The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin)

Emperors, kings and the Sons of Heaven. Looking down on them, you observe the Tao of the dark sages and the uncrowned king. If you retire as they did, amongst the hermits of the rivers and oceans, mountains and forests, you will be considered like them as true scholars. Coming forward and offering help to this generation brings great fame and merit and the whole world becomes one. The sage is still; the king travels. Actionless action brings honour. The beauty radiated, since it arises from simplicity, outshines the rest of the world. Clarity is the Virtue of Heaven and Earth: this is the great Origin, the great Beginning. To have it is to be in harmony with Heaven, to bring equality with everything below Heaven and to be in harmony with all people. To be in harmony with all people is called human happiness; to be in harmony with Heaven, this is called Heavenly happiness.

Chuang Tzu said,

‘My Master Teacher! My Master Teacher!

He judges all life but does not feel he is being judgemental;

he is generous to multitudes of generations

but does not think this benevolent;

he is older than the oldest

but he does not think himself old;

he overarches Heaven and sustains Earth,

shaping and creating endless bodies

but he does not think himself skilful.

This is what is known as Heavenly happiness.

’There is a saying: “If you know the happiness of Heaven, then you know that life is from Heaven and death is the transformation of things. In their stillness they are yin and in their journeying they are yang.” To know Heavenly happiness means that you do not upset Heaven, nor go against others. You are not reliant on material things, you are not rebuked by the ghosts. There is a saying: ”He moves with Heaven and rests with Earth, his heart is one, he is the king of the whole world; the ghosts do not worry him and hissoul is not wearied, his heart is one with all living beings.” This means his emptiness and stillness enter all beings in Heaven and Earth, travelling alongside all beings. This is known as the Heavenly happiness. Heavenly happiness is the heart of the sage; this is how he cares for all under Heaven.’

The Virtue of Emperors and kings considers Heaven and Earth as its parents, the Tao and Virtue as its master and actionless action as its core. Through actionless action they can make the whole world do as they will and yet not be wearied. Through action they cannot even begin to fulfil what the world requires. This is why the ancient ones valued actionless action. When both the leaders and those below them are in actionless action, then both the leaders and the underlings have the same Virtue. If those below and those above share the same Virtue, then none of them is in the position of a minister. If those below act and those aboveact also, then those above and those below share the same Tao. If those above and those below share the same Tao, then there is no one to be the lord. However, those above tend to care for the world by actionless action, while those below care for the world by action. This has always been the case. Thus the ancient kings of the world, who knew everything about Heaven and Earth, had no designs; even though they understood the whole of life, they did not speak out; though their skills were greater than any in the lands bounded by oceans, they did nothing.

Heaven produces nothing,

yet all life is transformed;

Earth does not support,

yet all life is sustained;

the Emperor and the king take actionless action,

yet the whole world is served.

There is a saying that there is

nothing as spiritual as Heaven,

nothing as rich as Earth,

nothing as great as Emperors and kings.

It is also said that the Virtue of Emperors and kings finds its match in that of Heaven and Earth. Thus can one ascend with Heaven and Earth, gallop with all life and harness all people to the Tao.

The beginning lies with those above, the outworking with those below; the important lies with the ruler, the details with the minister.

The three armies and five types of weapons⁵³ are the irrelevant aspects of Virtue.

Handing down rewards and punishments, advantage and loss and the inflicting of the five types of sentence,⁵⁴ these are the irrelevant aspects of teaching.

Rituals and laws, weights and measures and all the attention to self and name are the irrelevant aspects of governing.

The sound of bells and drums, the attention to feathers and hangings, these are the irrelevant aspects of music.

The attributes of official mourning are the irrelevant aspects of grief.

These five unimportant aspects await the movement of the spirit and the liveliness of the heart’s skills before they can be of service.

The ancient ones were aware of all these aspects but did not give them any importance.

The ruler precedes and the minister follows;

the father precedes and the son follows;

the elder brother precedes and the younger brother follows;

the senior one precedes and the junior follows;

the man precedes and the woman follows;

the husband precedes and the wife follows.

This progression of the greater followed by the lesser mirrors that of Heaven and Earth. The sages take their example from this. Heaven is elevated, Earth lowly, and this reflects their spiritual illumination. Spring and summer precede and autumn and winter follow: this is the pattern of the four seasons. In the growth of all life, their roots and buds have their appointed place and distinct shape, and from this comes maturation and then decay, the constant stream of transformation and change. If Heaven and Earth, the most perfect in spirit, have their hierarchy of precedence and sequence, then how much more should this be so with the people!

In the ancestor shrine it is kinship which brings honour;

in the court it is nobility;

in the local areas it is age;

in the governing of things it is wisdom.

This is the pattern of the great Tao. To speak about the Tao but not about