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" "Kaikkeuden hengitystä sanotaan tuuleksi, vastasi Tsu Ch'i. Se ei aina liiku, mutta kun se liikkuu, kuuluu kymmenistätuhansista onkaloista raivokasta ujellusta. Etkö ole koskaan kuunnellut sitä: liaoo liaoo... Vuoriston metsien kolkissa ja huipuilla on koloja ja onteloita suurissa puissa, joiden ympärysmitta on sata vaaksaa; jokin on kuin sierain, toinen kuin suu tai korva; jokin on suorakulmainen, toinen pyöreä; jokin kuin huhmar, toinen kuin allas tai lätäkön pohja. Kaikista niistä kuuluu ikään kuin kuohuavan veden pauhua tai kohinaa, ne ulvovat ja huokaavat, mylvivät kuin eläimet, ujeltavat, valittavat ja viheltävät. Edellä kulkeva tuuli laulaa jyy ja perässä seuraava säestää jung. Kun tuuli puhaltaa lempeästi, kuulet hiljaisia sointuja, mutta myrskyn synnyttämät soinnut ovat jyhkeitä; ja kun ankara tuuli asettuu, jokainen onkalo vaikenee. Etkö ole koskaan nähnyt, miten kaikki puut huojuvat huojuvat, taipuvat taipuvat?
莊子 Zhūangzi (c. 369 BC – c. 286 BC), literally Master Zhuang, was a Chinese philosopher, who is supposed to have lived during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the Hundred Schools of Thought. His name is also transliterated as Zhuang Zi, Zhuang Zhou, Chuang Tzu, Chuang Tse. Chuang was his surname and Tse indicates master; so he would be referred to as Master Chuang. You will also see his name given as "Chuang Chou" or "Zhuang Zhu", this was his proper name, first and last, not an alternate spelling of "Chuang Tzu" or "Zhuangzi".
Biography information from Wikiquote
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The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you’ve gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?
What do you want to compare me to, one of those cultivated trees? The hawthorn, the pear, the orange, the rest of those fructiferous trees and shrubs — when their fruit is ripe they get plucked, and that is an insult. Their large branches are bent, their small branches are pruned. Thus do their abilities embitter their lives. That is why they die young, failing to fully live out their Heaven-given lifespans. They batter themselves with the vulgar conventions of the world, as do all the other things of the world. As for me, I’ve been working on being useless for a long time. It almost killed me, but I’ve finally managed it — and it is of great use to me! If I were useful, do you think I could have grown to be so great?
Moreover, you and I are both things, objects — how then should we objectify each other? We are members of the same class, namely, things — is either of us in a position to classify and evaluate the other? How could a worthless man with one foot in the grave know what is or isn’t a worthless tree?