心而有是非，是今日適越而昔至也，是以無有為有。無有為有，雖有神禹，且不能知，吾獨且奈何哉！

Great knowledge is relaxed and spacious; small knowledge is fussy and cramped. Great speech is blazing; small speech is chattering. In sleep the spirit-souls intermingle; on waking the body opens out, in contact with external things and entangled, and every day they fight with the mind. There are the loose, the trap-setting, and the tight. Small fears are anxious, great fears are boundless. When it goes off it is like a crossbow trigger, which is the manager of right and wrong; when it lingers it is like a sworn oath, which is holding to win; the withering like autumn and winter says that it diminishes day by day; sunk in what it is doing, it cannot be made to return; the blockage like something sealed says that it has withered and aged. The mind close to death cannot be restored to yang by anything. Joy, anger, sorrow, delight, worry, sighing, vacillation, fear, frivolity, indulgence, posturing, music coming out of emptiness, steam forming mushrooms; day and night they alternate before one's eyes, yet no one knows where they sprout from. Enough, enough! Perhaps getting this morning and evening is precisely how they come to be born! Without that, there would be no me; without me, there would be nothing taken; this comes close, yet one does not know what drives it. It seems there is a true master, yet one cannot find any sign of it; it can act and has been believed, yet its form is not seen; it has feeling but no form. The hundred bones, nine apertures, and six viscera are all present; to which am I closest? Do you like them all? Or do you have a partiality? If so, do they all become servants and concubines? Are servants and concubines not enough to govern one another? Or do they take turns being ruler and subject? Or is there a true ruler among them? Whether or not one seeks its truth, it adds or subtracts nothing from its reality. Once one has received this bodily form, it goes on without perishing, awaiting exhaustion, blade against blade and grinding with things, running its course like a gallop that nothing can stop; is that not sad! One toils all one's life and never sees success, wearily exhausted and not knowing where one will end; can one not grieve! People say he has not yet died, but what good is that! The body changes and the mind goes the same way; can this not be called a great sorrow? Is human life truly this dim? Or is it only I who am dim, and others are not dim? Following one's own fixed mind and taking it as a teacher, who alone does not have a teacher? Why must one wait to know the change and be one whose mind can make its own choices? Even fools have it. To have right and wrong before the mind has formed is like going to Yue today and having already arrived yesterday; it takes nonexistence for existence. Taking nonexistence for existence, even Yu with his divine insight could not know it; what could I do about it!

夫言非吹也，言者有言，其所言者特未定也。果有言邪？其未嘗有言邪？其以為異於鷇音，亦有辯乎？其無辯乎？道惡乎隱而有真偽？言惡乎隱而有是非？道惡乎往而不存？言惡乎存而不可？道隱於小成，言隱於榮華。故有儒墨之是非，以是其所非而非其所是。欲是其所非而非其所是，則莫若以明。物無非彼，物無非是。自彼則不見，自知則知之。故曰：彼出於是，是亦因彼。彼、是，方生之說也。雖然，方生方死，方死方生；方可方不可，方不可方可；因是因非，因非因是。是以聖人不由，而照之於天，亦因是也。是亦彼也，彼亦是也。彼亦一是非，此亦一是非。果且有彼是乎哉？果且無彼是乎哉？彼是莫得其偶，謂之道樞。樞始得其環中，以應無窮。是亦一無窮，非亦一無窮也。故曰「莫若以明」。

Speech is not blowing wind. Those who speak have something to say, but what they say is not yet settled. Does it really have speech? Or has it never had speech? They think it differs from the chirping of fledglings; is there a difference? Or no difference? Where is the Way (Laozi used this word to refer to the origin and mode of operation of all things, which in itself cannot be named; Zhuangzi uses the word without pinning it down) hidden that there should be true and false? Where is speech hidden that there should be right and wrong? Where does the Way go that it does not exist? Where is speech that it is not acceptable? The Way is hidden by small accomplishments, and speech is hidden by flowery display. So there are the rights and wrongs of the Confucians and Mohists, each calling right what the other opposes and wrong what the other approves. If one wants to call right what one opposes and wrong what one approves, nothing is better than using clarity. There is nothing that is not that, and nothing that is not this. From that side one cannot see; from one's own side one knows. So it is said: that arises from this, and this also depends on that. That and this are the saying of simultaneous arising. Even so, as soon as born, dying; as soon as dying, born; as soon as acceptable, not acceptable; as soon as not acceptable, acceptable; following right, following wrong; following wrong, following right. Therefore the sage does not take this road but illuminates it by Heaven, and that is also following this 'is.' This is also that, and that is also this. That has one set of rights and wrongs, and this too has one set of rights and wrongs. Do that and this really exist? Do that and this really not exist? When that and this do not find their counterpart, this is called the pivot of the Way. When the pivot first finds the center of the ring, it can respond to the infinite. 'Is' is also one infinite, and 'is not' is also one infinite. So it is said: nothing is better than using clarity.

以指喻指之非指，不若以非指喻指之非指也；以馬喻馬之非馬，不若以非馬喻馬之非馬也。天地一指也，萬物一馬也。可乎可，不可乎不可。道行之而成，物謂之而然。惡乎然？然於然。惡乎不然？不然於不然。物固有所然，物固有所可。無物不然，無物不可。故為是舉莛與楹，厲與西施，恢恑憰怪，道通為一。其分也，成也；其成也，毀也。凡物無成與毀，復通為一。唯達者知通為一，為是不用而寓諸庸。庸也者，用也；用也者，通也；通也者，得也。適得而幾矣，因是已。已而不知其然，謂之道。勞神明為一而不知其同也，謂之朝三。何謂朝三？曰：狙公賦芧，曰：「朝三而暮四。」眾狙皆怒。曰：「然則朝四而暮三。」眾狙皆悅。名實未虧而喜怒為用，亦因是也。是以聖人和之以是非而休乎天均，是之謂兩行。

To use a finger to explain that a finger is not a finger is not as good as using a non-finger to explain that a finger is not a finger; to use a horse to explain that a horse is not a horse is not as good as using a non-horse to explain that a horse is not a horse. Heaven and earth are one finger, and the ten thousand things are one horse. What is acceptable is acceptable by being accepted, and what is not acceptable is unacceptable by not being accepted. The Way is made by walking, and things are so by being called so. Why so? So by its being so. Why not so? Not so by its being not so. Things originally have what is so, and things originally have what is acceptable. There is no thing that is not so and no thing that is not acceptable. Therefore, for this, raise up a stalk and a pillar, the ugly and Xi Shi, all kinds of the extraordinary, strange, deceptive, and bizarre, and the Way connects them as one. Their division is completion; their completion is destruction. Of all things, none has completion and destruction, and again they connect as one. Only the one who has reached understanding knows to connect them as one, and therefore does not use a fixed mind but lodges in the ordinary. The ordinary is use, use is connection, and connection is attainment. Once one arrives at attainment, one has nearly arrived, following this 'is' and that is all. To be so without knowing why it is so is called the Way. To exhaust one's spirit in making them one without knowing they are originally the same is called three in the morning. What is called three in the morning? It is said: the monkey keeper gave out acorns, saying: "Three in the morning and four in the evening." All the monkeys were angry. He said: "Then four in the morning and three in the evening." All the monkeys were pleased. Name and reality suffered no loss, yet joy and anger were put to use, and this too follows this 'is.' So the sage harmonizes with right and wrong and rests in Heaven's potter's wheel, which is called walking two roads at once.

古之人，其知有所至矣。惡乎至？有以為未始有物者，至矣，盡矣，不可以加矣。其次以為有物矣而未始有封也，其次以為有封焉而未始有是非也。是非之彰也，道之所以虧也。道之所以虧，愛之所以成。果且有成與虧乎哉？果且無成與虧乎哉？有成與虧，故昭氏之鼓琴也；無成與虧，故昭氏之不鼓琴也。昭文之鼓琴也，師曠之枝策也，惠子之據梧也，三子之知幾乎，皆其盛者也，故載之末年。唯其好之也，以異於彼，其好之也，欲以明之彼。非所明而明之，故以堅白之昧終。而其子又以文之綸終，終身無成。若是而可謂成乎，雖我亦成也；若是而不可謂成乎，物與我無成也。是故滑疑之耀，聖人之所圖也。為是不用而寓諸庸，此之謂以明。

The knowledge of the ancients had a point where it reached the utmost. Where did it reach? Some thought that things had never existed; that was reaching it, exhausting it, and nothing could be added. Next, some thought that things existed but had no boundaries yet. Next, some thought that boundaries existed but there was not yet right and wrong. As soon as right and wrong are manifest, the Way is diminished because of it. That by which the Way is diminished is that by which love takes form. Are there really completion and diminishment? Are there really no completion and diminishment? Where there is completion and diminishment, Zhao played the zither; where there is no completion and diminishment, Zhao did not play the zither. Zhao Wen's playing the zither, Music Master Kuang's leaning on his staff to listen, and Huizi's leaning on the wutong tree: the knowledge of these three was nearly the same, all at their height, and so it is recorded into their old age. It was only because they loved this and used it to show they differed from others; they loved this and wanted to use it to make others understand. What others cannot understand they forced them to understand, and so they ended in the obscurity of the discourse on hard and white. And his son continued Zhao Wen's remaining thread to the end and also accomplished nothing his whole life. If this can be called accomplishment, then I too have accomplished; if this cannot be called accomplishment, then neither things nor I have accomplished anything. So the glimmer of confusion and bewilderment is exactly what the sage takes. Therefore he does not use a fixed mind but lodges in the ordinary, and this is called using clarity.

今且有言於此，不知其與是類乎？其與是不類乎？類與不類，相與為類，則與彼無以異矣。雖然，請嘗言之。有始也者，有未始有始也者，有未始有夫未始有始也者；有有也者，有無也者，有未始有無也者，有未始有夫未始有無也者。俄而有無矣，而未知有無之果孰有孰無也。今我則已有謂矣，而未知吾所謂之，其果有謂乎？其果無謂乎？天下莫大於秋豪之末，而太山為小；莫壽乎殤子，而彭祖為夭。天地與我並生，而萬物與我為一。既已為一矣，且得有言乎？既已謂之一矣，且得無言乎？一與言為二，二與一為三。自此以往，巧歷不能得，而況其凡乎！故自無適有，以至於三，而況自有適有乎！無適焉，因是已。

Now let me say something here, and I do not know whether it belongs to the same class as this 'is' or does not belong to the same class. Whether it belongs to the class or not, once they are made into one class together, it is no different from that. Even so, let me try to say it. There is a 'beginning'; there is a 'not yet having a beginning'; there is a 'not yet having that not yet having a beginning.' There is 'being'; there is 'non-being'; there is a 'not yet having non-being'; there is a 'not yet having that not yet having non-being.' Suddenly there is being and non-being, yet I do not know which of being and non-being is truly being and which is truly non-being. Now I have said something, yet I do not know whether what I have said has really said anything or has really said nothing. Nothing under Heaven is greater than the tip of an autumn hair, yet Mount Tai is small; nothing lives longer than a child who died young, yet Pengzu died young. Heaven and Earth were born together with me, and the ten thousand things are one with me. Since they are already one, can there still be speech? Since I have already called it one, can there be no speech? One plus speech makes two, and two plus one makes three. From here on, even the most skilled calculator cannot reach the end, much less an ordinary person! So from nothing to something already reaches three; how much more from something to something! Do not go that way; just go by this 'is' and that is all.

夫道未始有封，言未始有常，為是而有畛也，請言其畛：有左、有右，有倫、有義，有分、有辯，有競、有爭，此之謂八德。六合之外，聖人存而不論；六合之內，聖人論而不議。《春秋》經世，先王之志，聖人議而不辯。故分也者，有不分也；辯也者，有不辯也。曰：何也？聖人懷之，眾人辯之以相示也，故曰：辯也者，有不見也。夫大道不稱，大辯不言，大仁不仁，大廉不嗛，大勇不忮。道昭而不道，言辯而不及，仁常而不成，廉清而不信，勇忮而不成，五者園而幾向方矣。故知止其所不知，至矣。孰知不言之辯，不道之道？若有能知，此之謂天府。注焉而不滿，酌焉而不竭，而不知其所由來，此之謂葆光。

The Way has never had boundaries, and speech has never had fixed standards; because of this, divisions arose. Let me speak of these divisions: there is left and right, there are relationships and duties, there is division and distinction, there is competition and contention; these are called the eight virtues. Beyond the six directions, the sage keeps it and does not discuss it; within the six directions, the sage discusses it but does not deliberate. The Spring and Autumn Annals records the governance of the ages, the will of the former kings, and the sage deliberates on it but does not argue. So where there is division there is something not divided; where there is distinction there is something not distinguished. Asked why, the sage holds it in his heart while the multitude argue over it to show off to one another, so it is said: distinction exists because there is something unseen. The great Way is not named, the great argument does not speak, the great benevolence is not benevolent, the great honesty is not modest, and the great courage does not injure. When the Way is made manifest it is not the Way; when speech is argued it falls short; when benevolence is fixed it cannot be completed; when honesty is too clean it is not real; when courage injures it cannot succeed. These five were originally round and are almost becoming square. So to know how to stop at what one does not know is to arrive. Who knows an argument that needs no words and a Way that is not named? If anyone can know it, this is called the Heavenly Storehouse. Pour into it and it is not filled, draw from it and it does not run dry, yet no one knows where it comes from; this is called the Hidden Light.

故昔者堯問於舜曰：「我欲伐宗、膾、胥敖，南面而不釋然，其故何也？」舜曰：「夫三子者，猶存乎蓬艾之間。若不釋然，何哉？昔者十日並出，萬物皆照，而況德之進乎日者乎！」

So in former times Yao asked Shun, "I want to attack Zong, Kuai and Xu'ao, but sitting facing south I cannot be at ease. What is the reason?" Shun said, "Those three states still live among the wormwood and brush. Why can you not be at ease? In the past ten suns came out together and all things were illuminated; how much more should virtue, which surpasses the sun!"

齧缺問乎王倪曰：「子知物之所同是乎？」曰：「吾惡乎知之！」「子知子之所不知邪？」曰：「吾惡乎知之！」「然則物無知邪？」曰：「吾惡乎知之！雖然，嘗試言之。庸詎知吾所謂『知之』非不知邪？庸詎知吾所謂『不知』之非知邪？且吾嘗試問乎汝：民溼寢則腰疾偏死，鰌然乎哉？木處則惴慄恂懼，猨猴然乎哉？三者孰知正處？民食芻豢，麋鹿食薦，蝍蛆甘帶，鴟鴉耆鼠，四者孰知正味？猨猵狙以為雌，麋與鹿交，鰌與魚遊。毛嬙、麗姬，人之所美也，魚見之深入，鳥見之高飛，麋鹿見之決驟，四者孰知天下之正色哉？自我觀之，仁義之端，是非之塗，樊然殽亂，吾惡能知其辯！」齧缺曰：「子不知利害，則至人固不知利害乎？」王倪曰：「至人神矣！大澤焚而不能熱，河漢沍而不能寒，疾雷破山、風振海而不能驚。若然者，乘雲氣，騎日月，而遊乎四海之外。死生無變於己，而況利害之端乎！」

Nie Que asked Wang Ni, "Do you know what all things commonly agree is right?" Wang Ni said, "How would I know!" "Do you know what you do not know?" He said, "How would I know!" "Then do things have no knowledge?" He said, "How would I know! Even so, let me try to say. How do I know that what I call 'knowing' is not not-knowing? How do I know that what I call 'not-knowing' is not knowing? Let me ask you: when people sleep in a damp place they get lower-back pain and become half paralyzed, but is it so for loaches? When people are up in a tree they are terrified and tremble, but is it so for monkeys? Of these three, who knows the right place to live? People eat grass-fed and grain-fed animals, deer eat grass, centipedes find small snakes sweet, and owls and crows like to eat mice; of these four, who knows the right taste? Apes mate with gibbons as females, elk mate with deer, and loaches swim with fish. Mao Qiang and Li Ji are what people consider beautiful, but when fish see them they dive deep, when birds see them they fly high, and when deer see them they bolt; of these four, who knows the right beauty under Heaven? From my viewpoint, the beginnings of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of right and wrong are tangled and confused; how could I know the difference among them!" Nie Que said, "If you do not know benefit and harm, then does the perfect person originally also not know benefit and harm?" Wang Ni said, "The perfect person is divine! Though a great marsh burn, he is not made hot; though the rivers freeze, he is not made cold; though sudden thunder splits the mountains and great winds shake the sea, he is not startled. A person like this rides the clouds, mounts the sun and moon, and roams beyond the four seas. Life and death make no change for him, much less the beginnings of benefit and harm!"

瞿鵲子問乎長梧子曰：「吾聞諸夫子，聖人不從事於務，不就利，不違害，不喜求，不緣道，無謂有謂，有謂無謂，而遊乎塵垢之外。夫子以為孟浪之言，而我以為妙道之行也。吾子以為奚若？」長梧子曰：「是黃帝之所聽瑩也，而丘也何足以知之！且汝亦大早計，見卵而求時夜，見彈而求鴞炙。予嘗為汝妄言之，汝以妄聽之。奚旁日月，挾宇宙，為其䐇合，置其滑涽，以隸相尊？眾人役役，聖人愚芚，參萬歲而一成純。萬物盡然，而以是相蘊。予惡乎知悅生之非惑邪？予惡乎知惡死之非弱喪而不知歸者邪？麗之姬，艾封人之子也。晉國之始得之也，涕泣沾襟；及其至於王所，與王同匡床，食芻豢，而後悔其泣也。予惡乎知夫死者不悔其始之蘄生乎？夢飲酒者，旦而哭泣；夢哭泣者，旦而田獵。方其夢也，不知其夢也。夢之中又占其夢焉，覺而後知其夢也。且有大覺而後知此其大夢也，而愚者自以為覺，竊竊然知之。君乎，牧乎，固哉！丘也與汝，皆夢也；予謂汝夢，亦夢也。是其言也，其名為弔詭。萬世之後，而一遇大聖知其解者，是旦暮遇之也。既使我與若辯矣，若勝我，我不若勝，若果是也，我果非也邪？我勝若，若不吾勝，我果是也，而果非也邪？其或是也，其或非也邪？其俱是也，其俱非也邪？我與若不能相知也。則人固受其黮闇，吾誰使正之？使同乎若者正之，既與若同矣，惡能正之？使同乎我者正之，既同乎我矣，惡能正之？使異乎我與若者正之，既異乎我與若矣，惡能正之？使同乎我與若者正之，既同乎我與若矣，惡能正之？然則我與若與人，俱不能相知也，而待彼也邪？何謂和之以天倪？曰：是不是，然不然。是若果是也，則是之異乎不是也亦無辯；然若果然也，則然之異乎不然也亦無辯。化聲之相待，若其不相待。和之以天倪，因之以曼衍，所以窮年也。

Qu Quezi asked Zhang Wuzi, "I heard from the Master that the sage does not engage in affairs, does not pursue profit, does not avoid harm, does not like to seek, does not cling to the Way, says nothing and yet says something, says something and yet says nothing, and roams beyond the dust and dirt. The Master considers this a reckless saying, but I consider it the practice of the wondrous Way. What do you think?" Zhang Wuzi said, "Even the Yellow Emperor would be confused on hearing this, so how could Qiu know enough! Moreover you are calculating too early; on seeing an egg you want a rooster to crow the dawn, and on seeing a pellet you want roasted owl. Let me say some reckless words to you, and you listen recklessly. How about leaning on the sun and moon, holding the universe under your arm, merging with it, setting aside its confusion, and treating servants and masters alike? Ordinary people toil away, while the sage is dull and plain, joining ten thousand years together into one pure whole. All things are like this and so accumulate in one another. How do I know that delighting in life is not a delusion? How do I know that hating death is not like a person who was lost in youth and does not know the way home? Lady Li was the daughter of a border guard at Ai. When the state of Jin first got her she wept until her robe was soaked, but when she reached the king's palace and shared his bed and ate fine meats, she regretted her earlier tears. How do I know that the dead do not regret having once begged for life? One who drinks wine in a dream weeps in the morning; one who weeps in a dream goes hunting in the morning. While dreaming one does not know it is a dream. In the dream one even divines the dream, and only after waking does one know it was a dream. And there is a great awakening, after which one knows this is a great dream, while the foolish think themselves awake, and slyly think they know. Lord! Herdsman! How narrow! Qiu and you are both a dream; when I say you are a dream, I am also a dream. These words are called paradoxical. After ten thousand generations, if one meets a great sage who knows their explanation, it will be like meeting between morning and evening. Suppose you and I argue, and you beat me and I do not beat you; are you truly right and I truly wrong? Or if I beat you and you do not beat me, am I truly right and you truly wrong? Or is one of us right and the other wrong? Or are both right or both wrong? You and I cannot know each other. Then people are originally in darkness, so whom shall I ask to settle it? If I ask someone who agrees with you, since he already agrees with you, how can he settle it? If I ask someone who agrees with me, since he already agrees with me, how can he settle it? If I ask someone who disagrees with both you and me, since he already disagrees with both, how can he settle it? If I ask someone who agrees with both you and me, since he already agrees with both, how can he settle it? Then you and I and other people cannot know one another, and do we have to wait for another? What is meant by harmonizing with Heaven's balance? It says: right as not right, so as not so. If right is truly right, then the difference between right and not right needs no argument; if so is truly so, then the difference between so and not so needs no argument. Voices of transformation wait on one another as if not waiting. Harmonize them with Heaven's balance, follow them with boundless flow, and so live out the years.

忘年忘義，振於無竟，故寓諸無竟。」

(Zhang Wuzi continued:) Forget the years, forget righteousness, reach out into the boundless, and so lodge everything in the boundless."

罔兩問景曰：「曩子行，今子止；曩子坐，今子起，何其無特操與？」景曰：「吾有待而然者邪？吾所待又有待而然者邪？吾待蛇蚹蜩翼邪？惡識所以然？惡識所以不然？」

Penumbra asked Shadow, "A moment ago you were walking and now you are stopped; a moment ago you were sitting and now you stand. Why do you have so little independent conduct?" Shadow said, "Do I depend on something to be this way? And does what I depend on depend on something else to be this way? Am I waiting for a snake's belly scales or a cicada's wings? How could I know why it is so? How could I know why it is not so?"

昔者莊周夢為胡蝶，栩栩然胡蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也。俄然覺，則蘧蘧然周也。不知周之夢為胡蝶與？胡蝶之夢為周與？周與胡蝶，則必有分矣，此之謂物化。

In former times Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, fluttering about as a butterfly and feeling content, not knowing there was a Zhou. Suddenly he awoke, and there he was, plainly Zhou. He did not know whether Zhou had dreamed he was a butterfly, or the butterfly had dreamed he was Zhou. Between Zhou and the butterfly there must be a distinction; this is called the transformation of things (transformation between one thing and another, not what is meant by material change in modern terms).

吾生也有涯，而知也無涯。以有涯隨無涯，殆已。已而為知者，殆而已矣。為善無近名，為惡無近刑，緣督以為經，可以保身，可以全生，可以養親，可以盡年。

My life has a limit, but knowledge has no limit. To pursue the limitless with what has a limit is perilous. If one is already in peril and still pursues knowledge, there is only peril and nothing else. In doing good do not come near fame; in doing evil do not come near punishment; follow the central channel as the constant course, and one can protect the body, preserve life, nurture parents, and live out one's years.

庖丁為文惠君解牛，手之所觸，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然嚮然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音，合於《桑林》之舞，乃中《經首》之會。文惠君曰：「譆，善哉！技蓋至此乎？」庖丁釋刀對曰：「臣之所好者，道也，進乎技矣。始臣之解牛之時，所見無非牛者。三年之後，未嘗見全牛也。方今之時，臣以神遇而不以目視，官知止而神欲行，依乎天理，批大郤，導大窾，因其固然。技經肯綮之未嘗，而況大軱乎？良庖歲更刀，割也；族庖月更刀，折也。今臣之刀十九年矣，所解數千牛矣，而刀刃若新發於硎。彼節者有間，而刀刃者無厚，以無厚入有間，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎。雖然，每至於族，吾見其難為，怵然為戒，視為止，行為遟，動刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。提刀而立，為之四顧，為之躊躇滿志，善刀而藏之。」文惠君曰：「善哉！吾聞庖丁之言，得養生焉。」

Cook Ding was cutting up an ox for Lord Wenhui. Wherever his hand touched, his shoulder leaned, his foot stepped, and his knee pressed, there was a sound of whooshing, and the knife moved with a swish; none of it failed to fit the rhythm, matching the dance of Sanglin and the beat of Jingshou. Lord Wenhui said, "Ah, excellent! Can skill reach this point?" Cook Ding put down his knife and answered, "What your servant loves is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting oxen, what I saw was nothing but a whole ox. After three years, I never saw a whole ox. Now I meet it with spirit and do not look with my eyes; the senses stop and the spirit wants to move, following the natural pattern, striking the big gaps, guiding the knife through the big hollows, following its natural makeup. I do not even touch the ligaments, tendons and tight spots, much less the big bone. A good cook changes his knife once a year because he slices; an ordinary cook changes his knife once a month because he hacks. Now my knife has lasted nineteen years and has cut up several thousand oxen, yet the blade is as if fresh from the whetstone. The joints have spaces, and the blade has no thickness; entering the spaces with something without thickness, there is plenty of room for the blade to play, so after nineteen years the blade is still as if fresh from the whetstone. Even so, whenever I come to a tangle of sinew and bone, I see it is hard to handle, and I become wary and careful, my eyes settle, my movement slows, and I move the knife very lightly, and suddenly it falls apart like earth dropping to the ground. I lift the knife and stand, look around on all sides, am content and pleased, then wipe the knife and put it away." Lord Wenhui said, "Excellent! Having heard Cook Ding's words, I have learned how to nurture life."

公文軒見右師而驚，曰：「是何人也？惡乎介也？天與？其人與？」曰：「天也，非人也。天之生是使獨也，人之貌有與也，以是知其天也，非人也。」澤雉十步一啄，百步一飲，不蘄畜乎樊中。神雖王，不善也。

Gongwen Xuan saw the Right Master and was startled, saying, "What kind of man is this? Why does he have only one foot? Is it Heaven or is it a person?" He said, "It is Heaven, not a person. Heaven made him this way and gave him one foot. A person's appearance is furnished by Heaven, and so I know this is Heaven, not a person." A marsh pheasant takes ten steps to peck once and a hundred steps to drink once, and does not wish to be kept in a cage. Though its spirit would be vigorous, it does not like it.

老聃死，秦失弔之，三號而出。弟子曰：「非夫子之友邪？」曰：「然。」「然則弔焉若此，可乎？」曰：「然。始也吾以為其人也，而今非也。向吾入而弔焉，有老者哭之，如哭其子；少者哭之，如哭其母。彼其所以會之，必有不蘄言而言，不蘄哭而哭者，是遁天倍情，忘其所受，古者謂之遁天之刑。適來，夫子時也；適去，夫子順也。安時而處順，哀樂不能入也，古者謂是帝之縣解。」指窮於為薪，火傳也，不知其盡也。

When Lao Dan died, Qin Shi went to mourn, wailed three times and left. A disciple said, "Was he not the Master's friend?" He said, "Yes." "Then is it acceptable to mourn like this?" He said, "It is. At first I thought he was that kind of person, but he is not. When I went in to mourn just now, the old were crying over him as if crying over their own sons, and the young were crying over him as if crying over their own mothers. For them to gather like this, there must be some who did not mean to speak and yet spoke, who did not mean to cry and yet cried, which is fleeing Heaven and turning away from true feeling, forgetting what one has received; in ancient times this was called the penalty of fleeing Heaven. When it was time to come, the Master came in due season; when it was time to go, the Master went in accord. Resting in the time and dwelling in accord, sorrow and joy cannot enter; in ancient times this was called the release of the Lord's hanging (like being untied from being hung upside down)." The source text has 'the finger is exhausted as firewood,' where 'finger' is an error for 'fat': when fat is burned as firewood and used up, the fire still passes on, and one does not know where it ends.

顏回見仲尼，請行。曰：「奚之？」曰：「將之衛。」曰：「奚為焉？」曰：「回聞衛君，其年壯，其行獨，輕用其國，而不見其過；輕用民死，死者以國量乎澤若蕉，民其無如矣。回嘗聞之夫子曰：『治國去之，亂國就之，醫門多疾。』願以所聞思其則，庶幾其國有瘳乎！」仲尼曰：「譆！若殆往而刑耳！夫道不欲雜，雜則多，多則擾，擾則憂，憂而不救。古之至人，先存諸己，而後存諸人。所存於己者未定，何暇至於暴人之所行！且若亦知夫德之所蕩而知之所為出乎哉？德蕩乎名，知出乎爭。名也者，相軋也；知也者，爭之器也。二者兇器，非所以盡行也。且德厚信矼，未達人氣；名聞不爭，未達人心，而彊以仁義繩墨之言術暴人之前者，是以人惡有其美也，命之曰菑人。菑人者，人必反菑之，若殆為人菑夫！且苟為悅賢而惡不肖，惡用而求有以異？若唯無詔，王公必將乘人而鬭其捷，而目將熒之，而色將平之，口將營之，容將形之，心且成之。是以火救火，以水救水，名之曰益多，順始無窮。若殆以不信厚言，必死於暴人之前矣！且昔者桀殺關龍逢，紂殺王子比干，是皆脩其身以下傴拊人之民，以下拂其上者也，故其君因其脩以擠之。是好名者也。昔者堯攻叢枝、胥敖，禹攻有扈，國為虛厲，身為刑戮，其用兵不止，其求實無已。是皆求名實者也，而獨不聞之乎：名實者，聖人之所不能勝也，而況若乎！雖然，若必有以也，嘗以語我來！」顏回曰：「端而虛，勉而一，則可乎？」曰：「惡！惡可！夫以陽為充孔揚，采色不定，常人之所不違，因案人之所感，以求容與其心，名之曰『日漸之德』不成，而況大德乎！將執而不化，外合而內不訾，其庸詎可乎！」「然則我內直而外曲，成而上比。內直者，與天為徒。與天為徒者，知天子之與己皆天之所子，而獨以己言蘄乎而人善之，蘄乎而人不善之邪？

Yan Hui went to see Zhongni and asked to set out. Zhongni said, "Where are you going?" He said, "I will go to Wei." He said, "What for?" He said, "I have heard that the lord of Wei is in his prime, acts on his own authority, lightly uses his state and does not see his own faults, lightly uses the people's deaths, so that the dead are counted by the state like weeds filling a marsh, and the people have nowhere to go. I once heard the Master say: 'Leave a well-governed state and go to a disordered one; the doctor's door has many sick people.' I wish to use what I have heard to think of a plan, and perhaps his state can still be healed!" Zhongni said, "Alas! I fear you are going only to be punished! The Way does not want to be mixed; mixed means many, many means disturbance, disturbance means worry, and worry cannot be rescued. The perfect people of old first had it in themselves, and only then sought it in others. If what is in oneself is not yet settled, what leisure is there to attend to what a tyrant does! Moreover, do you know how virtue is dissipated and how knowledge arises? Virtue is dissipated by fame, and knowledge arises from contention. Fame is something people crush one another with, and knowledge is the tool of contention. These two are fearful instruments and are not to be fully practiced. Moreover, even if your virtue is thick and your good faith firm, you have not yet reached people's qi; even if you do not contend for reputation, you have not yet reached people's hearts, yet you force talk of benevolence, righteousness and rules in front of a tyrant. This is using others' ugliness to display your own beauty, and is called harming people. One who harms people will surely be harmed in turn by them, and I fear you will be harmed by him! Moreover, if he truly likes the worthy and hates the unworthy, why must he seek you to be different from the rest? Unless you refrain from remonstrating, the king will surely take advantage of others to contest with your quick argument, and your eyes will be dazzled, your expression made mild, your mouth busy with rescuing, your face bowed in submission, and your heart will go on to help him. This is putting out fire with fire and water with water, called adding more, and following the beginning it has no end. If you go with deep words he does not yet trust, you will surely die in front of the tyrant! Moreover in the past Jie killed Guan Longfeng and Zhou killed Prince Bi Gan, both of whom cultivated themselves, cared for people below, and went against their superiors from below, so their rulers used their very cultivation to push them out. These were men who loved fame. In the past Yao attacked Congzhi and Xu'ao, and Yu attacked Youhu; those states became ruins and the rulers suffered punishment, because they did not stop their military action and did not cease seeking reality. These were all seeking name and reality; have you not heard that fame and reality are what even sages cannot overcome, much less you! Even so, you must have some basis; try to tell me!" Yan Hui said, "Being upright and humble, diligent and single-minded, would that do?" He said, "No! How could it! He is filled with intense yang, his pores are open wide, his expression is unsettled, ordinary people do not dare oppose him, and he still presses on others' feelings to please his own heart; this is called 'daily accumulated virtue' that cannot even be achieved, much less great virtue! He will be obstinate and not change, outwardly agreeing and inwardly not criticizing; how could that do!" "Then I will be straight within and bending without, and when something is achieved I will compare it upward to the ancients. Being straight within is being a companion of Heaven. Being a companion of Heaven, I know that the Son of Heaven and I are both sons of Heaven; how could I alone use my own words to seek others' approval or disapproval?

若然者，人謂之童子，是之謂與天為徒。外曲者，與人之為徒也。擎跽曲拳，人臣之禮也，人皆為之，吾敢不為邪！為人之所為者，人亦無疵焉，是之謂與人為徒。成而上比者，與古為徒。其言雖教，讁之實也。古之有也，非吾有也。若然者，雖直不為病，是之謂與古為徒。若是則可乎？」仲尼曰：「惡！惡可！太多政法而不諜，雖固，亦無罪。雖然，止是耳矣，夫胡可以及化！猶師心者也。」顏回曰：「吾無以進矣，敢問其方。」仲尼曰：「齋，吾將語若！有而為，其易邪？易之者，皞天不宜。」顏回曰：「回之家貧，唯不飲酒、不茹葷者數月矣。若此，則可以為齋乎？」曰：「是祭祀之齋，非心齋也。」回曰：「敢問心齋。」仲尼曰：「若一志，無聽之以耳而聽之以心，無聽之以心而聽之以氣。聽止於耳，心止於符。氣也者，虛而待物者也。唯道集虛。虛者，心齋也。」顏回曰：「回之未始得使，實自回也；得使之也，未始有回也，可謂虛乎？」夫子曰：「盡矣。吾語若。若能入遊其樊而無感其名，入則鳴，不入則止，無門無毒，一宅而寓於不得已，則幾矣。絕跡易，無行地難。為人使，易以偽；為天使，難以偽。聞以有翼飛者矣，未聞以無翼飛者也；聞以有知知者矣，未聞以無知知者也。瞻彼闋者，虛室生白，吉祥止止；夫且不止，是之謂坐馳。夫徇耳目內通而外於心知，鬼神將來舍，而況人乎！是萬物之化也，禹、舜之所紐也，伏羲、幾蘧之所行終，而況散焉者乎！」

(Yan Hui continued:) In this way, people call me a child, which is called being a companion of Heaven. Bending without is being a companion of humans. Kneeling with bowed arms is the ritual of a minister, which everyone does; dare I not do it! Doing what people do, people have no way to criticize; this is called being a companion of humans. When something is achieved comparing upward to the ancients is being a companion of the ancients. His words, though they are instruction, are in fact reproach. What the ancients had, it was not I who first had it. In this way, though straight, I will not become a fault; this is called being a companion of the ancients. Would that do?" Zhongni said, "No! How could it! There are too many rules and it is not secure; though narrow, there is no guilt. Even so, it is only that; how could it be called transformation! You are still one who follows his own mind." Yan Hui said, "I have nothing further to offer; may I ask for a method?" Zhongni said, "Fast, and I will tell you! If you do it with a fixed mind, is that easy? One who takes it as easy, bright Heaven would not consider it fitting." Yan Hui said, "My family is poor and I have not drunk wine or eaten meat for several months. Would that count as fasting?" He said, "That is the fast of sacrifice, not the fasting of the mind (Zhuangzi's own coinage, defined below as 'emptiness,' not moving religious abstinence into the mind)." Hui said, "May I ask about the fasting of the mind?" Zhongni said, "Unify your will; do not listen with your ears but listen with your mind; do not listen with your mind but listen with qi. Listening stops at the ears, the mind stops at correspondence. Qi is empty and waits on things. Only the Way gathers in emptiness. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind." Yan Hui said, "Before I received instruction, there was truly a Hui; having received it, there has never been a Hui. Can this be called emptiness?" The Master said, "Perfectly. I will tell you. You can enter that cage without being moved by fame; if you can enter, sing, and if you cannot, stop; have no gate, no poison technique, dwell in one house and lodge in what cannot be helped, and you will be nearly there. To cut off footprints is easy, but to walk without touching the ground is hard. In being driven by people it is easy to pretend; in being driven by Heaven it is hard to pretend. I have heard of flying with wings but not of flying without wings; I have heard of knowing with knowledge but not of knowing without knowledge. Look at that empty space: in an empty room brightness is born, and good fortune rests where it should rest; if one still does not rest, this is called sitting and galloping. Let your ears and eyes turn inward and put the mind's knowledge outside, and ghosts and spirits will come to dwell, much less people! This is the transformation of the ten thousand things, the pivot on which Yu and Shun acted and which Fu Xi and Jiqu practiced all their lives, much less lesser people!"

葉公子高將使於齊，問於仲尼曰：「王使諸梁也甚重，齊之待使者，蓋將甚敬而不急。匹夫猶未可動也，而況諸侯乎！吾甚慄之。子常語諸梁也，曰：『凡事若小若大，寡不道以懽成。事若不成，則必有人道之患；事若成，則必有陰陽之患。若成若不成而後無患者，唯有德者能之。』吾食也埶粗而不臧，爨無慾清之人。今吾朝受命而夕飲冰，我其內熱與？吾未至乎事之情，而既有陰陽之患矣；事若不成，必有人道之患。是兩也，為人臣者不足以任之，子其有以語我來？」仲尼曰：「天下有大戒二：其一，命也；其一，義也。子之愛親，命也，不可解於心；臣之事君，義也，無適而非君也，無所逃於天地之間，是之謂大戒。是以夫事其親者，不擇地而安之，孝之至也；夫事其君者，不擇事而安之，忠之盛也；自事其心者，哀樂不易施乎前，知其不可奈何而安之若命，德之至也。為人臣子者，固有所不得已，行事之情而忘其身，何暇至於悅生而惡死？夫子其行可矣！丘請復以所聞：凡交，近則必相靡以信，遠則必忠之以言，言必或傳之。夫傳兩喜兩怒之言，天下之難者也。夫兩喜必多溢美之言，兩怒必多溢惡之言。凡溢之類妄，妄則其信之也莫，莫則傳言者殃。故法言曰：『傳其常情，無傳其溢言，則幾乎全。』且以巧鬭力者，始乎陽，常卒乎陰，泰至則多奇巧；以禮飲酒者，始乎治，常卒乎亂，泰至則多奇樂。凡事亦然，始乎諒，常卒乎鄙；其作始也簡，其將畢也必巨。言者，風波也；行者，實喪也。夫風波易以動，實喪易以危。故忿設無由，巧言偏辭。獸死不擇音，氣息茀然，於是並生心厲。剋核太至，則必有不肖之心應之，而不知其然也。苟為不知其然也，孰知其所終？故法言曰：『無遷令，無勸成。』過度，益也，遷令、勸成殆事。美成在久，惡成不及改，可不慎與！

Zigao, Duke of She, was about to go as envoy to Qi and asked Zhongni: "The king has entrusted me, Zhuliang, with a very heavy mission. Qi will probably treat an envoy with great respect but without hurry. Even a commoner cannot be moved easily, let alone a feudal lord! I am very afraid. You have often told me: 'In any affair, great or small, few are those that succeed with joy without relying on the Way. If the matter fails, there will surely be the trouble of human punishment; if the matter succeeds, there will surely be the trouble of yin and yang. Whether it succeeds or fails, only one with virtue can come away without trouble.' I eat coarse food and do not seek fine dishes, and the cook has no wish for anything cool. Now I received the order in the morning and in the evening drink ice water; am I feverish within? I have not yet reached the real facts of the matter and already have the trouble of yin and yang; if the matter fails, there will surely be the trouble of human punishment. That is both ends, and a minister is not able to bear it; do you have words to tell me?" Zhongni said: "There are two great constraints in the world: one is fate and the other is duty. A child's love for his parents is fate and cannot be removed from the heart; a minister's service to his ruler is duty, and there is no place where there is no ruler, and nowhere to escape between heaven and earth; this is called the great constraint. So one who serves his parents is at ease wherever he is, which is the utmost of filial piety; one who serves his ruler is at ease in whatever task, which is the fullness of loyalty; one who serves his own mind, and whose sorrow and joy are not moved by what is before him, who knows what cannot be helped and rests in it as fate, has the utmost of virtue. A minister and a son inevitably have what they cannot avoid; acting according to the facts of the matter and forgetting oneself, what leisure is there to delight in life and hate death? You may go! Let me, Qiu, tell you again what I have heard: in all dealings, when near, one must be close by trust, and when far, one must be loyal by words, and words must be conveyed by someone. Conveying words of mutual delight or mutual anger is the hardest thing in the world. Mutual delight must have many exaggerated words of praise, and mutual anger must have many exaggerated words of blame. Everything that overflows comes close to falsehood, and falsehood is not believed, and when it is not believed the messenger suffers. So the maxim says: 'Convey the ordinary facts, do not convey the overflowing words, and one will nearly be safe.' Moreover, those who contest strength by skill begin with the open and often end with the covert, and when they go too far they use many tricks; those who drink wine by ritual begin in order and often end in disorder, and when they go too far they have much strange merriment. All affairs are like this: they begin in good faith and often end in meanness; at the start they are simple, and when about to be finished they must be huge. Words are wind and waves; actions are loss of substance. Wind and waves easily move, and loss of substance easily brings danger. So anger arises without cause, from clever words and one-sided speech. When a beast is dying it does not choose its cry, its breath surges, and so a savage heart arises at once. If one is too harsh in scrutiny, there will surely be an unworthy heart to respond, and he himself will not know why. If he does not even know why, who knows how it will end? So the maxim says: 'Do not alter the commission, do not force a result.' Going beyond is adding. Altering the commission and forcing a result will both endanger the affair. A fine accomplishment takes a long time, while the accomplishment of evil has no time to be changed; can one be anything but careful!

且夫乘物以遊心，託不得已以養中，至矣，何作為報也？莫若為致命，此其難者。」

(Confucius continued:) "Moreover, riding on things to let the mind roam, entrusting oneself to the unavoidable to nourish what is within, is the utmost; what need is there to act in order to repay? It is better to report your mission as it truly is, which is the hard part."

顏闔將傅衛靈公太子，而問於蘧伯玉曰：「有人於此，其德天殺。與之為無方，則危吾國；與之為有方，則危吾身。其知適足以知人之過，而不知其所以過。若然者，吾奈之何？」蘧伯玉曰：「善哉問乎！戒之，慎之，正汝身哉！形莫若就，心莫若和。雖然，之二者有患。就不欲入，和不欲出。形就而入，且為顛為滅，為崩為蹶；心和而出，且為聲為名，為妖為孽。彼且為嬰兒，亦與之為嬰兒；彼且為無町畦，亦與之為無町畦；彼且為無崖，亦與之為無崖。達之，入於無疵。汝不知夫螳蜋乎？怒其臂以當車轍，不知其不勝任也，是其才之美者也。戒之，慎之！積伐而美者以犯之，幾矣。汝不知夫養虎者乎？不敢以生物與之，為其殺之之怒也；不敢以全物與之，為其決之之怒也。時其飢飽，達其怒心。虎之與人異類，而媚養己者，順也；故其殺者，逆也。夫愛馬者，以筐盛矢，以蜄盛溺；適有蚉䖟僕緣，而拊之不時，則缺銜毀首碎胷。意有所至而愛有所亡，可不慎邪！」

Yan He was about to become tutor to the crown prince of Duke Ling of Wei, and asked Qu Boyu: "There is a man whose virtue is by nature harsh. If I go along with him without principle, I endanger my state; if I go along with him with principle, I endanger my person. His knowledge is only enough to know others' faults but not where the faults come from. In such a case, what shall I do?" Qu Boyu said: "A good question! Be on guard, be careful, and set yourself right! In form it is best to approach, and in heart best to harmonize. Even so, both have dangers. Approaching should not lead you into it, and harmonizing should not show outwardly. If you approach and are drawn in, you will be overturned, ruined, collapsed and fallen; if you harmonize and it shows, you will become noted and be called a monster. If he is going to be an infant, you also be an infant with him; if he is going to have no boundaries, you too have no boundaries with him; if he is going to have no cliffs or banks, you too have no cliffs or banks with him. Once you are through, you enter without flaw. Do you not know the mantis? In anger it raises its arms to block the wheel track, not knowing it cannot bear it, thinking its talents are fine. Be on guard, be careful! If you accumulate your self-praised excellence and offend him, you will be in danger. Do you not know those who raise tigers? They do not dare give it a living creature, because they fear the anger of its killing; they do not dare give it a whole carcass, because they fear the anger of its tearing apart. They judge its hunger and fullness and clear its angry heart. Tigers are not of the same kind as people, yet they fawn on those who raise them, because they are accommodated; those they kill are those who went against them. Those who love horses collect dung in baskets and urine in clam shells; if a mosquito or gadfly happens to alight on one, and he swats at it at the wrong moment, the horse will break its bit, damage its head and smash its chest. His intention reaches, but his love is lost; can one be anything but careful!"

匠石之齊，至乎曲轅，見櫟社樹。其大蔽牛，絜之百圍，其高臨山十仞而後有枝，其可以為舟者旁十數。觀者如市，匠伯不顧，遂行不輟。弟子厭觀之，走及匠石，曰：「自吾執斧斤以隨夫子，未嘗見材如此其美也。先生不肯視，行不輟，何邪？」曰：「已矣，勿言之矣！散木也，以為舟則沈，以為棺槨則速腐，以為器則速毀，以為門戶則液樠，以為柱則蠹。是不材之木也，無所可用，故能若是之壽。」匠石歸，櫟社見夢曰：「汝將惡乎比予哉？若將比予於文木邪？夫柤梨橘柚，果蓏之屬，實熟則剝則辱，大枝折，小枝洩，此以其能苦其生者也，故不終其天年而中道夭，自掊擊於世俗者也。物莫不若是。且予求無所可用久矣，幾死，乃今得之，為予大用。使予也而有用，且得有此大也邪？且也若與予也，皆物也，奈何哉其相物也？而幾死之散人，又惡知散木！」匠石覺而診其夢，弟子曰：「趣取無用，則為社何邪？」曰：「密！若無言。彼亦直寄焉，以為不知己者詬厲也。不為社者，且幾有翦乎！且也彼其所保與眾異，而以義譽之，不亦遠乎！」

The carpenter Shi went to Qi and came to Quyuan, where he saw an oak at the village altar. It was so large it could shade several hundred oxen, a hundred spans around, tall enough to look down on a mountain, with branches only at seventy or eighty feet up, and over ten of its branches could make boats. The onlookers were like a market crowd, but the carpenter did not even look and walked on without stopping. His disciple, having looked his fill, ran up to catch Carpenter Shi and said: "Since I took up the axe and followed you, Master, I have never seen timber so fine. You do not even look and walk on without stopping; why?" He said: "Enough, do not speak! It is useless wood. Make a boat from it and it will sink, a coffin and it will quickly rot, a utensil and it will quickly break, a door and it will ooze sap, a pillar and it will be worm-eaten. It is wood of no use, and so it has been able to live so long." When the carpenter went home, the oak at the altar appeared to him in a dream and said: "What will you compare to me? Will you compare me to useful trees? Those hawthorns, pears, oranges, pomelos, and fruit-and-gourd plants, when their fruit is ripe they are stripped and abused, the big branches broken and the small ones torn; this is using their own abilities to make life bitter, and so they cannot live out their natural years and die midway, bringing the blows of the world on themselves. All things are like this. Moreover, I have long sought to be of no use and nearly died, and only now have I gained it, which is my great use. If I had been useful, could I have grown so great? Moreover, you and I are both things; why look at each other as things like this? You, nearly dead, a useless man, how would you know about useless trees!" The carpenter woke and told the dream. His disciple said: "It aims at being useless, so why does it serve as a village altar?" He said: "Hush! Do not speak. It is only lodged there, so that those who do not understand it may slander it. If it did not serve as an altar, it would nearly be cut down! Moreover, what it preserves is different from the multitude, and to praise it with righteousness is surely far off the mark!"

南伯子綦遊乎商之丘，見大木焉，有異，結駟千乘，隱將芘其所藾。子綦曰：「此何木也哉？此必有異材夫！」仰而視其細枝，則拳曲而不可以為棟梁；俯而視其大根，則軸解而不可以為棺槨；咶其葉，則口爛而為傷；嗅之，則使人狂酲三日而不已。子綦曰：「此果不材之木也，以至於此其大也。嗟乎，神人以此不材！」宋有荊氏者，宜楸柏桑。其拱把而上者，求狙猴之杙者斬之；三圍四圍，求高名之麗者斬之；七圍八圍，貴人富商之家求禪傍者斬之。故未終其天年，而中道之夭於斧斤，此材之患也。故解之以牛之白顙者，與豚之亢鼻者，與人有痔病者，不可以適河，此皆巫祝以知之矣，所以為不祥也，此乃神人之所以為大祥也。

Ziqi of Nanbo wandered at the Hill of Shang and saw a great tree that was extraordinary; a thousand four-horse carriages could take shelter in its shade. Ziqi said: "What tree is this? It must have extraordinary timber!" Looking up at its small branches, they were gnarled and could not serve as beams or rafters; looking down at its great roots, they were split at the core and could not make coffins; licking its leaf, his mouth festered and was wounded; smelling it, it made a man frenzied and drunk for three days without ceasing. Ziqi said: "This is indeed a useless tree, and that is how it has grown so large. Ah, the spirit-man uses this uselessness!" In Song, in the place of Jing Shi, catalpas, cypresses and mulberries grow well. Those a handspan or more in thickness are cut by people who seek monkey-tethering posts; those three or four spans around are cut by people who seek high-reputation beams; those seven or eight spans around are cut by noble and wealthy families seeking whole-plank coffins. So they cannot live out their natural years and die midway under the axe; this is the misfortune of useful timber. So in sacrifices and in cleansing offerings, an ox with a white forehead, a pig with an upturned snout, and a man with hemorrhoids may not be cast into the river; this the shamans and priests already know, so they regard them as inauspicious, but this is exactly what the spirit-man regards as greatly auspicious.

支離疏者，頤隱於齊，肩高於頂，會撮指天，五管在上，兩髀為脅。挫針治繲，足以餬口；鼓筴播精，足以食十人。上徵武士，則支離攘臂於其間；上有大役，則支離以有常疾不受功；上與病者粟，則受三鍾與十束薪。夫支離其形者，猶足以養其身，終其天年，又況支離其德者乎！

A man named Zhili Shu had his chin hidden in his navel, his shoulders higher than his crown, his topknot pointing at the sky, his five organs on top, and his two thighs turned into ribs. By sewing and washing clothes he could earn a living; by sifting rice and winnowing chaff he could feed ten people. When the authorities conscripted soldiers, Zhili would roll up his sleeves and stand in the midst of them; when the authorities had a great labor service, Zhili, having a chronic illness, was not assigned work; when the authorities gave grain to the sick, he received three zhong and ten bundles of firewood. If one whose body is disfigured can still support himself and live out his natural years, how much more one whose virtue is disfigured!

孔子適楚，楚狂接輿遊其門，曰：「鳳兮鳳兮，何如德之衰也！來世不可待，往世不可追也。天下有道，聖人成焉；天下無道，聖人生焉。方今之時，僅免刑焉。福輕乎羽，莫之知載；禍重乎地，莫之知避。已乎已乎，臨人以德；殆乎殆乎，畫地而趨！迷陽迷陽，無傷吾行。吾行郤曲，無傷吾足。」山木自寇也，膏火自煎也。桂可食，故伐之；漆可用，故割之。人皆知有用之用，而莫知無用之用也。

Confucius went to Chu, and the madman of Chu, Jieyu, passed by his door and said: "Phoenix, phoenix, how your virtue has declined! The future cannot be waited for, the past cannot be pursued. When the world has the Way, the sage accomplishes things; when the world lacks the Way, the sage merely survives. In this present time, one only barely escapes punishment. Fortune is lighter than a feather, yet no one knows how to bear it; misfortune is heavier than the earth, yet no one knows how to avoid it. Enough, enough, to approach people with virtue; danger, danger, to draw lines on the ground and rush about! Brambles, brambles, do not hurt my path. I walk crookedly, do not hurt my feet." Mountain trees bring on their own felling, and lamp oil burns itself. The cinnamon can be eaten, so it is cut; the lacquer tree can be used, so it is tapped. People all know the use of the useful, but no one knows the use of the useless.

魯有兀者王駘，從之遊者與仲尼相若。常季問於仲尼曰：「王駘，兀者也，從之遊者與夫子中分魯。立不教，坐不議，虛而往，實而歸。固有不言之教，無形而心成者邪？是何人也？」仲尼曰：「夫子，聖人也。丘也直後而未往耳。丘將以為師，而況不若丘者乎！奚假魯國，丘將引天下而與從之。」常季曰：「彼兀者也，而王先生，其與庸亦遠矣。若然者，其用心也獨若之何？」仲尼曰：「死生亦大矣，而不得與之變，雖天地覆墜，亦將不與之遺。審乎無假而不與物遷，命物之化而守其宗也。」常季曰：「何謂也？」仲尼曰：「自其異者視之，肝膽楚越也；自其同者視之，萬物皆一也。夫若然者，且不知耳目之所宜，而遊心乎德之和；物視其所一而不見其所喪，視喪其足，猶遺土也。」常季曰：「彼為己，以其知得其心，以其心得其常心，物何為最之哉？」仲尼曰：「人莫鑑於流水而鑑於止水。唯止，能止眾止。受命於地，唯松柏獨也在，冬夏青青；受命於天，唯舜獨也正，幸能正生，以正眾生。夫保始之徵，不懼之實，勇士一人，雄入於九軍。將求名而能自要者，而猶若是，而況官天地，府萬物，直寓六骸，象耳目，一知之所知，而心未嘗死者乎！彼且擇日而登假，人則從是也。彼且何肯以物為事乎！」

In the state of Lu there was a man whose foot had been cut off, named Wang Tai, and those who followed him to study were about as many as followed Zhongni. Chang Ji asked Zhongni: "Wang Tai is a footless man, yet those who study with him divide Lu with you, Master. He does not teach when standing, does not discuss when sitting; people go empty and return full. Is there truly a teaching without words, a mind completed without form? What kind of man is this?" Zhongni said: "He is a sage. I, Qiu, have only been late and not yet gone. I will take him as my teacher, how much more those who are not equal to me! Not only Lu; I will lead the whole world to follow him." Chang Ji said: "He is a footless man yet surpasses you, Master; how far he is from the ordinary! In such a case, what is distinctive about how he uses his mind?" Zhongni said: "Death and life are great matters, but he does not change along with them; even if heaven and earth collapse, he will not be lost along with them. He examines that which has no dependence and does not shift with things, names the changes of things and holds to their source." Chang Ji said: "What do you mean?" Zhongni said: "Seen from the side of their differences, liver and gall are as far apart as Chu and Yue; seen from the side of their sameness, the myriad things are all one. Such a man does not even know what his ears and eyes find suitable, and lets his mind roam in the harmony of virtue; he looks at things only in terms of what they share in common and does not see what they lose; he sees the loss of his foot as the loss of a clod of earth." Chang Ji said: "He cultivates himself, using his knowledge to get his mind and his mind to get the constant mind; why do things gather to him so much?" Zhongni said: "People do not look at their reflection in flowing water but in still water. Only the still can stop all that is stopped. Among those who receive their destiny from the earth, only pine and cypress stand alone, green in winter and summer; among those who receive their destiny from heaven, only Shun was alone correct; fortunate to be able to rectify his own life, he used it to rectify the lives of the multitude. As proof of preserving the beginning, the fullness of fearlessness: a single warrior charges heroically into the midst of nine armies. One who seeks fame and can discipline himself is already like this; how much more one who governs heaven and earth, stores the myriad things, merely lodges in the six limbs, takes the ears and eyes as appearances, unites what knowledge knows into one, and whose mind has never died! He will choose a day to ascend to the high and far, and people simply follow this point. How could he care about external things!"

申徒嘉，兀者也，而與鄭子產同師於伯昏無人。子產謂申徒嘉曰：「我先出則子止，子先出則我止。」其明日，又與合堂同席而坐。子產謂申徒嘉曰：「我先出則子止，子先出則我止。今我將出，子可以止乎，其未邪？且子見執政而不違，子齊執政乎？」申徒嘉曰：「先生之門，固有執政焉如此哉？子而悅子之執政而後人者也？聞之曰：『鑑明則塵垢不止，止則不明也。久與賢人處則無過。』今子之所取大者，先生也，而猶出言若是，不亦過乎！」子產曰：「子既若是矣，猶與堯爭善。計子之德，不足以自反邪？」申徒嘉曰：「自狀其過，以不當亡者眾；不狀其過，以不當存者寡。知不可奈何而安之若命，唯有德者能之。遊於羿之彀中，中央者，中地也，然而不中者，命也。人以其全足笑吾不全足者眾矣，我怫然而怒，而適先生之所，則廢然而反，不知先生之洗我以善邪？吾與夫子遊，十九年矣，而未嘗知吾兀者也。今子與我遊於形骸之內，而子索我於形骸之外，不亦過乎！」子產蹵然改容更貌，曰：「子無乃稱！」

Shentu Jia was a footless man who studied together with Zichan of Zheng under Bohun Wuren. Zichan said to Shentu Jia: "If I go out first, you stay; if you go out first, I stay." The next day they again sat in the same hall on the same mat. Zichan said to Shentu Jia: "If I go out first, you stay; if you go out first, I stay. Now I am about to go out; will you stay or not? Moreover, when you see a man in government you do not step aside; do you take yourself as equal to a man in government?" Shentu Jia said: "In the Master's school, is there originally a man in government like this? Are you someone who delights in your own governing position and puts others behind? I have heard: 'If the mirror is bright, dust does not settle; if it settles, it is not bright. Living long with the worthy, one is without fault.' Now what you take as great is the Master, yet you say such words; is that not excessive!" Zichan said: "You are already like this, and you still contend with Yao over goodness. Measure your virtue; is it not enough for you to reflect on yourself?" Shentu Jia said: "Many people recount their own faults and think they should not have lost their foot; few do not recount their faults and think they should not have kept their foot. To know what cannot be helped and rest in it as fate, only one with virtue can do. Wandering within the range of Yi's arrows, the very center is where one is sure to be hit, yet those who are not hit are fate. Many people laugh at my incomplete feet with their complete feet, and I flare with anger; but once I come to the Master, the anger vanishes and I return calm, not knowing whether the Master has washed me with goodness. I have traveled with the Master for nineteen years and he has never known I am a footless man. Now you and I travel within the bounds of the body, yet you seek me outside the body; is that not excessive!" Zichan, abashed, changed his expression and bearing and said: "Say no more!"

魯有兀者叔山無趾，踵見仲尼。仲尼曰：「子不謹，前既犯患若是矣。雖今來，何及矣！」無趾曰：「吾唯不知務而輕用吾身，吾是以亡足。今吾來也，猶有尊足者存，吾是以務全之也。夫天無不覆，地無不載，吾以夫子為天地，安知夫子之猶若是也！」孔子曰：「丘則陋矣。夫子胡不入乎，請講以所聞。」無趾出。孔子曰：「弟子勉之！夫無趾，兀者也，猶務學，以復補前行之惡，而況全德之人乎？」無趾語老聃曰：「孔丘之於至人，其未邪？彼何賓賓以學子為？彼且蘄以諔詭幻怪之名聞，不知至人之以是為己桎梏邪？」老聃曰：「胡不直使彼以死生為一條，以可不可為一貫者，解其桎梏，其可乎？」無趾曰：「天刑之，安可解！」

In Lu there was a footless man, Shushan Wuzhi, who came to see Zhongni walking on his heels. Zhongni said: "You were not careful and have already brought this calamity on yourself. Even if you come now, how could it be in time!" Wuzhi said: "I only did not understand the times and used my body lightly, and so lost my foot. Now I have come, and there is still something more honorable than a foot that remains, and I am striving to preserve it. There is nothing heaven does not cover and nothing earth does not carry; I took you, Master, as heaven and earth, and how was I to know that you are still like this!" Confucius said: "I, Qiu, am truly shallow. Why does the Master not come in, and let me hear what you have learned?" Wuzhi left. Confucius said: "Disciples, strive! Wuzhi is a footless man yet still strives to learn in order to make up for the evil of his earlier conduct; how much more those whose virtue is whole!" Wuzhi told Lao Dan: "As for Kong Qiu, he is probably not yet a perfect man? Why does he so earnestly regard himself as a student? He is still seeking to be known in the world for a name of deceit and marvel; does he not know that the perfect man regards these as his own fetters?" Lao Dan said: "Why not simply make him regard death and life as one string, and permissible and impermissible as one thread, and loosen his fetters; would that do?" Wuzhi said: "Heaven has punished him; how can it be loosened!"

魯哀公問於仲尼曰：「衞有惡人焉，曰哀駘它。丈夫與之處者，思而不能去也；婦人見之，請於父母曰『與為人妻，寧為夫子妾』者，十數而未止也。未嘗有聞其唱者也，常和人而已矣。無君人之位以濟乎人之死，無聚祿以望人之腹，又以惡駭天下，和而不唱，知不出乎四域，且而雌雄合乎前，是必有異乎人者也。寡人召而觀之，果以惡駭天下。與寡人處，不至以月數，而寡人有意乎其為人也；不至乎期年，而寡人信之。國無宰，寡人傳國焉，悶然而後應，氾若而辭。寡人醜乎，卒授之國。無幾何也，去寡人而行。寡人卹焉，若有亡也，若無與樂是國也。是何人者也？」仲尼曰：「丘也嘗使於楚矣，適見豚子食於其死母者，少焉眴若，皆棄之而走，不見己焉爾，不得類焉爾。所愛其母者，非愛其形也，愛使其形者也。戰而死者，其人之葬也不以翣資，刖者之屨，無為愛之，皆無其本矣。為天子之諸御，不爪翦，不穿耳，取妻者止於外，不得復使。形全猶足以為爾，而況全德之人乎！今哀駘它未言而信，無功而親，使人授己國，唯恐其不受也，是必才全而德不形者也。」哀公曰：「何謂才全？」仲尼曰：「死生存亡、窮達貧富、賢與不肖、毀譽、飢渴、寒暑，是事之變，命之行也，日夜相代乎前，而知不能規乎其始者也，故不足以滑和，不可入於靈府。使之和豫通而不失於兌，使日夜無郤而與物為春，是接而生時乎心者也，是之謂才全。」「何謂德不形？」曰：「平者，水停之盛也。其可以為法也，內保之而外不蕩也。德者，成和之脩也。德不形者，物不能離也。」哀公異日以告閔子曰：「始也吾以南面而君天下，執民之紀而憂其死，吾自以為至通矣。今吾聞至人之言，恐吾無其實，輕用吾身而亡吾國。吾與孔丘，非君臣也，德友而已矣！」

Duke Ai of Lu asked Zhongni: "In Wei there was an ugly man named Ai Taituo. Men who lived with him thought of him and could not leave; women who saw him begged their parents: 'Rather than be another man's wife, I would be this gentleman's concubine,' and there have been more than ten and it has not stopped. I have never heard him propose anything, but he is always only in harmony with others. He has no ruler's position to save people from death, no accumulated salary to fill people's bellies with hope, and he startles the world with his ugliness; he harmonizes and does not lead, and his knowledge does not go beyond the four quarters, yet both men and women gather before him; he must have something different from others. I summoned him and saw him, and indeed his ugliness startled the world. Living with me for less than a month, I had a feeling for his character; before a year had passed, I trusted him. The state had no chancellor, and I wanted to hand the state over to him; he was reluctant and then answered, vaguely declining. I felt ashamed of myself and in the end handed him the state. Before long he left me and went away. I was distressed as if I had lost something, as if there were no one with whom I could enjoy this state. What kind of man is this?" Zhongni said: "I too once went as envoy to Chu and happened to see piglets nursing at a dead sow; after a moment they looked startled and all abandoned her and ran away. They did not see themselves in her and did not get their kind. What they loved in their mother was not her form but what moved the form. A man who dies in battle is not buried with decorated coffin; the shoes of a man whose foot has been cut off have no reason to be loved: both have lost their root. Those who serve the Son of Heaven do not trim their nails or pierce their ears; one who has taken a wife stays outside the palace and is not employed again. If the complete body is enough for this, how much more one whose virtue is complete! Now Ai Taituo is trusted without having spoken, is close to people without having achieved anything, and makes people hand him a state, only afraid he will not accept; this must be a person whose talent is complete and whose virtue does not show." Duke Ai said: "What is meant by complete talent?" Zhongni said: "Death and life, survival and loss, failure and success, poverty and wealth, worth and unworthiness, praise and blame, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, are the changes of affairs and the movement of fate, alternating day and night before us, and knowledge cannot see their beginning, so they are not enough to disturb the harmony or enter the spiritual treasury. Make it harmonious, joyful and unobstructed without losing delight, make day and night without gap and be spring with all things; this is what meets things and brings life in season within the mind, and this is called complete talent." "What is meant by virtue not showing?" He said: "Level is the fullness of still water. It can serve as a standard, being kept whole within and not shaken without. Virtue is the cultivation of accomplished harmony. Where virtue does not show, things cannot leave it." Another day, Duke Ai told Min Zi: "At first, as ruler facing south over the world, holding the people's guidelines and worrying over their deaths, I thought I understood everything. Now I have heard the words of the perfect man and fear that I lack the substance, that I will use my person lightly and ruin my state. Confucius and I are not ruler and minister, but only friends in virtue!"

闉跂支離無脤說衞靈公，靈公悅之，而視全人，其脰肩肩。甕㼜大癭說齊桓公，桓公說之，而視全人，其脰肩肩。故德有所長而形有所忘。人不忘其所忘，而忘其所不忘，此謂誠忘。故聖人有所遊，而知為孽，約為膠，德為接，工為商。聖人不謀，惡用知？不斲，惡用膠？無喪，惡用德？不貨，惡用商？四者，天鬻也。天鬻也者，天食也。既受食於天，又惡用人？有人之形，無人之情。有人之形，故群於人；無人之情，故是非不得於身。眇乎小哉，所以屬於人也；謷乎大哉，獨成其天！

Hunchbacked, Lame, Lipless Zhili went to persuade Duke Ling of Wei, and the duke liked him, and then, looking at men with complete bodies, he found their necks thin and spindly. Jar-Sized Goiter went to persuade Duke Huan of Qi, and the duke liked him, and then, looking at men with complete bodies, he found their necks thin and spindly. So when virtue grows, the form is forgotten. If a person does not forget what should be forgotten but forgets what should not be forgotten, this is called true forgetting. So the sage has somewhere to roam, and regards knowledge as a calamity, restraints as glue, virtue as social contact, and craftsmanship as peddling. The sage does not scheme, so what need is there for knowledge? He does not carve, so what need is there for glue? He loses nothing, so what need is there for virtue? He does not sell, so what need is there for trade? These four are Heaven's nurturing. Heaven's nurturing is Heaven's feeding. Having already received food from Heaven, what use is there for man? He has the human form but not human feelings. Having the human form, he gathers with people; lacking human feelings, right and wrong cannot attach to his person. How tiny, and so he belongs to man; how great, he alone completes his Heaven!

惠子謂莊子曰：「人故無情乎？」莊子曰：「然。」惠子曰：「人而無情，何以謂之人？」莊子曰：「道與之貌，天與之形，惡得不謂之人？」惠子曰：「既謂之人，惡得無情？」莊子曰：「是非吾所謂情也。吾所謂無情者，言人之不以好惡內傷其身，常因自然而不益生也。」惠子曰：「不益生，何以有其身？」莊子曰：「道與之貌，天與之形，無以好惡內傷其身。今子外乎子之神，勞乎子之精，倚樹而吟，據槁梧而瞑。天選子之形，子以堅白鳴！」

Huizi said to Zhuangzi: "Do people originally have no feelings?" Zhuangzi said: "Yes." Huizi said: "If a person has no feelings, how can he be called a person?" Zhuangzi said: "The Way gave him an appearance and Heaven gave him a form; how could he not be called a person?" Huizi said: "Since he is called a person, how can he have no feelings?" Zhuangzi said: "That is not what I mean by feelings. What I mean by having no feelings is that a person does not damage his own body inwardly with likes and dislikes, and always follows what is natural (zi ran: self-so, as it is by itself, not 'Nature' as in the great outdoors) and does not add to life." Huizi said: "If he does not add to life, how does he keep his body?" Zhuangzi said: "The Way gave him an appearance and Heaven gave him a form; do not damage your own body inwardly with likes and dislikes. Now you put your spirit outside and weary your essence, leaning on a tree to chant and dozing against a withered parasol tree. Heaven chose your form for you, yet you use it to squawk about 'hard and white'!"