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Adventures in Philosophy |
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by Chuang Chou
In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, its name the Kun [Leviathan], its size I know not how many li. By metamorphosis it becomes a bird called the P'eng ['Roc'], with a back I know not how many li in extent. When it rouses itself and flies, its wings darken the sky like clouds. With the sea in motion this bird transports itself to the Southern Ocean, the Lake of Heaven. In the words of Ch'i Hsieh, a recorder of marvels, 'When the P'eng transports itself to the Southern Ocean, it thrashes the water for three thousand li, and mounts in a whirlwind to the height of ninety thousand li, and flies continuously for six months before it comes to rest.' A mote in a sunbeam (that in one sense is all that this vast Roc is): flying dust which living creatures breathe in and out! And that blueness of the sky! Is it an actual color, or is it the measureless depth of the heavens which we gaze at from below and see as 'blue,' just like that and nothing more? Again take water, without the dense accumulation of which there is no power for the floating of a great ship. And (think of) a cup of water upset in a corner of the hall. A tiny mustard seed becomes a ship (afloat), but the cup which held the water will remain aground because of the shallowness of the water and the size of the cup as a ship. So with the accumulation of wind, without sufficient density it has no power to float huge wings. Thus it is that the P'eng has to rise ninety thousand li and cut off the wind beneath it. Then and not before, the bird, borne up by the down-pressed wind, floats in the azure heavens with secure support. Then and not before, it can start on its journey south. A cicada and a young dove giggled together over the P'eng. The cicada said, 'When we exert ourselves to fly up on to the tall elms, we sometimes fail to get there and are pulled back to the ground; and that is that. Why then should any one mount up ninety thousand li in order to go south?' Well, the man who goes out to the grassy country near by takes only three meals with him and comes back with his stomach well filled. But the man who has to travel a hundred li grinds flour for one night on the way; and the man who has to travel a thousand li requires food for three months. These two little creatures (the cicada and the dove), what can they know? Small knowledge is not equal to great knowledge, just as a short life is not equal to a long one. How do we know this to be so? The mushroom with one brief morning's existence has no knowledge of the duration of a month. The chrysalis knows nothing of the spring and the autumn. Thus it is that the knowledge of some men qualifies them for a small office and for effecting unity in one district, whilst the moral power of another man fits him to be a ruler and proves itself throughout a whole country. These men have a view of themselves which is like the quail's view of himself. On the other hand, Master Yung of Sung State just laughs at these men. If the whole world should admire or criticize him, he would neither be encouraged nor discouraged. Having determined the difference between what is intrinsic and what extrinsic, he disputed the accepted boundaries of honor and dishonor. In this he was himself, and there are very few such men in the world. Nevertheless he was not really rooted. Take Master Lieh. He could drive the wind as a team and go, borne aloft, away for fifteen days before returning. Such a man attains a happiness which few possess. Yet in this although he had no need to walk, there was still something on which he was dependent [viz. the wind]. Supposing, however, that he were borned on the normality of the heavens and earth, driving a team of the six elements in their changes, and thus wandered freely in infinity-eternity, would there be anything then on which he was dependent? Thus it is that I say, 'The perfect man has no self, the spirit-endowed man no achievements, the sage no reputation.'
Excerpted from Chinese Philosophy in Classical Times. |
A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy
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