Chapter 1.7

The large gourd

Master Hui says to Master Chuang:
The King of Wei gave me the seed of a large gourd.
I planted it, and indeed it produced a ninety-gallon gourd.
But when I used it to hold starch solution its sides weren’t firm enough to support themselves.
When I split it to make a ladle the surface was too flat to hold liquid.
It’s not that the gourd wasn’t impressively large, but it was useless, so I smashed it to bits.

Master Chuang says: 
Venerable Master, you certainly are clumsy at using large things.

A Sung man had a balm that was good for protecting hands from chapping.
For generations his family had made silk-washing its business.
A customer heard about it and offered to buy the recipe for a hundred pieces of gold.
The Sung man assembled his family and discussed the offer, saying: For generations we’ve washed silk and we’ve no more than a few pieces of gold. Now in one morning we can sell the secret for a hundred pieces! Let’s do it.
So the customer got it.
He used it to pitch an idea to the King of Wu, who was having trouble with Yueh.
The King of Wu employed him that winter when engaging the Yueh in battle at sea, defeated the Yueh convincingly, divided up the conquered territory, and enfeoffed him.

In each case the balm’s ability to prevent hands from chapping was the same.
If one man used it to get a fiefdom, while the other couldn’t free himself from washing silk, it’s what they used it for that’s different.

Now, you had this ninety-gallon gourd.
Why didn’t it occur to you to use it as a large barrel in which to float about on the rivers and lakes?
If you worried that its surface was too flat to hold liquid, then you still had a muddled head,* wouldn’t you say?

*  *  *  *  *

Master Hui’s story of the large gourd:

The King of Wei gave me the seed of a large gourd.

Master Hui is the chief minister in the Kingdom of Wei.

It produced a ninety-gallon gourd.

The size of a large wine barrel.

When I used it to hold starch solution its sides weren’t firm enough to support themselves. When I split it to make a ladle the surface was too flat to hold liquid.

The large gourd represents Master Chuang’s philosophy, a philosophy that speaks grandly of birds countless thousands of miles in size, and of mounting the isness of heaven and earth. This philosophy is all very grand, but you can’t use it to implement a political agenda. It lacks the solidity and shape required to hold an agenda.

It’s not that the gourd wasn’t impressively large, but it was useless, so I smashed it to bits.

Master Hui is a sophist. The sophists use clever arguments to deconstruct (smash to bits) the meaning of words. Metaphorically he represents our rational brains. The voice in your head that might be saying, Chuang Tzu’s words are grand and poetic, but are they useful?—Master Hui is giving expression to this voice. He smashes Chuang Tzu’s words to bits, pointing out that in practical terms they are useless.

~

Master Chuang’s response:

A Sung man had a balm.

The balm represents philosophy, the discipline of inquiring into the nature of things. Philosophy is a balm because it helps you to solve problems. It provides protection against life’s harsh conditions.

Using the balm to wash silk.

The Sung man represents Master Hui. He uses philosophy for the mundane, laborious purpose of engaging in clever argumentation and gaining employment (washing silk).

The customer.

The customer represents Master Chuang. Appreciating the value of philosophy, he has studied Master Hui and other philosophers.

The King of Wu defeated the Yueh.

The balm protected his soldiers’ hands against the wet and cold, allowing them to handle their weapons more effectively.

Using the balm to get a fiefdom.

Whereas Master Hui uses philosophy to engage in clever argumentation and to gain employment as a political advisor (to be a labourer, a silk washer), Master Chuang uses philosophy to gain liberation from the struggles of a laborious life (to become the lord of a fiefdom).

Floating about on the rivers and lakes.

Rivers and lakes means the world. Floating about on the rivers and lakes is the same as mounting the isness of heaven-and-earth and taking the reins of the disputing six energies (section 3).

~

Master Chuang’s philosophy cannot be used to manipulate others into doing what you want, but what it can do is serve as a vessel in which to wander at ease on the currents of the world. We can use his philosophy to awake to awareness, to mount the isness of heaven-and-earth and take the reins of the disputing six energies, and thus wander about, amiable and aloof.

Wander about—like the customer. Out and about in the world, learning from and engaging with others.

Aloof—from worldly worries. Like a lord presiding over a fiefdom, as opposed to a silk-washer labouring for coin. Not dissociated. Not disengaged. Rather:

Amiable—playful. Good humoured. Like Chuang Tzu with Hui Tzu. Like the customer with the King of Wu. Fully and creatively engaged with others and your circumstances.

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