The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) · 1 of 57 · tr. James Legge
Book 123 (part 1)
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164 THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-DZE.
BOOK I.
PART I.
SECTION I.
Hsiâo-yâo Yû, or 'Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease 1 .' 1.
In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Khwän 2 ,--I do not know how many lî in size.
It changes into a bird with the name of Phing, the back of which is (also)--I do not know how many lî in extent.
When this bird rouses itself and flies, its wings are like clouds all round the sky.
When the sea is moved (so as to bear it along), it prepares to remove to the Southern Ocean.
The Southern Ocean is the Pool of Heaven.
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165 There is the (book called) Khî Hsieh 1 ,--a record of marvels.
We have in it these words:--'When the phäng is removing to the Southern Ocean it flaps (its wings) on the water for 3000 lî.
Then it ascends on a whirlwind 90,000 lî, and it rests only at the end of six months.' (But similar to this is the movement of the breezes which we call) the horses of the fields, of the dust (which quivers in the sunbeams), and of living things as they are blown against one another by the air 2 .
Is its azure the proper colour of the sky?
Or is it occasioned by its distance and illimitable extent?
If one were looking down (from above), the very same appearance would just meet his view.
2.
And moreover, (to speak of) the accumulation of water;--if it be not great, it will not have strength to support a large boat.
Upset a cup of water in a cavity, and a straw will float on it as if it were a boat.
Place a cup in it, and it will stick fast;--the water is shallow and the boat is large.
(So it is with) the accumulation of wind; if it be not great, it will not have strength to support great wings.
Therefore (the phäng ascended to) the height of 90,000 lî, and there was such a mass of wind beneath it; thenceforth the accumulation of wind was sufficient.
As it seemed to bear the blue sky on its back, and there was nothing to obstruct or arrest its course, it could pursue its way to the South.
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166 A cicada and a little dove laughed at it, saying, 'We make an effort and fly towards an elm or sapan-wood tree; and sometimes before we reach it, we can do no more but drop to the ground.
Of what use is it for this (creature) to rise 90,000 lî, and make for the South?' He who goes to the grassy suburbs 1 , returning to the third meal (of the day), will have his belly as full as when he set out; he who goes to a distance of 100 lî will have to pound his grain where he stops for the night; he who goes a thousand lî, will have to carry with him provisions for three months.
What should these two small creatures know about the matter?
The knowledge of that which is small does not reach to that which is great; (the experience of) a few years does not reach to that of many.
How do we know that it is so?
The mushroom of a morning does not know (what takes place between) the beginning and end of a month; the short-lived cicada does not know (what takes place between) the spring and autumn.
These are instances of a short term of life.
Themes
◆Correspondencecosmology
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
An analogy is drawn between water supporting a boat and wind supporting wings, suggesting structural similarities across different domains.
The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.
Descriptions of 'illimitable extent' and vast distances (90,000 li) depict a boundless universe beyond ordinary human scale.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
[auto] The text explicitly states 'I do not know how many lî' regarding the creature's size, emphasizing the limits of human knowledge and measurement.
Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.
[auto] The passage illustrates effortless action through the Peng bird riding the accumulated wind rather than struggling against it, embodying the chapter's title 'Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease'.