ZhuangziTaoismScholarly ReconstructionClassical ChineseShareZhuangzi 20Giles - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableGilesLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Zhuangzi 1Zhuangzi 2Zhuangzi 3Zhuangzi 4Zhuangzi 5Zhuangzi 6Zhuangzi 7Zhuangzi 8Zhuangzi 9Zhuangzi 10Zhuangzi 11Zhuangzi 12Zhuangzi 13Zhuangzi 14Zhuangzi 15Zhuangzi 16Zhuangzi 17Zhuangzi 18Zhuangzi 19Zhuangzi 20Zhuangzi 21Zhuangzi 22Zhuangzi 23Zhuangzi 24Zhuangzi 25Zhuangzi 26Zhuangzi 27Zhuangzi 28Zhuangzi 29Zhuangzi 30Zhuangzi 31Zhuangzi 32Zhuangzi 33Zhuangzi 34Zhuangzi 35Zhuangzi 36Zhuangzi 37Zhuangzi 38Zhuangzi 39Zhuangzi 40›Autumn Floods.Zhuangzi 20ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Argument:--Greatness and smallness always relative--Time and space infinite--Abstract dimensions do not exist--Their expression is concrete--Terms are not absolute--Like causes produce unlike effects--In the unconditioned alone can the absolute exist--The only absolute is TAO--Illustrations. 2[This chapter is supplementary to chapter ii. It is the most popular of all, and has earned for its author the sobriquet of "Autumn Floods."] 3It was the time of autumn floods. Every stream poured into the river, which swelled in its turbid course. The banks receded so far from one another that it was impossible to tell a cow from a horse. 4Then the Spirit of the River laughed for joy that all the beauty of the earth was gathered to himself. Down with the stream he journeyed east, until he reached the ocean. There, looking eastwards and seeing no limit to its waves, his countenance changed. And as he gazed over the expanse, he sighed and said to the Spirit of the Ocean, "A vulgar proverb says that he who has heard but part of the truth thinks no one equal to himself. And such a one am I. 5"When formerly I heard people detracting from the learning of Confucius or underrating the heroism of Poh I, 6I did not believe. But now that I have looked upon your inexhaustibility--alas for me had I not reached your abode, I should have been for ever a laughing-stock to those of comprehensive enlightenment!" 7The Spirit of a paltry river learns that the ripple of his rustic stream is scarcely the murmur of the world. 8To which the Spirit of the Ocean replied, "You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog,--the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect,--the creature of a season. You cannot speak of TAO to a pedagogue: his scope is too restricted. But now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere and have seen the great ocean, you know your own insignificance, and I can speak to you of great principles. 9"There is no body of water beneath the canopy of heaven which is greater than ocean. All streams pour into it without cease, yet it does not overflow. It is constantly being drained off, yet it is never empty. Spring and autumn bring no change; floods and droughts are equally unknown. And thus it is immeasurably superior to mere rivers and brooks,--though I would not venture to boast on this account, for I get my shape from the universe, my vital power from the Yin and Yang. In the universe I am but as a small stone or a small tree on a vast mountain. And conscious thus of my own insignificance, what is there of which I can boast? 10"The Four Seas,--are they not to the universe but like puddles in a marsh? The Middle Kingdom,--is it not to the surrounding ocean like a tare-seed in a granary? Of all the myriad created things, man is but one. And of all those who inhabit the land, live on the fruit of the earth, and move about in cart and boat, an individual man is but one. Is not he, as compared with all creation, but as the tip of a hair upon a horse's skin? 11"The succession of the Five Rulers, the contentions of the Three Kings, the griefs of the philanthropist, the labours of the administrator, are but this and nothing more. 12Poh I refused the throne for fame's sake. Confucius discoursed to get a reputation for learning. This over-estimation of self on their part, was it not very much your own in reference to water?" 13"Very well," replied the Spirit of the River, "am I then to regard the universe as great and the tip of a hair as small?" 14"Not at all," said the Spirit of the Ocean. "Dimensions are limitless; time is endless. Conditions are not invariable; terms are not final. Thus, the wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, nor the great as too much; for he knows that there is no limit to dimension. He looks back into the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near; for he knows that time is without end. 15Space infinite has been illustrated by Locke by a centre from which you can proceed for ever in all directions. Time infinite, by a point in a line from which you can proceed backwards and forwards for ever. 16He investigates fulness and decay, and does not rejoice if he succeeds, nor lament if he fails; for he knows that conditions are not invariable. 17Fulness and decay are the inevitable precursors of each other. 18He who clearly apprehends the scheme of existence, does not rejoice over life, nor repine at death; for he knows that terms are not final. 19Life and death are but links in an endless chain. 20"What man knows is not to be compared with what he does not know. The span of his existence is not to be compared with the span of his non-existence. With the small to strive to exhaust the great, necessarily lands him in confusion, and he does not attain his object. How then should one be able to say that the tip of a hair is the ne plus ultra of smallness, or that the universe is the ne plus ultra of greatness?" 21These predicates are abstract terms, which are not names of real existences but of relations, states, or conditions of existences; not things, but conditions of things. 22"Dialecticians of the day," replied the Spirit of the River, "all say that the infinitesimally small has no form, and that the infinitesimally great is beyond all measurement. Is that so?" 23"If we regard greatness as compared with that which is small," said the Spirit of the Ocean, "there is no limit to it; and if we regard smallness as compared with that which is great, it eludes our sight. 24That is, if we proceed from the concrete to the abstract. Given a large or a small thing, there is no limit to the smallness or greatness with which each may be respectively compared. 25The infinitesimal is a subdivision of the small; the colossal is an extension of the great. In this sense the two fall into different categories. 26"Both small and great things must equally possess form. The mind cannot picture to itself a thing without form, nor conceive a form of unlimited dimensions. The greatness of anything may be a topic of discussion, or the smallness of anything may be mentally realized. But that which can be neither a topic of discussion nor be realized mentally, can be neither great nor small. 27"Therefore, the truly great man, although he does not injure others, does not credit himself with charity and mercy. 28He seeks not gain, but does not despise his followers who do. He struggles not for wealth, but does not take credit for letting it alone. He asks help from no man, but takes no credit for his self-reliance, neither does he despise those who seek preferment through friends. He acts differently from the vulgar crowd, but takes no credit for his exceptionality; nor because others act with the majority does he despise them as hypocrites. The ranks and emoluments of the world are to him no cause for joy; its punishments and shame no cause for disgrace. He knows that positive and negative cannot be distinguished, 29What is positive under certain conditions will be negative under others. These terms are in fact identical. See ch. ii. 30that great and small cannot be defined. 31"I have heard say, the man of TAO has no reputation; perfect virtue acquires nothing; the truly great man ignores self;--this is the height of self-discipline." 32Clause 2 of the above quotation appears with variations in ch. xxxviii of the Tao-Te-Ching. The variations settle the correctness of the rendering already given in The Remains of Lao Tzŭ, p. 26. 33"But how then," asked the Spirit of the River, "are the internal and external extremes of value and worthlessness, of greatness and smallness, to be determined?" 34"From the point of view of TAO," replied the Spirit of the Ocean, "there are no such extremes of value or worthlessness. Men individually value themselves and hold others cheap. The world collectively withholds from the individual the right of appraising himself. 35"If we say that a thing is great or small because it is relatively great or small, then there is nothing in all creation which is not great, nothing which is not small. To know that the universe is but as a tare-seed, and that the tip of a hair is a mountain,--this is the expression of relativity. 36"If we say that something exists or does not exist, in deference to the function it fulfils or does not fulfil, then there is nothing which does not exist, nothing which does exist. To know that east and west are convertible and yet necessary terms,--this is the due adjustment of functions. 37Any given point is of course east in relation to west, west in relation to east. Absolutely, it may be said that its westness does not exclude its eastness; or, that it is neither east nor west. 38"If we say that anything is good or evil because it is either good or evil in our eyes, then there is nothing which is not good, nothing which is not evil. To know that Yao and Chieh were both good and both evil from their opposite points of view,--this is the expression of a standard. 39"Of old Yao abdicated in favour of Shun, and the latter ruled. Kuei abdicated in favour of Chih, and the latter failed. 40Kuei was a prince of the Yen State, who was humbugged into imitating the glorious example of Yao and abdicating in favour of his minister Chih. Three short years of power landed the latter in all the horrors of a general revolution. 41got the empire by fighting. By fighting, Poh Kung lost it. 42A revolutionary leader who, on the failure of his scheme, ended his life by strangulation. See the Tso Chuan, 16th year of Duke Ai. 43From which it may be seen that the rationale of abdicating or fighting, of acting like Yao or like Chieh, must be determined according to the opportunity, and may not be regarded as a constant quantity. 44"A battering-ram can knock down a wall, but it cannot repair the breach. 45This sentence has sorely puzzled all commentators. 46Different things are differently applied. 47"Ch'ih-Chi and Hua Liu could travel 1,000 li in one day, but for catching rats they were not equal to a wild cat. 48Two of the eight famous steeds of Muh Wang, a semi-historical ruler of old. 49Different animals possess different aptitudes. 50"An owl can catch fleas at night, and see the tip of a hair, but if it comes out in the daytime its eyes are so dazzled it cannot see a mountain. Different creatures are differently constituted. 51"Thus, as has been said, those who would have right without its correlative, wrong; or good government without its correlative, misrule,--they do not apprehend the great principles of the universe nor the conditions to which all creation is subject. One might as well talk of the existence of heaven without that of earth, or of the negative principle without the positive, which is clearly absurd. Such people, if they do not yield to argument, must be either fools or knaves. 52"Rulers have abdicated under different conditions, dynasties have been continued under different conditions. Those who did not hit off a favourable time and were in opposition to their age,--they were called usurpers. Those who did hit off the right time and were in harmony with their age,--they were called patriots. Fair and softly, my River friend; what should you know of value and worthlessness, of great and small?" 53It is therefore quite unnecessary to teach you where to fix the limits of that of which you know nothing. 54"In this case," replied the Spirit of the River, "what am I to do and what am I not to do? How am I to arrange my declinings and receivings, my takings-hold and my lettings-go?" 55"From the point of view of TAO," said the Spirit of the Ocean, "value and worthlessness are like slopes and plains. 56A slope to-day may be a plain to-morrow. 57To consider either as absolutely such would involve great injury to TAO. Few and many are like giving and receiving presents. These must not be regarded from one side, or there will be great confusion to TAO. 58It would be unfair only to regard, from the receiver's standpoint, the amount given. The intention of the giver must also be taken into the calculation. 59Be discriminating, as the ruler of a State whose administration is impartial. Be dispassionate, as the worshipped deity whose dispensation is impartial. Be expansive, like the points of the compass, to whose boundlessness no limit is set. Embrace all creation, and none shall be more sheltered than another. This is the unconditioned. And where all things are equal, how can we have the long and the short? 60"TAO is without beginning, without end. Other things are born and die. They are impermanent; and now for better, now for worse, they are ceaselessly changing form. Past years cannot be recalled: time cannot be arrested. The succession of states is endless; and every end is followed by a new beginning. Thus it may be said that man's duty to his neighbour is embodied in the eternal principles of the universe. 61"The life of man passes by like a galloping horse, changing at every turn, at every hour. What should he do, or what should he not do, other than let his decomposition go on?" 62"If this is the case," retorted the Spirit of the River, "pray what is the value of TAO?" 63"Those who understand TAO," answered the Spirit of the Ocean, "must necessarily apprehend the eternal principles above mentioned and be clear as to their application. Consequently, they do not suffer any injury from without. 64They never oppose, but let all things take their course. 65"The man of perfect virtue cannot be burnt by fire, nor drowned in water, nor hurt by frost or sun, nor torn by wild bird or beast. Not that he makes light of these; but that he discriminates between safety and danger. Happy under prosperous and adverse circumstances alike, cautious as to what he discards and what he accepts;--nothing can harm him. 66Plato taught that it was impossible to make a slave of a wise man, meaning that the latter by virtue of his mental endowment would rise superior to mere physical thrall. "A wise and just man," said he, "could be as happy in a state of slavery as in a state of freedom." 67"Therefore it has been said that the natural abides within, the artificial without. Virtue abides in the natural. Knowledge of the action of the natural and of the artificial has its root in the natural, its development in virtue. And thus, whether in motion or at rest, whether in expansion or in contraction, there is always a reversion to the essential and to the ultimate." 68Those eternal principles which embody all human obligations. 69"What do you mean," enquired the Spirit of the River, "by the natural and the artificial?" 70"Horses and oxen," answered the Spirit of the Ocean, "have four feet. That is the natural. Put a halter on a horse's head, a string through a bullock's nose,--that is the artificial. 71"Therefore it has been said, do not let the artificial obliterate the natural; do not let will obliterate destiny; do not let virtue be sacrificed to fame. Diligently observe these precepts without fail, and thus you will revert to the divine." 72If man does not set himself in opposition to God, the result will be ‹Previous chapterZhuangzi 19Next chapterZhuangzi 21›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg