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A Never-Stable Word: Zhuangzi's Zhiyan and ‘Tipping-Vessel’ Irrigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2015

Daniel Fried
Daniel Fried*
Affiliation:
Department of East Asian Studies Program in Comparative Literature, 406-B Arts Building University of Alberta Edmonton AB T6G 2E1, Canada
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Extract

The zhiyan described in the “Entrusted Words” chapter of the Zhuangzi (“Zhiyan come forth daily, and are harmonized with the heavenly divisions; through this they spread out, and thus years draw to a close”) have long aroused debate and confusion among readers, as the word zhi usually refers to a type of wine goblet. Contemporary readers cannot easily obtain clear assistance from traditional commentaries, because the mainstream of Zhuangzi scholarship has been disturbed by Guo Xiang's original notes: “This zhi is [a thing which] tips when full, rights when empty, and does not stay fixed.” The questions which arise from this note are two: (1) What sort of goblet could “tip when full, right when empty”? And (2) how would this remarkable behavior on the part of the goblet relate to the original text of the Zhuangzi?

Type
Research Article
Information
Early China , Volume 31 , 2007 , pp. 145 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Study of Early China 2007

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References

1. For this phrase, the author would like to credit Geoffrey Lloyd, as well as an anonymous reviewer for Early China.

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5. “Harmonize [antinomies] with the heavenly divisions; let them spread out through [such harmonization], and thereby will years draw to a close” (Zhuangzi jishi, 108).

6. See, for example, Graham, A.C., “How much of Chuang Tzu did Chuang Tzu Write?” in Studies in Chinese Philosophy (New York: State University of New York Press, 1986), 294 Google Scholar. More recently, Cui Dahua has suggested the reverse, namely that the passage cited in n.5 is an editorial interpolation from the “Yu yan” chapter. See Cui, , Zhuangzi yanjiu (Taipei: Wenshizhe, 1999), 94 Google Scholar. However, Cui does not attempt to account for the other similarities in the speculations on language in the “Yu yan” and “Qiwu lun” passages, and most studies dedicated to the zhiyan continue to treat the passage as “authentic” Zhuangzi.

7. Zhuangzi jishi, 948.

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39. Hebei sheng wenwu yanjiusuo xiaozu, Dingzhou Han jian zhengli , “Dingzhou Xi-Han Zhongshan Huaiwang mu zhujian Wenzi shiwen” , Wenwu 1995.12, 27–34 Google Scholar. There is currently no published scholarly translation or monograph on the Wenzi in English, apart from two graduate theses ( Els, Paul van, “The Wenzi: Creation and Manipulation of a Chinese philosophical text” [Ph.D. diss., Leiden, 2006 Google Scholar]; Galambos, Imre, “The Dingxian Wenzi: Translation and Prolegomena,” [Master's thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1998])Google Scholar. However, there is a French translation and analytical commentary by Blanc, Charles Le, Le Wen zi: à la lumière de l'histoire et de l'archéologie (Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2000)Google Scholar, which includes comparison with the Huainanzi as well as some discussion of the reception history of the text.

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45. Alternatively, it is of course possible to assume with Peng Yushang, Wenzi jiaozhu, 67, and Yali, Zhao , Wenzi sixiang ji zhujian ‘Wenzi’ [Beijing: Beijing Yanshan, 2005], 88)Google Scholar that it is the Wenzi text that contains a character substitution. However, it seems that Xu's addition of a “water” radical is a less likely accident than his assumption of a dropped radical, especially as the reading of chong makes more sense for one who has not seen such a vessel.

46. Xinjiaoben Jin shu , ed. Jialuo, Yang (Taipei: Dingwen , 1976)Google Scholar (“Lie zhuan: Du Yu” ), 34.1028.

47. There were again several experiments at recreating the object in the Sui. Cf. Zheng, Wei et al., Sui shu (“Tianwen zhi [shang]” ) (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1973), 2 529 Google Scholar: “At the beginning of the Daye reign period, Geng Xun made an ancient tipping-vessel, [which was] filled through a spout, and presented it to Yangdi” Tang: cf. Xiu, Ouyang et al., Xin-Tang shu (“Taizong zhuzi liezhuan” ) (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1975), 12.3583 Google Scholar: “Gao tried himself to create a tipping-vessel” ), and Song: cf. Tuotuo, et al., Song shi (“Su Yijian liezhuan” ) (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1985), 26.9172 Google Scholar, “Another day, [Su] Yijian entered the palace, and was using water to try out a tipping-vessel” ; and juan 298 “[Yan Su] experimentally made a compass, two odometer-cars, and a tipping-vessel, and presented them [to the throne]” . Even as late as 1889, the Guangxu emperor had a tipping-vessel manufactured; that artifact is now in Beijing, at the Palace Museum. See Songling, Li , “Qufu guilai hua qiqi” , Beijing dang'an 2003.12, 45–46 Google Scholar.

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56. Shuowen jiezi, 10.1084.

57. Watson, , The Complete Works of Chuang-tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 304 Google Scholar, for instance, transcribes the phrase as “leave them to their endless changes,” a phrase which follows many of the traditional commentators, and which, if correct, should be an additional argument in favor of the temporal context argued for here.

58. Zhuangzi jishi, 950.

59. Zhuangzi jishi, 108; Burton Watson, Chuang-tzu, 304.

60. Zhuangzi jishi, 70.

61. Zhuangzi jishi, 950. Lun (“principle”) may also be a pun on lun “wheel.”

62. Zhuangzi jishi, 577.

63. Zhuangzi jishi, 268.

64. It must be noted that A. C. Graham postulates an interesting alternative reading, translating the phrase in question as, “The ‘Potter's Wheel of Heaven’ is the whetstone of Heaven” (Chuang-Tzu: The Inner Chapters [London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981], 107)Google Scholar. The logic of Graham's translation is easy to follow, correctly taking jun as jun , and postulating ni as a similar object. Perhaps also in favor of such a reading is the fact that the smoothing function of both machines suits their association with the “Qiwu lun.” However, it is harder to discern Graham's linguistic basis for reading ni as a whetstone specifically, given that the most common early words for whetstone, di and li , do not seem plausible character-substitutions for ni.

65. Zhuangzi jishi, 79.

66. Watson, Chuang-tzu, 43.