The Revolving of Heaven

「天其運乎？地其處乎？日月其爭於所乎？孰主張是？孰維綱是？孰居無事推而行是？意者其有機緘而不得已邪？意者其運轉而不能自止邪？雲者為雨乎？雨者為雲乎？孰隆施是？孰居無事淫樂而勸是？風起北方，一西一東，有上彷徨。孰噓吸是？孰居無事而披拂是？敢問何故？」

Is Heaven revolving? Is Earth at rest? Are the sun and moon contending for their places? Who presides over these? Who holds them together by the cords? Who, sitting idle without anything to do, pushes them to move? Is it that there is some mechanism locked and sealed, so that they cannot help it? Is it that once set revolving they cannot stop of themselves? Are the clouds for the sake of the rain? Is the rain for the sake of the clouds? Who raises and spreads these? Who, idle and without anything to do, delights excessively and helps bring these about? The wind rises from the north, one to the west and one to the east, hovering above. Who breathes these out? Who, idle and without anything to do, fans them? May I ask the reason?

巫咸祒曰：「來，吾語女。天有六極五常，帝王順之則治，逆之則兇。九洛之事，治成德備，監照下土，天下戴之，此謂上皇。」

Wu Xianzhao said: "Come, I will tell you. Heaven has six limits and five constants; the emperor who follows them is well governed, and one who goes against them meets misfortune. In the affairs of the Nine Luo, when order is accomplished and virtue is complete, he oversees and looks down on the lands below, and the world upholds him; he is called the Supreme August One."

商大宰蕩問仁於莊子。莊子曰：「虎狼，仁也。」

The Grand Steward Dang of Song asked Zhuangzi about benevolence. Zhuangzi said: "Tigers and wolves are benevolent too."

曰：「何謂也？」

(The Grand Steward Dang) said: "What do you mean?"

莊子曰：「父子相親，何為不仁？」

Zhuangzi said: "Parent and child are close to each other; why is that not benevolence?"

曰：「請問至仁。」

(The Grand Steward Dang) said: "May I ask what perfect benevolence is."

莊子曰：「至仁無親。」

Zhuangzi said: "Perfect benevolence has no kin."

大宰曰：「蕩聞之，無親則不愛，不愛則不孝。謂至仁不孝，可乎？」

The Grand Steward said: "I have heard that without kin there is no love, and without love there is no filial piety. To say that perfect benevolence is not filial, is that acceptable?"

莊子曰：「不然，夫至仁尚矣，孝固不足以言之。此非過孝之言也，不及孝之言也。夫南行者至於郢，北面而不見冥山，是何也？則去之遠也。故曰：以敬孝易，以愛孝難；以愛孝易，以忘親難；忘親易，使親忘我難；使親忘我易，兼忘天下難；兼忘天下易，使天下兼忘我難。夫德遺堯舜而不為也，利澤施於萬世，天下莫知也，豈直大息而言仁孝乎哉！夫孝悌仁義，忠信貞廉，此皆自勉以役其德者也，不足多也。故曰，至貴，國爵並焉；至富，國財並焉；至願，名譽並焉。是以道不渝。」

Zhuangzi said: "It is not so. Perfect benevolence is higher; filial piety is not even enough to explain it. This is not a saying that goes beyond filial piety but a saying that fails to reach filial piety. One who goes south to Ying cannot see Mount Ming when he faces north; why? Because he is far from it. So it is said: to be filial with reverence is easy, to be filial with love is hard; to be filial with love is easy, to forget one's parents is hard; to forget one's parents is easy, to make one's parents forget me is hard; to make one's parents forget me is easy, to forget the whole world together is hard; to forget the whole world together is easy, to make the whole world forget me is hard. Virtue casts away Yao and Shun and does not act, benefit and grace extend to ten thousand generations and no one in the world knows it; how could one merely sigh and talk about benevolence and filial piety! Filial piety, brotherly respect, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, good faith, chastity and integrity are all things by which one forces oneself to drive one's own virtue, and are not worth exalting. So it is said: for the utmost nobility, the rank of a state is put aside altogether; for the utmost wealth, the wealth of a state is put aside altogether; for the utmost desire, fame is put aside altogether. Therefore the Way does not change."

北門成問於黃帝曰：「帝張咸池之樂於洞庭之野，吾始聞之懼，復聞之怠，卒聞之而惑；蕩蕩默默，乃不自得。」

Beimen Cheng asked the Yellow Emperor: "When you performed the music of the Xianchi in the wilds of Dongting, at first I heard it and was afraid, then I heard it again and grew slack, and finally I heard it and was bewildered; vast and silent, I could not recover myself."

帝曰：「汝殆其然哉！吾奏之以人，徵之以天，行之以禮義，建之以大清。夫至樂者，先應之以人事，順之以天理，行之以五德，應之以自然，然後調理四時，太和萬物。四時迭起，萬物循生；一盛一衰，文武倫經；一清一濁，陰陽調和，流光其聲；蟄蟲始作，吾驚之以雷霆；其卒無尾，其始無首；一死一生，一僨一起；所常無窮，而一不可待。汝故懼也。

The Yellow Emperor said: "This is probably how you would be! I played it with the human, summoned it with Heaven, carried it out with ritual and righteousness, and established it with great purity. Perfect music first responds with human affairs, follows with heavenly principle, proceeds with the five virtues, and answers with spontaneity, and only then regulates the four seasons and brings great harmony to the ten thousand things. The four seasons arise in turn, and the ten thousand things grow in sequence; one flourishes and one declines, the order of civil and martial; one clear and one muddy, yin and yang are harmonized, and light flows in the sound; the hibernating insects begin to stir, and I startle them with thunder; its end has no tail and its beginning has no head; one dies and one lives, one falls and one rises; what is constant is inexhaustible, and not one thing can be waited for. That is why you were afraid.

吾又奏之以陰陽之和，燭之以日月之明；其聲能短能長，能柔能剛；變化齊一，不主故常；在谷滿谷，在阬滿阬；塗卻守神，以物為量。其聲揮綽，其名高明。是故鬼神守其幽，日月星辰行其紀。吾止之於有窮，流之於無止。予欲慮之而不能知也，望之而不能見也，逐之而不能及也；儻然立於四虛之道，倚於槁梧而吟。目知窮乎所欲見，力屈乎所欲逐，吾既不及已夫！形充空虛，乃至委蛇。汝委蛇，故怠。

(The Yellow Emperor continued:) "Then I played it with the harmony of yin and yang and lit it with the brightness of sun and moon; its sound could be short or long, soft or hard; its changes were uniform as one and did not hold to the old constant; in a valley it filled the valley, in a pit it filled the pit; it plugged cracks and guarded the spirit, taking things as its measure. Its sound was broad and sweeping, its name lofty and bright. So spirits and deities guard their dark places, and the sun, moon and stars follow their courses. I stopped it where it was exhausted, and let it flow where there was no stopping. I wanted to think it through but could not know it, to gaze at it but could not see it, to chase it but could not reach it; I stood bewildered on the road of the four voids, leaning on a withered parasol tree and humming. My eyes and knowledge were exhausted in wanting to see, my strength was spent in wanting to chase, and I could not catch up! My form was full yet empty, and only then did I wind and drift. Because you wound and drifted, you grew slack."

吾又奏之以無怠之聲，調之以自然之命，故若混逐叢生，林樂而無形；布揮而不曳，幽昏而無聲。動於無方，居於窈冥；或謂之死，或謂之生；或謂之實，或謂之榮；行流散徙，不主常聲。世疑之，稽於聖人。聖也者，達於情而遂於命也。天機不張而五官皆備。此之謂天樂，無言而心說。故有焱氏為之頌曰：『聽之不聞其聲，視之不見其形，充滿天地，苞裹六極。』汝欲聽之而無接焉，而故惑也。

(The Yellow Emperor continued:) "Then I played it with a sound of no slackness and tuned it with the decree of spontaneity, so it was like mingled chasing, like clustered sprouting, making music in the forest without form; spreading and swaying without trailing, dim and obscure without sound. It moves without direction and dwells in the deep darkness; some say it is dead, some say it is alive; some say it is real, some say it is flourishing; it flows, scatters and drifts without holding to a constant sound. The people of the world doubt it and consult the sage. What is called the sage is one who penetrates feeling and follows destiny. Heaven's mechanism is not set in motion, yet the five senses are all complete. This is called heavenly joy, with no words yet joy in the heart. So Youyan composed a hymn for it: 'Listening to it, one does not hear its sound; looking at it, one does not see its form; it fills Heaven and Earth and wraps the six limits.' You wanted to hear it but had no way to connect with it, and so you were bewildered."

樂也者，始於懼，懼故祟；吾又次之以怠，怠故遁；卒之於惑，惑故愚；愚故道，道可載而與之俱也。」

(The Yellow Emperor continued:) "Music is a thing that begins with fear, and fear is why it works mischief; then I followed with slackness, and slackness is why one flees; it ends in bewilderment, and bewilderment is why one is foolish; foolishness is how one joins the Way, and the Way can be carried and kept together with it."

孔子西遊於衞，顏淵問師金曰：「以夫子之行為奚如？」

Confucius traveled west to Wei, and Yan Yuan asked Music Master Jin: "What do you think of the Master's conduct this way?"

師金曰：「惜乎！而夫子其窮哉！」

Music Master Jin said: "What a pity! Your Master is going to be in hardship!"

顏淵曰：「何也？」

Yan Yuan said: "Why?"

師金曰：「夫芻狗之未陳也，盛以篋衍，巾以文繡，尸祝齊戒以將之。及其已陳也，行者踐其首脊，蘇者取而爨之而已；將復取而盛以篋衍，巾以文繡，遊居寢臥其下，彼不得夢，必且數眯焉。今而夫子，亦取先王已陳芻狗，聚弟子游居寢臥其下。故伐樹於宋，削跡於衞，窮於商周，是非其夢邪？圍於陳蔡之間，七日不火食，死生相與鄰，是非其眯邪？

Music Master Jin said: "Before the straw dogs are set out, they are put in boxes and covered with embroidered cloths, and the impersonators and invocators fast and carry them. After they have been set out, travelers trample on their heads and backs, and woodcutters take them to burn as fuel; if one were to take them again and put them in boxes and cover them with embroidered cloths, and wander, dwell and sleep beneath them, that person, even if he did not have such dreams, would surely be repeatedly oppressed by nightmares. Now your Master also takes the straw dogs the former kings have already set out, and gathers his disciples to wander, dwell and sleep beneath them. So the tree was cut down on him in Song, his tracks were wiped out in Wei, and he was in hardship in Shang and Zhou; is this not that kind of dream? Surrounded between Chen and Cai, for seven days without lighting a fire to cook, death and life next-door neighbors, is this not that kind of nightmare?

夫水行莫如用舟，而陸行莫如用車。以舟之可行於水也而求推之於陸，則沒世不行尋常。古今非水陸與？周魯非舟車與？今蘄行周於魯，是猶推舟於陸也，勞而無功，身必有殃。彼未知夫無方之傳，應物而不窮者也。

(Music Master Jin continued:) "For travel on water nothing is better than a boat, and for travel on land nothing is better than a cart. Because a boat can go on water, to want to push it on land means one will never get as far as ordinary distances in a lifetime. Are past and present not like water and land? Are Zhou and Lu not like boat and cart? Now to seek to push the ways of Zhou in Lu is like pushing a boat on land, laboring without result, and the person himself is sure to meet calamity. He does not know that what is passed on without fixed direction responds to things without exhaustion."

且子獨不見夫桔槔者乎？引之則俯，舍之則仰。彼，人之所引，非引人也。故俯仰而不得罪於人。故夫三皇五帝之禮義法度，不矜於同而矜於治。故譬三皇五帝之禮義法度，其猶柤■{梨}橘柚邪！其味相反而皆可於口。

(Music Master Jin continued:) "Moreover, have you not seen the well-sweep? Pull it and it bows; let go and it rises. It is drawn by people and does not draw people. So bowing and rising give no offense to people. So the ritual, righteousness, laws and institutions of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors do not pride themselves on being the same, but on being able to govern. So the ritual, righteousness, laws and institutions of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors may be compared to hawthorns, pears, tangerines and pomelos (a character is missing in the base text, the marginal note reads "pear")! Their flavors are opposite, and yet all suit the mouth."

故禮義法度者，應時而變者也。今取猨狙而衣以周公之服，彼必齕齧挽裂，盡去而後慊。觀古今之異，猶猨狙之異乎周公也。故西施病心而矉其裡，其裡之醜人見之而美之，歸亦捧心而矉其裡。其裡之富人見之，堅閉門而不出，貧人見之，挈妻子而去走。彼知矉美而不知矉之所以美。惜乎，而夫子其窮哉！」

(Music Master Jin continued:) "So ritual, righteousness, laws and institutions change in response to the times. If one caught a monkey and put the Duke of Zhou's clothes on it, it would surely bite and tear them, and only be satisfied when it had shed them all. Look at the difference between past and present: it is like the monkey being different from the Duke of Zhou. So Xi Shi, with a heart ailment, frowned in her village, and an ugly woman of the village saw it and thought it beautiful, and when she went back she also clutched her heart and frowned in the village. The rich of the village saw her, shut their gates tight and did not come out, and the poor saw her, took their wives and children and ran away. She knew the frown was beautiful, but did not know why the frown was beautiful. What a pity! Your Master is going to be in hardship!"

孔子行年五十有一而不聞道，乃南之沛見老聃。

Confucius, at the age of fifty-one, had not yet heard the Way, so he went south to Pei to see Lao Dan.

老聃曰：「子來乎？吾聞子，北方之賢者也！子亦得道乎？」孔子曰：「未得也。」

Lao Dan said: "You have come? I have heard that you are a worthy man of the north! Have you also attained the Way?" Confucius said: "Not yet."

老子曰：「子惡乎求之哉？」

Laozi said: "Where did you seek it?"

曰：「吾求之於度數，五年而未得也。」

(Confucius) said: "I sought it in measures and numbers, and for five years I did not get it."

老子曰：「子又惡乎求之哉？」

Laozi said: "And where else did you seek it?"

曰：「吾求之於陰陽，十有二年而未得也。」

(Confucius) said: "I sought it in yin and yang, and for twelve years I did not get it."

老子曰：「然，使道而可獻，則人莫不獻之於其君；使道而可進，則人莫不進之於其親；使道而可以告人，則人莫不告其兄弟；使道而可以與人，則人莫不與其子孫。然而不可者，無佗也，中無主而不止，外無正而不行。由中出者，不受於外，聖人不出；由外入者，無主於中，聖人不隱。名，公器也，不可多取。仁義，先王之蘧廬也，止可以一宿而不可久處，覯而多責。

Laozi said: "So it is. If the Way could be presented, there would be no one who would not present it to his ruler; if the Way could be offered, there would be no one who would not offer it to his parents; if the Way could be told to others, there would be no one who would not tell it to his brothers; if the Way could be given to others, there would be no one who would not give it to his children and grandchildren. But that it cannot is for no other reason: if there is no master within, it does not stay, and if there is no correctness without, it does not proceed. What comes out of the inside, if the outside does not receive it, the sage does not bring forth; what comes in from the outside, if there is no master within, the sage does not store. Name is a public vessel and cannot be taken in excess. Benevolence and righteousness are the lodging house of the former kings, where one may stay one night but not dwell long, and meeting there brings many reproaches.

古之至人，假道於仁，託宿於義，以遊逍遙之虛，食於苟簡之田，立於不貸之圃。逍遙，無為也；苟簡，易養也；不貸，無出也。古者謂是採真之遊。

(Laozi continued:) "The perfect men of old borrowed a road through benevolence and lodged in righteousness, in order to roam in the free and easy emptiness, eat in the fields of frugality, and stand in the garden of no lending. Free and easy is non-action; frugal is easy to nourish; no lending means nothing taken out. The ancients called this wandering that gathers the true."

以富為是者，不能讓祿；以顯為是者，不能讓名。親權者，不能與人柄，操之則慄，舍之則悲，而一無所鑒，以闚其所不休者，是天之戮民也。怨恩取與諫教生殺，八者，正之器也，唯循大變無所湮者為能用之。故曰，正者，正也。其心以為不然者，天門弗開矣。」

(Laozi continued:) "Those who take wealth as their match cannot yield salary; those who take prominence as their match cannot yield fame. Those who cling to power cannot hand over the handle; holding it they tremble, putting it down they grieve, and have not a bit of insight, but only peer at what they will not give up: these are the people punished by Heaven. Resentment, kindness, taking, giving, remonstrating, teaching, giving life and killing, these eight are the instruments of correction, and only one who follows the great change without being submerged can use them. So it is said: to correct is to be correct. If one's heart thinks it is not so, the gate of Heaven will not open."

孔子見老聃而語仁義。老聃曰：「夫播穅眯目，則天地四方易位矣；蚊虻噆膚，則通昔不寐矣。夫仁義憯然乃憤吾心，亂莫大焉。吾子使天下無失其樸，吾子亦放風而動，總德而立矣，又奚傑然若負建鼓而求亡子者邪？夫鵠不日浴而白，烏不日黔而黑。黑白之樸，不足以為辯；名譽之觀，不足以為廣。泉涸，魚相與處於陸，相呴以溼，相濡以沫，不若相忘於江湖！」

Confucius saw Lao Dan and talked of humaneness and righteousness. Lao Dan said: "If chaff gets into the eyes, heaven, earth and the four directions change places; if mosquitoes and gadflies bite the skin, one cannot sleep all night. Humaneness and righteousness come in miserably to stir up my heart, and there is no greater disorder than this. If you wish the world not to lose its simplicity, you too should move with the wind and stand holding to virtue, so why make such a sudden din, like someone beating a big drum while searching for a lost child? The swan does not need to bathe every day to be white, and the crow does not need to be dyed every day to be black. The simplicity of black and white is not worth arguing over; the outward show of fame is not worth promoting. When the spring dries up, the fish are stranded together on land, moistening each other with their breath and wetting each other with their foam; it would be better to forget one another in the rivers and lakes!"

孔子見老聃歸，三日不談。弟子問曰：「夫子見老聃，亦將何規哉？」

When Confucius returned from seeing Lao Dan, he did not speak for three days. His disciples asked: "Master, you saw Lao Dan; what did you remonstrate with him about?"

孔子曰：「吾乃今於是乎見龍！龍，合而成體，散而成章，乘雲氣而養乎陰陽。予口張而不能嗋。予又何規老聃哉？」

Confucius said: "Only now have I seen a dragon here! A dragon: when it gathers, it forms a body; when it spreads, it forms patterns; it rides the clouds and nourishes itself on yin and yang. My mouth fell open and I could not close it. What could I remonstrate with Lao Dan about?"

子貢曰：「然則人固有屍居而龍見，雷聲而淵默，發動如天地者乎？賜亦可得而觀乎？」遂以孔子聲見老聃。

Zigong said: "Then are there truly people who can sit like a corpse yet appear like a dragon, who speak like thunder yet are silent like an abyss, whose stirrings are like Heaven and Earth? May I, Si, go and see him?" So he went to see Lao Dan in the name of Confucius.

老聃方將倨堂而應，微曰：「予年運而往矣，子將何以戒我乎？」

Lao Dan was sitting with his legs spread in the hall to answer, and said in a low voice: "My years are already gone; what will you use to warn me?"

子貢曰：「夫三王五帝之治天下不同，其係聲名一也。而先生獨以為非聖人，如何哉？」

Zigong said: "The Three Kings and Five Emperors governed the world differently, yet the fame they were tied to was the same. Yet you alone, sir, regard them as not sages; how is that?"

老聃曰：「小子少進！子何以謂不同？」

Lao Dan said: "Young man, come a little closer! On what basis do you say they differed?"

對曰：「堯授舜，舜授禹，禹用力而湯用兵，文王順紂而不敢逆，武王逆紂而不肯順，故曰不同。」

(Zigong) answered: "Yao handed over to Shun, Shun handed over to Yu, Yu used strength and Tang used arms, King Wen followed Zhou and did not dare oppose him, and King Wu opposed Zhou and would not follow him, and so I say they differed."

老聃曰：「小子少進，餘語汝三皇五帝之治天下。黃帝之治天下，使民心一，民有其親死不哭而民不非也。堯之治天下，使民心親。民有為其親殺其殺而民不非也。舜之治天下，使民心競，民孕婦十月生子，子生五月而能言，不至乎孩而始誰，則人始有夭矣。禹之治天下，使民心變，人有心而兵有順，殺盜非殺，人自為種而天下耳，是以天下大駭，儒墨皆起。其作始有倫，而今乎婦女，何言哉！餘語汝，三皇五帝之治天下，名曰治之，而亂莫甚焉。三皇之知，上悖日月之明，下睽山川之精，中墮四時之施。其知憯於𧓽蠆之尾，鮮規之獸，莫得安其性命之情者，而猶自以為聖人，不可恥乎？其無恥也？」

Lao Dan said: "Young man, come a little closer, and I will tell you how the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors governed the world. When the Yellow Emperor governed the world, he made the people's hearts single-minded; if a person's parents died and he did not weep, the people did not criticize him. When Yao governed the world, he made the people's hearts draw close to each other; if people ranked their kin by closeness and distance in relation to their parents, the people did not criticize it. When Shun governed the world, he made the people's hearts compete; a pregnant woman bore her child after ten months, the child could speak five months after birth, and before it was even a child that could laugh it began to tell people apart, and people then began to die young. When Yu governed the world, he made the people's hearts change; people had calculation and soldiers had allegiances, killing robbers was not counted as killing, each person became a separate kind and the world was just ears and eyes, so the world was greatly alarmed, and Confucians and Mohists arose. At first there was still order, and now it has come even to women; what more is there to say! I tell you, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors governed the world, and in name it was called governing, yet there was no greater disorder than this. The knowledge of the Three Sovereigns above went against the brightness of sun and moon, below went against the essence of mountains and rivers, and within destroyed the bestowals of the four seasons. Their knowledge was more cruel than a scorpion's tail, so that even small animals could not rest in the true state of their nature and life, yet they still thought themselves sages; is that not shameful? Do they have no shame?"

子貢蹴蹴然立不安。

Zigong stood there uneasily, shifting about.

孔子謂老聃曰：「丘治《詩》、《書》、《禮》、《樂》、《易》、《春秋》六經，自以為久矣，孰知其故矣，以奸者七十二君，論先王之道而明周召之跡，一君無所鉤用。甚矣夫！人之難說也，道之難明邪？」

Confucius said to Lao Dan: "I, Qiu, have studied the Six Classics, the Songs, Documents, Rites, Music, Changes and Spring and Autumn, and consider that I have done so for a long time and know their reasons well; I went to seek audience with seventy-two rulers, discussed the way of the former kings and made clear the achievements of the Duke of Zhou and Duke Shao, and not one ruler took it up and used it. How extreme! Are people hard to persuade, or is the Way hard to make clear?"

老子曰：「幸矣子之不遇治世之君也！夫六經，先王之陳跡也，豈其所以跡哉！今子之所言，猶跡也。夫跡，履之所出，而跡豈履哉！夫白鶂之相視，眸子不運而風化；蟲，雄鳴於上風，雌應於下風而風化；類自為雌雄，故風化。性不可易，命不可變，時不可止，道不可壅。苟得於道，無自而不可；失焉者，無自而可。」

Laozi said: "You were lucky not to meet a ruler of a well-governed age! The Six Classics are the old traces of former kings, so how can they be what made the traces! What you say now is still a trace. A trace is made by a shoe's tread, but is the trace the shoe itself! The white egrets gaze at each other, their pupils unmoving, and they are transformed by the wind (here meaning transformed by the wind, not the later sense of customs being corrupted); among insects, the male sings upwind and the female answers downwind, and they are transformed by wind; a kind that is itself both female and male is thus transformed. Nature cannot be changed, fate cannot be altered, time cannot be stopped, and the Way cannot be blocked. If one attains the Way, nothing that comes from it is unacceptable; if one loses it, nothing that comes from it is acceptable."

孔子不出三月，復見，曰：「丘得之矣。烏鵲孺，魚傅沫，細要者化，有弟而兄啼。久矣夫丘不與化為人！不與化為人，安能化人！」

Confucius did not go out of his gate for three months, then went to see him again and said: "I have got it. Crows and magpies hatch, fish pass on by foam, the wasps with narrow waists transform, and when a younger brother is born the elder one cries. It has been a long time since I, Qiu, was not a person together with transformation! If I am not a person together with transformation, how can I transform others!"

老子曰：「可，丘得之矣！」

Laozi said: "Good, Qiu has got it!"