They are mean but must be employed, ‘things’; they are lowly but must be your basis, the ‘people’.
It is irksome but must be done, ‘work’; they are crude but must be promulgated, ‘laws’.
It ranges far but you must be at home in it, ‘Duty’; it draws you close but must be spread wide, ‘Goodwill’; they are discrete but must be accumulated, the ‘Rites’.
It is within but must be looked up to, the ‘Power’; it is one yet you must change courses, the ‘Way’; it is daemonic in its workings yet they must be acted out, ‘Heaven’.
Therefore the sage, having a full view of Heaven will not give it a helping hand, being full-formed by the Power is not tied by involvements, coming out along the Way does not plan what to do.
He hits the course which is Goodwill but does not depend on it, approximates to Duty but is not clogged by precedents, answers to the Rites but does not taboo.
He is aware of the work and does not shirk it, he applies the laws evenly and does not misrule.
Being dependent on the people he does not despise them, having things as his basis he does not reject them. As for things, none is important enough to be worth what is done about it, which however must be done.
Whoever is unclear about Heaven is impure in his Power, whoever is unversed in the Way is at fault whatever course he takes. Alas for the man who is unclear about the Way! What do we mean by the ‘Way’? There is the Way of Heaven, there is the Way of Man. To be exalted by Doing Nothing is the Way of Heaven, to be tied by doing something is the Way of Man. The sovereign’s is the Way of Heaven, the minister’s is the Way of Man. That the Ways of Heaven and of Man are far apart is not to be overlooked, (Chuang-tzŭ, chapter 11)
Though heaven and earth are so vast, their transformations are regular; though the myriad things are so many, their ordering is unified; though mankind is so numerous, it shares the ruler for its master. The ruler finds his source in the Power and is full-formed by Heaven. We say then that in profoundest antiquity ruling the empire was Doing Nothing; it was simply a matter of the Power which is from Heaven.
Use the Way to examine words, and names throughout the empire will be correct; use the Way to examine portions, and the duties of ruler and minister will be clear; use the Way to examine abilities, and the offices of the empire will be ordered; use the Way to examine no matter what, and the responses of the myriad things will be at your disposal.
What runs through heaven then is the ‘Way’, what accords with earth is the ‘Power’, what is exercised on the myriad things is ‘Duty’, men being ordered from above is ‘work’, ability having its speciality is ‘skill’. Skills are annexed to the work, the work to Duty, Duty to Power, Power to the Way, the Way to Heaven.
Hence it is said of those who of old were pastors of the empire that they desired nothing, yet the empire had enough; they did nothing, but the myriad things were transformed; they were still from the depths, but the Hundred Clans were settled. As the record says: ‘Everywhere be conversant with the One, and the myriad tasks will all be done; succeed without resort to the heart, and the spirits will submit to you.’ (Introduction to Chuang-tzŭ, chapter 12, ‘Heaven and earth’)
‘Heaven turns circles, yes!
Earth sits firm, yes!
Sun and moon vie for a place, yes!
Whose is the bow that shoots them?
Whose is the net that holds them?
Who is it sits with nothing to do and gives them the push that sends them?
‘Shall we suppose, yes, that something triggers them off, then seals them away, and they have no choice?
Or suppose, yes, that wheeling in their circuits they cannot stop themselves?
Do the clouds make the rain?
Or the rain the clouds?
Whose bounty bestows them?
Who is it sits with nothing to do as in ecstasy he urges them?
‘The winds rise in the north,
Blow west, blow east,
And now again whirl high above.
Who breathes them out, who breathes them in?
Who is it sits with nothing to do and sweeps between and over them?
Allow me to ask the reason for all this.’
The shaman Hsien beckons, ‘Come! I shall tell you. Heaven has the Six Calamities and Five Blessings; if emperor or king complies with it there is order, if he defies it disaster. By the policies of the Nine Lo, order is brought to perfection and the Power is fully at his disposal. His mirror reflects the whole earth below, he is carried on the heads of the whole empire; such a one is to be called supremely august.’ (Introduction to Chuang-tzŭ, chapter 14, ‘Circuits of Heaven’)
NOTE This mysterious dialogue is unique in Chuang-tzŭ in failing to introduce the inquirer. The cause is not textual mutilation, for the chapter ‘Circuits of Heaven’ must always have started with the first words of the inquiry, from which (by the convention followed in all the Outer chapters) it takes its title. We have already noticed evidence that the questions once stood in the Inner chapters, where we restore them (p. 49 above). One can only suppose that the Syncretist has quoted the poem (as another rhapsodic passage is quoted from the Inner chapters in ‘The Way of Heaven’), and then put an answer into the mouth of the shaman in the Inner chapters who knew the day of every man’s death (pp. 96, 260 above).
The answer can be taken to mean ‘Don’t ask questions, simply respond to the fortune and misfortune sent by Heaven.’ The Nine Lo are probably the nine sections of the ‘Great Plan’ in the Book of documents, which according to legend were symbolised by the nine numbers in the ‘Lo document’, a diagram on the back of a tortoise which came out of the Lo river in the time of the sage Yü. If so, the Six Calamities are premature death, sickness, care, poverty, ugliness, weakness, and the Five Blessings are longevity, wealth, health, Power, natural death.