南郭子綦隱几而坐，仰天而噓，嗒焉似喪其耦。顏成子游立侍乎前，曰：「何居乎？形固可使如槁木，而心固可使如死灰乎？今之隱几者，非昔之隱几者也。」子綦曰：「偃，不亦善乎而問之也！今者吾喪我，汝知之乎？女聞人籟而未聞地籟，女聞地籟而未聞天籟夫！」子游曰：「敢問其方。」子綦曰：「夫大塊噫氣，其名為風。是唯无作，作則萬竅怒呺。而獨不聞之翏翏乎？山林之畏佳，大木百圍之竅穴，似鼻，似口，似耳，似枅，似圈，似臼，似洼者，似污者；激者，謞者，叱者，吸者，叫者，譹者，宎者，咬者，前者唱于而隨者唱喁。泠風則小和，飄風則大和，厲風濟則眾竅為虛。而獨不見之調調、之刁刁乎？」子游曰：「地籟則眾竅是已，人籟則比竹是已。敢問天籟。」子綦曰：「夫吹萬不同，而使其自已1也，咸其自取，怒者其誰邪！」
Nanguo Ziqi (Sir Mottled South-wall) leans on a small table and sits. He looks up to Heaven and exhales, absently elsewhere as if mourning his spouse.
Yancheng Ziyou (Sir Roaming Fixed-face), standing in attendance before him, says: "What [is this]? The body can appear like a withered tree, and the mind can appear like dead ash?
Zi Qi says: Yan, is it not good? But ask it (anyway)! Just now I lost myself - are you aware of it? You have heard of the piping of people, but (have) not heard of the piping of earth? You have heard of the piping of earth, but (have) not heard of the piping of heaven!
Zi You says: I dare to ask your methods.
Zi Qi says: The great clod belches vital breath (氣) and its name becomes “wind.” When alone nothing happens; [but] when it happens, the ten-thousand apertures [become] a raging tumult. Or do you alone not hear the soaring wind? The craggy heights of the mountain forests: the great trees spanning a hundred hands with their apertures and cavities: like noses, like mouths, like ears; like square [frames], like round [enclosures], like mortars; some like sunken pools, some like hollow pits; some whistling, some hooting, some sucking, some crying out, some wailing, some blowing, some sighing; the ones before sighing “xu” (shoooooo!), the ones following howling (yaaaaooooh!). The light breezes imitate small melodies, the whirling gusts resemble a great chorus; the howling winds cross [through] and so the multitude of openings become empty. And only you do not see their blending harmonies and crafty tricks?
Zi Yue says: [so] the piping of earth is from these numerous apertures; and the piping of people may be compared to the bamboo [flute]; I dare to ask about the piping of heaven.
Zi Qi says: "Blowing the ten-thousand things in different ways, causing them to be themselves, each [with] their own choosings (取), who is the one who stirs (怒) them all up?
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Some Notes on References:
- 庄子全解: The Zhuangzi Complete Understanding. Contemporary Chinese commentary.
- Shuowen: early Chinese character dictionary. Compiled 100 CE, presented 120 CE.
- Guangyun: "Broad Rhymes." Chinese rhyming dictionary, compiled in 1007-1008 CE.
The Lofty Crags:
- 庄子全解:畏佳 = 嵔崔; 形容山勢高大險峻的樣子 / 形容山势高大险峻的样子. The
commentary notes 畏佳 should actually be 嵔崔. 嵔崔 describes the lofty and precipitous style of the mountain features.
- 嵔 wěi wèi
(Guangyun): 嵔崔山髙曲下 the lofty crooked
(places) below the towering mountains
- 崔 cuī (Shuowen): 大高也; 从山隹. The Great Heights. From (the sounds) of “mountain” (shan) and “birds” (zhui).
Cavities and Apertures:
- 庄子全解：百围大树上的空穴 the apertures and openings on the hundred-span great trees
- 枅
(Shuowen): 屋櫨也. 从木幵聲. The supporting block
or column of a house. From the sound of 木 (mu4) and 幵 (kai1, “opening”).
- 似洼者: 有的像洼池 some are like a low-lying pool or hollow.
- 似污者: 有的像钱塘 some are like a walled embankment or pond
The Piping of Heaven
According to the Complete Zhuangzi commentary these are the shapes of the numerous openings emitting the various dissimilar sounds 都是形容众窍发出的各种不同的声音. The notes in this section are a combination of commentary explanations and dictionary references. The section is notably challenging for trying to capture the different sounds of the winds passing through the apertures of the great trees.
- 激者:如水激之声 like the sound of water rushing (being excited) (Commentary)
- 謞:如飞箭声
like the noise of a flying arrow (Commentary)
- 叱:to
loudly rebuke, shout at, to hoot at (Pleco)
- 吸:to inhale,
breathe in, suck up (Pleco)
- 叫:to
cry, shout; call, greet; hire, order (Pleco)
- 譹:如嚎哭声 to
bawl, to wail, to cry (Shuowen)
- 宎
(yao3):如风吹深谷的声音 like the sound of the wind blowing through the
deep valley or gorge (Commentary)
- 咬:哀叹声 sorrowful sigh; lamentation (Shuowen)
The Blending Harmonies and Crafty Arts
The Complete Zhuangzi Commentary 庄子全解 translates 調調 and 刁刁 in reference to the branches and leaves of the trees. Legge and Watson do this as well (presumably based on the commentary tradition). I agree with Ziporyn, who translates these terms more directly.
- 調:树枝摇动的样子 the manner of the shaking branches of the trees (Commentary)
- 刁:树叶微动的样子 the manner of the slight motions of the leaves of the trees (Commentary)
My Comments (Abridged):
The passage contains multiple self-referential points, beginning with the names Mottled South-Wall and Wandering Fixed-Face. Wandering Fixed-Face doesn’t recognize the complexity of the winds, whereas Mottled South-Wall perceives the dappling complexity of the movements of the winds through the trees and hollows. Amusingly, Sir Fixed-Face is also roaming or wandering, while Mottled reached the destination of South Wall. This might be an allusion to the destination of the Southern Darkness. If this is the case, Fixed-Face may not be hopeless; he may be on the way to understanding, possibly having attained the ability to remain stoically detached. Sir Mottled, however, displays a greater complexity of understanding in his ability to discern the complex shifting of the multitudes.
The passages also reflects Zhuangzi’s thoughts on
the perceived dichotomy between the multitudes and the piping of heaven; as
Ziporyn points out, South-Wall recognizes there is no difference between the piping
of heaven and the many various expressions of life through the voices of the
ten-thousand things. In other words, there is no difference between the
movements of heaven and the movements of the ten-thousand things. The movements
of heaven can be seen in the movements of the ten-thousand things, and the
movements of the ten-thousand things reflect the movements of heaven.
This has repercussions for a number of issues, but I am saving this for a more formal project (which I might preview here). Notably, connections to other parts of the text, psychological interpretations, and the politics of vital breath.
