Lord Jin Hsiang grasped that core principle around which everything revolves and followed it to its end. He went with all other things, with no end and no beginning, no desire, no time. Every day he saw change, but he himself was one with what never changes, so there was never any need for him to stop! Anyone who seeks Heaven as his teacher will never obtain Heaven as his teacher. He will end up just following things, and no matter what he does, he cannot help it.
The sage has no thoughts of Heaven,
no thoughts of humanity,
no thoughts of beginning,
no thoughts of others.
He goes with his generation and does not stop.
He does everything and is never blocked.
Others want to unite with him, but then, what else could they do?
Tang obtained the services of the rider Teng Heng and made him his instructor. He followed this teacher but was not restricted by him, so he was able to pursue his interests to their conclusion. This resulted in various honours. These honours were superfluous and revealed for all to see the twin aspects of what he had obtained. Confucius commands, ‘Work at what is at hand, that can be your teacher.’ Yung Cheng said, ‘Remove the days and there are no more years, no internal, no external.’
Ying of Wei made a treaty with the Marquis Tien Mou, but Marquis Tien Mou broke it. Ying of Wei was furious and was planning to send an assassin. The duke responsible for war heard of this and said, ‘Sire, you are the lord of ten thousand chariots and yet you, as ruler, would use a common man to exact revenge! Let me have two hundred thousand soldiers so that I can attack him, capture his people and seize his cattle and horses, stoking up a fire within him that will burn into his back. I shall then attack his capital. When his commander Chi attempts to escape, I will strike from behind and break his spine.’
Chi Tzu was ashamed when he heard this and said, ‘We have been building our walls up to eighty feet high and now, when they are almost complete, we’re about to make a breach in them. This will be an immense waste of the convict labour we have used. Now, we have not had to use our troops for seven years and this is what Your Lordship’s power rests upon. Yen is a trouble-maker and you should take no notice of him.’
Hua Tzu heard this and did not agree. ‘Those who say attack the state of Chi are trouble-makers,’ he said. ‘Those who say don’t attack are also trouble-makers. The one who says those who urge you to attack and those who don’t are both trouble-makers, is himself a trouble-maker.’
‘So, what should I do?’ said the ruler.
‘Just seek to discover the Tao!’
Hui Tzu heard this and brought Tai Chen Jen to see the ruler. Tai Chen Jen said, ‘There is a creature known as the snail, do you know this, Sire?’
‘For sure,’ he said.
‘It has on its left horn a kingdom called Provoke and on its right horn one called Foolish. These kingdoms are often arguing over territory and fighting. The dead are heaped up in multitudes with the defeated army fleeing – but within a few days they are back.’
The ruler said, ‘Ha! What is this empty chatter about?’
‘I just want to show Your Majesty what this is about. When you contemplate the four directions and up and down, Sire, is there any limit to them?’
The ruler said, ‘No limit.’
‘When the heart has wandered through unlimited realms, do you know how to return to this kingdom in such a way that its troubles seem to be insignificant?’
The ruler said, ‘Certainly.’
‘In the centre of these lands through which one wanders, is the state of Wei, and in the centre of this state of Wei is the capital, Liang, and at the centre of this capital Liang is the King. Is there really any difference between the King and the Foolish kingdom?’
The ruler said, ‘No difference.’
After his visitor had departed, the ruler sat, dumbfounded, as if lost to the world.
Then Hui Tzu came to see him and the ruler said, ‘That visitor, he is a great man, a sage cannot equal him.’
Hui Tzu said, ‘If you blow a flute, you get a good sound, but if you blow on the pommel of your sword, you get a wheezing noise. Yao and Shun are often praised by people, but if you talk about them in front of Tai Chien Jen, then it sounds like one little wheeze.’
Confucius travelled to Chu and stayed at a tavern on Ant Hill. In the neighbouring house, the husband, wives and servants, male and female, climbed on to the roof to see him. Tzu Lu said, ‘What are those people doing up there?’
Confucius said, ‘They are followers of a sage. He is hidden among the people, hidden away in the fields. Fame no longer interests him, but his resolve is unlimited. His mouth speaks words, but his heart offers none. He is not at ease with this generation and his heart is not concerned with it. He is like someone who has drowned on dry land. I imagine he is Liao of the Southern Market?’
Tzu Lu wanted to bring him over.
Confucius said, ‘Stop! He knows that I comprehend all this and he knows I am travelling to Chu. He assumes that I will seek promotion from the King of Chu and thus he views me as a time-server. Someone like him is embarrassed just hearing the words of a time-server, let alone being seen with him! And why do you believe he is still around?’
Tzu Lu went and looked and found the house empty.
The border guard at Chang Wu said to Tzu
