Gengsang Chu
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
老聃之役有庚桑楚者,偏得老聃之道,以北居畏垒之山。其臣之画然知者去之,其妾之挈然仁者远之。拥肿之与居,鞅掌之为使。居三年,畏垒大壤。
English translation
Among Lao Dan’s servants was a man named Gengsang Chu, who had obtained only a part of Lao Dan’s Way and went north to live on Mount Weilei. He sent away those servants who were sharp and conspicuously clever; he kept at a distance those concubines who were high-flown and conspicuously benevolent. He lived with the lumpish and simple, and employed the busy and toil-worn. After three years, Weilei had a great harvest.
Original Chinese text
畏垒之民相与言曰:“庚桑子之始来,吾洒然异之。今吾日计之而不足,岁计之而有余。庶几其圣人乎!子胡不相与尸而祝之,社而稷之乎?”
English translation
The people of Weilei said to one another: ‘When Master Gengsang first arrived, we were startled and thought him extraordinary. Now if we reckon by the day, it seems insufficient; if we reckon by the year, it is more than enough. Perhaps he is a sage! Why do you not all join together to set him up as a corpse-representative and pray to him, and make him the god of soil and grain?’
Original Chinese text
庚桑子闻之,南面而不释然。弟子异之。庚桑子曰:“弟子何异于予?夫春气发而百草生,正得秋而万宝成。夫春与秋,岂无得而然哉?天道已行矣。
English translation
When Gengsangzi heard this, he faced south and was not at ease. His disciples thought it strange. Gengsangzi said: ‘Why should you disciples be surprised at me? When the spring qi rises, the hundred grasses grow; when autumn duly arrives, the myriad treasures ripen. Could spring and autumn be so without having obtained anything? The Way of Heaven has already moved.’
Original Chinese text
吾闻至人,尸居环堵之室,而百姓猖狂,不知所如往。今以畏垒之细民,而窃窃焉欲俎豆予于贤人之间,我其杓之人邪?吾是以不释于老聃之言。”
English translation
I have heard that the Perfect Man dwells like a corpse in a room enclosed by four walls, while the common people roam wild and do not know where they are going. Now the petty people of Weilei secretly wish to honor me with sacrificial vessels among the worthies—am I a man to be used as a measure? This is why I cannot let go of the words of Lao Dan.
Original Chinese text
弟子曰:“不然。夫寻常之沟,巨鱼无所还其体,而鲵鳅为之制;步仞之丘陵,巨兽无所隐其躯,而孽狐为之祥。且夫尊贤授能,先善与利,自古尧、舜以然,而况畏垒之民乎!夫子亦听矣!”
English translation
The disciple said, “Not so. In a ditch a few yards wide, a huge fish has nowhere to turn its body, yet loaches and minnows can make their home there; on a mound a few paces high, a huge beast has nowhere to hide its body, yet baleful foxes find it an auspicious place. Moreover, honoring the worthy and employing the capable, putting goodness and benefit first—since ancient times Yao and Shun were like this; how much more the people of Weilei! Master, you should listen to them!”
Original Chinese text
庚桑子曰:“小子来!夫函车之兽,介而离山,则不免于罔罟之患;吞舟之鱼,砀而失水,则蚁能苦之。故鸟兽不厌高,鱼鳖不厌深。夫全其形生之人,藏其身也,不厌深眇而已矣!
English translation
Gengsangzi said, “Come, little ones! A beast that can swallow a cart, if it leaves the mountain alone, cannot escape the trouble of nets and snares; a fish that can swallow a boat, if it is cast up and loses the water, then ants can torment it. Therefore birds and beasts do not tire of height, fish and turtles do not tire of depth. As for the person who would keep his body and life whole, in hiding himself he does not tire of depth and remoteness—that is all!”
Original Chinese text
且夫二子者,又何足以称扬哉!是其于辩也,将妄凿垣墙而殖蓬蒿也,简发而栉,数米而炊,窃窃乎又何足以济世哉!举贤则民相轧,任知则民相盗。之数物者,不足以厚民。
English translation
Moreover, how could those two men deserve praise? In their disputation they would recklessly bore through walls and plant weeds; they pick out hairs to comb and count grains of rice to cook—how petty and fussy! How could they save the world? Promote the worthy, and the people crush one another; employ cleverness, and the people steal from one another. These several things are not enough to enrich the people.
Original Chinese text
民之于利甚勤,子有杀父,臣有杀君;正昼为盗,日中穴阫。吾语女:大乱之本,必生于尧、舜之间,其末存乎千世之后。千世之后,其必有人与人相食者也。”
English translation
The people are very diligent in the pursuit of profit: among sons there are those who kill their fathers, and among ministers those who kill their rulers. They rob in broad daylight and bore through walls at noon. I tell you: the root of great disorder must arise between Yao and Shun, and its aftermath will endure a thousand generations later. After a thousand generations, there will surely be people who eat one another.
Original Chinese text
南荣趎蹴然正坐曰:“若趎之年者已长矣,将恶乎托业以及此言邪?”
English translation
Nan Rong Chu’s expression changed; he sat upright and said, “I, Chu, am already advanced in years. Where then should I entrust my efforts so as to attain these words?”
Original Chinese text
庚桑子曰:“全汝形,抱汝生,无使汝思虑营营。若此三年,则可以及此言矣!”
English translation
Gengsangzi said, “Keep your form whole, embrace your life, and do not let your thoughts be busily restless. If you go on like this for three years, then you may be able to reach these words.”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎曰:“目之与形,吾不知其异也,而盲者不能自见;耳之与形,吾不知其异也,而聋者不能自闻;心之与形,吾不知其异也,而狂者不能自得。形之与形亦辟矣,而物或间之邪?
English translation
Nanrong Chu said, “The eyes and the form—I do not know how they differ, yet the blind cannot see themselves; the ears and the form—I do not know how they differ, yet the deaf cannot hear themselves; the heart and the form—I do not know how they differ, yet the mad cannot get hold of themselves. Form and form are also close to each other, but perhaps something comes between them?”
Original Chinese text
欲相求而不能相得。今谓趎曰:‘全汝形,抱汝生,无使汝思虑营营。’
English translation
They wish to seek one another, yet cannot obtain one another. Now you say to Chu, ‘Keep your form whole, embrace your life, and do not let your thoughts be busily restless.’
Original Chinese text
趎勉闻道达耳矣!”
English translation
I, Chu, have made an effort to hear the Way, but it has reached my ears only!
Original Chinese text
庚桑子曰:“辞尽矣,奔蜂不能化藿蠋,越鸡不能伏鹄卵,鲁鸡固能矣!鸡之与鸡,其德非不同也。有能有不能者,其才固有巨小也。今吾才小,不足以化子。子胡不南见老子!”
English translation
Gengsangzi said, “My words are exhausted. A solitary wasp cannot transform a bean-leaf caterpillar; a Yue chicken cannot hatch a swan’s eggs, but a Lu chicken certainly can. As chickens compared with chickens, their nature is not different; that some can and some cannot is because their capacities are inherently great or small. Now my capacity is small and insufficient to transform you. Why do you not go south to see Laozi?”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎赢粮,七日七夜至老子之所。老子曰:“子自楚之所来乎?”
English translation
Nan Rong Chu carried provisions and, after seven days and seven nights, arrived at Laozi’s place. Laozi said, “Have you come from Chu’s place?”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎曰:“唯。”
English translation
Nan Rong Chu said, “Yes.”
Original Chinese text
老子曰:“子何与人偕来之众也?”
English translation
Laozi said, “Why have you come with so many people?”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎惧然顾其后。老子曰:“子不知吾所谓乎?”
English translation
Nanrong Chu, startled, looked behind him. Laozi said, “Do you not know what I am saying?”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎俯而惭,仰而叹,曰:“今者吾忘吾答,因失吾问。”
English translation
Nanrong Chu bowed his head in shame, then raised it and sighed, saying, “Just now I forgot my answer, and thereby lost my question.”
Original Chinese text
老子曰:“何谓也?”
English translation
Laozi said, “What do you mean?”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎曰:“不知乎人谓我朱愚,知乎反愁我躯;不仁则害人,仁则反愁我身;不义则伤彼,义则反愁我己。我安逃此而可?此三言者,趎之所患也。愿因楚而问之。”
English translation
Nanrong Chu said, “If I do not know, people call me dull-witted; if I know, knowing instead brings grief to my body. If I am not benevolent, I harm others; if I am benevolent, being benevolent instead brings grief to myself. If I am not righteous, I injure others; if I am righteous, being righteous instead brings grief to myself. How can I escape these and be all right? These three sayings are what trouble me, Nanrong Chu. I would like to ask Laozi about these matters through Gengsang Chu.”
Original Chinese text
老子曰:“向吾见若眉睫之间,吾因以得汝矣。今汝又言而信之。若规规然若丧父母,揭竿而求诸海也。女亡人哉!惘惘乎,汝欲反汝情性而无由入,可怜哉!”
English translation
Laozi said, “A moment ago I saw you between your brows and lashes, and by that I already understood you. Now you speak again, and this confirms it. You are agitated as if you had lost your parents, lifting a pole to search for them in the sea. You are a lost person! Dazed and confused, you wish to return to your own nature, but you have no way in—how pitiful!”
Original Chinese text
南荣趎请入就舍,召其所好,去其所恶。十日自愁,复见老子。老子曰:“汝自洒濯,孰哉郁郁乎!然而其中津津乎犹有恶也。
English translation
Nan Rong Chu asked to enter and take up lodging; he summoned what he liked and removed what he disliked. After ten days he had made himself miserable, and he went again to see Laozi. Laozi said: 'You have washed yourself clean—how gloomy you still are! Yet within you, welling up, there is still aversion.'
Original Chinese text
夫外韄者不可繁而捉,将内揵;内韄者不可缪而捉,将外揵;外内韄者,道德不能持,而况放道而行者乎!”
English translation
One bound by externals cannot be grasped by multiplicity; he will bolt himself shut within. One bound by internals cannot be grasped by entanglements; he will bolt himself shut without. One bound both outside and inside—even the Way and Virtue cannot hold him, much less one who follows the Way and acts!
Original Chinese text
南荣趎曰:“里人有病,里人问之,病者能言其病,然其病病者犹未病也。若趎之闻大道,譬犹饮药以加病也。趎愿闻卫生之经而已矣。”
English translation
Nan Rong Chu said: 'A villager was ill, and a fellow villager asked after him. The sick man could speak of his illness, but that which in his illness makes it illness was still not ill. If I, Chu, hear the Great Way, it will be like drinking medicine to make the illness worse. I only wish to hear the guideline for guarding life, nothing more.'
Original Chinese text
老子曰:“卫生之经,能抱一乎!能勿失乎!能无卜筮而知吉凶乎!能止乎!能已乎!能舍诸人而求诸己乎!能翛然乎!能侗然乎!能儿子乎!
English translation
Laozi said: “The constant way of guarding life: Can you embrace the One? Can you not lose it? Can you know auspicious and inauspicious without divination? Can you stop? Can you cease? Can you set aside seeking from others and seek within yourself? Can you be free and detached? Can you be simple and unknowing? Can you be like an infant?”
Original Chinese text
儿子终日嗥而嗌不嗄,和之至也;终日握而手不掜,共其德也;终日视而目不瞬,偏不在外也。行不知所之,居不知所为,与物委蛇而同其波。是卫生之经已。”
English translation
'The infant wails all day and its throat does not become hoarse—this is the utmost harmony. It clutches all day and its hands do not become cramped—this is because it shares its virtue. It looks all day and its eyes do not blink—because its attention is not fixed on the outside. When it walks, it does not know where it is going; when it stays, it does not know what it is doing. It winds along with things and rides the same waves. This is the guideline for guarding life.'
Original Chinese text
南荣趎曰:“然则是至人之德已乎?”
English translation
Nanrong Chu said, “Then is this the virtue of the Perfect Man?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“非也。是乃所谓冰解冻释者能乎?夫至人者,相与交食乎地而交乐乎天,不以人物利害相撄,不相与为怪,不相与为谋,不相与为事,翛然而往,侗然而来。是谓卫生之经已。”
English translation
He said, “No. This is what is called ice melting and frost thawing—can you do it? As for the Perfect Man, he eats with others from the earth and rejoices with them in Heaven; he does not let the profit and harm of people and things entangle him; he does not join others in making prodigies, does not join them in plotting, does not join them in busy affairs. Freely he goes; in simple unawareness he comes. This is called the guiding principle of guarding life.”
Original Chinese text
曰:“然则是至乎?”
English translation
He asked, “Then does this reach the ultimate?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“未也。吾固告汝曰:‘能儿子乎!’
English translation
He said, “Not yet. I already told you: ‘Can you be like an infant?’”
Original Chinese text
儿子动不知所为,行不知所之,身若槁木之枝而心若死灰。若是者,祸亦不至,福亦不来。祸福无有,恶有人灾也!”
English translation
One who is like an infant does not know what he is doing when he moves, nor where he is going when he walks. His body is like a branch of a withered tree, and his heart is like dead ashes. For one like this, misfortune does not come, nor does good fortune. With neither misfortune nor good fortune, how could there be human calamity?
Original Chinese text
宇泰定者,发乎天光。发乎天光者,人见其人,物见其物。人有修者,乃今有恒。有恒者,人舍之,天助之。人之所舍,谓之天民;天之所助,谓之天子。
English translation
One whose mind is calm and settled gives forth a heavenly light. One who gives forth a heavenly light is seen by people as a person and by things as a thing. If a person cultivates himself, only then does he have constancy. One who has constancy is one in whom people find shelter, and Heaven helps him. The one in whom people find shelter is called a person of Heaven; the one whom Heaven helps is called a son of Heaven.
Original Chinese text
学者,学其所不能学也;行者,行其所不能行也;辩者,辩其所不能辩也。知止乎其所不能知,至矣。若有不即是者,天钧败之。备物以将形,藏不虞以生心,敬中以达彼,
English translation
The learner learns what he cannot learn; the doer does what he cannot do; the debater debates what he cannot debate. To know to stop at what one cannot know is the utmost. If there are any who do not take this as right, Heaven’s balance will ruin them. Prepare things to sustain the body; hide in the unanticipated to give life to the heart; revere the inner to reach the other—
Original Chinese text
若是而万恶至者,皆天也,而非人也,不足以滑成,不可内于灵台。灵台者有持,而不知其所持而不可持者也。不见其诚己而发,每发而不当;业入而不舍,每更为失。
English translation
If this is so and ten thousand evils arrive, they are all from Heaven, not from man; they are not enough to disrupt what is complete, and cannot be admitted into the Spiritual Terrace. The Spiritual Terrace has something it holds, yet it does not know what it holds, and it is what cannot be held. Without seeing one's own truth and then issuing forth, every issuing forth is inappropriate; when matters enter and are not let go, every change becomes a fault.
Original Chinese text
为不善乎显明之中者,人得而诛之;为不善乎幽闲之中者,鬼得而诛之。明乎人、明乎鬼者,然后能独行。券内者,行乎无名;券外者,志乎期费。
English translation
Those who do what is not good in the open, men can seize and punish them; those who do what is not good in dark concealment, ghosts can seize and punish them. One who is clear about men and clear about ghosts can then walk alone. Those whose tally is within walk in the nameless; those whose tally is without set their wills on anticipated expenses.
Original Chinese text
行乎无名者,唯庸有光;志乎期费者,唯贾人也。人见其跂,犹之魁然。与物穷者,物入焉;与物且者,其身之不能容,焉能容人!不能容人者无亲,无亲者尽人。
English translation
One who walks in the nameless—only the ordinary has radiance; one whose aims rest on calculated costs and gains is merely a merchant. People see him on tiptoe, yet still think him towering. One who follows things through to their end—things enter into him; one who is merely careless with things cannot contain himself, so how could he accommodate others? One who cannot contain others has no kin; one without close ties is cut off from human society.
Original Chinese text
兵莫憯于志,镆铘为下;寇莫大于阴阳,无所逃于天地之间。非阴阳贼之,心则使之也。
English translation
No weapon is more cruel than the will; the Moye sword ranks below it. No enemy is greater than yin and yang; between heaven and earth there is nowhere to escape. It is not yin and yang that harm him; the mind makes it so.
Original Chinese text
道通其分也,其成也毁也。所恶乎分者,其分也以备。所以恶乎备者?其有以备。故出而不反,见其鬼。出而得,是谓得死。灭而有实,鬼之一也。以有形者象无形者而定矣!
English translation
The Way runs through the divisions of things; where there is completion, there is destruction. What people dislike about division is that in division they seek completeness. Why dislike completeness? Because there is something by which it is complete. Thus, when it goes out and does not return, one sees its ghost. When it goes out and obtains, this is called obtaining death. To be extinguished yet have substance is one kind of ghost. By using the formed to image the formless, one becomes settled.
Original Chinese text
出无本,入无窍,有实而无乎处,有长而无乎本剽,有所出而无窍者有实。有实而无乎处者,宇也;有长而无本剽者,宙也。有乎生,有乎死;有乎出,有乎入。入出而无见其形,是谓天门。
English translation
It issues forth without a root and enters without an opening. It has reality but no location; it has duration but no beginning or end. What issues forth without an opening nevertheless has reality. That which has reality but no location is space; that which has duration but no beginning or end is time. There is birth and there is death; there is emergence and there is entry. Entering and emerging without its form being seen—this is called the Gate of Heaven.
Original Chinese text
天门者,无有也。万物出乎无有。有不能以有为有,必出乎无有,而无有一无有。圣人藏乎是。
English translation
The Gate of Heaven is non-being. The myriad things come forth from non-being. Being cannot make being out of being; it must come forth from non-being—and non-being is itself without being. The sage hides in this.
Original Chinese text
古之人,其知有所至矣。恶乎至?有以为未始有物者,至矣,尽矣,弗可以加矣!其次以为有物矣,将以生为丧也,以死为反也,是以分已。其次曰始无有,既而有生,生俄而死。
English translation
The ancients' knowledge had reached a limit. Where did it reach? Some held that there had never begun to be things: perfect, exhaustive, nothing could be added. Next, they held that there were things, and would regard life as a loss and death as a return—this already involves division. Next, they said: at first there was non-being; then there was life, and once alive it soon died.
Original Chinese text
以无有为首,以生为体,以死为尻。孰知有无死生之一守者,吾与之为友。是三者虽异,公族也。昭景也,著戴也;甲氏也,著封也:非一也。
English translation
Take nonbeing as the head, life as the body, and death as the rump. Whoever knows that being and nonbeing, death and life are guarded as one—I will be his friend. Though these three are different, they belong to the same ducal clan. Zhao and Jing are noted for their caps; the Jia clan is noted for its fief: they are not one.
Original Chinese text
有生黬也,披然曰“移是”。尝言“移是”,非所言也。虽然,不可知者也。腊者之有膍胲,可散而不可散也;观室者周于寝庙,又适其偃焉!为是举“移是”。
English translation
There is life: it is a dark speck; splitting apart, people say 'shifting this.' To try to speak of 'shifting this' is not something that can be spoken. Even so, it is unknowable. At the winter sacrifice there are stomach and feet: they can be separated, yet cannot be separated. One who views a house goes all around the bedchamber and ancestral temple, and then goes to its privy! It is for this that 'shifting this' is raised.
Original Chinese text
请尝言“移是”:是以生为本,以知为师,因以乘是非。果有名实,因以己为质,使人以为己节,因以死偿节。若然者,以用为知,以不用为愚;以彻为名,以穷为辱。
English translation
Let me try to explain 'shifting this': it takes life as the root, takes knowledge as its teacher, and so rides on right and wrong. If names and actualities truly exist, it takes itself as the standard, has others take it as their own norm, and thus repays that norm with death. In this way it counts being employed as wisdom and not being employed as folly; it counts getting through as renown and being stranded as disgrace.
Original Chinese text
“移是”,今之人也,是蜩与学鸠同于同也。
English translation
“Shifting ‘this/right’”—that is how people today are; like the cicada and young dove, they agree only in what they take to be alike.
Original Chinese text
蹍市人之足,则辞以放骜,兄则以妪,大亲则已矣。故曰:至礼有不人,至义不物,至知不谋,至仁无亲,至信辟金。彻志之勃,解心之谬,去德之累,达道之塞。
English translation
If you tread on a stranger’s foot in the marketplace, you excuse yourself by pleading unrestrained arrogance; if on an elder brother’s foot, you make a soothing murmur; if on the foot of your closest kin, you simply let it be. Therefore it is said: the highest ritual does not treat people as “others”; the highest righteousness does not treat things as things; the highest knowledge does not scheme; the highest benevolence has no partiality; the highest trust dispenses with metal tokens. Clear away the disturbances of the will, untie the perversities of the mind, remove the burdens of virtue, and open the blockages of the Way.
Original Chinese text
贵富显严名利六者,勃志也;容动色理气意六者,谬心也;恶欲喜怒哀乐六者,累德也;去就取与知能六者,塞道也。
English translation
Nobility, wealth, prominence, severity, fame, and profit—these six disturb the will. Appearance, movement, complexion, reasoning, breath, and intention—these six warp the mind. Aversion, desire, joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—these six burden virtue. Departing, approaching, taking, giving, knowing, and ability—these six block the Way.
Original Chinese text
此四六者不荡胸中则正,正则静,静则明,明则虚,虚则无为而无不为也。
English translation
If these four sets of six do not churn in the breast, there is correctness. With correctness there is stillness; with stillness, clarity; with clarity, emptiness; with emptiness, one acts without acting and nothing is left undone.
Original Chinese text
道者,德之钦也;生者,德之光也;性者,生之质也。性之动谓之为,为之伪谓之失。知者,接也;知者,谟也。知者之所不知,犹睨也。动以不得已之谓德,动无非我之谓治,名相反而实相顺也。
English translation
The Way is what Virtue reveres; life is the light of Virtue; nature is the substance of life. The movement of nature is called action; to make action artificial is called loss. Knowing is contact; knowing is planning. What the knower does not know is like a sidelong glance. To move from what cannot be otherwise is called Virtue; to move with nothing that is not myself is called order. Names are contrary, but realities accord.
Original Chinese text
羿工乎中微而拙乎使人无己誉;圣人工乎天而拙乎人;夫工乎天而俍乎人者,唯全人能之。唯虫能虫,唯虫能天。全人恶天,恶人之天,而况吾天乎人乎!一雀适羿,羿必得之,威也。
English translation
Yi was skilled at hitting a tiny target but poor at keeping people from praising him. The sage is skilled in Heaven but poor in human affairs. To be skilled in Heaven and also competent in human affairs—only the Complete Man can do this. Only a creature can be a creature; only a creature can follow its Heaven-given nature. The Complete Man rejects Heaven, rejects the Heaven of man; how much more “my Heaven” and “my man”! If a single sparrow comes to Yi, Yi will surely get it—such is his power.
Original Chinese text
以天下为之笼,则雀无所逃。是故汤以庖人笼伊尹,秦穆公以五羊之皮笼百里奚。是故非以其所好笼之而可得者,无有也。介者拸画,外非誉也。胥靡登高而不惧,遗死生也。
English translation
If you make the whole world into a cage, then the birds have nowhere to flee. Thus Tang caged Yi Yin with a cook, and Duke Mu of Qin caged Baili Xi with the skins of five sheep. Hence there has never been anyone who could be obtained without being caged by what he likes. A man missing a foot discards ornament, putting blame and praise outside himself; a convict laborer climbs high without fear, having left life and death behind.
Original Chinese text
夫复謵不馈而忘人,忘人,因以为天人矣!故敬之而不喜,侮之而不怒者,唯同乎天和者为然。出怒不怒,则怒出于不怒矣;出为无为,则为出于无为矣!欲静则平气,欲神则顺心。
English translation
As for being repeatedly alarmed yet making no return, and forgetting others—having forgotten others, one is thereby a Heavenly Man. Therefore, to be respected without being pleased and insulted without being angry—only one who is one with Heavenly Harmony is like this. When anger issues forth and is not anger, then anger comes from non-anger; when action issues forth and is non-action, then action comes from non-action. If you wish for stillness, calm your qi; if you wish for spirit, follow your heart.
Original Chinese text
有为也欲当,则缘于不得已。不得已之类,圣人之道。
English translation
When acting and wishing to be fitting, one follows what cannot be otherwise. The category of the unavoidable is the Way of the sage.