A Taoist Guide to Practical Living

230 Pages·2016·0.85 MB·English

by  Eva Wong

“A bright and lively translation that captures the essential insights of the
Lieh-Tzu.”
—Library Journal
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Lieh-tzu is a collection of stories and philosophical musings of a sage
of the same name who lived around the fourth century BCE. Lieh-tzu’s
teachings range from the origin and purpose of life, the Taoist view of
reality, and the nature of enlightenment to the training of the body and
mind, communication, and the importance of personal freedom. This
distinctive translation presents Lieh-tzu as a friendly, intimate companion
speaking directly to the reader in a contemporary voice about matters
relevant to our everyday lives.
EVA WONG is an independent scholar and a practitioner of the Taoist arts
of the Pre-Celestial Way and Complete Reality lineages. She has written
and translated many books on Taoism and related topics, including A
Master Course in Feng-Shui; Tales of the Taoist Immortals; and Taoism:
An Essential Guide.
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LIEH-TZU
A TAOIST GUIDE TO PRACTICAL LIVING
Eva Wong
Shambhala / BOSTON & LONDON / 2013
SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
HORTICULTURAL HALL
300 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02115
www.shambhala.com
© 1995 by Eva Wong
Cover art: Ming dynasty carved lacquer dragon boat from The Art of the Dragon, reproduced by permission
of the Commercial Press (Hong Kong) Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS:
Lieh-tzu, 4th cent. B.C.
[Lieh-tzu, English]
Lieh-tzu: a Taoist guide to practical living/ Eva Wong.—1st ed.
p. cm.—(Shambhala dragon editions) eISBN 978-0-83482465-2
ISBN 978-1-57062-153-6 (alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-57062-899-3 (pbk.)
I. Wong, Eva, 1951– . II. Title BL1900.L482E5 1995 95-16063
181′.114—dc20 CIP
Contents
INTRODUCTION: READING LIEH-TZU
Part One: The Gifts of Heaven
Introduction
1. That which is not born gives birth to everything
2. All things are connected and come from the same origin
3. Heaven and earth have their strengths and weaknesses
4. Life and death
5. Shadows, sounds, and ghosts
6. The stages of life
7. Life is hard work, death is rest
8. The value of emptiness
9. Are things growing or decaying?
10. Worrying that the sky will fall
11. Life that is borrowed, wealth that is stolen
Part Two: The Yellow Emperor
Introduction
12. The Yellow Emperor visits the immortal lands
13. Riding on the wind, floating with the clouds
14. The art of staying under water and walking through fire
15. The art of archery
16. Feats of power
17. The art of taming tigers
18. The art of steering a boat
19. The art of swimming
20. The man who could walk through fire
21. Lieh-tzu and the sorcerer
22. Lieh-tzu’s fear
23. Lao-tzu teaches Yang-chu
24. What is there to appearances?
25. Softness and hardness, yielding and resisting
Part Three: King Mu of Ch’ou
Introduction
26. King Mu’s dream
27. Learning the arcane arts
28. Dreams
29. The truth about happiness and misery
30. What is real and what is unreal?
31. The man who lost his memory
32. Who is confused?
33. The man who got upset over nothing
Part Four: Confucius
Introduction
34. True happiness and contentment
35. Seeing with ears and hearing with eyes
36. Who is a sage?
37. What is wisdom?
38. The man with a wooden face
39. The art of traveling and sightseeing
40. Lung-shu’s strange illness
41. Responding naturally
42. There are some things that you just can’t fight
43. Who is supporting whom?
44. What is strength?
45. The strange arguments of Kung-sun Lung
46. Knowing when to withdraw
Part Five: The Questions of Tang
Introduction
47. Where do things come from?
48. The man who tried to move mountains
49. The man who tried to chase down the sun
50. The North Country
51. Strange customs in strange countries
52. The questions of a child
53. The art of fishing
54. Exchanging hearts and minds
55. Musician Wen learns to play the lute
56. When Han-erh sang
57. Kindred spirits
58. Artificial or real?
59. Learning the art of archery
60. Tsao-fu learns to drive
61. Lai-tan’s revenge
Part Six: Effort and Destiny
Introduction
62. Effort argues with Destiny
63. Fortune and worth
64. The friendship of Kuan-chung and Pao Shu-ya
65. Are life and death a matter of effort or destiny?
66. An average doctor, a good doctor, and an ingenious doctor
67. Yang-chu talks about destiny
68. We cannot know people who are different from us
69. Success and failure
70. The king who was greedy about life and afraid of death
71. Death is not a loss
Part Seven: Yang-chu
Introduction
72. A name is nothing and titles are empty
73. Life—temporarily staying in the world; death—temporarily leaving
74. In life there may be differences; in death everything is the same
75. Riches can injure you, but poverty can also hurt you
76. Taking care of yourself
77. A madman or an enlightened man?
78. What damages health more—unrestricted pleasure or obsessive hard
work?
79. Everyone must die sometime
80. Would you sacrifice a strand of hair to benefit the world?
81. Ruling a country is like tending a flock of sheep
82. Things are not as permanent as we think they are
83. Longevity, fame, social status, and wealth
Part Eight: Explaining Coincidences
Introduction
84. Action and reaction
85. Why do people follow the path of the Tao?
86. Lieh-tzu learns archery
87. Choosing the right person for the job
88. Can we compete with nature?
89. Someone’s words can make or break you
90. Being at the right place at the right time
91. If I can step on someone, someone else can step on me
92. To solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom
93. Trust and confidence
94. The best way to keep a secret is not to talk
95. Those who succeed are not excited about success; those who know do
not display their knowledge
96. Fortune and misfortune
97. A matter of luck
98. Seeing beyond appearances
99. Managing your life and governing a country
100. Rank, wealth, and ability can get you into trouble
101. You cannot apply one principle to all conditions
102. Retribution by accident
103. Confusing name and reality
104. To die for someone who values you is natural
105. Confused by too many alternatives
106. Yang-pu and the dog
107. Knowledge and action
108. Capture and release—an act of compassion or cruelty?
109. Who was created for whom to eat?
110. It’s all in your mind
111. Those who are involved are muddled; those who watch are clear
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