SUFISM AND TAOISM: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
by Toshihiko Izutsu 1983
First published 1983 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
This edition is published by The University of California Press, 1984,
Rev. ed. of: A comparative study of the key philosophical concepts in Sufism and Taoism. 1966-67.
=====
First published 1983 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
This edition is published by The University of California Press, 1984,
Rev. ed. of: A comparative study of the key philosophical concepts in Sufism and Taoism. 1966-67.
=====
Contents
Preface by T. Izutsu
Introduction
Part I - Ibn 'Arabi
1 Dream and Reality
II The Absolute in its Absoluteness
III The Self-knowledge of Man
IV Metaphysical Unification and Phenomenal Dispersion
V Metaphysical Perplexity
VI The Shadow of the Absolute
VII The Divine Nam es
VIII Allah and the Lord
IX Ontological Mercy
X The Water of Life
XI The Self-manifestation of the Absolute
XII Permanent Archetypes
XIII Creation
XIV Man as Microcosm
XV The Perfect Man as an Individual
XVI Apostle, Prophet, and Saint
XVII The Magical Power of the Perfect Man
Part II - Lao-Tzii & Chuang-Tzu
I Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu
II From Mythopoiesis to Metaphysics
III Dream and Reality
IV Beyond This and That
V The Birth of a New Ego
VI Against Essentialism
VII The Way
VIII The Gateway of Myriad Wonders
IX Determinism and Freedom
X Absolute Reversai of Values
XI The Perfect Man
XII Homo Politicus
Part III - A Comparative Reflection
I Methodological Preliminaries
II The Inner Transformation of Man
III The Multistratified Structure of Reality
IV Essence and Existence
V The Self-evolvement of Existence
===
Ch 1. Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu
The book called Tao Tê Ching is now world-famous, and is being
widely read in the West in various translations as one of the most
important basic texts of Oriental Wisdom. It is generally - or
popularly, we should say - thought to be a philosophico-mystical
treatise written by an ancient Chinese sage called Lao-tzu, a senior
contemporary of Confucius. In more scholarly circles no one today
takes such a view.
In fact, since the Ch'ing Dynasty when the question of the author-
ship of the book was first raised in China, 1 it has been discussed by so
many people, it has provoked such an animated controversy not
only in China but in Japan, and even in the West, and so divergent
are the hypotheses which have been put forward, that we are left in
utter darkness as to whether the Tao Tê Ching is a work of an
individual thinker, or even whether a man called Lao-tzu ever
existed in reality. We are no longer in a position to assign a proper
chronological place to the book with full confidence.
For our particular purposes, the problem of authorship and the
authenticity of the work is merely of peripheral importance.
Whether or not there once existed as a historical person a sage
called Lao-tzu in the state of Ch'u, who lived more than one
hundred and sixty years,2 whether or not this sage really wrote the
Tao Tê Ching - these and similar questions, whether answered
affirmatively or negatively, do not affect at all the main contention
of the present work. What is of fondamental importance is the fact
that the thought is there, and that it has a very peculiar inner
structure which, if analyzed and understood in a proper way, will
provide an exceedingly interesting Chinese counterpart to the
'Unity of Existence' (walJ,dah al-wujüd) type of philosophy as rep-
resented by Ibn' Arabï in Islam. ·
Lao-tzu is a legendary, or at the very most, semi-legendary figure, of
whom it is an obvious understatement to say that nothing certain is
known tous. For, even on the assumption that there is an historical
core in his so-called biography, we must admit that the popular
imagination has woven round it such a fantastic tapestry of imposs-
ible events and unbelievable incidents that no one can ever hope to
disentangle the intricate web of legends, myths and focts.[288]
Even the most sober and most dependable of all Chinese his-
torians in ancient times, and the earliest to attempt a description of
Lao-tzu's life and adventures in his Book of History, 3 Ssu Ma Ch'ien
of the Han Dynasty (the beginning of the lst century B.C.), had to
be content with giving a very inconsistent and unsystematic narrative made up of a number of staries stemming from heterogeneous origins.
According to one of those legends, Lao-tzu was a native of the
state of Ch'u.4 He was an official of the royal Treasury of Chou,
when Confucius came to visit him. After the interview, Confucius is
related to have made the following remark to his disciples about
Lao-tzu. 'Birds fly, fishes swim, and animals run -this much 1 know
for certain. Moreover, the runner can be snared, the swimmer can
be hooked, and the flyer can be shot down by the arrow. But what
can we do with a dragon? We cannot even see how he mounts on
winds and clouds and rises to heaven. That Lao-tzu whom 1 met
to-day may probably be compared only to a dragon!'
The story makes Lao-tzu a senior contemporary of Confucius
(551-479 B.C.). This would naturally mean that Lao-tzu was a man
who lived in the 6th century B.C., which cannot possibly be a
historical fact.
Many arguments have been brought forward against the histori-
city of the narrative which we have just quoted. One of them is of
particular importance to us; it is concerned with examining this and
similar narratives philologically and in terms of the historical
development of philosophical thinking in ancient China.
I shall give
here a typical example of this kind of philological argument.
Sokichi Tsuda in his well-known work, The Thought of the Taoist
School and its Development,5 subjects to a careful philological
examination the peculiar usage of some of the key technical terms in
the Tao Tê Ching, and arrives at the conclusion that the book must
be a product of a period after Mencius (372-289 B.C.).
This would
imply of course that Lao-tzu - supposing that he did exist as a
historical person - was a man who came after Mencius.
Tsuda chooses as the yardstick of his judgment the expression
jen-i which is found in Chap. XVIII of the Tao Tê Ching,6 and which
is a compound of two words jen and i. These two words, jen
{'humaneness' with particular emphasis on 'benevolence') and i
('righteousness'), properly speaking, do not belong to the vocabul-
ary of Lao-tzu; they are key-terms of Confucianism. As represent-
ing two of the most basic human virtues, they play an exceedingly
important rôle in the ethical thought of Confucius himself.[289]
But in the mouth of Confucius, they-remain two independent words; they
are not compounded into a semantic unit in the form of jen-i
corresponding almost to a single complex concept. The latter
phenomenon is observed only in post-Confucian times.
Tsuda points out that the thinker who first emphasized the con-
cept of jen-i is Mencius. This fact, together with the fact that in the
above-mentioned passage Lao-tzu uses the terms jen and i in this
compound form, would seem to suggest that the Tao Tê Ching, is a
product of a period in which the Confucian key-term jen-i has
already been firmly established, for the passage in question is most
evidently intended to be a conscious criticism of Confucian ethics.
Lao-tzu, in other words, could use the expression with such an
intention only because he had before his eyes Mencius and his
ethical theory.
Moreover, Tsuda goes on to remark, Mencius vehemently attacks
and denounces everything incompatible with Confucianism, but
nowhere does he show any conscious endeavour to criticize Lao-tzu
or Tao Tê Ching in spite of the fact that the teaching of the latter is
diametrically opposed to his own doctrine; he does not even men-
tion the name Lao-Tzü. This is irrefutable evidence for the thesis
that the Tao Tê Ching belongs to a period posterior to Mencius.
Since, on the other hand, its doctrines are explicitly criticized by
Hsün-tzü ( c. 315-236 B.C.), it cannot be posterior to the latter.
Thus, in conclusion, Tsuda assigns to the Tao Tê Ching a period
between Mencius and Hsün-tzu.
Although there are some problematic points in Tsuda's argument, he is, I think, on the whole right. In fact, there are a number of passages in the Tao Tê Ching which cannot be properly understood unless we place them against the background of a Confucian philosophy standing already on a very firm basis.
And this, indeed, is the crux of the whole problem,
at least for those to whom the thought itself of Lao-tzu is the major concern.
The very famous opening lines of the Tao Tê Ching, for instance,
in which the real Way and the real Name are mentioned in sharp contrast to an
ordinary 'way' and ordinary 'names' ,7 do not yield their true meaning except when we realize that
what is meant by this ordinary 'way' is nothing but the proper ethical way of living as understood and taught by the school of Confucius, and that what is referred to by these ordinary 'names' are but the Confucian 'names', i.e., the highest ethical categories stabilized by means of definite 'names', i.e., key-terms.
The Tao Tê Ching contains, furthermore, a number of words and
phrases that are - seemingly at least - derived from various other
sources, like Mo-tzu, Yang Chu, Shang Yang, and even Chuang-
tzu, Shên Tao, and others.[290]
And there are some scholars who, basing themselves on this observation,
go farther than Tsuda and assert that the Tao Tê Ching belongs to a period after Chuang-tzu and Shên Tao.
Yang Jung Kuo, a contemporary scholar of Peking, to give one example, takes such a position in his History of Thought in Ancient China. 8
Some of these alleged 'references' to thinkers who have traditionally been considered later than Lao-tzu may very well be explained as due to the influence exercised by the Tao Tê Ching itself upon those thinkers who, in writing their books, may have 'borrowed' ideas and expressions from this book.
Besides, we have to remember that the text of this book as we have it to-day has
evidently passed through a repeated process of editing, re-editing,
and re-arranging in the Han Dynasty. Many of the 'references' may
simply be later additions and interpolations.
Be this as it may, it has to be admitted that the Tao Tê Ching is a controversial work. And at least it is definitely certain that the formation of its thought presupposes the existence of the Confucian school of thought.
Turning now to another aspect of Lao-tzu, which is more important
for the purposes of the present work than chronology, we may begin
by observing that the Biography of Lao-tzu as given by Ssu Ma
Ch'ien in his Book of History makes Lao-tzu a man of Ch'u. 9 Thus
he writes in one passage, 'Lao-tzu was a native of the village Ch'ü
Jên, in Li Hsiang, in the province of K'u, in the state of Ch'u'. In
another passage he states that according to a different tradition,
there was a man called Lao Lai Tzu in the time of Confucius; that he
was a man of Ch'u, and produced fifteen books in which he talked
about the Way. Ssu Ma Ch'ien adds that this man may have been the
same as Lao-tzu.
All this may very well be a mere legend. And yet it is, in my view,
highly significant that the 'legend' connects the author of the Tao Tê
Ching with the state of Ch'u. This connection of Lao-tzu with the
southern state of Ch'u cannot be a mere coïncidence. For there is
something of the spirit of Ch'u running through the entire book. By
the 'spirit of Ch'u' 1 mean what may properly be called the shamanic
tendency of the mind or shamanic mode of thinking. Ch'u was a
large state lying on the southern periphery of the civilized Middle
Kingdom, a land of wild marches, rivers, forests and mountains, rich
in terms of nature but poor in terms of culture, inhabited by many
people of a non-Chinese origin with variegated, strange customs.
There all kinds of superstitious beliefs in supernatural beings and
spirits were rampant, and shamanic practices thrived. [291]
But this apparently primitive and 'uncivilized' atmosphere could
provide an ideal fostering ground for an extraordinary visionary
power of poetic imagination, as amply attested by the elegies writ-
ten by the greatest shaman-poet the state of Ch'u has ever pro-
duced, Ch'ü Yüan. 10 The same atmosphere could also produce a
very peculiar kind of metaphysical thinking. This is very probable
becausè the shamanic experience of reality is of such a nature that it
can be refined and elaborated into a high level of metaphysical
experience. In any case, the metaphysical depth of Lao-tzu's
thought can, 1 believe, be accounted for to a great extent by relating
it to the shamanic mentality of the ancient Chinese which can be
traced back to the oldest historie times and even beyond, and which
has flourished particularly in the southern part of China throughout
the long history of Chinese culture.
In this respect Henri Maspero11 is,1 think, basically right when he
takes exception to the traditional view that Taoism abruptly started
in the beginning of the fourth century B.C. as a mystical metaphys-
ics with Lao-tzu, was very much developed philosophically by
Chuang-tzu toward the end of that century and vulgarized to a
considerable degree by Lieh-tzu and thenceforward went on the
way of corruption and degeneration until in the Later Han Dynasty
it was completely transformed into a jumble of superstition, anim-
ism, magic and sorcery. Against such a view, Maspero takes the
position that Taoism was a 'personal' religion - as contrasted with
the agricultural communal type of State religion which has nothing
to do with persona! salvation - going back to immemorial antiquity.
The school of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, he main tains, was a particu-
lar branch or se.ction within this wide religious movement, a particu-
lar branch characterized by a marked mystical-philosophical ten-
dency.
These observations would seem to lead us back once again to the
problem of the authorship of Tao Tê Ching and the historicity of
Lao-tzu. Is it at all imaginable that such a metaphysical refinement
of crude mysticism should have been achieved as a result of a
process of natural development, without active participation of
an individual thinker endowed with an unusual philosophical
genius? 1 do not think so. Primitive shamanism in ancient China
would have remained in its original crudity as a phenomenon of
popular religion characterized by ecstatic orgy and frantic 'posses-
sion', if it were not for a tremendous work of elaboration done in the
course of its history by men of unusual genius. Thus, in order to
produce the Elegies of Ch'u the primitive shamanic vision of the
world had to pass through the mind of a Ch'ü Yüan. Likewise, the
same shamanic world-vision could be elevated into the profound
metaphysics of the Way only by an individual philosophical genius.
292
When we read the Tao Tê Ching with the preceding observation
in mind, we cannot but feel the breath, so to speak, of an extraordi-
nary man pervading the whole volume, the spirit of an unusual
philosopher pulsating throughout the book. With all the possible
later additions and interpolations, which I readily admit, I cannot
agree with the view that the Tao Tê Ching is a work of compilation
consisting of fragments of thought taken from various heterogene-
ous sources. For there is a certain fondamental unity which strikes
us everywhere in the book. And the unity is a persona! one. In fact,
the Tao Tê Ching as a whole is a unique piece of work distinctly
colored by the personality of one unusual man, a shaman-
philosopher. Does he not give us a self-portrait in part XX of the
book?
The multitude of men are blithe and cheerful as though they were
invited to a luxurious banquet, or as though they were going up a high
tower to enjoy the spring scenery.
1 alone remain silent and still, showing no sign of activity. Like a
new-born baby 1 am, that has not yet learnt to smile. Forlorn and
aimless 1 look, as if 1 had no place to return.
All men have more than enough. I alone seem to be vacant and blank.
Mine indeed is the mind of a stupid man! Dull and confused it is! The
vulgar people are all clever and bright, I alone am dark and obtuse.
The vulgar people are all quick and alert, I alone am blunt and tardy.
Like a deep ocean that undulates constantly 1 am, like a wind that
blows never to rest.
All others have some work to do, while 1 alone remain impractical I
and boorish. 1 alone am different from all others because 1 value
being f ed by the Mother .12
Similarly in another passage (LXVII), he says of himself:
Everybody under Heaven says that 11 3 am big, but look stupid. Yea, I
look stupid because I am big. If I were clever 1 would have diminished
long ago.
And again in LXX, we read:
My words are very easy to understand and very easy to practise. Yet
no one under Heaven understands them; no one puts them into ·
practice.
My words come out of a profound source, and my actions come out of
a high principle. But people do not understand it. Therefore they do
not understand me.
Those who understand me are rare. That precisely is the proof that 1
am precious. The sage, indeed, wears clothes of coarse cloth, but
carries within precious jade.
The passages just quoted give a picture of a very original mind, an
image of a man who looks gloomy, stupid and clumsy, standing
aloof from the 'clever' people who spend their time in the petty
pleasures of life. He takes such an attitude because he is conscious
of himself as utterly different from ordinary men. The important
question we have to raise about this is: Whence does this difference
come? The Tao Tê Ching itself and the Chuang-tzu seem to give a
definite answer to this question. The man feels himself different
from others because he is conscious that he alone knows the real
meaning of existence. And this he knows due to his metaphysical
insight which is based on what Chuang-tzu calls tso wang 'sitting in
oblivion', that is, the experience of ecstatic union with the Absolute,
the Way. The man who stands behind the utterances which we have
quoted above is a philosopher-mystic, or a visionary shaman turned
into a philosopher.
It is highly significant for our specific purpose to note that the
spirit of a philosophically developed shamanism pervades the whole
of the Tao Tê Ching. It is, so to speak, a living persona! 'center'
round which are co-ordinated all the basic ideas that we find in the
book, whether the thought concerns the metaphysical structure of
the universe, the nature of man, the art of governing people, or the
practical ideal of life. And such an organic unity cannot be
explained except on the assumption that the book, far from being a
compilation made of fragmentary and disparate pieces of thought
picked up at random from here and there, is in the main the work of
a single author.
In studying a book like the Tao Tê Ching it is more important than
anything else to grasp this persona! unity underlying it as a whole,
and to pinpoint it as the center of co-ordination for all its basic ideas.
For, otherwise, we would not be in a position to penetrate the subtle
structure of the symbolism of the Tao Tê Ching and analyze with
precision the basic ideas of its metaphysics.
Turning from Lao-tzu to Chuang-tzu, we feel ourselves standing on
a far more solid ground. For, although we are no better informed
about his real life and identity, at least we know that we are dealing
with an historical person, who did exist in about the middle of the
fourth century B.C., as a contemporary of Mencius, the great
shaman-poet Ch'ü Yüan of Ch'u to whom reference has been made,
and the brilliant dialectician Hui Shih or Hui-tzu14 with whom he
himself was a good match in the mastery of the art of manipulating
logical concepts.
According to the account given by Ssu Ma Ch'ien in the above-
mentioned Book of History, Chuang-tzu or Chuang Chou15 was a
native of Mêng; 16 he was once an official.at Ch'i-Yüan in Mêng; he
had tremendous erudition, but his doctrine was essentially based on
the teachings of Lao-tzu; and his writing, which counted more than
100,000 words, was for the most part symbolic or allegorical.
It is significant that Mêng, which is mentioned by Ssu Ma Ch'ien
as Chuang-tzu's birthplace, is in present-day Ho Nan and was a
place in the ancient state of Sung.17 1 regard this as significant
because Sung was a country where the descendants of the ancient
Yin 18 people were allowed to live after having been conquered by
the Chou people. 19 There these descendants of the once-illustrious
people, despised by the conquerors as the 'conquered' and con-
stantly threatened and invaded by their neighbors, succeeded in
preserving the religious beliefs and legends of their ancestors. The
significance of this fact with regard to the thesis of the present study
will at once be realized if one but remembers the animistic-
shamanic spirit of Yin culture as manifested in its sacrificial cere-
monies and rites of divination as well as in the myths connected with
this dynasty. The people of Yin were traditionally famous for their
cuit of spirits and worship of the 'God-above'. From of old the
distinction between Yin and Chou was made by such a dictum as:
'Yin worships spirits while Chou places the highest value on human
culture.' 20
Quite independently of the observation of this historical relation
between the Yin Dynasty and the Sung people, Fung Yu Lang in his
History of Chinese Philosophy 21 points out - quite rightly, to my
mind - that the form of Chuang-tzu's thought is close to that of the
Ch'u people. 'We should keep in mind', he writes, 'the fact that the
state of Sung bordered Ch'u, making it quite possible that Chuang-
tzu was influenced on the one hand by Ch'u, and at the same time
was under the influence of the ideas of the Dialecticians. (Hui Shih,
it will be remembered, was a native of Sung.) Thus by using the
dialectics of the latter, he was able to put his soaring thoughts into
order, and formulate a unified philosophical system.'
Of the 'spirit of Ch'u' we have talked in an earlier passage in
connection with the basic structure of Lao-tzu's thought. Fung Yu
Lang compares the Elegies of Ch'u (Ch'u Tz'u) 22 with the Chuang-
tzu and observes a remarkable resemblance between the two in the
display of 'a richness of imagination and freeness of spirit'. But he
neglects to trace this resemblance down to its shamanic origin, so
that the 'richness of imagination and freeness of spirit' is left unex-
plained. However it may be, we shall refrain from going any further
into the details of this problem at this point, for much more will be
said in the following chapter.
The problem of the relationship between Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu
has been discussed at length by philologists. As we have already
observed the major doctrines of Chuang-tzu have traditionally been
regarded as being based upon the teachings of Lao-tzu. On this
view, Lao-tzu of course was a predecessor of Chuang-tzu in Taoist
philosophy; the main lines of thought had been laid down by the
former, and the latter simply took them over from him and
developed them in his own way into a grand-scale allegorical system
according to the dicta tes of his philosophical and literary ability.
This view seems to be a natural conclusion drawn from the observa-
tion of the following two facts: ( 1) the existence of an undeniable
inner connection between the two in the very structure of their
world-view and their mystical way of thinking; (2) Chuang-tzu
himself often mentioning Lao-tzu as one of the earlier Taoist sages,
and the expressions used being in some places almost the same.
The matter, however, is notas simple as it looks at the first glance.
In fact serious questions have been raised in modern times about
this problem. The Tao Tê Ching itself, to begin with, is nowhere
referred to in the Chuang-tzu, although Lao-tzu, as a legendary
figure, appears in its pages, and his ideas are mentioned. But this
latter fact proves almost nothing conclusively, for we know that
many of the persons who are made to play important rôles in the
Chuang-tzu are simply fictitious. Similarities in language may easily
be explained away as the result either of later interpolations in the
Tao Të Ching itself, or as going back to common sources.
Yang Jung Kuo, to whom reference has been made earlier, may
be mentioned as a representative present-day scholar who not only
doubts Lao-tzu's having been a predecessor of Chuang-tzu, but
goes a step further and completely reverses the chronological order.
In an interesting chapter of his above-mentioned book, History of
Thought in Ancient China,23 he decidedly takes the position that
Chuang-tzu was nota disciple of Lao-tzu; that, on the contrary, the
latter - or, to be more exact, the Tao Të Ching - was nothing other
than a continuation and further development of the Chuang-tzü.
And the way he defends his position is strictly philological; he tries
to prove his position through an examination of some of the key-
concepts common to Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. And he concludes
that the Tao Tê Ching presupposes the prior existence of the
Chuang-tzü. For instance, the most important of ail key-concepts of
Taoism, tao (Wag) as the cosmic principle of natural growth, or
Nature, is in the Chuang-tzü not yet fully developed in its inner
structure. The concept is already there, he says, but it is as yet a
mere beginning. The Tao Tê Ching takes over this concept at this
precise point and elaborates it into an absolute principle, the abso-
lutely unknowable Source, which is pre-eternal24 and from which
emanate all things. 25 And Yang Jung Kuo thinks that this historical
relation between the two - Chuang-tzü being the initial point and
Lao-tzu representing the culmination - is observable throughout
the whole structure of Taoist philosophy.
This argument, highly interesting though it is, is not conclusive.
For the key-concepts in question allow of an equally justifiable
explanation in terms of a process of development running from
Lao-tzu to Chuang-tzu. As regards the metaphysics of tao, for
instance, we have to keep in mind that Lao-tzu gives only the
result, a definitely established monistic system of archetypal ima-
gery whose center is constituted by the absolu te Absolute, tao, which
develops stage after stage by its own 'natural' creative activity down
to the world of multiplicity. This ontology, as I have pointed out
before, is understandable only on the assumption that it stands on
the basis of an ecstatic or mystical experience of Existence. Lao-tzu,
however, does not disclose this experiential aspect of bis world-view
except through vague, symbolic hints and suggestions. This is the
reason why the Tao Tê Ching tends to produce an impression of
being a philosophical elaboration of something which precedes it.
That 'something which precedes it', however, may not necessarily
be something taken over from others.
Chuang-tzu, on the other band, is interested precisely in this
experiential aspect of Taoist mysticism which Lao-tzu leaves
untouched. He is not mainly concerned with constructing a
metaphysics of a cosmic scale ranging from the ultimate Unknow-
able down to the concrete world of variegated colors and forms. His
chief concern is with the peculiar kind of' experience' itself by which
one penetrates the mystery of Existence. He tries to depict in detail,
sometimes allegorically, sometimes theoretically, the very
psychological or spiritual process through which one becomes more
and more 'illumined' and goes on approaching the real structure of
reality hidden behind the veil of sensible experience.
His attitude is, in comparison with Lao-tzu, epistemological,
rather than metaphysical. And this difference separates these two
thinkers most fundamentally, although they share a common inter-
est in the practical effects that corne out of the supra-sensible
experience of the Way. The same difference may also be formulated
in terms of upward movement and downward movement. Lao-tzu
tries to describe metaphysically how the absolute Absolute
develops naturally into One, and how the One develops into Two,
and the Two into Three, and the Three into 'ten thousand things' .26
It is mainly a description of an ontological - or emanational -
movement downward, though he emphasizes also the importance of
the concept of Return, i.e., the returning process of all things back
to their origin. Chuang-tzu is interested in describing epistemologi-
cally the rising movement of the human mind from the world of
multiplicity and diversity up to the ontological plane where all
distinctions become merged into One.
Because of this particular emphasis on the epistemological aspect
of the experience of the tao, Chuang-tzu does not take the trouble of
developing the concept itself of tao as a philosophical system.
This is
why bis metaphysics of tao appears imperf ect, or imperfectly
developed. This, however, does not necessarily mean that he rep-
resents chronologically an earlier stage than Lao-tzu. For, as we
have just seen, the difference between them may very well be only
the difference of emphasis.
of the book itself known by the name Chuang-tzu.
The important Bibliography contained in the Chronicle of the
Han Dynasty 21 notes that the Chuang-tzu consists of fifty-two chap-
ters. But the basic text of the book which we actually have in our
bands bas only thirty-three chapters. This is the result of editorial
work done by Kuo Hsiang. 28 In fact all the later editions of the
Chuang-tzu ultimately go back to this Kuo Hsiang recension. This
eminent thinker of the Taoist school critically examined the tradi-
tional text, left out a number of passages which he regarded as
definitely spurious and worthless, and divided what survived this
examination into three main groups.
The first group is called Interior Chapters (nei p'ien) consisting of seven chapters. The second is called Exterior Chapters ( wai p'ien) and consists of fifteen
chapters.
And the third is called Miscellaneous Chapters (tza pi' en) and contains eleven chapters.
Setting aside the problem of possible additions and interpolations
we might say generally that the Interior Chapters represent Chuang-tzu's own thought and ideas, and are probably from his own pen.
As to the two other groups, scholars are agreed to-day that
they are mostly later developments, interpretations and elucida-
tions added to the main text by followers of Chuang-tzu.
Whether
the lnterior Chapters corne from Chuang-tzu's own pen or not, it is
definite that they represent the oldest layer of the book and are
philosophically as well as literarily the most essential part, while the
Exterior and Miscellaneous Chapters are of but secondary importance.
In the present study, I shall depend exclusively on the Interior
Chapters. This I shall do for the reason just mentioned and also out
of a desire to give consistency to my analytic description of Chuang-tzu's thought. 29
Notes
1. Ts' ui Shu ( -tliillt in bis 1) may here be mentioned as one of the most
eminent writers of the Ch' ing Dynasty who raised serious doubts about the reliability
of the so-called biography of Lao-tzu. Of the Tao Tê Ching he says: 'As for the
298 Sufism and Taoism
five-thousand-words-about-the-Tao-and-Virtue, no one knows who wrote it. There
is no doubt, in any case, that it is a forgery by some of the followers of Yang Chu.'
2. The name Lao-tzu, incidentally, simply means Old Master, the word 'old' in this
context meaning almost the sa me as 'immortal'.
3. : Shih Chih, LXIII, , III.
4. For my reason for translating r as' an official of the royal Treasury
of Chou', see Shigeta Koyanagi: The Thought of Lao-tzù, Chuang-tzù and Taoism
1J,WPPJltt: Tokyo, 1942, pp. 26-27.
5. l$ffiti::t:îif li!t*O),[l,;t!lè Complete Works of S. Tsuda, XIII, Tokyo,
1964. The work was published earlier in 192 7 as a volume of the series of publica
tions of Tôyô Bunko.
6. 'Only when the great Way declines, does the virtue of
benevolence-righteousness arise.'
7. This passage will be translated and explained later.
8. Peking, 1954, 3rd ed. 1955, Chap. VII, 4, pp. 245-
24 7. At the outset (p. 245), the author states: The Book of Lao-tzu is, in my opinion, a product of an age subsequent to the ftourishing of the school of Chuang-tzu in the Warring States period.
9. M.
10. fffijjj(. We may note as quite a significant fact that this great poet of Ch'u was a
contemporary of Chuang-tzu. According to a very detailed and excellent study done
by Kuo Mo Jo llffimtlilf'.?EJ), Ch'ü Yüan was born in 340 B.C. and died in 278
B.C., at the age of sixty-two. As for Chuang-tzu, an equally excellent study by Ma
Hsü Lun has established that he lived c. 370 B.C.-300 B.C.
11. Henri Maspero: Le Taoism (mélanges posthumes sur les religions et l'histoire de la Chine, II) Paris, 1950, III.
12. 'Mother' here symbolizes the Way (tao). Just as a child in the womb feeds on the
mother without its doing anything active on its part, the Taoist sage lives in the bosom
of the Way, free and careless, away from ail artificial activity on his part.
13. The text usually reads; .... making 'my Way' the subject of the
sentence.
14. ïilnt!i: known as one of the representatives of the 'school of dialecticians (pien
chê)', or 'sophists', in the Warring States period. The Chuang-tzu records several
anecdotes in which Chuang-tzu is challenged by this logician, disputes with him, and
scores a victory over him. The anecdotes may very well be fictitious-as almost ail the
anecdotes of the Chuang-tzù are - but they are very interesting in that they disclose
the basic characteristics of the one as well as of the other.
15. JŒT-, JŒJi!il, Chou being his persona! name.
16. fl.
Lao- Tzu and Chuang Tzu 299
17. *·
18. 115i..
19. m.
20. IFffîfhl üfJ Hong Kong, 1957, pp. 1-2).
21. Trans. by O. Bodde, 2 vols., Princeton, 1952-53; vol. 1, pp. 221-222.
22. some of which are by the poet Ch'ü Yüan himself, Li Sao being his
representative work, while some others are by his followers. But, whether by Ch'ü
Yüan or by others, ail the Elegies are through and through shamanic. Sorne of them
describe in a typical way the spiritual, visionary journeys of a shaman in an ecstatic
state.
23. pp. 252-257.
24. lat7t::R:lt!U lit. 'The Tao precedes Heaven and Earth'. The concept of tao in this
respect may rightly be compared with the Islamic concept qadîm.
25. lit. 'The Tao produces, or makes grow, the ten thousand things'.
26. See, Tao Tê Ching, XLII. The process of' emanation' will be dealt with la ter in
full detail.
27. lllSJ which was compiled in the lst century B.C.
28. '15•, a scholar of the 4th century A.D.
29. In quoting from the Chuang-tzù 1 shall give page numbers according to the
Peking edition of Chuang-tzù Chi Shih by Kuo Ch'ing Fan Wfftl, Peking,
1961, vol. 1. The editor was one of the outstanding philologists of the Ch' ing dynasty,
and his edition is a very useful one, because it gives the commentary by Kuo Hsiang
himself (lfffttJ) and two other equally famous glosses by Ch'êng Hsüang Ying
llŒf-ttJjlf_1 ) and Lu Tê Ming IJŒf--If:Df ), supplemented by some of the
results of modern scholarship. As for Lao-tzu, 1 shall quote from the edition of Kao
Heng: Lao-tzù Cheng Shanghai, 1943, giving, as is usually done,
chapter numbers instead of page numbers.
