天地 (Heaven and Earth) - Zhuangzi Chapter 12

無為而天下足

Non-Action and the World Has Enough

天地雖大，其化均也；萬物雖多，其治一也；人卒雖眾，其主君也。君原於德而成於天。故曰：玄古之君天下，無為也，天德而已矣。

Though heaven and earth are vast, their transformations are uniform. Though the ten thousand things are many, their governance is one. Though the people are numerous, their ruler is the sovereign. The sovereign traces his origin to virtue and is completed by Heaven. Therefore it is said: the rulers of darkest antiquity governed the world through non-action — through Heavenly virtue and nothing more.

子貢與圃者

Zigong and the Old Gardener

子貢南遊於楚，反於晉，過漢陰，見一丈人方將為圃畦，鑿隧而入井，抱瓮而出灌，搰然用力甚多而見功寡。子貢曰："有械於此，一日浸百畦，用力甚寡而見功多，夫子不欲乎？"為圃者忿然作色而笑曰："吾聞之吾師，有機械者必有機事，有機事者必有機心。機心存於胸中則純白不備。純白不備則神生不定，神生不定者，道之所不載也。吾非不知，羞而不為也。"

Zigong was traveling south through Chu. On his return through the land south of the Han River, he saw an old man working in his garden. He had dug irrigation ditches and was going down into a well, bringing up water in a jar and pouring it into the ditches — exhausting himself for very little result. Zigong said: 'There is a device for this — it can irrigate a hundred plots in one day, with little effort and great results. Would you not like one?' The gardener flushed with anger, then laughed and said: 'I have heard it from my teacher: where there are machines, there are bound to be machine worries; where there are machine worries, there are bound to be machine hearts. With a machine heart in your breast, you lose what is pure and simple. When you lose what is pure and simple, your spirit becomes unsettled. When your spirit is unsettled, the Way will not support you. It is not that I do not know of such things — I would be ashamed to use them.'

Notes

1person子貢Zǐ Gòng

Zigong (子貢, Duanmu Ci) was one of Confucius's most worldly and eloquent disciples. In Daoist texts he often represents the well-meaning but spiritually limited Confucian who misunderstands the deeper wisdom of simplicity.

無為而天下足

子貢與圃者

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