Chapter 25 Ze Yang, which belongs to the Miscellaneous Chapters of Zhuangzi, assembles eleven independent fables and philosophical discourses.
Ze Yang visits Chu; Wang Guo speaks of Gong Yue Xiu
Ze Yang (则阳, also named Peng Yang) travelled in the state of Chu. Yi Jie (夷节) recommended him to the King of Chu, yet the king refused an audience. Yi Jie returned home.
Ze Yang went to see Wang Guo (王果). ”Sir, why do you not speak of me to the king?”
Wang Guo replied: ”I am not equal to Gong Yue Xiu (公阅休).”
Ze Yang: ”What kind of man is Gong Yue Xiu?”
Wang Guo answered: ”In winter he spears soft‑shelled turtles in the river; in summer he rests among mountain‑side thickets. When passers‑by ask where he dwells, he says: ’This is my home.’
Even Yi Jie could not bring about your audience. How much less could I! And I am still not as capable as Yi Jie. Yi Jie possesses clever knowledge yet lacks real inner Virtue. He does not abide by his own authentic nature; he uses craft to make his social‑connections work marvelously, sinking deep into the world of rank and wealth. He does not nourish others through Virtue; he wears away their true nature.
One who freezes craves spring warmth as if it were clothing; one suffering heat‑stroke longs for cool wind as though for winter chill.
The King of Chu bears lofty, stern bearing. Towards offences he is as unforgiving as a tiger. Only men of glib persuasion, or men of genuine upright Virtue, could move his heart.
Therefore the sage: when impoverished, he makes his household forget poverty. When prosperous and eminent, he makes kings‑and‑lords forget rank‑and‑stipend and turn humble. Towards all things he rejoices in companionship with them. Towards human beings, he delights in open connection while preserving his authentic self.
Thus sometimes, without uttering words, he soaks others in harmonious peace. Merely standing side‑by‑side with people, he transforms them, bringing about proper harmony between father and son. He retires to quiet dwelling, setting aside all deliberate interference. His inner state stands far apart from ordinary worldly minds. Hence it is said: ’Await the coming of Gong Yue Xiu.’”
Key insight: Ze Yang chases official advancement by worldly networking. Wang Guo does not directly refuse him. Using the recluse Gong Yue Xiu as his example: clever social maneuvering cannot sway a stern ruler. Genuine transformation arises from inner Virtue’s effortless influence, not calculated self‑promotion.
Natural disposition, the old capital, Ran Xiang Shi and Rong Cheng Shi
The sage weaves through all worldly entanglements, perceiving all things as one integrated whole, yet he knows not why this is so – it comes from inborn nature. He yields to fate, moves or rests, and takes Heaven as his teacher; people give him the label “sage”. If you are perpetually troubled by intellectual scheming, your deeds will seldom endure and will cut short. What then can you do?
A person born beautiful receives his reputation for beauty from others. If no‑one tells him, he will not know he surpasses others in beauty. Whether he knows it or not, hears it or hears it not, his inner joy persists without end, and others’ fondness for him persists without end: such is inborn nature.
The sage’s care for people is a reputation given by the world. If no‑one informs him, he is unaware he “loves people”. Known or unknown, heard or unheard, his care for others never ceases, and people rest secure in it: this also is inborn nature.
When you behold your old home‑capital, your heart fills with gladness. Even when nine‑tenths of it is hidden beneath mounds and over‑grown vegetation, seeing it still gladdens you. How much more if you see and hear it whole and intact! It is like a high terrace standing visible among multitudes.
Ran Xiang Shi (冉相氏) grasped the central void of the Dao and let all things complete themselves naturally. With all creation he knew neither beginning nor end, was not confined to moments or seasons. Day‑by‑day he transformed alongside things, yet within him dwelt one unchanging core. How could he ever abandon that core!
If you deliberately set out to imitate Heaven, you will fail to imitate Heaven. You and all outer things will perish in pursuit. What will become of such striving?
The sage holds no fixed attachment to “Heaven”, no fixed attachment to “human”, no attachment to beginnings, no attachment to outer things. He walks alongside the age without decaying. His deeds are complete yet he does not drown in them. How profound his harmony with reality!
Rong Cheng Shi (容成氏) said: ”Take away individual days, and there are no years. Without what is inner, there can be no outer.”
Key insight: Deliberate imitation of nature defeats nature itself. Authentic virtue works unconsciously from inborn disposition. Our original true nature is like an old hometown: even partly obscured, it still stirs our hearts.
Wei Ying, Lord Mou of Tian, and the snail‑horn dispute (Dai Jin Ren)
Wei Ying (King Hui of Wei) concluded a covenant with Lord Mou of Tian. Lord Mou broke the treaty. Enraged, Wei Ying planned to send an assassin.
Xishou Gongsun Yan (犀首公孙衍) thought this shameful: ”You are the lord of a state of ten‑thousand chariots, yet you seek revenge like a common nobody. Grant me two hundred thousand armoured soldiers. I will attack him, capture his people, seize his cattle and horses. I will make the rival king burn with inner fever and break‑out sores on his back. I will conquer his realm, force Tian Ji (田忌) into flight, then flog his back and snap his spine.”
Jizi (季子) also felt this proposal disgraceful: ”If you build a rampart ten‑ren high, then tear it down, this is bitter toil for convict labourers. Seven years have passed without war: this is your royal foundation. Gongsun Yan is a man who delights in chaos; do not listen.”
Huazi (华子) found both positions equally flawed: ”Those who urge war are chaos‑makers. Those who urge no‑war are also chaos‑makers. Even saying ‘both war‑advocates and peace‑advocates are chaos‑makers’ is itself still a form of chaos‑making.”
The king asked: ”What then shall I do?”
Huazi answered: ”Seek the Dao within yourself.”
Hui Shi heard of these events and introduced Dai Jin Ren (戴晋人).
Dai Jin Ren said: ”Have you heard of the snail?”
“Yes,” replied the king.
“On the snail’s left antenna dwells the state of Chu‑shi; on its right antenna dwells Man‑shi. The two states constantly fight over territory. Tens‑of‑thousands of corpses fall. They chase the defeated army for fifteen days before returning home.”
The king said: ”Surely this is empty fantasy.”
Dai Jin Ren: ”Let me ground this for you. Do you think the four quarters and up‑down directions have a limit?”
“No limit,” said the king.
“When your spirit roams within that limitless expanse, do these kingdoms of mortal reach not seem faint, almost non‑existent?”
“It is so.”
“Within that reachable world lies Wei; within Wei lies Liang; within Liang lies Your Majesty. Is Your Majesty truly distinct from the Man‑shi on the snail‑horn?”
“Not distinct at all,” answered the king.
Dai Jin Ren departed, and the king sat dazed, as though he had lost something.
After Dai Jin Ren left, Hui Shi entered. The king said: ”This guest is a great‑souled man. Even the ancient Sages are not his equal.”
Hui Shi replied: ”When you blow into a pan‑pipe you get a grand roar. Blow upon the ring‑hole of a sword‑hilt, and you get but a thin squeak. Yao and Shun are praised by all men. To speak of Yao‑Shun in Dai Jin Ren’s presence is like that faint squeak.”
Key insight: From the boundless perspective of the Dao, wars and feuds between mortal states amount to no more than battles fought on a snail’s tiny antenna. All human glory shrinks into insignificance.
Confucius in Chu; the hidden man Shinan Yiliao
Confucius travelled to Chu and lodged at a drink‑seller’s house at Ant‑Mound Hill. Neighbouring men‑servants and women‑servants climbed up onto the roof. Zi Lu asked: ”What are all these people doing gathered up there?”
Confucius said: ”They are followers of a sage‑hermit. This man buries himself among common folk, hides himself amid farm‑land. His fame fades away, yet his purpose is boundless. Though his mouth speaks words, his inner mind remains wordless. He stands apart from the world and scorns to blend with it. He is a land‑diverging man (陆沉者)- could this be Shinan Yiliao (市南宜僚)?”
Zi Lu wished to summon him.
Confucius said: ”Let it be. He knows I have gained renown; he knows I have come to Chu. He assumes I will persuade the King of Chu to summon him. He would regard me as a glib flatterer. Such a man would be ashamed even to hear the words of a flatterer, how much less to meet one face‑to‑face! How could you find him?”
Zi Lu went to look. The house stood empty.
Key insight: The true recluse does not seek public recognition. He avoids men driven for official influence, even if those men hold good intentions. Land‑diverging man (lu‑chen zhe): he dwells among the populace yet remains inwardly withdrawn, as if submerged under water.
The border‑warden of Changwu counsels Zi Lao
The border‑warden of Changwu spoke to Zi Lao (子牢): ”When you govern do not be reckless; when you manage the people do not be crude and careless. Once I planted grain. I ploughed recklessly, and the grain repaid me recklessly. I weeded carelessly, and the grain repaid me carelessly. The next year I changed my ways. I ploughed deep and tilled the soil thoroughly. My grain flourished and throve, and I had abundant food all year round.”
Zhuangzi commented: ”Many people who tend their bodies and nurture their minds act just like this warden. They desert Heaven‑given nature, depart from inborn essence, obliterate genuine feeling, waste spirit‑energy chasing outer pursuits. If you treat your in‑born nature recklessly, the sprouts of desire and aversion will spring up within you, like reeds. At first they merely sustain your body, before they tear and ruin your original nature. Then ulcers, abscesses, internal fevers and seminal flux break‑out everywhere.”
Key insight: Governance and self‑cultivation follow the same rule of cause‑and‑effect. Reckless treatment of one’s inner nature lets desire‑weeds destroy one’s life.
Bai Ju studies under Lao Dan: lament over the executed criminal
Bai Ju (柏矩) studied under Lao Dan. ”Permit me to wander all‑under‑heaven.”
Lao Dan said: ”Stop. The world is all of one pattern.”
Bai Ju asked again. ”Where will you begin?”
“Begin with the state of Qi.”
Arriving in Qi, Bai Ju saw the exposed corpse of a man executed by law. He pushed the body straight, draped his official robe over it, and cried aloud toward heaven:
“O you! O you! Great calamity falls upon the world, and you are the first to meet it. Men say: ’Do not steal; do not kill.’ Yet once standards of honour‑and‑disgrace are established, human suffering arises. Once wealth is accumulated, contention arises. Now we set‑up what brings people pain, pile‑up what people fight for, drive the populace into endless destitution. How can men avoid ending‑up like this?
In ancient times, rulers attributed success to the people and blamed failings upon themselves. When even one citizen suffered bodily harm, they would withdraw and reproach themselves. Today it is otherwise. They hide the truth and punish those who fail to understand; they set‑up impossible hardships and blame those who dare‑not‑attempt; they impose crushing burdens and penalise those who cannot bear them; they stretch‑out journeys afar and execute those who cannot arrive. When people’s strength and wit are exhausted, they respond with hypocrisy. Every day much pretence comes forth. How could common folk not become pretenders? When strength fails you pretend; when wisdom fails you deceive; when goods run short you steal. Who ought we to blame for the rise of robbery?”
Key insight: Crime and deception in society do not originate only from individual wickedness. Oppressive institutions and impossible demands force people into deceit and transgression. The ancient ideal ruler took responsibility for systemic harm.
Qu Boyu: sixty‑years, sixty‑transformations
Qu Boyu (蘧伯玉) reached sixty years of age; in sixty years he transformed sixty‑times. What he once affirmed, he later rejected as wrong. We cannot know whether what he now calls “right” is not what he considered “wrong” at fifty‑nine.
All things come‑to‑be, yet we see no root. All things manifest, yet we see no gateway. Men honour what their knowing‑mind can grasp, yet do not know to rely on what their knowing‑mind cannot grasp – is this not profound confusion! Enough, enough! No‑one can escape this condition. Is what we call “right” truly right?
Key insight: Human judgements of right‑and‑wrong shift continuously with time and perspective. We must acknowledge the limits of our own knowing.
Confucius questions Grand Scribes about Duke Ling of Wei
Confucius asked three Grand Scribes: Da Tao, Bochang Qian, Xi Wei (大弢、伯常骞、狶韦). ”Duke Ling of Wei drank to excess and indulged in pleasure; he neglected state government. He hunted and shot game, ignored diplomatic meetings with the feudal lords. Why did he receive the posthumous title ’Ling’?”
Da Tao said: ”He received it precisely because of those very deeds.”
Bochang Qian: ”Duke Ling had three wives who bathed together in the same tub. When Shi Qiu(史鳅, 史鱼) arrived with documents, the Duke personally helped him. He could be wildly dissolute, yet showed reverence toward worthy men. That is why he was given ’Ling’.”
Xi Wei replied: ”When Duke Ling died, divination said burying him in the ancestral graveyard would be ill‑omened; burying him at Sand‑Mound would be auspicious. Digging there they found a stone sarcophagus. Its inscription read: ’Do not rely on your descendants; Duke Ling shall seize this place and dwell within it.’ The title ’Ling’ belonged to him long before his death. What could these other two scribes possibly understand?”
Key insight: The episode problematises human moral labelling and posthumous honours. What men judge by human standards may have deeper, unseen determinants.
Shao Zhi and Da Gong Diao
Shao Zhi (少知) asked Da Gong Diao (大公调): ”What is Qiu‑li‑zhi‑yan (丘里之言, “Village‑common‑speech”)?”
Da Gong Diao: ”A village‑community gathers many clans and families and forms its customs. It unites differences into one, disperses unity into differences. If you merely point at separate horse‑limbs you do not see a horse. When the horse stands‑tethered‑before‑you, assembling all its parts, then you call it a horse.
So hills accumulate low‑lying soil to become high. Rivers gather small streams to become great. The great‑minded human integrates many differences to attain impartial wholeness. What enters you from outside: hold your standpoint yet do not be rigid. What issues‑forth from within you: hold your standards yet do not reject the outer‑world.
The four seasons have different atmospheric energies; Heaven bestows no partial favours, hence the yearly cycle completes. Government offices hold different duties; the ruler shows no partiality, hence the state is well‑ordered. Men of talent possess diverse gifts; the great‑minded show no partial favour, hence their Virtue becomes complete. All ten‑thousand things follow distinct principles; the Dao shows no partiality, hence it bears no name. Having‑no‑name brings wu‑wei; wu‑wei leaves nothing undone.
Times have beginnings and endings; the world undergoes transformation. Fortune and misfortune flow onward: some things clash, some things fit. People chase different directions. There is correctness, and there is deviation. Like a great marsh: all kinds of timber find their measure. Like a great mountain: trees and stones dwell side‑by‑side. This is Village‑common‑speech.”
Shao Zhi: ”Can this be called the Dao?”
Da Gong Diao: ”No. The count of things exceeds ten‑thousand; we say ’the ten‑thousand things’ only because of this great number. Heaven‑and‑Earth are the greatest of forms. Yin‑yang are the greatest of vital‑energies. The Dao is that which unifies them all. We may name it for its greatness, but it transcends all comparison. To reason about the Dao using village‑community analogy is like comparing dogs and horses: the gap is immense.”
Shao Zhi: ”Within the four quarters and six‑directions, where do all things arise?”
Da Gong Diao: ”Yin‑yang illuminate, cover, and regulate each‑another. The four‑successions displace, generate, and terminate one‑another. Likes and dislikes, drawing‑near and drawing‑away arise from this. Male‑female join and separate, and beings come‑to‑exist. Safety and danger interchange; fortune and misfortune give birth to each‑other. Slowness and haste rub‑against‑one‑another; gathering‑and‑scattering are formed. These can be recorded by names‑and‑realities, their subtle traces can be noted. They follow sequence, push‑and‑turn; when exhausted they return; when ended they begin‑again. These are properties of things. Words and knowing can only reach the boundaries of things. One who beholds the Dao does not chase after perishing things, nor trace origins of arising things. Here reasoning must stop.”
Shao Zhi: ”Ji Zhen taught Mo‑wei (莫为, Nothing‑causes‑it, spontaneous‑being‑without‑ruler). Jie Zi taught Huo‑shi (或使Something‑causes‑it, there‑is‑a‑driver‑agent). Which conforms to reality? Which deviates from principle?”
Da Gong Diao: ”Cocks crow and dogs bark; all humans know this. Even great wisdom cannot explain their inner self‑transformation in words, nor guess what they will do next. Analysing further: the subtle reaches beyond measure, the vast cannot be circumscribed. Both Mo‑wei and Huo‑shi remain trapped within categories of things, and thus go too‑far. Huo‑shi falls into positing concrete agency; Mo‑wei falls‑into utter emptiness. Named‑and‑real are the presence of things; no‑name no‑real are the void‑aspect of things. You may speak and you may imagine, yet the more you argue, the further you stray. What has not‑yet‑been cannot be forbidden; what has‑died cannot be halted. Life‑death are not far‑apart, yet their underlying principle cannot be seen. Both theories are hypotheses born of doubt.
I look‑back to origins: the past is endless. I search‑forward to outcomes: the future has no terminus. Endless and terminus‑less: this lies beyond speech and shares one principle with things themselves. Mo‑wei and Huo‑shi are verbal accounts about beginnings, they go along with the birth‑and‑death of things. The Dao cannot be fixed as being, nor fixed as non‑being. ’Dao’ is a name borrowed‑for‑speaking‑purpose. Both theories grasp but one side of phenomena; they cannot reach the vast Dao. If your speech is complete and fitting, all‑day‑long your words align‑with‑Dao. If your speech is biased‑and‑inadequate, all‑day‑long you only circle‑among‑phenomena. The Dao is the ultimate of things. Neither words nor silence can contain it. Beyond‑speech and‑beyond‑silence: here discourse finds its limit.”
Key insight: Village‑common‑speech illustrates how unity emerges from diversity, yet it is not the Dao itself. The two ancient metaphysical theories Mo‑wei and Huo‑shi are both partial. The Dao transcends being / non‑being, and out‑reaches human language and argument.
Closing Thoughts
Major themes of Ze Yang:
- Calculated networking and self‑advancement cannot substitute authentic inner virtue.
- From the cosmic perspective of the Dao, human territorial wars and status‑feuds are trivial (snail‑horn parable).
- Bad social outcomes are not only caused by individual wickedness; oppressive systems drive people to deceit and transgression.
- Human judgements of right‑and‑wrong shift with time and perspective; recognise the limits of your own knowing.
- Unity grows out of diversity, as shown in Village‑common‑speech. Competing metaphysical theories about what drives creation remain partial. The Dao exceeds both speech and silence.
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