Between Useful and Useless
Be useful and you're cut down; be useless and you're killed. Now what?
Original
莊子行於山中，見大木，枝葉盛茂，伐木者止其旁而不取也。問其故，曰：「無所可用。」莊子曰：「此木以不材得終其天年。」夫子出於山，舍於故人之家。故人喜，命豎子殺鴈而烹之。豎子請曰：「其一能鳴，其一不能鳴，請奚殺？」主人曰：「殺不能鳴者。」明日，弟子問於莊子曰：「昨日山中之木，以不材得終其天年；今主人之鴈，以不材死。先生將何處？」莊子笑曰：「周將處乎材與不材之間。材與不材之間，似之而非也，故未免乎累。若夫乘道德而浮遊則不然，無譽無訾，一龍一蛇，與時俱化，而無肯專為。」
In plain words
Zhuangzi was walking in the mountains when he saw a huge tree, its branches and leaves thick and lush. A woodcutter stopped beside it but didn't cut it. Asked why, he said, “It's no use for anything.” Zhuangzi said, “Because it's useless, this tree gets to live out its natural years.” Leaving the mountains, Zhuangzi stayed at an old friend's house. The friend was delighted and told his servant boy to kill a goose and cook it. The boy asked, “One of them can honk and one can't. Which should I kill?” The host said, “Kill the one that can't honk.” The next day a student asked Zhuangzi, “Yesterday the tree in the mountains lived out its years because it was useless. Today our host's goose died because it was useless. Master, where will you stand?” Zhuangzi laughed. “I'll stand somewhere between useful and useless. But between useful and useless only looks right; it isn't, so you still won't escape trouble. Riding the Dao and its virtue and drifting freely is different: no praise, no blame, now a dragon, now a snake, changing with the times, never willing to hold to just one way.”
Key words
- 材与不材cái yǔ bù cáiUseful and useless.
- 一龙一蛇yī lóng yī shéRising when it's time to rise, lying low when it's time to lie low.
- 与时俱化yǔ shí jù huàChanging along with the times.
Reading it step by step
Remember the big tree from Day 5 that nobody wanted to cut down? Then, Zhuangzi said uselessness had kept it safe. Today a student catches him out: the tree lived because it was useless, but the goose died for exactly the same reason.
This may be the most honest passage in the book. Let's take it in three steps.
First: there is no fixed answer. The useful tree gets cut; the useless goose gets killed. If you look for a rule that's always safe (always keep your head down, always stand out, always play the middle), the world will hand you a counter-example. The student's question is everyone's question: should I show what I can do, or hide it?
Second: “the middle” isn't the answer either. Zhuangzi half-jokes, “I'll stand in between,” and immediately takes it back: it “only looks right.” Calculating your way to the middle still keeps you circling on the same useful-or-useless ruler. So it's still exhausting.
Third: ride the Dao and drift. The real way out is to stop being measured by that ruler. No praise, no blame. When it's time to fly like a dragon, fly; when it's time to lie low like a snake, lie low. Change with the times; don't freeze into one posture. This is bending outside and staying steady inside: your outward form keeps changing, while the heart that follows the Dao doesn't.
That's the end of Week 3. From the empty room filling with light to useful and useless, we've been practising one thing: soft on the outside, settled on the inside.
Don't ask “Should I be useful or useless?” Ask “What fits, right now?”
Don't ask useful or useless; ask what fits right now.
Today's question
Are you usually the goose that honks, or the one that doesn't? Write down a recent moment: what would actually have fit then?
Quick check
What is Zhuangzi's final answer?
“The middle” only looks right; freedom comes from no longer being measured by that ruler.
III · Bend Outside, Steady Inside — Go with the world without losing yourself