Part of the "Longman Library of Primary Sources in Philosophy," this translation/edition of Chuang Tzu's works is framed by a pedagogical structure designed to make this important work of philosophy more accessible and productive for undergraduates.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go. Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Zhuangzi (Longman Library of Primary Sources in Philosophy) by Chuang Tzu, Hyun Hochsmann,Yang Guorong,Daniel Kolak, Hyun Hochsmann, Yang Guorong, Daniel Kolak in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Philosophy History & Theory. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
In the North a fish called Kun1 turns into a bird named Peng
Whose wingspan extends I know not how many li.
When Peng ascends his wings
Spread like clouds all around the sky
And when the sea begins to move2
Peng travels southward to the Lake of Heaven.
In the Record of Marvels it is written:
“When Peng journeys to the South
The sea is stirred up for three thousand li.
It rises up in a whirlwind ninety thousand li high
Resting only after six months.”
This resembles the horses of the fields3—
Dust visible in sunbeams
And living things blown about in the air.
We know not if blue is the true colour of the sky
Or if the distance before our eyes is limitless.
If one were to look down from above
All would appear the same.
If the water is not deep enough
It will not have strength to hold up a large boat.
Spill water into a crevice of the floor:
Small things would float on it like a boat.
Place a bowl in it, it will be stationary,
For the water is shallow and the bowl is large.
If the wind is not forceful enough,
It will not have the strength to support the great wings.
Only with the strongest wind beneath him,
Could the bird rise to the height of ninety thousand li.
Aloft in the azure sky with nothing to hinder his course
Peng sets off for the South.
The cicada and the dove laughed at it, saying:
“We try to fly to an elm or sandalwood tree
But drop to the ground before we reach it.
How could any creature
Rise to a height of ninety thousand li?”
One who goes to the near green woods taking enough food only for three meals will return home for the evening meal still full. One who goes a hundred li will have to pound the grain for the night. One who goes a thousand li will have to prepare his grain to last three months. What do the cicada and the dove know? Small knowledge cannot fathom what is great, or few years reach many years. How do we know that this is so? The mushroom of a morning knows nothing of the beginning and end of a month; the cicada knows aught of spring and autumn. They live too short a while. In the south of Chu there is a tree, Mingling,4 which grows in a spring which lasts five hundred years and dwindles in an autumn which lasts as long. In the distant past there was a tree, Zhun, whose spring was eight thousand years and its autumn the same. Pengzu5 is renowned to the present day for his long life. In trying to surpass him, would all men not be despondent?
Among Tang’s6 questions to Ji we have similar sayings: “In the empty and desolate North there is a vast sea, the Lake of Heaven. There is a fish, several thousand li across, but no one knows how long. It is called Kun. There is also a bird called Peng. Its back is as high as the Tai Mountain, its wings like clouds covering the sky. On a whirlwind it spirals upward as on a ram’s horn ninety thousand li above the clouds, with the blue of the sky upon its back. It charts its course for the South, proceeding to the ocean. A quail laughed at it, saying, ‘Where is it going? I bound up but come down after having flown only a few yards among the bushes. That is the way to fly. Where is that creature going?’ This shows the difference between the small and the great.”
Those who have sufficient knowledge for one office or whose actions are effective in one district or whose abilities are adapted to one ruler consider themselves in the same manner as the quail. Song Rongzi7 would have found them laughable. If the whole world were to praise him he would not have been encouraged; if the whole world were to condemn him he would not have been deterred. He was steadfast about the difference between the internal and the external, and discerning about the boundary between honour and disgrace. He withdrew, indifferent to his place in the world. Still he did not find a firm place.
Liezi8 rode on the wind, soaring freely, only to return to his place after fifteen days. He was not attached to the things which were thought to bring happiness. He did not need to walk but he still had to depend on something to carry him. But suppose one traverses the course between heaven and earth and travels with the changes of six elemental forces,9 delighting in the infinite. What would he have to depend on? There is a saying: “The complete man has no thought of self; the spirit-like10 man, none of merit; the sage, none of fame.”
Yao,11 preparing to resign the empire to Xu You, said, “When the sun and moon have come out and the torches have not been put out, would they give forth light? When the seasonal rains fall and we continue to water the ground, will not our labour be wasted effort? If you were to preside, all under heaven will be well governed; if I continue to rule, I can see that it will be in vain. I implore to resign the empire to you.”
Xu You said, “You rule all below the heaven and all is well governed. If I were to take your place, would I not be doing so for the sake of the name? The name is but the guest of reality—shall I play the part of the guest? The tailorbird builds its nest in the deep forest, using only one branch. The mole drinks from the Ho, but only until it is full. Return and continue being the ruler; I have no use for empire. Even if the cook does not attend to his kitchen, the priests and those who enact the part of the deceased in the ritual would not take his place.”
Jianwu said to Lianshu, “I heard Jieyu say some great words, but with nothing to support them. Once gone, they could not be brought back. I was astounded by his words—they were like the Milky Way, intractable and unrelated to the experience of men.”
“What were his words?” asked Lianshu.
“He said, ‘Far away on the hill of Gushe there lives a spirit-like man whose flesh and skin are like ice and snow, and whose manner is as gentle as that of an innocent maiden. He does not eat the five grains but breathes in the wind and drinks the dew. Riding on the vapour of the clouds and driving flying dragons he roams beyond the four seas. By concentrating his spirit he can protect creatures from disease and pestilence and provide a plentiful harvest every year.’ I thought these words were extravagant and did not believe them.”
“That is how it is,” said Lienshu. “The blind have no awareness of the beauty of shapes, nor the deaf of the sound of drums and bells. It is not in the body alone that deafness and blindness exist. They are also in the intellect, as your words indicate. This man, with his power, would combine the myriad things and make them into one. How could he, when the world calls to him, make the ordering of it his task? Nothing could harm this man—the great floods rising to the sky could not drown him, nor could the great heat melting metals and stones and scorching all the ground and the mountains burn him. Even from his dust and chaff he could still mould Yao or Shun. How could he be occupied with worldly affairs?
“A man of Song who traded in ceremonial caps travelled to Yue. But the people of Yue, who cut their hair short and tattooed their bodies, had no use for them. Yao governed the kingdom and maintained perfect order within the four seas. However, when he went to see the four perfect men in the remote mountains of Gushe, north of the Fen River, he forgot his empire in a daze.”12
Hui Shi13 said to Zhuangzi, “The ruler of Wei sent me the seeds of a large calabash. I sowed them; they grew and the fruits could contain five bushels. I used them for water but they were so heavy that I could not lift them. I cut them in half to make ladles but they were too wide and unstable. They were certainly extraordinarily big, but because they were useless I broke them up to pieces.”
Zhuangzi replied, “You really are obtuse in using what is big. There was a man of Song who knew how to make a salve to prevent the hands from chapping, and for generations his family had been bleaching silk as their trade. A stranger heard of this and offered him a hundred pieces of gold to buy the formula. The kinsmen were gathered and considered the proposal: ‘Our family has been bleaching silk for generations and has earned only a few pieces of gold. Now in one morning we can sell the secret for a hundred pieces of gold. Let him have it.’ The stranger got it and recommended it to King Wu, who was at war with Yue. The king put him in command of his fleet, and that winter he defeated Yue in battle and was rewarded a portion of its territory. Preventing the hands from chapping was the same in both cases. But one acquired a fiefdom while the other remained bleaching silk. The difference was in the use. Now, you had calabashes large enough to hold five bushels. Why did you not think of making large bottles from them, which you could have used to float over the rivers and the lakes, instead of fretting over their uselessness in holding anything? Your mind appears to be befuddled!”
Hui Shi said to Zhuangzi, “I have a large tree. People call it the Tree of Heaven. Its trunk is so gnarled that it cannot be measured, and its branches are so knotted and twisted that the compass and the square cannot be used. If you stood it up in the road a carpenter would not glance at it. Your words are big but useless—all will turn away from them.”
Zhuangzi replied, “Have you never seen a wildcat or a weasel? Crouching low, they watch for something to approach. They leap east and west without fearing to go high or low, until they fall into the trap and die in the net. Then there is the yak, big as the clouds hanging from the sky...
