The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin)

the Yangtze and Chang Hung died in Shu, where the people preserved his blood for three years, by which time it had become green jade. All parents want their children to be filial, but filial sons are not necessarily so from love. This is why Hsiao Chi⁹⁷ was distressed and Tseng Shen⁹⁸ was sad.

If wood rubs against wood, it starts to burn.

When metal is heated, it melts.

When yin and yang go wrong,

Heaven and Earth are hugely disturbed.

Then comes the crash of thunder,

and fire from the midst of the rains

which destroys the great trees.

Gaining and losing,

the people are caught between them both

and there is no way out.

Trapped and entombed,

they can never complete anything.

Their hearts are strung out

as if suspended between Heaven and Earth,

sometimes comforted,

sometimes frightened,

plagued with problems.

Gain and loss rub against each other

and start fires beyond number

that burn up the balances of the heart in most people.

The moon cannot contain such fires.

All is destroyed,

the quest for the Tao ends.

Chuang Tzu’s family were poor so he went to borrow some rice from the Marquis of Chien Ho. The Marquis of Chien Ho said, ‘Of course. I am about to receive the tax from the people and will give you three hundred pieces of gold – is that enough?’

Chuang Tzu flushed with anger and said, ‘On my way here yesterday I heard a voice calling me. I looked around and saw a large fish in the carriage rut. I said, “Fish! What are you doing there?” He said, “I am Minister of the Waves in the Eastern Ocean. Sire, do you have a measure of water you could give me?” Well, I told him, “I am going south to visit the Kings of Wu and Yueh and after that I would redirect the course of the Western River so it will flow up to you. Would that do?” The large fish flushed with anger and said, “I am out of my very element, I have nowhere to go. Give me just a little water and I can survive. But giving me such an answer as that means you will only ever find me again on a dried fish stall!”’

Prince Jen had a great fish-hook and a vast line. He baited the hook with fifty bulls, sat down on Mount Kuai Chi and cast his line into the Eastern Ocean.

Morning after morning he cast his line, but after a whole year he had still caught nothing. Finally, a great fish was hooked which dived into the depth, dragging the great fish-hook down with him. Then it turned and rushed to the surface and shot out, shaking its fins and churning up the sea so the waves rose like mountains and the waters turned white with its fury. The noise was like gods and demons fighting and terror spread over a thousand miles. Eventually, Prince Jen landed the fish and cut it and dried it. From Chih Ho in the east to Tsang Wu in the north, everyone had more than he could eat.

Ever since, those with little talent in later generations have told and retold this story, never ceasing to amaze people. If people take their rod and line and set off to fish in marshes and ditches, looking for minnows and sprats, then they will have some difficulty in catching a big fish. Those who make much of their little notions and strut around in front of officials are a long way off being companions of the greater comprehension. Indeed, if someone has never heard of Prince Jen, he is far from being competent to be one of this generation who rule the world.

A group of Literati students of the Odes of Ritual were robbing a grave. The main scholar in charge said, ‘The sun is rising in the east, how’s it going?’

The younger Literati said, ‘We haven’t got his clothes off him yet, but there’s a pearl in his mouth.⁹⁹ As the Odes say,

‘Green, green the grain

Dwelling on the slopes of the mound.

If during life you give nothing,

At death, does he deserve a jewel?’

So saying, they pulled back his beard and moustache and then one of them carefully prised open the mouth so as not to damage the pearl.

A follower of Lao Lai Tzu¹⁰⁰ was gathering firewood, when he chanced to meet Confucius. On his return he said, ‘There is a man who has a long body and short legs, a slightly humped back and his ears far back. He seems like one who is preoccupied with all the troubles within the four oceans. I don’t know who he is.’

Lao Lai Tzu said, ‘This is Confucius. Call him over here.’

Confucius came. Lao Lai Tzu said, ‘Confucius! Rid yourself of your pride and that smug look on your face and you could then become a nobleman.’

Confucius bowed and retreated and then a look of astonishment came over his face and he asked, ‘Do you think I could manage this?’

Lao Lai Tzu said, ‘You can’t bear the sufferings of this one generation, therefore you go and cause trouble for ten thousand generations to come. Do you set out to be this miserable, or don’t you realize what you are doing? You insist that people should only be joyful in a way you prescribe. The infamy of this will follow you all your life. This is the action of a nondescript type of person, one who wants to rule through fame, who enjoys plotting with others, praising Yao and criticizing Chieh, when really you should just forget them and silence your tendency to glorify. What is wrong cannot but harm and what is active cannot fail to be wrong. The sage is cautious and hesitates before any action, and so always succeeds. But really, what can I say about your actions? For ultimately they are only bragging!’

The Lord Yuan of Song dreamt in the middle of the night that a man with dishevelled hair peered in at him through the side door and said, ‘I have come from the depths of Tsai Lu and was