In Lu there was a footless man named Wang Tai. Those who followed him were about equal in number to those who followed Confucius. Chang Ji asked Confucius: “Wang Tai is a footless man, yet his followers divide Lu equally with you, Master. He stands and does not teach; he sits and does not discuss. People go to him empty and return full. Is there indeed a wordless teaching, a completion of the heart without outward form? What sort of man is he?”
Confucius said: “This Master is a sage. I myself am only behind him and have not yet gone to him. I shall take him as my teacher – how much more those who are not my equal! Why limit it to Lu? I shall lead the whole world to follow him.”
Chang Ji said: “He is a footless man, yet he is superior to you, Master. Then he must be far from ordinary men. If so, how does he use his mind?”
Confucius said: “Life and death are great matters, yet they cannot change him. Though heaven and earth overturn and fall, he would not be lost with them. He discerns what has no false basis and does not shift with things. He lets things transform while holding to their source.”
Chang Ji said: “What does that mean?”
Confucius said: “Viewed from their differences, liver and gall are as Chu and Yue; viewed from their sameness, all things are one. If so, he does not even know what suits ear and eye, but lets his mind wander in the harmony of virtue. He sees things in their oneness and does not see what he has lost; he looks on the loss of his foot as discarded earth.”
Chang Ji said: “He works for himself. With his knowledge he attains his mind; with his mind he attains the Constant Mind. Why then do people gather to him?”
Confucius said: “No one mirrors himself in running water, but in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of others. Receiving life from earth, only pine and cypress are uniquely upright, green through winter and summer. Receiving life from heaven, only Yao and Shun are uniquely upright, heads of all things. Fortunately they could rectify their own lives, and so rectify the lives of others. The proof of preserving one’s beginning, the reality of fearlessness: a single brave man can boldly enter the armies of nine divisions. One who seeks fame and can still master himself does even so; how much more one who takes heaven and earth as his office, who makes all things his storehouse, who merely lodges in the six bones, makes ears and eyes images, unifies all that knowledge knows, and whose heart never dies! He will choose a day and ascend to the far-off; people will follow him. How could he be willing to busy himself with things?”
Shen Tu Jia was a footless man, and with Zichan of Zheng studied under Bohun Wuren. Zichan said to Shen Tu Jia: “If I go out first, you stop; if you go out first, I stop.” The next day, they again sat together in the same hall and on the same mat. Zichan said to Shen Tu Jia: “If I go out first, you stop; if you go out first, I stop. Now I am about to go out. Can you stop? Or not? Moreover, when you see the chief minister, you do not stand aside. Do you consider yourself equal to the chief minister?”
Shen Tu Jia said: “In the Master’s gate, is there indeed such a chief minister? You are pleased with your being chief minister and put others behind you. I have heard it said: ‘When a mirror is bright, dust and dirt do not settle on it; if they settle, it is not bright. If one long dwells with worthy men, one will be without fault.’ Now the great thing you have chosen is the Master, yet you still speak like this – is that not a fault?”
Zichan said: “You are already like this, yet you still contend with Yao in goodness? Considering your virtue, is it not enough to make you reflect on yourself?”
Shen Tu Jia said: “Many are those who describe their own faults and claim they should not have been maimed; few are those who do not describe their faults and claim they should not have survived. To know that there is no way out and to be at peace with it as fate – only a man of virtue can do this. He wanders within the range of Yi’s bow. The center is the place to be hit; yet if one is not hit, it is fate. Many people laugh at my incomplete feet because their feet are whole. I used to flush with anger. But when I came to the Master’s place, I forgot my anger and returned. I do not know whether the Master washed me with goodness, or whether I awoke by myself. I have wandered with the Master for nineteen years and have never once been aware that I am footless. Now you and I wander within the bodily frame, yet you seek me outside the bodily frame – is that not a fault?”
Zichan changed countenance and said: “Do not say such things.”
In Lu there was a footless man, Shu Shan Wu Zhi, who came on his heels to see Confucius. Confucius said: “You were not careful. Earlier you already brought trouble on yourself like this. Though you come now, what can be done?”
Wu Zhi said: “I was ignorant of what was proper and lightly used my body, and so I lost my feet. Now I have come because there is still something more honorable than feet, and I wish to preserve it whole. Heaven covers all; earth bears all. I took you, Master, to be heaven and earth. How could I know you would still be like this?”
Confucius said: “I am indeed shallow. Why do you not come in, sir? Let me tell you what I have heard.”
Wu Zhi went out. Confucius said: “Disciples, encourage yourselves! Wu Zhi is a footless man, yet he still strives to learn in order to make up for the evil of his former conduct – how much more should one whose virtue is whole!”
Wu Zhi said to Lao Dan: “As for Confucius and the Perfect Man, is he not still lacking? Why does he so eagerly study with you? He seeks fame through strange and fantastic teachings, not knowing that the Perfect Man regards these as shackles for himself.”
Lao Dan said: “Why not simply make him take life and death as one strand and acceptable and unacceptable as one thread, and so release his shackles? Would that do?”
Wu Zhi said: “Heaven has punished him. How can it be released?”
Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius: “In Wei there is an ugly man named Ai Tai Tuo. When men spend time with him, they think of him and cannot leave. When women see him, they ask their parents, ‘Rather than be another man’s wife, I would be this man’s concubine’ – and there are dozens and more. He has never been heard to lead; he only harmonizes with others. He has no ruler’s position to save men from death, no gathered wealth to fill men’s bellies, and with ugliness he shocks the world. He harmonizes but does not lead; his knowledge does not go beyond his immediate surroundings; yet male and female gather before him. He must be different from other men. I summoned him and looked at him: truly his ugliness shocked the world. When he was with me, before many months had passed, I was drawn to his character; before a year had passed, I trusted him. The state had no minister, and I offered him the government. He was silent, then afterward responded; vaguely, as if he would decline. I felt ashamed, and finally gave him the state. Before long, he left me and went away. I was grieved as if I had lost something, as if there were no one with whom to enjoy this state. What sort of man is he?”
Confucius said: “I once was sent to Chu, and happened to see piglets feeding at their dead mother. After a little while they blinked, all abandoned her and ran away. They did not see themselves in her, did not find their kind in her. What they loved in their mother was not her form, but what made her form live. When men die in battle, their burial is not accompanied by feather fans; for a man who has been mutilated, no one loves his shoes. This is because both lack their original basis. For the royal attendants of the Son of Heaven: nails are not cut, ears are not pierced; a man who takes a wife is kept outside and not employed again. If wholeness of form is enough for such treatment, how much more a man of whole virtue! Now Ai Tai Tuo trusted before he spoke, was loved before he achieved merit, and made men hand over their states to him, fearing only that he would not accept. This must be one whose talents are complete and whose virtue does not appear.”
Duke Ai said: “What is meant by ‘talents complete’?”
Confucius said: “Death and life, preservation and loss, poverty and success, wealth and want, worthiness and unworthiness, blame and praise, hunger and thirst, cold and heat – these are the transformations of things, the workings of fate. Day and night they alternate before us, and knowledge cannot trace their beginning. Therefore they are not enough to disturb harmony, and cannot enter the spirit-store. Let them make one harmonious, at ease, penetrating, and not lose joy. Let day and night have no gap, and be spring with all things. This is to meet things and generate the seasons in the heart. This is called ‘talents complete.’”
“What is meant by ‘virtue does not appear’?”
Confucius said: “Levelness is the perfection of still water. It can be taken as a model because it preserves itself within and does not surge outward. Virtue is the cultivation of completed harmony. When virtue does not appear, things cannot leave it.”
Another day Duke Ai told Min Zi: “At first, when I sat facing south as ruler of the world, held the reins of the people and worried about their deaths, I thought I was thoroughly wise. Now that I have heard the words of the Perfect Man, I fear I have no reality in me, and that I have lightly used my body and endangered my state. Confucius and I are not ruler and minister; we are friends in virtue.”
A lame, maimed, lipless man named Yin Qi Zhi Li Wu Shen persuaded Duke Ling of Wei. The duke was pleased with him, and when he looked at whole men, their necks seemed scrawny. A man named Weng Ang Da Ying, with a goiter as big as a jar, persuaded Duke Huan of Qi. The duke was pleased with him, and when he looked at whole men, their necks seemed scrawny. Thus when virtue has something superior, form is forgotten. When men do not forget what they ought to forget, but forget what they ought not to forget, this is called true forgetting.
Therefore the sage has that in which he wanders, while knowledge is a branch, agreements are glue, virtue is a connection, craftsmanship is commerce. The sage does not scheme – what use has he for knowledge? He does not cut – what use has he for glue? He has no loss – what use has he for virtue? He does not peddle – what use has he for commerce? These four are heavenly nourishment. Heavenly nourishment means to be fed by heaven. Since he is fed by heaven, what use has he for men?
He has the form of a man, but no human emotions. Because he has the form of a man, he groups with men. Because he has no human emotions, right and wrong do not find lodging in him. Small indeed is what makes him belong to men; great indeed is what makes him complete in heaven.
Huizi said to Zhuangzi: “Can a man really be without emotions?”
Zhuangzi said: “Yes.”
Huizi said: “If a man has no emotions, how can he be called a man?”
Zhuangzi said: “The Way gives him a countenance; heaven gives him a form. How can he not be called a man?”
Huizi said: “Since he is called a man, how can he be without emotions?”
Zhuangzi said: “What I call emotions is not what you mean. What I call being without emotions means that a man does not inwardly injure himself with likes and dislikes, and constantly follows the natural without adding to life.”
Huizi said: “If he does not add to life, how can he have his body?”
Zhuangzi said: “The Way gives him a countenance; heaven gives him a form. He does not inwardly injure himself with likes and dislikes. Now you externalize your spirit and labor your essence. You lean against a tree and chant; you rest on a withered parasol tree and doze. Heaven chose your form, and you chirp about ‘hard and white.’”
Note
This Zhuangzi‑Dechongfu excerpt presents fables of deformed figures. It prioritizes inner complete virtue over physical form or social status, and ends with Zhuangzi’s debate with Huizi over “having no human emotions”.
Zhuangzi (庄子, c. 369–286 BCE):
A major Daoist philosopher of the Warring States period. The book Zhuangzi is famous for its imaginative stories, skepticism about conventional values, and ideal of living in harmony with the Dao.
Confucius / Zhongni / Kong Qiu (孔子, 仲尼, 551–479 BCE):
Founder of the Confucian tradition. In the Zhuangzi, he often appears as a character who learns from Daoist sages, rather than as the supreme authority he is in Confucian texts, like the Analects.
Chang Ji (常季):
An interlocutor in this chapter. He questions Confucius about Wang Tai. He is not a major historical figure and functions as a philosophical questioner.
Wang Tai (王骀):
A footless man of Lu. He is likely a literary creation used by Zhuangzi to show that inner virtue matters more than physical wholeness or social rank.
Shen Tu Jia (申徒嘉):
A footless man who studies under Bohun Wuren. His debate with Zichan illustrates humility and the superiority of inner virtue over political status.
Zichan (子产, d. 522 BCE):
A famous statesman and chief minister of the state of Zheng. He is historically known for practical wisdom and reform, but here he appears proud of his office.
Bohun Wuren (伯昏无人):
A Daoist-style master, probably fictional. His name suggests a mysterious, transcendent teacher. He is the teacher of both Shen Tu Jia and Zichan.
Shu Shan Wu Zhi (叔山无趾):
“No-Toes of Shu Mountain,” a footless man. He represents someone who has suffered social disgrace but still seeks to cultivate what is more honorable than the body.
Lao Dan / Laozi (老聃):
Traditionally regarded as the founder of Daoism and author of the Daodejing. In the Zhuangzi, he is a sage-like figure who speaks from a higher perspective.
Duke Ai of Lu (鲁哀公):
A ruler of Lu during Confucius’s later years. In this chapter, he is moved by the ugly but charismatic Ai Tai Tuo and learns from Confucius.
Ai Tai Tuo (哀骀它):
An ugly man of Wei, almost certainly fictional. He embodies “complete talent and virtue that does not appear outwardly.”
Min Zi (闵子):
Min Sun, a disciple of Confucius known for virtue. Duke Ai speaks to him about his change of heart.
Duke Ling of Wei (卫灵公):
A ruler of Wei. He is said to have been pleased by a severely deformed man, illustrating that virtue can make physical form seem unimportant.
Duke Huan of Qi (齐桓公):
A famous ruler of Qi and the first of the “Five Hegemons” in the Spring and Autumn period. He too is said to have favored a deformed man.
Huizi / Hui Shi (惠子, 惠施, c. 370–310 BCE):
Huizi, a logician and sophist, friend and rival of Zhuangzi. He is associated with paradoxes such as “hard and white.”
Yao and Shun (尧, 舜):
Yao and Shun, legendary sage rulers of ancient China, often used as symbols of perfect government and moral uprightness.
Yi (羿):
A legendary archer, sometimes identified with Hou Yi. “Within Yi’s bowshot” suggests being inside the range of danger and fate.
The Concept of “De” (德, virtue):
Unlike the Confucian “virtue” (benevolence, righteousness), Zhuangzi’s “De” refers to the inner power, integrity, or spiritual fullness that comes from aligning with the Tao (the Way). It is an invisible force that attracts others naturally, without effort.
Footless men / amputees (兀者, 刖者):
In ancient China, cutting off the foot was a punishment. Such people were socially marginalized. Zhuangzi uses them repeatedly to challenge the idea that physical completeness equals moral or spiritual worth.
Chief minister / ruling officer (执政):
A high political office. Zichan’s pride in being chief minister is contrasted with Shen Tu Jia’s freedom from social shame.
Facing south (南面):
The traditional orientation of a ruler holding court. To “face south” means to rule.
Friends in virtue (德友):
A relationship based on shared moral and spiritual understanding, higher than political hierarchy. Duke Ai says he and Confucius are not ruler and minister but virtue-friends.
Royal attendants of the Son of Heaven (天子诸御):
Attendants who served the king. The text says their nails were not cut and ears not pierced, and married men were kept outside. This reflects ancient taboos about preserving bodily wholeness for royal service.
Feather fans at burials (翣资) and shoes of the mutilated (刖者之屦):
Ritual objects connected to the dead or maimed. The point is that when the root or original basis is gone, outward attachments lose their meaning.
Still water as a mirror (止水):
A Daoist image of inner stillness. Only a still mind can reflect reality and calm others.
Pine and cypress (松柏):
Symbols of constancy because they remain green through winter and summer.
Heavenly nourishment (天鬻, 天食):
To be fed by heaven rather than by human contrivance. It means living from the Dao, not from social ambition or cleverness.
Spirit-store (灵府):
The inner seat of the spirit or mind, which should remain undisturbed by outer changes.
“Talents complete and virtue not appearing” (才全而德不形):
A key ideal in this chapter. One may be inwardly complete and harmonious without displaying virtue outwardly.
“Hard and white” (坚白):
A famous paradox associated with the School of Names and Hui Shi. It concerns whether qualities like hardness and whiteness are separate from the object or from each other.
“Liver and gall as Chu and Yue” (肝胆楚越):
Chu and Yue were distant states. The phrase means that from the perspective of difference, even closely connected things seem utterly separate.
“Within Yi’s bowshot” (游于羿之彀中):
To live inside the range of the legendary archer Yi. It means to be exposed to danger and fate; not being hit is not skill but fate.
“Heaven has punished him” (天刑之):
Wu Zhi says Confucius is under a kind of heavenly punishment and cannot simply be released from his shackles.
“A mirror is bright, so dust does not settle” (鉴明则尘垢不止):
A metaphor for a clear mind. If the mind is bright, faults do not cling to it.
“Do not forget what should be forgotten, but forget what should not be forgotten” (不忘其所忘而忘其所不忘):
A paradox about true forgetting. People often remember what they should let go and forget what truly matters.
“No emotions” (无情):
In the Huizi dialogue, Zhuangzi does not mean coldness or lack of feeling. He means not letting likes and dislikes injure one’s inner life, and following nature without artificial addition.
“Hard and white” (坚白):
Hui Shi’s logical debate is used by Zhuangzi as an example of useless cleverness that exhausts the spirit.
德充符第五
鲁有兀者王骀，从之游者与仲尼相若。常季问于仲尼曰：“王骀，兀者也，从之游者与夫子中分鲁。立不教，坐不议。虚而往，实而归。固有不言之教，无形而心成者邪？是何人也？”仲尼曰：“夫子，圣人也，丘也直后而未往耳！丘将以为师，而况不若丘者乎！奚假鲁国，丘将引天下而与从之。”
常季曰：“彼兀者也，而王先生，其与庸亦远矣。若然者，其用心也，独若之何？”仲尼曰：“死生亦大矣，而不得与之变；虽天地覆坠，亦将不与之遗；审乎无假而不与物迁，命物之化而守其宗也。”
常季曰：“何谓也？”仲尼曰：“自其异者视之，肝胆楚越也；自其同者视之，万物皆一也。夫若然者，且不知耳目之所宜，而游心乎德之和。物视其所一而不见其所丧，视丧其足犹遗土也。”
常季曰：“彼为己，以其知得其心，以其心得其常心。物何为最之哉？”仲尼曰：“人莫鉴于流水而鉴于止水。唯止能止众止。受命于地，唯松柏独也正，在冬夏青青；受命于天，唯尧、舜独也正，在万物之首。幸能正生，以正众生。夫保始之徵，不惧之实，勇士一人，雄入于九军。将求名而能自要者而犹若是，而况官天地、府万物、直寓六骸、象耳目、一知之所知而心未尝死者乎！彼且择日而登假，人则从是也。彼且何肯以物为事乎！”
申徒嘉，兀者也，而与郑子产同师于伯昏无人。子产谓申徒嘉曰：“我先出则子止，子先出则我止。”其明日，又与合堂同席而坐。子产谓申徒嘉曰：“我先出则子止，子先出则我止。今我将出，子可以止乎？其未邪？且子见执政而不违，子齐执政乎？”申徒嘉曰：“先生之门固有执政焉如此哉？子而说子之执政而后人者也。闻之曰：‘鉴明则尘垢不止，止则不明也。久与贤人处则无过。’今子之所取大者，先生也，而犹出言若是，不亦过乎！”
子产曰：“子既若是矣，犹与尧争善。计子之德，不足以自反邪？”申徒嘉曰：“自状其过以不当亡者众；不状其过以不当存者寡。知不可奈何而安之若命，唯有德者能之。游于羿之彀中。中央者，中地也；然而不中者，命也。人以其全足笑吾不全足者众矣，我怫然而怒，而适先生之所，则废然而反。不知先生之洗我以善邪？吾之自寐邪？吾与夫子游十九年，而未尝知吾兀者也。今子与我游于形骸之内，而子索我于形骸之外，不亦过乎！”子产蹴然改容更貌曰：“子无乃称！”
鲁有兀者叔山无趾，踵见仲尼。仲尼曰：“子不谨，前既犯患若是矣。虽今来，何及矣！”无趾曰：“吾唯不知务而轻用吾身，吾是以亡足。今吾来也，犹有尊足者存，吾是以务全之也。夫天无不覆，地无不载，吾以夫子为天地，安知夫子之犹若是也！”孔子曰：“丘则陋矣！夫子胡不入乎？请讲以所闻。”无趾出。孔子曰：“弟子勉之！夫无趾，兀者也，犹务学以复补前行之恶，而况全德之人乎！”
无趾语老聃曰：“孔丘之于至人，其未邪？彼何宾宾以学子为？彼且蕲以諔诡幻怪之名闻，不知至人之以是为己桎梏邪？”老聃曰：“胡不直使彼以死生为一条，以可不可为一贯者，解其桎梏，其可乎？”无趾曰：“天刑之，安可解！”
鲁哀公问于仲尼曰：“卫有恶人焉，曰哀骀它。丈夫与之处者，思而不能去也；妇人见之，请于父母曰：‘与为人妻，宁为夫子妾’者，数十而未止也。未尝有闻其唱者也，常和人而已矣。无君人之位以济乎人之死，无聚禄以望人之腹，又以恶骇天下，和而不唱，知不出乎四域，且而雌雄合乎前，是必有异乎人者也。寡人召而观之，果以恶骇天下。与寡人处，不至以月数，而寡人有意乎其为人也；不至乎期年，而寡人信之。国无宰，而寡人传国焉。闷然而后应，氾而若辞。寡人丑乎，卒授之国。无几何也，去寡人而行。寡人恤焉若有亡也，若无与乐是国也。是何人者也！”
仲尼曰：“丘也尝使于楚矣，适见㹠子食于其死母者。少焉眴若，皆弃之而走。不见己焉尔，不得其类焉尔。所爱其母者，非爱其形也，爱使其形者也。战而死者，其人之葬也不以翣资；刖者之屦，无为爱之。皆无其本矣。为天子之诸御：不爪翦，不穿耳；取妻者止于外，不得复使。形全犹足以为尔，而况全德之人乎！今哀骀它未言而信，无功而亲，使人授己国，唯恐其不受也，是必才全而德不形者也。”
哀公曰：“何谓才全？”仲尼曰：“死生、存亡、穷达、贫富、贤与不肖、毁誉、饥渴、寒暑，是事之变、命之行也。日夜相代乎前，而知不能规乎其始者也。故不足以滑和，不可入于灵府。使之和豫通而不失于兑。使日夜无隙，而与物为春，是接而生时于心者也。是之谓才全。”“何谓德不形？”曰：“平者，水停之盛也。其可以为法也，内保之而外不荡也。德者，成和之修也。德不形者，物不能离也。”
哀公异日以告闵子曰：“始也吾以南面而君天下，执民之纪而忧其死，吾自以为至通矣。今吾闻至人之言，恐吾无其实，轻用吾身而亡吾国。吾与孔丘非君臣也，德友而已矣！”
闉跂支离无脤说卫灵公，灵公说之，而视全人：其脰肩肩。瓮㼜大瘿说齐桓公，桓公说之，而视全人：其脰肩肩。故德有所长而形有所忘。人不忘其所忘而忘其所不忘，此谓诚忘。
故圣人有所游，而知为孽，约为胶，德为接，工为商。圣人不谋，恶用知？不斫，恶用胶？无丧，恶用德？不货，恶用商？四者，天鬻也。天鬻者，天食也。既受食于天，又恶用人！
有人之形，无人之情。有人之形，故群于人；无人之情，故是非不得于身。眇乎小哉，所以属于人也；謷乎大哉，独成其天。
惠子谓庄子曰：“人故无情乎？”庄子曰：“然。”惠子曰：“人而无情，何以谓之人？”庄子曰：“道与之貌，天与之形，恶得不谓之人？”惠子曰：“既谓之人，恶得无情？”庄子曰：“是非吾所谓情也。吾所谓无情者，言人之不以好恶内伤其身，常因自然而不益生也。”惠子曰：“不益生，何以有其身？”庄子曰：“道与之貌，天与之形，无以好恶内伤其身。今子外乎子之神，劳乎子之精，倚树而吟，据槁梧而瞑。天选子之形，子以坚白鸣。”
Leave a Reply