The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin)

could ride the wind, going to the edges without concern, but returning after fifteen days. In the search for good fortune he knew no boundaries. Although he never had to bother with walking, nevertheless he needed some way of getting around. If instead he had risen through the naturalness of Heaven and Earth, travelled on the six elemental forces and voyaged into the unknown and unlimited, he would have had to depend upon nothing! As the saying goes

The perfect man has no self;

The spiritual man has no merit;

The holy man has no fame.

Yao,⁸ giving up rule of the earth to Hsu Yu,⁹ said, ‘When the sun and moon have risen, there is no point in keeping the torches lit, because it’s a waste of light! When the rainy season comes, there is little point in continuing to water the ground! If you, great Master, were to take over the rule of everything under Heaven, then all would be well, whereas if I continue, all I am aware of is my failures. Please, take over ruling the earth.’

Hsu Yu said, ‘Sir, you rule everything below Heaven, and everything below Heaven is well ruled. If I take over from you, Sir, won’t people think I’m doing it just for the fame? But fame is nothing compared to reality. I would be like a guest, wouldn’t I? The tailor bird makes its nest deep in the forest, but only uses one branch. The tapir drinks from the river Ho, but only takes what it needs. Return home, my noble Lord, for I have no interest in ruling the kingdom. The cook may not run his kitchen well, but the shaman does not jump up and take over.’

Chien Wu said to Lien Shu, ‘I was listening to the words of Chieh Yu¹⁰ – his words sounded fine, but there was no substance, going on and on but coming to no conclusion. I was considerably astonished by his words, for they seemed endless like the Milky Way; vast overstatements and not related to the world of humanity.’

Lien Shu said, ‘What was he talking about?’

‘He said, “Far away on a mountain called Ku She, there lives a holy man whose skin is like ice and pure snow, and his manner is like a shy virgin. He does not eat the five grains, but lives off the wind and dew. He climbs the clouds and rides the dragons, and travels beyond the boundaries of the known world. He has distilled holiness and uses this to heal all and to bring full harvests.” Now I think this is nonsense and don’t believe such words.’

Lien Shu said, ‘Obviously. You wouldn’t ask a blind man to appreciate a scene of beauty, nor a deaf man to enjoy the sounds of drums and bells. But it is possible to be blind and deaf in one’s deep understanding, as well as physically. Your very words show this, for you spoke like a young woman waiting for her appointed time!

‘This man with such virtue can hold all existence and roll it into one. Reform is called for, so you, you fool, would just ask such a one to take over the empire! Such a man as this, nothing harms him, not even great floods pouring from the sky can drown him, nor the great drought which melts gold and stone and burns mountains and hills. One like him could make a Yao or Shun¹¹ just from his dust and debris, but he is not bothered by such things! A man from Sung who traded in official ceremonial hats travelled to Yueh, but the people of Yueh, who cut their hair and tattoo themselves, have no use for such things. Yao brought peace to the people of the earth and within the boundaries of the seas. But he went to visit the four masters of distant Ku She mountain, north of the river Fen, and he became aware that his rule was meaningless.’

Hui Tzu spoke to Chuang Tzu, saying, ‘The King of Wei gave me the seeds of an enormous gourd, which I planted and it produced a fruit big enough to hold five bushels of anything, so I used it to hold water, but it was then too heavy to pick up. I cut it into two to make scoops, but they were too awkward to use. It was not that they weren’t big, I just found I could not make use of them, so I destroyed them.’

Chuang Tzu said, ‘Dear Sir, surely the problem is that you don’t know how to use big things. There is a man in Sung who could make a cream which prevented the hands from getting chapped, and generation after generation of his family have made a living by bleaching silk. A pilgrim heard this and offered to buy the secret for a hundred pieces of gold. All the family came together to respond and said, “For generation after generation we have bleached silk, yet we have never made more than a few pieces of gold; now in just one morning we can earn a hundred pieces of gold! Let’s do it.” So the pilgrim got the secret and went to see the King of Wu. He was struggling with the state of Yueh. The King of Wu gave the pilgrim command of the army and in the depths of winter they fought the men of Yueh on the water, inflicting a crushing blow on the forces of Yueh, and the traveller was rewarded by the gift of a vast estate from the conquered territory. The cream had stopped the hands chapping in both cases: one gained an estate, but the others had never got further than bleaching silk, because they used this secret in such different ways. Now, Sir, you have a gourd big enough to hold five bushels, so why didn’t you use it to make big bottles which could help you float down the rivers and lakes, instead