The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) · 12 of 57 · tr. James Legge
Book 124 (part 5)
A third class held that there was such recognition, but there had not begun to be any expression of different opinions about it.
p.
186 It was through the definite expression of different opinions about it that there ensued injury to (the doctrine of) the Tâo.
It was this injury to the (doctrine of the) Tâo which led to the formation of (partial) preferences.
Was it indeed after such preferences were formed that the injury came?
or did the injury precede the rise of such preferences?
If the injury arose after their formation, Kâo's method of playing on the lute was natural.
If the injury arose before their formation, there would have been no such playing on the lute as Kâo's 1 .
Kâo Wän's playing on the lute, Shih Kwang's indicating time with his staff, and Hui-dze's (giving his views), while leaning against a dryandra tree (were all extraordinary).
The knowledge of the three men (in their several arts) was nearly perfect, and therefore they practised them to the end of their lives.
They loved them because they were different from those of others.
They loved them and wished to make them known to others.
But as they could not be made clear, though they tried to make them so, they ended with the obscure (discussions) about 'the hard' and 'the White.' And their sons 2 , moreover, with all the threads of their fathers' compositions, yet to the end of their lives accomplished nothing.
If they, proceeding in this way, could be said to have succeeded, then am I also successful; p.
187 if they cannot be pronounced successful, neither I nor any other can succeed.
Therefore the scintillations of light from the midst of confusion and perplexity are indeed valued by the sagely man; but not to use one's own views and to take his position on the ordinary views is what is called using the (proper) light.
6.
But here now are some other sayings 1 :--I do not know whether they are of the same character as those which I have already given, or of a different character.
Whether they be of the same character or not when looked at along with them, they have a character of their own, which cannot be distinguished from the others.
But though this be the case, let me try to explain myself.
There was a beginning.
There was a beginning before that beginning 2 .
There was a beginning previous to that beginning before there was the beginning.
There was existence; there had been no existence.
There was no existence before the beginning of that no existence 2 .
There was no existence previous to the no existence before there was the beginning of the no existence.
If suddenly there was nonexistence, we do not know whether it was really anything existing, or really not existing.
Now I have said what I have said, but I do not know whether what I have said be really anything to the point or not.
p.
188 Under heaven there is nothing greater than the tip of an autumn down, and the Thâi mountain is small.
There is no one more long-lived than a child which dies prematurely, and Phäng Zû did not live out his time.
Heaven, Earth, and I were produced together, and all things and I are one.
Since they are one, can there be speech about them?
But since they are spoken of as one, must there not be room for speech?
One and Speech are two; two and one are three.
Going on from this (in our enumeration), the most skilful reckoner cannot reach (the end of the necessary numbers), and how much less can ordinary people do so!
Therefore from non-existence we proceed to existence till we arrive at three; proceeding from existence to existence, to how many should we reach?
Themes
◆Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The Tâo is described as being injured and obscured by human opinions, reflecting a supreme principle concealed from ordinary perception.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
Injury and preferences are described as arising from a deviation or lack of clarity regarding the Tao rather than as positive entities.
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.
The relativity of size ('nothing greater than the tip of an autumn down') implies a boundless perspective on the universe.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The declaration that 'Heaven, Earth, and I were produced together' establishes the human self as co-equal and unified with the cosmic order.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The text describes an 'injury to (the doctrine of) the Tâo' which led to partial preferences, implying a deviation from the original unity.
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.
The passage advocates for 'not to use one's own views and to take his position on the ordinary views' as the proper way of acting in alignment with the Tao.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
[auto] The passage asserts that definite expression of opinions injures the Tâo, aligning with the via negativa where the divine transcends positive categorization.
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
[auto] The rhetorical questioning of whether injury preceded or followed preferences destabilizes linear causality to point toward the ineffable nature of the Tâo.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
[auto] The text contrasts the original undifferentiated recognition with the fractured state of partial preferences, highlighting a fundamental non-dual reality.