Tian Zifang
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
田子方侍坐于魏文侯,数称谿工。文侯曰:“谿工,子之师邪?”
English translation
Tian Zifang was sitting in attendance on Marquis Wen of Wei and repeatedly praised Xigong. The Marquis said, "Is Xigong your teacher?"
Original Chinese text
子方曰:“非也,无择之里人也。称道数当故无择称之。”
English translation
Zifang said, "No. He is a fellow villager of mine. His judgments are often apt, and that is why I praise him."
Original Chinese text
文侯曰:“然则子无师邪?”
English translation
The Marquis said, "Then do you have no teacher?"
Original Chinese text
子方曰:“有。”
English translation
Zifang said, "Yes."
Original Chinese text
曰:“子之师谁邪?”
English translation
He asked, 'Who is your teacher?'
Original Chinese text
子方曰:“东郭顺子。”
English translation
Zifang said, 'Dongguo Shunzi.'
Original Chinese text
文侯曰:“然则夫子何故未尝称之?”
English translation
Marquis Wen said, “If so, why have you, Master, never praised him?”
Original Chinese text
子方曰:“其为人也真。人貌而天虚,缘而葆真,清而容物。物无道,正容以悟之,使人之意也消。无择何足以称之!”
English translation
Zifang said, “In his person he was true. He had the appearance of a man but the emptiness of Heaven; he followed along and preserved his genuineness; he was clear and could contain things. When a thing lacked the Way, he would straighten his bearing to awaken it, causing a person’s intentions to melt away. How could I, Wuze, be fit to praise him!”
Original Chinese text
子方出,文侯傥然,终日不言。召前立臣而语之曰:“远矣,全德之君子!始吾以圣知之言、仁义之行为至矣。吾闻子方之师,吾形解而不欲动,口钳而不欲言。吾所学者,直土梗耳!夫魏真为我累耳!”
English translation
When Zifang went out, Marquis Wen was dazed and did not speak all day. He summoned his attending ministers before him and said to them, “How far-reaching is the gentleman of complete virtue! At first I took the words of sagely wisdom and the conduct of benevolence and righteousness to be the highest. Having heard of Zifang’s teacher, my body feels loosened and I do not want to move; my mouth is clamped shut and I do not want to speak. What I have learned is merely a clay effigy! Truly, Wei is a burden to me!”
Original Chinese text
温伯雪子适齐,舍于鲁。鲁人有请见之者,温伯雪子曰:“不可。吾闻中国之君子,明乎礼义而陋于知人心。吾不欲见也。”
English translation
Wenbo Xuezi was on his way to Qi and lodged in Lu. A man of Lu requested to see him. Wenbo Xuezi said, “That will not do. I have heard that the gentlemen of the Central States are clear about ritual propriety and righteousness but crude when it comes to understanding the human heart. I do not wish to see him.”
Original Chinese text
至于齐,反舍于鲁,是人也又请见。温伯雪子曰:“往也蕲见我,今也又蕲见我,是必有以振我也。”
English translation
When he reached Qi and was returning, he lodged in Lu again, and this same man once more requested to see him. Wenbo Xuezi said, “Before, he sought to see me; now he again seeks to see me. There must be something by which he will stir me.”
Original Chinese text
出而见客,入而叹。明日见客,又入而叹。其仆曰:“每见之客也,必入而叹,何耶?”
English translation
He went out to see the guest and, on returning inside, sighed. The next day he saw the guest, and again went in and sighed. His servant said, “Every time you see this guest, you always go in and sigh. Why?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“吾固告子矣:中国之民,明乎礼义而陋乎知人心。昔之见我者,进退一成规、一成矩,从容一若龙、一若虎。其谏我也似子,其道我也似父,是以叹也。”
English translation
He said, “I told you already: the people of the Central States are clear about ritual and righteousness, but crude in understanding the human heart. Those who came to see me before—in advancing and withdrawing, each movement was according to compass and square; in their ease, one was like a dragon, one like a tiger. Their remonstrating with me was like a son’s, their guiding me was like a father’s; that is why I sighed.”
Original Chinese text
仲尼见之而不言。子路曰:“吾子欲见温伯雪子久矣。见之而不言,何邪?”
English translation
Confucius saw him but did not speak. Zilu said, “Master, you have wished to see Wenbo Xuezi for a long time. You have seen him and do not speak—why is that?”
Original Chinese text
仲尼曰:“若夫人者,目击而道存矣,亦不可以容声矣!”
English translation
Confucius said, “With a person like that, the Way is present as soon as the eyes meet; there is no room even for a voice.”
Original Chinese text
颜渊问于仲尼曰:“夫子步亦步,夫子趋亦趋,夫子驰亦驰,夫子奔逸绝尘,而回瞠若乎后矣!”
English translation
Yan Yuan asked Zhongni, “When you walk, Master, I walk; when you hurry, I hurry; when you gallop, I gallop; but when you race away and leave the dust behind, I am left staring blankly behind you.”
Original Chinese text
夫子曰:“回,何谓邪?”
English translation
The Master said, “Hui, what do you mean?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“夫子步亦步也,夫子言亦言也;夫子趋亦趋也,夫子辩亦辩也;夫子驰亦驰也,夫子言道,回亦言道也;及奔逸绝尘而回瞠若乎后者,夫子不言而信,不比而周,无器而民滔乎前,而不知所以然而已矣。”
English translation
Yan Yuan said, “When you walk, Master, I walk; when you speak, I speak; when you hurry, I hurry; when you debate, I debate; when you gallop, I gallop; when you speak of the Way, I too speak of the Way. But when you race away and leave the dust behind, and I stare blankly from behind—it is because you are trusted without speaking, you are all-embracing without being partisan, and the people come flooding before you though you hold no official position; I simply do not know why it is so.”
Original Chinese text
仲尼曰:“恶!可不察与!夫哀莫大于心死,而人死亦次之。日出东方而入于西极,万物莫不比方,有目有趾者,待是而后成功。是出则存,是入则亡。万物亦然,有待也而死,有待也而生。
English translation
Zhongni said: “Ah! Can this not be examined? There is no grief greater than the death of the heart, and the death of the person is secondary to it. The sun rises in the east and enters the far west; there is no thing that does not follow this pattern. Those with eyes and feet depend on it and only then accomplish their work. When the sun comes out, they exist; when it sets, they vanish. The ten thousand things are likewise: there is that which they await, and so they die; there is that which they await, and so they live.”
Original Chinese text
吾一受其成形,而不化以待尽。效物而动,日夜无隙,而不知其所终。薰然其成形,知命不能规乎其前。丘以是日徂。吾终身与汝交一臂而失之,可不哀与?女殆著乎吾所以著也。
English translation
“Once I received it and took this form, I do not transform but wait for exhaustion. I move in response to things, day and night without a gap, and I do not know where it ends. As if by gradual permeation, it takes form; one who knows fate cannot lay plans before it. I, Qiu, thereby pass away day by day. All my life I have known you, yet even in the crossing of arms I lose the person you were—can this not be grief? You have perhaps seen the change that I have seen.”
Original Chinese text
彼已尽矣,而女求之以为有,是求马于唐肆也。吾服女也甚忘,女服吾也亦甚忘。虽然,女奚患焉!虽忘乎故吾,吾有不忘者存。”
English translation
“That has already come to an end, yet you seek it and take it to exist—this is like seeking a horse in an empty marketplace. I try to hold you in mind, yet the person you were swiftly fades; you try to hold me in mind, yet the person I was fades just as swiftly. Nevertheless, what distress do you have? Though you forget the old me, there is in me something not forgotten that remains.”
Original Chinese text
孔子见老聃,老聃新沐,方将被发而干,慹然似非人。孔子便而待之。少焉见,曰:“丘也眩与?其信然与?向者先生形体掘若槁木,似遗物离人而立于独也。”
English translation
Confucius visited Lao Dan. Lao Dan had just washed his hair and was spreading it out to dry, so still that he seemed not to be a human being. Confucius withdrew to one side and waited. After a short while, Confucius saw him and said, "Was I, Qiu, dazzled? Or was it truly so? Just now, sir, your body was stiff as a withered tree, as if you had abandoned things, left other people behind, and stood alone."
Original Chinese text
老聃曰:“吾游心于物之初。”
English translation
Lao Dan said, "I let my mind roam in the beginning of things."
Original Chinese text
孔子曰:“何谓邪?”
English translation
Confucius said, "What does that mean?"
Original Chinese text
曰:“心困焉而不能知,口辟焉而不能言。尝为汝议乎其将:至阴肃肃,至阳赫赫。肃肃出乎天,赫赫发乎地。两者交通成和而物生焉,或为之纪而莫见其形。消息满虚,一晦一明,日改月化,日有所为而莫见其功。
English translation
Lao Dan said: 'My mind is hemmed in and cannot know; my mouth is open and cannot speak. Let me try to discuss its general outline for you: The utmost yin is chill and solemn; the utmost yang is blazing bright. The chill solemnity comes from Heaven; the blazing brightness issues from Earth. The two interact and combine into harmony, and things are born from them. Something serves as their order, yet no one sees its form. Waning and waxing, filling and emptying, now dark, now bright, it changes daily and transforms monthly. Each day it acts, yet no one sees its effect.'
Original Chinese text
生有所乎萌,死有所乎归,始终相反乎无端,而莫知乎其所穷。非是也,且孰为之宗!”
English translation
Life has that from which it sprouts; death has that to which it returns. Beginning and end turn back into one another without any discernible beginning or end, and no one knows where they end. If it were not for this, who then would be their source and master?'
Original Chinese text
孔子曰:“请问游是。”
English translation
Confucius said: 'May I ask about wandering in this?'
Original Chinese text
老聃曰:“夫得是至美至乐也。得至美而游乎至乐,谓之至人。”
English translation
Lao Dan said, “To attain this is the utmost beauty and the utmost joy. One who attains the utmost beauty and wanders in the utmost joy is called the Ultimate Person.”
Original Chinese text
孔子曰:“愿闻其方。”
English translation
Confucius said, “I would like to hear its method.”
Original Chinese text
曰:“草食之兽,不疾易薮;水生之虫,不疾易水。行小变而不失其大常也,喜怒哀乐不入于胸次。夫天下也者,万物之所一也。
English translation
He said, “Grass-eating beasts do not resent changing marshes; water-dwelling creatures do not resent changing waters. They undergo small changes without losing their great constancy, and joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure do not enter their breasts. As for the world, it is that in which the myriad things are one.”
Original Chinese text
得其所一而同焉,则四支百体将为尘垢,而死生终始将为昼夜,而莫之能滑,而况得丧祸福之所介乎!弃隶者若弃泥涂,知身贵于隶也。贵在于我而不失于变。且万化而未始有极也,夫孰足以患心!
English translation
If one attains the One and becomes identical with it, then the four limbs and hundred members will become dust and dirt, and death and life, ending and beginning will be like day and night; nothing can disturb him—how much less the boundaries made by gain and loss, misfortune and blessing! To cast off servitude is like casting off mud and mire, knowing that one’s own person is more precious than servitude. What is precious lies in me and is not lost amid change. Moreover, the ten thousand transformations have never had a limit—what could make the heart anxious!
Original Chinese text
已为道者解乎此。”
English translation
Those who have already practiced the Way understand this.
Original Chinese text
孔子曰:“夫子德配天地,而犹假至言以修心。古之君子,孰能脱焉!”
English translation
Confucius said: 'Sir, your virtue matches Heaven and Earth, yet you still borrow the highest words to cultivate your mind. Among the noble men of antiquity, who could have escaped this!'
Original Chinese text
老聃曰:“不然。夫水之于汋也,无为而才自然矣;至人之于德也,不修而物不能离焉。若天之自高,地之自厚,日月之自明,夫何修焉!”
English translation
Lao Dan said, 'Not so. When water surges and eddies, it acts without action, and yet its capacity is naturally so; when the Perfected One is in relation to virtue, he does not cultivate it, and yet things cannot depart from him. It is like heaven being naturally high, earth naturally thick, and the sun and moon naturally bright—what is there to cultivate?'
Original Chinese text
孔子出,以告颜回曰:“丘之于道也,其犹醯鸡与!微夫子之发吾覆也,吾不知天地之大全也。”
English translation
Confucius came out and told Yan Hui about it, saying, 'As for me, Qiu, in relation to the Way—am I not like a vinegar gnat? Had the Master not lifted off my covering, I would not know the great whole of Heaven and Earth.'
Original Chinese text
庄子见鲁哀公,哀公曰:“鲁多儒士,少为先生方者。”
English translation
Zhuangzi had an audience with Duke Ai of Lu. Duke Ai said, 'Lu has many Confucian scholars, but few who practice your methods, Master.'
Original Chinese text
庄子曰:“鲁少儒。”
English translation
Zhuangzi said, 'Lu has few Confucians.'
Original Chinese text
哀公曰:“举鲁国而儒服,何谓少乎?”
English translation
Duke Ai said, 'All within Lu wear Confucian dress; how can you call them few?'
Original Chinese text
庄子曰:“周闻之:儒者冠圜冠者知天时,履句屦者知地形,缓佩玦者事至而断。君子有其道者,未必为其服也;为其服者,未必知其道也。公固以为不然,何不号于国中曰:‘无此道而为此服者,其罪死!’”
English translation
Zhuangzi said, 'I, Zhou, have heard that among the Confucians, those who wear round caps know the seasons of Heaven; those who wear curved-toe shoes know the forms of Earth; those who wear the jade jue pendant loosely can decide when matters arise. A gentleman who possesses this Way does not necessarily wear this dress; one who wears this dress does not necessarily know this Way. If you, Duke, firmly hold that this is not so, why not proclaim throughout the state: Those who lack this Way but wear this dress shall die for their crime!'
Original Chinese text
于是哀公号之五日,而鲁国无敢儒服者。独有一丈夫,儒服而立乎公门。公即召而问以国事,千转万变而不穷。庄子曰:“以鲁国而儒者一人耳,可谓多乎?”
English translation
Thereupon Duke Ai issued the order for five days, and in Lu no one dared wear Confucian dress. Only one man, wearing Confucian dress, stood at the duke’s gate. The duke immediately summoned him and questioned him about affairs of state; with a thousand turns and ten thousand changes, he was not exhausted. Zhuangzi said, “In all of Lu there is only one Confucian—can that be called many?”
Original Chinese text
百里奚爵禄不入于心,故饭牛而牛肥,使秦穆公忘其贱,与之政也。有虞氏死生不入于心,故足以动人。
English translation
Baili Xi did not let rank and emoluments enter his heart; therefore, when he fed cattle, the cattle grew fat, and he made Duke Mu of Qin forget his lowly status and entrust him with government. The Youyu clan did not let death and life enter its heart; therefore it was able to move others.
Original Chinese text
宋元君将画图,众史皆至,受揖而立,舐笔和墨,在外者半。有一史后至者,儃儃然不趋,受揖不立,因之舍。公使人视之,则解衣般礴裸。君曰:“可矣,是真画者也。”
English translation
When Duke Yuan of Song was about to have a painting made, all the painters arrived. They received his bow and stood in place, licking their brushes and mixing ink; half of them were still outside. One painter arrived late: leisurely, he did not hurry; having received the bow, he did not stand in place but went straight to the lodging. The duke sent someone to inspect his quarters, and he had taken off his clothes and was sitting with his legs spread, naked. The duke said, “It is well—this is a true painter.”
Original Chinese text
文王观于臧,见一丈夫钓,而其钓莫钓。非持其钓有钓者也,常钓也。文王欲举而授之政,而恐大臣父兄之弗安也;欲终而释之,而不忍百姓之无天也。
English translation
King Wen was surveying the district of Zang when he saw a man fishing, and yet his fishing was no fishing. He was not one who held his rod with the intent to fish; he simply fished as a constant practice. King Wen wished to raise him up and entrust him with government, but feared that the great ministers and his elder kinsmen would not be at ease; he wished to let the matter end and release him, but could not bear that the common people should be without a protector.
Original Chinese text
于是旦而属之大夫曰:“昔者寡人梦见良人,黑色而髯,乘驳马而偏朱蹄,号曰:‘寓而政于臧丈人,庶几乎民有瘳乎!’”诸大夫蹵然曰:“先君王也。”
English translation
The next morning, he told the great officers of his dream: “I dreamed of a worthy man, dark of complexion and bearded, riding a piebald horse with red hooves on one side. He cried out, ‘Entrust the government to the elder Zang; perhaps the people will be relieved of their suffering!’” The great officers were startled and said, “That was the former king.”
Original Chinese text
文王曰:“然则卜之。”
English translation
King Wen said, 'In that case, let us divine it.'
Original Chinese text
诸大夫曰:“先君之命,王其无它,又何卜焉。”
English translation
The great officers said, 'This is the command of the former ruler. Let the king have no other concern; why divine again?'
Original Chinese text
遂迎臧丈人而授之政。典法无更,偏令无出。三年,文王观于国,则列士坏植散群,长官者不成德,斔斛不敢入于四竟。列士坏植散群,则尚同也;长官者不成德,则同务也,斔斛不敢入于四竟,则诸侯无二心也。
English translation
Thereupon he welcomed Zang the Elder and entrusted him with government. The statutes and laws were not altered, and no partial decrees were issued. After three years, when King Wen surveyed the state, the ranked knights had broken up their factions and dispersed their groups, the senior officials did not make a display of virtue, and the measuring vessels did not dare enter the four borders. That the ranked knights broke up their factions and dispersed their groups meant that unity was prized; that the senior officials did not make a display of virtue meant that they shared the same task; that the measuring vessels did not dare enter the four borders meant that the feudal lords had no divided loyalties.
Original Chinese text
文王于是焉以为大师,北面而问曰:“政可以及天下乎?”
English translation
King Wen then made him Grand Master, turned north, and asked, 'Can governance reach all under Heaven?'
Original Chinese text
臧丈人昧然而不应,泛然而辞,朝令而夜遁,终身无闻。颜渊问于仲尼曰:“文王其犹未邪?又何以梦为乎?”
English translation
The old man of Zang, blankly unresponsive, did not answer; vaguely he declined. Having received the command in the morning, he fled that night, and was never heard of again for the rest of his life. Yan Yuan asked Zhongni: 'Was King Wen perhaps still not [fully] there? Why, then, did he resort to a dream?'
Original Chinese text
仲尼曰:“默,汝无言!夫文王尽之也,而又何论刺焉!彼直以循斯须也。”
English translation
Zhongni said: 'Hush, say nothing! King Wen brought it to the utmost; what is there to discuss or criticize? He simply followed the moment.'
Original Chinese text
列御寇为伯昏无人射,引之盈贯,措杯水其肘上,发之,适矢复沓,方矢复寓。当是时,犹象人也。伯昏无人曰:“是射之射,非不射之射也。尝与汝登高山,履危石,临百仞之渊,若能射乎?”
English translation
Lie Yukou shot for Bohun Wuren. He drew the bow to the full and placed a cup of water on his elbow. He released: as soon as an arrow went, another was fitted; as soon as an arrow was nocked, another was lodged in place. At that moment he was like a statue of a person. Bohun Wuren said: 'This is the shooting of shooting; it is not the shooting of not-shooting. Come with me up a high mountain, tread on a perilous rock, and face a hundred-ren abyss—could you shoot then?'
Original Chinese text
于是无人遂登高山,履危石,临百仞之渊,背逡巡,足二分垂在外,揖御寇而进之。御寇伏地,汗流至踵。伯昏无人曰:“夫至人者,上窥青天,下潜黄泉,挥斥八极,神气不变。今汝怵然有恂目之志,尔于中也殆矣夫!”
English translation
Thereupon Bohun Wuren climbed the high mountain, trod the perilous rock, and faced the hundred-ren abyss. Turning his back and inching backward, with two portions of his feet hanging outside, he bowed to Yukou and beckoned him forward. Yukou lay flat on the ground, sweating down to his heels. Bohun Wuren said: 'As for the ultimate person: above he peers into the blue sky, below he dives into the Yellow Springs, he roams freely through the eight farthest reaches, yet his spirit and vital energy do not change. Now you are startled, with a frightened, unsettled gaze—your inner composure is in danger!'
Original Chinese text
肩吾问于孙叔敖曰:“子三为令尹而不荣华,三去之而无忧色。吾始也疑子,今视子之鼻间栩栩然,子之用心独奈何?”
English translation
Jianwu asked Sunshu Ao: 'You three times became prime minister and did not show glory; three times you left it and had no worried expression. At first I doubted you; now I see the space between your nose lively and at ease—how then do you use your mind?'
Original Chinese text
孙叔敖曰:“吾何以过人哉!吾以其来不可却也,其去不可止也。吾以为得失之非我也,而无忧色而已矣。我何以过人哉!且不知其在彼乎?其在我乎?其在彼邪亡乎我,在我邪亡乎彼。
English translation
Sunshu Ao said: 'How would I surpass others? I regard its coming as impossible to refuse and its going as impossible to stop. I take gain and loss to be not mine, and so I simply have no worried expression. How would I surpass others? Moreover, I do not know whether it lies in the other or in me. If it is in the other, then it is not in me; if it is in me, then it is not in the other.'
Original Chinese text
方将踌躇,方将四顾,何暇至乎人贵人贱哉!”
English translation
He is just about to linger, just about to look around on all sides—what leisure has he to arrive at the question of whether people are noble or base?
Original Chinese text
仲尼闻之曰:“古之真人,知者不得说,美人不得滥,盗人不得劫,伏戏、黄帝不得友。死生亦大矣,而无变乎己,况爵禄乎!
English translation
Zhongni heard this and said: 'As for the True Man of antiquity: the wise cannot persuade him, beauties cannot make him wanton, robbers cannot plunder him, and Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor cannot befriend him. Life and death are great, yet they do not alter him—how much less rank and salary!'
Original Chinese text
若然者,其神经乎大山而无介,入乎渊泉而不濡,处卑细而不惫,充满天地,既以与人己愈有。”
English translation
One who is like this: his spirit passes through great mountains without obstruction, enters deep springs without getting wet, dwells in lowliness and smallness without exhaustion, and fills heaven and earth. By giving of what he has to others, he himself becomes all the richer.
Original Chinese text
楚王与凡君坐,少焉,楚王左右曰“凡亡”者三。凡君曰:“凡之亡也,不足以丧吾存。夫凡之亡不足以丧吾存,则楚之存不足以存存。由是观之,则凡未始亡而楚未始存也。”
English translation
The King of Chu sat together with the Lord of Fan. After a moment, those at the King of Chu's side said three times, 'Fan has perished.' The Lord of Fan said, 'The perishing of Fan is not enough to make me lose my existence. Since the perishing of Fan is not enough to make me lose my existence, then the existence of Chu is not enough to preserve existence. From this perspective, Fan has never perished, and Chu has never existed.'