We Permeate into the Zhuangzi

By Zhuangzi and Nomadsirius

Zhuang Zhou, commonly known as Zhuangzi, is born in Meng in the state of Song during the Warring States period. Meng is currently located in the north of Sang-gu, Hanam Province. The survival date is approximately 369-286 BC. It is the era of King Hui of the Yang dynasty and King Seon of the Qi dynasty. After working as a manager at Chilwon for a while, he does not hold a post for the rest of his life. He devotes himself to writing while interacting with the prime ministers of the time. In a turbulent and unstable time, he looks at the world with Taoism. Ideas that stray from reality have a great influence on Chinese culture. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang canonizes the Zhuangzi as one of the Chinese classics and awards it the honorific title ‘True Scripture of Southern Florescence’. Zen Buddhism of the Tang dynasty blossoms with the philosophy of Zhuangzi. It is said that the Zhuangzi originally consisted of fifty-two sections, but only thirty-three sections by Guo Xiang(AD.252-312) are reported. Guo Xiang of the Northern Song Dynasty divides into seven sections called ‘inner chapters’, fifteen sections called ‘outer chapters’, and eleven sections called ‘miscellaneous chapters’. The ‘inner chapters’ are descriptive of the theme of the chapter as a whole and regarded as the pure Zhuangzi. The ‘outer and miscellaneous chapters’ are the details of the disciples. There is a saying that the Zhuangzi is the commentary of Lao tzu, but it is an excessive denunciation. The Huainanzi, an ancient Chinese text, treats Lao tzu and Zhuangzi Philosophy as a unique thought within a philosophical system. Zhuangzi interprets the Tao proposed by Lao tzu in the form of a story in a new way. He embodies Lao tzu's ideas, awakening the Great Integrity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 와이에이치파트너스
• Release date: Aug 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9791197832376

Book preview

A Happy Excursion, A fish changes into a bird(1-13).

1. The Kun and the Peng in an empty abyss.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

1z

Translated with a commentary by NomadSirius.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

We permeate into the Zhuangzi.

北冥有魚其名爲鯤

In the north of an empty abyss there is a fish, called the Kun.

鯤之大不知其幾千里也

It is so huge I do not know how many thousand li in size.

化而爲鳥其名爲鵬

It changes into a bird, called the Peng.

鵬之背不知其幾千里也

Its back is I do not know how many thousand li across.

怒而飛其翼若垂天之雲

When it rises up and flies off, its wings obscure the sky like clouds.

是鳥也海運則將徙於南冥南冥者天池也

When the seasonal shift in the currents begins, it sets off for the southern empty abyss, which is the Celestial Lake.

齊諧者志怪者也

In the ancient texts of Marvels we read

諧之言曰鵬之徙於南冥也

that when the Peng flies to the the southern empty abyss,

水擊三千里

the waters are smitten for three thousand li around,

摶扶搖而上者九萬里

while it beats the whirlwind and mounts to a ninety thousand li,

去以六月息者也

setting off on six months’ flight of gale.

(2) 註. My Commentary.

One line a day, what I have read is like this.

Cultivating the body and mind, you see the Great Integrity.

   The northern empty abyss is the ‘nature’, the source of the mind. The southern empty abyss is the basis of the body 'life'. The Kun and the Peng are symbols of vitality. It is the power of the living wind as the fundamental energy. It moves 21,600 times a day. Refine the vitality between body and mind. Play freely while cultivating the body and mind.

2. The Heaven is subtle.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

2z

Translated with a commentary by NomadSirius.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

We permeate into the Zhuangzi.

野馬也塵埃也生物之以息相吹也

A heat haze shimmers above the fields and bits of dust are blown by the living things.

天之蒼蒼其正色邪

The sky looks blue, but I wonder whether that is its real color,

其遠而無所至極邪

or only the result of being far away without end.

其視下也亦若是則已矣

Mounting aloft, the things appear the same to it.

(2) 註. My Commentary.

One line a day, what I have read is like this.

Moving autonomously, you see the Great Integrity..

   From a man's point of view, the ground is below but floating in the air. The atmosphere causes changes in the weather. People have strong vitality and can move autonomously. Plants depend only on sunlight and moisture to survive. Water is the substance and principle of all things. It forms a mirror by compressing the yin with the condensed energy in the heaven. The sunlight being reflected to the heaven lens, it radiates to earth. Sunlight collides with nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, and blue with a short wavelength is scattered in the atmosphere. In fact, the entire universe has 68 percent dark energy and 27 percent dark matter. The Heaven is subtle..

3. Great wings with enough depth with wind.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

3z

Translated with a commentary by NomadSirius.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

We permeate into the Zhuangzi.

且夫水之積也不厚則其負大舟也無力

If water is not piled up sufficient deep, it will not bear up large ships.

覆杯水於坳堂之上則芥爲之舟置杯焉則膠

Pour a cupful into a hollow in the yard, and bits of trash will be like boats. But setting the cup there, it will be grounded.

水淺而舟大也

For water is shallow and the vessel too large.

風之積也不厚則其負大翼也無力

If there is not enough depth with air, the wind will not support great wings.

故九萬里則風斯在下矣而後乃今培風

Therefore for the Peng, a depth of ninety thousand li is necessary to have the wind under it.

背負靑天而莫之夭閼者而後乃今將圖南

Only then can it glide upon the wind with no obstacles, and it sets its eyes to the south.

(2) 註. My Commentary.

One line a day, what I have read is like this.

Revealing the light of wisdom, you see the Great Integrity.

   Prana is the vital force between body and mind. Cultivate your body and mind together, revealing the light of wisdom. Bloom the golden flower of enlightenment. Spread your great wings with enough depth with wind. Get out of the sea of suffering.

4. A cicada and a young bird.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

4z

Translated with a commentary by NomadSirius.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

We permeate into the Zhuangzi.

蜩與學鳩笑之曰

A cicada and a young bird laugh at this, saying,

我決起而飛槍楡枋

"When we fly up with all my might, we can get as far as the elm tree.

時則不至而控於地而已矣

Sometimes I do not reach, and fall down on the ground.

奚以之九萬里而南爲

How then can the Peng go up ninety thousand li to the south?"

適莽蒼者三飡而反腹猶果然

He who goes off to the green woods nearby taking along for three meals comes back with his stomach as full as ever.

適百里者宿舂糧

He who travels a hundred li must grind his grain enough for an overnight stay.

適千里者三月聚糧

He who travels a thousand li must start getting the provisions together for three months.

之二蟲又何知

What should those two little creatures understand?

(2) 註. My Commentary.

One line a day, what I have read is like this.

The vitality growing, you see the Great Integrity..

   A cicada and a young bird are what we look like. With vain thoughts, the field of the mind is dizzy, and the body has no master. Awaken the body and the mind to find the vitality. The vitality grows only by diligently cultivating the body and the mind. It is the seed of truth. A golden flower blooms from the seed of truth.

5. Time flies by.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

5z

Translated with a commentary by NomadSirius.

(1) 原文 The Original Text.

We permeate into the Zhuangzi.

小知不及大知小年不及大年

Small knowledge cannot come up to great knowledge; a short year cannot come up to a long year.

奚以知其然也

How can I tell that this is so?

朝菌不知晦朔惠蛄不知春秋此小年也

The morning fungus plant knows nothing of the alternation of day and night; the summer cicada knows nothing of the alternation of spring and autumn. They are short years.

楚之南有冥靈者以五百歲爲春五百歲爲秋

In the south of Chu there is a sea turtle called Myungryung that counts each of five hundred years as one spring and one autumn.

上古有大椿者以八千歲爲春八千歲爲秋此大年也

In former days there is a large tree of Sharon which counts each of eight thousand years as a spring and an autumn. They are long years.

而彭祖乃今以久特聞

Yet Pengzu alone is known for reaching a great age.

衆人匹之不亦悲乎

Everybody tries to ape him. Isn’t it pitiful!

(2) 註. My Commentary.

One line a day, what I have read is like this.

Lighting the way of great truth, you see the Great Integrity..

   Earth has cosmic rings that are 13.8 billion years old. A cosmic year is 129,600 years. Earth is passing through Aquarius at 30° in 2,160 years out of a 360° precession of 25,920 years at 30 km/s. People go ahead and behind 1° of 70 years. Time flies by. It is difficult to get a human body, but you having it, you light the way of great truth. Mine the meridians of life energy, with all your