Speech is not merely the blowing of air. Speech is intended to say
something, but what is spoken may not necessarily be valid. If it 
is not valid, has anything actually been spoken? Or has speech 
never actually occurred? We may consider speech to be distinct
from the chirps of hatchlings, but is there really any difference
between them?

   How has the Way become so obscured that there are true and 
false? How has speech become so obscured that there are right and 
wrong? Could it be that the Way has gone off and is no longer 
present? Could it be that speech is present but has lost its ability 
to validate? The Way is obscured by partial achievements; speech 
is obscured by eloquent verbiage. Thus there are controversies
between Confucians and Mohists over what's right and what's wrong.
They invariably affirm what their opponents deny and deny what
their opponents affirm. If one wishes to affirm what others deny
and deny what others affirm, nothing is better than lucidity.

   Everything is "that" in relation to other things and "this" in
relation to itself. We may not be able to see things from the
standpoint of "that," but we can understand them from the
standpoint of "this." Therefore, it may be said that "that" derives
from "this" and that "this" is dependent upon "that." Such is the
notion of the cogenesis of "this" and "that." Nonetheless, from
the moment of birth death begins simultaneously, and from the
moment of death birth begins simultaneously. Every affirmation is 
a denial of something else, and every denial is an affirmation of 
something else. "This" and "that" are mutually dependent; right
and wrong are also mutually dependent. For this reason, the sage
does not subscribe to [the view of absolute opposites] but sees
things in the light of nature, accepting "this" for what it is.

   "This" is also "that"; "that" is also "this." "This" implies a
concept of right and wrong; "that" also implies a concept of
right and wrong. But is there really a "this" and a "that"? Or is
there really no "this" and no "that"? Where "this" and "that"
cease to be opposites, there lies the pivot of the Way. Only when
the pivot is located in the center of the circle of things can we
respond to their infinite transformations. The transformations
of "right" are infinite and so are the transformations of "wrong."
Therefore, it is said that nothing is better for responding to them
than lucidity.


From "Wandering on the Way" by Victor H. Mair, 1994  pp. 14-16
Chapter 2, Part 5 from the Writings of Chuang Tzu
Typed by Stefan Erickson, 7/24/97