join with the former of things in being human

與造者為人 yǔ zàowu`zhě wèirén. This phrase occurs in 6:06 and 7:03. It is a troubling line in many respects and my translation is tentative.  At issue are the phrases 造zàowùzhĕ and 為人 wèirén. Most modern translations have followed Wang Yinzhi in reading 為人 as "to be a companion," and consequently personify 造者 as "the Maker of Things," since it has to be the sort of thing that people can be companions with (Guo:269).  Guo Xiang adopts the more usual reading of 為人, understanding it as meaning "to be a [certain sort of] person."  Thus, to know someone's 為人 means to know what kind of person they are (cf., for instance, 5:04 and Analects 1:2). Reading the line in this second sense allows us to depersonalize , understanding it, once again with Guo Xiang, as referring not to some creator but to the spontaneous processes of nature that give direction to people's intuitive responses.  Thus the point of the line is that the friends are relying on nature to guide their actions and form their personalities rather than on self-conscious activity in conformity to human norms. This reading of  fits better with the occurrence of the character, also in 6:06, in the phrase 魚相造乎水 yú xiāngzào hūshǔi, "fish guide each other in the water," referring to their ability to school.