The Dao Is in the Dung
What if the least impressive place turned out to be the most important?
Original
東郭子問於莊子曰：「所謂道，惡乎在？」莊子曰：「無所不在。」東郭子曰：「期而後可。」莊子曰：「在螻蟻。」曰：「何其下邪？」曰：「在稊稗。」曰：「何其愈下邪？」曰：「在瓦甓。」曰：「何其愈甚邪？」曰：「在屎溺。」東郭子不應。莊子曰：「夫子之問也，固不及質。……汝唯莫必，無乎逃物。至道若是，大言亦然。」
In plain words
Master Dongguo asked Zhuangzi, “This thing called the Dao: where is it?” Zhuangzi said, “There's nowhere it isn't.” Dongguo said, “Be specific.” Zhuangzi said, “It's in the mole cricket and the ant.” “So low?” “It's in the weeds.” “Even lower?” “It's in tiles and bricks.” “Worse and worse!” “It's in piss and dung.” Master Dongguo said nothing. Zhuangzi said, “Your question never got to the substance. … Don't pin it down. Nothing escapes it. The highest Dao is like this, and so are the greatest words.”
Key words
- 无所不在wú suǒ bù zàiThere's nowhere it isn't.
- 每下愈况měi xià yù kuàngThe lower you look, the clearer it gets (a line from this chapter).
- 莫必mò bìDon't pin it down.
Reading it step by step
This may be the least dignified passage in Zhuangzi, and the funniest. Master Dongguo wants a solemn answer. Zhuangzi keeps going lower and lower until he gets to dung, and Dongguo is too offended to speak.
Let's take it in three steps.
First: why keep going lower? Dongguo has a ranking in his head: the Dao must be somewhere high, with sages, in the heavens. Zhuangzi deliberately descends from ants to dung to tear that ranking up. In the same chapter he says, “the lower you go, the clearer it gets.” If the Dao is in the least impressive places, then it truly is everywhere.
The lower you look, the clearer it gets.
Second: the Dao isn't a place. “Don't pin it down.” Dongguo's question was off from the start, as if the Dao were an object sitting somewhere. The Dao is more like the way everything exists: an ant has an ant's Dao; a weed has a weed's. Nothing escapes it.
Third: beauty is in the ordinary. Our last theme is “from truth to beauty.” Cook Ding's ox, the old man's cicadas, the fish under the bridge, and today ants, weeds and bricks. Zhuangzi's beauty isn't in palaces. It's in the places you walk past every day and never look at.
So the next time life feels too small (washing up, commuting, tidying), think of Master Dongguo. The Dao might be in the kitchen sink.
The Dao isn't up high. It's under your feet.
The Dao isn't up high. It's under your feet.
Today's question
Write down the small daily chore you like least. If the Dao were in it too, how would you do it?
Quick check
Why does Zhuangzi say the Dao is in dung?
Don't pin it down; nothing escapes it.
IV · From Truth to Beauty — From skill to Dao; the beauty of everything