Zhuangzi translation and commentary

顏回問仲尼曰：「孟孫才，其母死，哭泣無涕，中心不戚，居喪不哀。無是三者，以善處喪蓋魯國。固有無其實而得其名者乎？回壹怪之。」

仲尼曰：「夫孟孫氏盡之矣，進於知矣。唯簡之而不得，夫已有所簡矣。孟孫氏不知所以生，不知所以死，不知就先，不知就後，若化為物，以待其所不知之化已乎！且方將化，惡知不化哉？方將不化，惡知已化哉？吾特與汝其夢未始覺者邪！且彼有駭形而無損心，有旦宅而無情死。孟孫氏特覺，人哭亦哭，是自其所以乃。

且也，相與吾之耳矣，庸詎知吾所謂吾之乎？且汝夢為鳥而厲乎天，夢為魚而沒於淵，不識今之言者，其覺者乎，夢者乎？造適不及笑，獻笑不及排，安排而去化，乃入於寥天一。」

Yan Hui asked Zhong Ni, “When Mengsun Cai’s mother died, he cried without tears. In his inner heart he did not mourn. And conducting the funeral, he did not grieve. Missing these three things, he is still famous throughout Lu as a mourner. Is it really possible to gain the name while lacking the substance? I was shocked.”

Confucius said, “Mengsun has done it all, beyond knowledge. He would make it even simpler, but he can’t. Still, he did simplify it some. Mr. Mengsun does not know why people are born. He does not know why they die. He’s not aware of moving forward. He’s not aware of falling back. If he changes into something, he lets the unknown change finish it. When he changes, how does he know he isn’t not changing? When he doesn’t change, how does he know he hasn’t changed already? Take you and me—we’re dreaming and haven’t woken up! But him—something shocked his body without harming his mind, a morning's sojourn but not an essential death. Mr. Mengsun is awake. People cry, so he cries; that's why he is this way.

“We say ‘I.’ But how do I know what I mean by ‘I’? You dream you’re a bird crossing heaven or a fish sunk in the depths. There’s no telling if the one who speaks now is awake or dreaming. Directing the trip doesn’t measure up to smiling, and laughing doesn’t measure up to stepping aside. Step aside and leave the changes. Then you will enter the oneness of the empty sky.” [1]

[1] Wow, there is so much to talk about here! First of all, this story recalls a number of other passages: Shadow asking Penumbra “Do I depend on something to be the way I am? Does what I depend on also on depend on something to be the way it is?" (2:13), Zhuangzi not knowing if he's a person who dreamt a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming a person (2:14), and Longdesk saying "Confucius and you are both dreaming. My saying you are dreaming is a dream, too" (2:12), to name a few. When he says you dream of being a bird and a fish, is he talking about Roe and Breeze in 1:01? Is there really a difference between big knowledge and little knowledge, or was it just a dream? Does 寥天 liáotiān, the "empty sky," refer back to the pipings of heaven and their 翏翏 liùliù sound in 2.01? Does 'entering the oneness of the empty sky' mean becoming the wind?

This story raises some real questions. In stark contrast to Mengsun Cai here, Confucius famously lost his composure when Yan Hui died (Analects 11.10). Is Confucius just a foil in this story for Mengsun Cai, who is the real hero for stepping outside the changes? Or is Mengsun Cai just a backstory illustrating the surrender of self that allowed Confucius to immerse himself in them? The wording here is stark: 去化, "leave the changes." But elsewhere he says to 御六氣之辯, "ride the changing weather," (1:03), which I take to mean being a butterfly when you're a butterfly, Zhuangzi when you're Zhuangzi (2:14).