The Wooden Rooster
Does real strength look like it isn't competing at all?
Original
紀渻子為王養鬥雞。十日而問：「雞已乎？」曰：「未也，方虛憍而恃氣。」十日又問，曰：「未也，猶應嚮景。」十日又問，曰：「未也，猶疾視而盛氣。」十日又問，曰：「幾矣。雞雖有鳴者，已無變矣，望之似木雞矣，其德全矣，異雞無敢應者，反走矣。」
In plain words
Ji Shengzi was training a fighting cock for the king. After ten days the king asked, “Is it ready?” “Not yet. It's all swagger and bluster, relying on its temper.” Ten days later the king asked again. “Not yet. It still reacts to every sound and shadow.” Ten days later he asked again. “Not yet. It still glares and puffs itself up.” Ten days later he asked again. “Nearly. Other cocks may crow, but nothing changes in it. From a distance it looks like a cock carved from wood. Its virtue is complete. No other bird dares to take it on; they turn and run.”
Key words
- 虚憍恃气xū jiāo shì qìEmpty swagger, running on temper.
- 应向景yìng xiàng yǐngReacting to every sound and shadow.
- 木鸡mù jīLike a wooden bird: utterly settled inside.
Reading it step by step
In modern Chinese, “dumb as a wooden rooster” is an insult for someone frozen with shock. In Zhuangzi's original, the wooden rooster is the highest state there is. In Japan it's famous too: the great sumo champion Futabayama is said to have admitted, after a loss, “I am not yet a wooden rooster.”
The bird takes forty days and passes through four stages. Let's take it in three steps.
First: the first three stages are us. Stage one: swagger, running on temper. It's what we do right after a promotion, or after learning a little about something. Stage two: reacting to every sound and shadow. The phone buzzes and we grab it; someone online says something and we fire back. Stage three: no more random reactions, but the eyes are still hard and inside we're still competing. What the three share is a mind that moves whenever the outside moves.
Every ten days, a little less reacting.
Second: the wooden rooster isn't powerless; its power is gathered in. “Nothing changes in it.” Whatever the others crow, it stays the same. The provocations are still there outside, but inside it doesn't go along with them. Its virtue is whole, so the other birds take one look, know they can't win, and walk away.
Third: this takes time. Ji Shengzi is in no hurry: ten days, ten more, ten more again. Cultivation isn't finished with one good intention. You wear away the extra, layer by layer. “Ride along with things” and “accept it as fate” from earlier this week are the same: you practise them a little each day.
Next time you want to snap back or prove yourself right away, think of that bird. Which ten days am I in?
Not being moved is itself a kind of strength.
Not being moved is itself a kind of strength.
Today's question
Recall one thing today you reacted to straight away. Which stage were you in? What would the wooden rooster have done?
Quick check
Why do the other birds turn and run from the wooden rooster?
“Its virtue is complete”: strength gathered inside, unmoved by the outside.
III · Bend Outside, Steady Inside — Go with the world without losing yourself