A certain artisan was travelling to the Ch’i State. On reaching Ch’ü-yüan, he saw a sacred li tree (a worthless species of oak), large enough to hide an ox behind it, a hundred spans in girth, towering up ten cubits over the hill top, and carrying behind it branches, many tens of the smallest of which were of a size for boats. Crowds stood gazing at it, but our artisan took no notice, and went on his way without even casting a look behind. His apprentice however gazed his fill, and when he caught up with his master, said, “Ever since I have handled an adze in your service, I have never seen such a splendid piece of timber as that. How was it that you, sir, did not care to stop and look at it?”
“It’s not worth talking about,” replied his master. “It’s good for nothing. Make a boat of it,—’twould sink. A coffin,—’twould rot. Furniture,—’twould soon break down. A door,—’twould sweat. A pillar,—’twould be worm-eaten. It is wood of no quality, and of no use. That is why it has attained its present age.”
When the artisan reached home, he dreamt that the tree appeared to him in a dream and spoke as follows:—”What is it that you compare me with? Is it with the more elegant trees?—The cherry-apple, the pear, the orange, the pumelo, and other fruit-bearers, as soon as their fruit ripens are stripped and treated with indignity. The great boughs are snapped off, the small ones scattered abroad. Thus do these trees by their own value injure their own lives. They cannot fulfil their allotted span of years, but perish prematurely in mid-career from their entanglement with the world around them. Thus it is with all things. For a long period my aim was to be useless. Many times I was in danger, but at length I succeeded, and so became useful as I am today. But had I then been of use, I should not now be of the great use I am. Moreover, you and I belong both to the same category of things. Have done then with this criticism of others. Is a good-for-nothing fellow whose dangers are not yet passed a fit person to talk of a good-for-nothing tree?”
When our artisan awaked and told his dream, his apprentice said, “If the tree aimed at uselessness, how was it that it became a sacred tree?”
“What you don’t understand,” replied his master, “don’t talk about. That was merely to escape from the attacks of its enemies. Had it not become sacred, how many would have wanted to cut it down! The means of safety adopted were different from ordinary means, and to test these by ordinary canons leaves one far wide of the mark.”
Tzŭ Ch’i of Nan-poh was travelling on the Shang mountain when he saw a large tree which astonished him very much. A thousand chariot teams could have found shelter under its shade.
“What tree is this?” cried Tzŭ Ch’i. “Surely it must have unusually fine timber.” Then looking up, he saw that its branches were too crooked for rafters; while as to the trunk he saw that its irregular grain made it valueless for coffins. He tasted a leaf, but it took the skin off his lips; and its odour was so strong that it would make a man as it were drunk for three days together.
“Ah!” said Tzŭ Ch’i. “This tree is good for nothing, and that is how it has attained this size. A wise man might well follow its example.”
In the State of Sung there is a place called Ching-shih, where thrive the beech, the cedar, and the mulberry. Such as are of a one-handed span or so in girth are cut down for monkey-cages. Those of two or three two-handed spans are cut down for the beams of fine houses. Those of seven or eight such spans are cut down for the solid sides of rich men’s coffins.
Thus they do not fulfil their allotted span of years, but perish in mid-career beneath the axe. Such is the misfortune which overtakes worth.
For the sacrifices to the River God, neither bulls with white cheeks, nor pigs with large snouts, nor men suffering from piles, were allowed to be used. This had been revealed to the soothsayers, and these characteristics were consequently regarded as inauspicious. The wise, however, would regard them as extremely auspicious.
There was a hunchback named Su. His jaws touched his navel. His shoulders were higher than his head. His hair knot looked up to the sky. His viscera were upside down. His buttocks were where his ribs should have been. By tailoring, or washing, he was easily able to earn his living. By sifting rice he could make enough to support a family of ten.
When orders came down for a conscription, the hunchback stood unconcerned among the crowd. And similarly, in matters of public works, his deformity shielded him from being employed.
On the other hand, when it came to donations of grain, the hunchback received as much as three chung (an ancient measure of uncertain capacity) and of firewood, ten faggots. And if physical deformity was thus enough to preserve his body until its allotted end, how much more would not moral and mental deformity avail!
From Chapter IV (Man among Men) of Chuang Tzu. Courtesy Gutenberg project.
Chuang Tzu (also Zhuang Zhou or Zhuangzi, literally “Master Zhuang”) was an influential Chinese philosopher and Taoist sage who lived around the 4th century BCE in a period of great development in Chinese philosophy, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Chuang Tzu or Zhuangzi, which is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, alongside the Tao Te Ching. The book Chuang Tzu is believed to contain both his own writings and writings by others about him and his teachings.
Image courtesy Hua Zili , Wikimedia Commons.
Taoism is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasising harmony with the Tao (way, road, path or technique). Taoist thought has informed the development of various practices within the Taoist tradition and beyond, including forms of meditation, astrology and feng shui. A common goal of Taoist practice is self-cultivation, a deeper appreciation of the Tao, and more harmonious existence. Taoist ethics emphasise such virtues as effortless action, naturalness, simplicity, and the three treasures of compassion, frugality and humility.