Abstract
This article analyzes all the uses of the terms “transformation 化,” “change 變,” “the transformation of things 物化,” “change and transformation 變化,” and other related terms and proposes a four-fold categorization of the Book of Zhuangzi’s theory of “transformation”: (1) the transformation of organisms, (2) the transformation between life and death and different organisms, (3) the transformation of perception, and (4) the transformation of all things imaginable. Next, this chapter discusses the meaning of these four categories and the function each plays in Zhuangzi’s description of “transformation.”
Aside from the four types of meaning mentioned above, Zhuangzi’s concept of “transformation” also has two important functions: (1) the change or development of subjects and arguments from individual paragraph level to comprehensive whole chapter level, and (2) the synthesis of initially distinct subjects into more integrated ones. These two functions of the concept of “transformation” display the unique, multilevel meaning of Zhuangzi’s “the transformation of things.”
In this way, Zhuangzi’s multifaceted, multilayered theory of “transformation” becomes the foundation for his characteristic idea that “because all things transform into other things, different things are all one thing.” In this way, the “the transformation of things” also becomes the foundation for Zhuangzi’s idea that wanwu qitong 萬物齊同 (“all things are equal”).
I wish to thank Michael Rau 饒忠恕 for his help in translating and editing.
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Notes
- 1.
In order to abide by the current publication’s Romanization requirements while maximizing readability, I have taken the liberty of adjusting the Romanization of quoted proper nouns without adding square brackets where changes have been made. All further adjustments will not be specifically noted.
- 2.
All translations from the Zhuangzi in this chapter are adopted from Martin Palmer and Elizabeth Breuilly’s The Book of Chuang Tzu (London: Penguin Books, 1996). I indicate the page number of each citation. When there have been significant differences in textual understanding between theirs and mine, I have modified the translation, noting the modification with the phrase “with modification.”
- 3.
The author has previously discussed the chief characteristics of Zhuangzi’s understanding of “Way and Virtue (daode 道德)” and its possible influence on Xunzi’s understanding of daode. (Sato 2013: 61–110)7.
- 4.
More on this below. Mei-Yen Lee 李美燕 divides into three types previous research on Zhuangzi’s “the equality of all things.” Wei-Ling Su 蘇韋菱 has provided a concise summary of the history of interpretation starting with Cheng Xuanying 成玄英 from this passage’s “the transformation of things”. But they are strictly concerned with the meaning of “the transformation of things” in “the butterfly dream.” (Lee 1997: 355–370; Su 2011: 1–26).
- 5.
Regarding the uses of “the transformation of things” in texts other than Zhuangzi, other than the three instances in Huangdi Neijing 黃帝內經 which refer to the changes in one’s body, the six instances in Liezi, Wenzi, and Huainanzi are substantially similar to the three uses of “the transformation of things” in Zhuangzi.
- 6.
The term also appears twice in two chapter names, Qiwulun 齊物論 (The Equality of All Things) and Waiwu 外物 (Affected from Outside).
- 7.
The passage following the explication of the true man begins with “Death and birth are fixed. They are as certain as the dawn that comes after the night, established by the decree of Heaven.” Aside from discussing the concept “true,” it also contains reflection on “the Way.” It also uses language reminiscent of “the transformation of things” like “how things are (wuzhiqing 物之情)” and “assimilating oneself into the Way (hua qidao 化其道).” Thus, this passage can be said to be the synthesis of the themes “true man,” “the Way,” and “the transformation of things.”
- 8.
However, the passage beginning with “Death and birth are fixed” (p. 49) following the description of the “true man” can also be categorized under “the transformation of things” since it uses terms like “how things are (wuzhiqing 物之情),” “the universe of possible forms (wanhua 萬化),” “lasting things (hengwu 恆物),” “all things wanwu (萬物),” “origin of all that changes (yihua 一化),” etc. Only, here, “the Way (dao 道)” replaces “the Maker of All (zaowuzhe 造物者).” This may be why the author of Dazongshi did not put this passage alongside the later passages on “the transformation of things.”
- 9.
Immediately preceding the story of “Uncle Legless,” the story of “Zhuangzi’s wife died” also contains “anti-ritual” elements (“Zhuangzi’s bashing a battered tub and singing”) and is similar in structure to Dazongshi’s “Master Sang Hu” (more on this later).
- 10.
To fit publication requirements while maximizing readability, I have adjusted the spelling from British to American English without providing specific notation.
- 11.
It should be noted that, in these three passages, only Dazongshi’s “Master Sang Hu” clearly uses the “Maker of All (zaowuzhe 造物者)”: “They have truly become one with the Maker of All” (p. 55). In contrast, Dazongshi’s “Master Si” uses “Maker [and Transformer] of All (zaohuazhe 造化者): “the Maker [and Transformer] of All would view me somewhat askance” (p. 54). Meanwhile, Zhile’s “Uncle Legless” does not explicitly use the term, only saying, “You and I, Sir, observe the ways of transformation and now I am being transformed. So how could I dislike this?” (p. 151). From the context, however, we can infer the existence of the “Maker [and Transformer] of All.”
- 12.
Regarding how the ethical debates came to be replaced by more theoretical and practical debates during the Warring States Period, see Sato 2003 (108–162).
- 13.
The Zhuangzi criticizes virtue ethics from the perspective that “everyone has experienced change and transformation,” which involves the “transformation” of the heart. This will be explained more below.
- 14.
For example, instances of punishment and execution in the Hanfeizi 韓非子 abound: shesi 赦死 (release from the death penalty) (Liao 1939: 6), wei siyu feizui 危死於非罪 ([truly loyal ministers will] face peril and death even though they are guilty of no fault) (Liao 1939: 6), yueguan zesi 越官則死 ([t]hose who overstep their offices are condemned to die) (Liao 1939: 24, 26), qizui dang siwang 其罪當死亡 (such crimes deserve the death penalty) (Liao 1939: 105), lusi 戮死 (slaughtered and executed) (Liao 1939: 126).
- 15.
Note that the eternality of the “transformed” person does not imply “life” without end. Rather, regardless of whether or not the person is “living,” that person is always a part of the cosmos (i.e., part of the “whole [yi 一]”).
- 16.
Zhile says, “Death and birth are like the morning and the night” (p. 193).
- 17.
The whole passage reads: “Perhaps you and I are in dream from which we are yet to awake! In Mengsun Cai’s case the body changes but this does not affect his heart. His body, housing his soul, may be affect, but his emotions are not harmed. Mengsun Cai alone has awaken. People cry, so he cries. He considers everything as his own being. How could he know that others call something their own particular self? You dream you are a bird and rise into the Heaven. You dream you are a fish and swim down deep into the lake. We cannot tell now if the speaker is awake or asleep. Contentment produces the smile; a genuine smile cannot be forced. Don’t struggle, go with the flow and you will find yourself at one with the vastness of the void of Heaven” (p. 56).
- 18.
Qiwulun poses the question “When someone is born in this body, doesn’t life continue until death?” Part of the response is “[w]hen the body rots (hua 化), so does the mind,” implying death. The reactions associated with this description include “isn’t it tragic,” “isn’t he a pathetic sight,” and “is this not grievous.” This indicates Qiwulun’s author basically agrees that death is tragic and grievous.
- 19.
Used to distinguish from the larger state of wei (i.e., 魏國).
- 20.
Qiushui also mentions not distinguishing between ox and horse: “The season of the autumn floods had come and the hundred rivers were pouring into the Yellow river. The waters were churning and so wide that, looking across from one bank to other, it was impossible to distinguish an ox from a horse. At this the Lord of the Yellow River was decidedly pleased, thinking that the most beautiful thing in the whole world belonged to him” (p. 137) But the satisfaction the Lord of the Yellow River derived from making it “impossible to distinguish an ox from a horse” is overcome by the North Ocean making it such that one “could see no end to the waters” (p. 137).
- 21.
The term huaji 滑稽 is used to characterize Zhuangzi’s arguments in the “Biographies of Mengzi and Xun Qing” of the Shiji.
- 22.
Sōkichi Tsuda (津田左右吉) thinks the Zhuangzi, including large sections of the Inner Chapters, represented the thought from the Later Warring States Period or even from the Qin-Han Period. Nevertheless, he did not reject the possibility that the things that “Zhuangzi said” in Tiandi may have come from what he considered to be “original Zhuangzi” (the earliest passages eventually compiled into Zhuangzi). (Tsuda 1939: 63)
- 23.
Zaiyou records, “Isn’t it strange that we can see neither sageness nor wisdom, neither benevolence nor righteousness in the yoke and shackles of punishment!” But it is not framed in the context of “the transformation (of things).”
- 24.
Interestingly, the phrase “death is the transformation of things” also appears in Wenzi (chapter Jiushou 九守, section Shouxu 守虛), though on the lips of Laozi. Without determining whether the “real” speaker was Zhuangzi or Laozi, the phrase “death is the transformation of things” has been adopted as a central dictum by both Laozi and Zhuangzi traditions during the Han period.
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Sato, M. (2022). The Multi-level Structure of “Transformation” and the Philosophy of “Transformation of Things” in the Zhuangzi. In: Chong, Kc. (eds) Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92331-0_6
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