Wuxing — No Change of Form無形篇
人稟元氣於天，各受壽夭之命，以立長短之形，猶陶者用土為簋廉，冶者用銅為矣。器形已成，不可小大；人體已定，不可減增。用氣為性，性成命定。體氣與形骸相抱，生死與期節相須。形不可變化，命不可減加。以陶冶言之，人命短長，可得論也。
Man receives the primal breath from Heaven. Each receives his destiny of long life or early death, and by it sets up a body long or short, just as the potter uses clay to make the gui and the lian, and the smith uses copper to make a vessel. When the shape of the vessel is once made, it cannot be made small or great. When the body of a man is once fixed, nothing can be taken from it or added to it. The breath is taken for the nature, and when the nature is formed the destiny is fixed. The breath of the body and the frame of the bones hold each other, and life and death lean upon their proper season and joint. The body cannot be changed, and the destiny cannot be lessened or added to. Speaking by the potter and the smith, the length or shortness of a man's destiny can be discussed.
或難曰：「陶者用埴為簋廉，簋廉壹成，遂至毀敗，不可復變。若夫冶者用銅為，雖已成器，猶可復爍。可得為尊，尊不可為簋。人稟氣於天，雖各受壽夭之命，立以形體，如得善道神葯，形可變化，命可加增。」
Someone raises this objection. "When the potter uses sticky clay to make the gui and the lian, then once the gui and the lian are made they cannot be changed again until they break and fall apart. What the smith makes of copper, though it is already a vessel, can be melted down again. It can be made into a zun (尊), but the zun cannot be made into a gui. Man receives breath from Heaven, and though each receives his destiny of long life or early death and sets up a body by it, still, if he gets the good way and a divine drug, the body can be changed and the destiny can be added to."
曰：冶者變更成器，須先以火燔爍，乃可大小短長。人冀延年，欲比於銅器，宜有若爐炭之化，乃易形；形易，壽亦可增。人何由變易其形，便如火爍銅器乎？《禮》曰：「水潦降，不獻魚鱉。」何則？雨水暴下，蟲蛇變化，化為魚鱉。離本真暫變之蟲，臣子謹慎，故不敢獻。人願身之變，冀若蟲蛇之化乎？夫蟲蛇未化者，不若不化者。蟲蛇未化，人不食也；化為魚鱉，人則食之。食則壽命乃短，非所冀也。歲月推移，氣變物類，蝦蟆為鶉，雀為蜃蛤。人願身之變，冀若鶉與蜃蛤魚鱉之類也？人設捕蜃蛤，得者食之。雖身之不化，壽命不得長，非所冀也。魯公牛哀寢疾七日，變而成虎。鯀殛羽山，化為黃能。願身變者，冀牛哀之為虎，鯀之為能乎？則夫虎、能之壽，不能過人。天地之性，人最為貴。變人之形，更為禽獸，非所冀也。凡可冀者，以老翁變為嬰兒，其次白髪復黑，齒落復生，身氣丁強，超乘不衰，乃可貴也。徒變其形，壽命不延，其何益哉？
I answer. If the smith would alter a vessel already made, he must first burn and melt it in fire, and only then can he make it great or small, short or long. If a man hopes to lengthen his years and would liken himself to a copper vessel, there ought to be something like the change worked by the furnace and the charcoal, and then his body would be altered, and his body being altered his years too could be added to. By what means is a man to alter his body, as fire melts a copper vessel?
The Li says, "When the floodwaters come down, fish and turtles are not offered." Why is this? When rain water falls all at once, worms and snakes change and become fish and turtles. They are creatures that have left their true root and changed for a while, and so a servant or a son is careful and does not dare to offer them. When a man wishes his body to change, does he hope for a change like the change of worms and snakes? Now a worm or a snake that has changed is worse off than one that has not. While worms and snakes have not changed, men do not eat them. When they have changed into fish and turtles, men do eat them. To be eaten shortens the span of life, and that is not what a man hopes for.
As the years and months move on, the breath changes and the kinds of things change with it. The toad becomes a quail, and the sparrow becomes a clam. When a man wishes his body to change, does he hope to be like the quail, or the clam, or the fish and the turtle? Men set traps for clams, and what they take they eat. Even if his body changed, his span of life would not grow longer, and that is not what he hopes for.
Gongniu Ai of Lu lay sick for seven days, and he changed and became a tiger. Gun was put to death at Yushan, and he changed into a yellow bear. Does the man who wishes his body to change hope to be a tiger as Gongniu Ai was, or a bear as Gun was? But the years of a tiger and a bear cannot pass those of a man. Among the natures of Heaven and earth, man is the most honored. To alter the body of a man and make him a bird or a beast is not what anyone hopes for. What may be hoped for is that an old man should change and become an infant, or, next to that, that white hair should turn black again, that fallen teeth should grow again, that the breath of the body should be firm and strong, that a man should leap into his carriage and not decline. That would be worth honoring. If only the body is changed and the span of life is not lengthened, what good is there in it?
Interlinear notes 1
雖身之不化
The source text has 雖身之不化 ("even if the body does not change"), but the argument here turns on the body changing, so 不 is taken as an intrusion and the line is read "even if the body changes." ― translator
且物之變隨氣，若應政治，有所象為。非天所欲壽長之鼓，變易其形也，又非得神草珍葯食之而變化也。人恆服葯固壽，能增加本性，益其身年也。遭時變化，非天之正氣、人所受之真性也。天地不變，日月不易，星辰不沒，正也。人受正氣，故體不變。時或男化為女，女化為男，由高岸為谷，深谷為陵也。應政為變，為政變，非常性也。漢興，老父授張良書，已化為石。是以石之精，為漢興之瑞也。猶河精為人持璧與秦使者，秦亡之徵也。蠶食桑老，績而為繭，繭又化而為蛾；蛾有兩翼，變去蠶形。蠐螬化為復育，復育轉而為蟬；蟬生兩翼，不類蠐螬。凡諸命蠕蜚之類，多變其形，易其體。至人獨不變者，稟得正也。生為嬰兒，長為丈夫，老為父翁。從生至死，未嘗變更者，天性然也。天性不變者，不可令復變；變者，不可不變。若夫變者之壽，不若不變者。人欲變其形，輒增益其年，可也；如徒變其形而年不增，則蟬之類也，何謂人願之？
Moreover the changes of things follow the breath, and they answer to the government as images of it. It is not that Heaven alters their bodies because it wishes them to live long, nor that they change by getting divine herbs and rare drugs and eating them. It is said that when a man constantly takes drugs and makes his span firm, he can add to his root nature and increase the years of his body. But a change met with at a certain time is neither the upright breath of Heaven nor the true nature that a man received.
That Heaven and earth do not change, that the sun and the moon are not altered, that the stars do not disappear, is what is upright. Man receives the upright breath, and so his body does not change. That a man at times becomes a woman, and a woman a man, is like the high bank becoming a valley and the deep valley becoming a hill. It is a change in answer to the government. It changes because of the government, and it is not the constant nature. When the Han rose, an old man handed a book to Zhang Liang and at once changed into stone. Here the essence of the stone became the good omen of the rising of the Han. It is like the essence of the He River becoming a man and giving a jade disk to the envoy of Qin, which was the sign that Qin would fall.
When the silkworm has eaten mulberry and grown old, it spins and becomes a cocoon, and the cocoon changes again and becomes a moth. The moth has two wings and has left the shape of the silkworm behind. The grub changes and becomes a fuyu, and the fuyu turns and becomes a cicada. The cicada grows two wings and is not like the grub. All the kinds that receive destiny and creep and fly commonly change their shape and alter their bodies. Man alone does not change, because what he received was upright. At birth he is an infant, grown he is a man, old he is an old father. From birth to death he has never once been altered, and this is because his inborn nature is so. What does not change by its inborn nature cannot be made to change, and what does change cannot but change. Now the span of what changes is worse than the span of what does not change. If a man wishes to change his body and his years are thereby increased, well and good. But if only his body changes and his years are not increased, he is of the kind of the cicada, and how can it be said that a man hopes for this?
龍之為蟲，一存一亡，一短一長。龍之為性也，變化斯須，輒復非常。由此言之，人，物也，受不變之刑，〔形〕不可變更，年不可增減。
The dragon, as a creature, is now here and now gone, now short and now long. It is the nature of the dragon to change in a moment and at once be out of the common again. Speaking from this, man is a thing, and he received a shape that does not change. His body cannot be altered, and his years cannot be added to or taken from.
傳稱高宗有桑谷之異。悔過反政，享福百年，是虛也。傳言宋景公出三善言，熒惑卻三舍，延年二十一載，是又虛也。又言秦繆公有明德，上帝賜之十九年，是又虛也。稱赤松、王喬好道為仙，度世之死，是又虛也。假令人生立形謂之甲，終老至死，常守甲形，如好道為仙，未有使甲變為乙者也。夫形不可變更，年不可減增。何則？
It is handed down that Gaozong had the strange growth of the mulberry and the paper mulberry, and that he repented of his faults and turned his government back, and enjoyed blessing for a hundred years. This is empty. It is said that Duke Jing of Song spoke three good words, that Yinghuo (熒惑), the Fire Star, drew back three lodges, and that his years were lengthened by twenty-one. This too is empty. It is said again that Duke Mu of Qin had bright virtue and that the Lord on High granted him nineteen years. This too is empty. It is said that Chisongzi and Wang Qiao loved the way and became immortals and passed beyond the death of the world. This too is empty. Suppose we call the body a man sets up at birth A. Until he grows old and comes to death he keeps the body A always, and even if he loves the way and becomes an immortal there has never been one who made A change into B. Now the body cannot be altered and the years cannot be lessened or added to. Why is this?
形、氣、性，天也。形為春，氣為夏。人以氣為壽，形隨氣而動。氣性不均，則於體不同。牛壽半馬，馬壽半人，然則牛馬之形與人異矣。稟牛馬之形，當自得牛馬之壽；牛馬之不變為人，則年壽亦短於人。世稱高宗之徒，不言其身形變異。而徒言其增延年壽，故有信矣。
Body, breath, and nature are of Heaven. The body is the spring and the breath is the summer. A man takes his breath for his span, and the body moves following the breath. When breath and nature are not even, they are not the same in the body. The ox lives half the span of the horse, and the horse half the span of a man, and so the bodies of the ox and the horse are different from the body of a man. He who receives the body of an ox or a horse must of himself get the span of an ox or a horse, and since the ox and the horse do not change and become men, their years and their span are shorter than a man's. When the world tells of Gaozong and his like, it does not say that their bodies were changed or altered. It only says that their years and their span were lengthened, and that is why there are men who believe it.
形之血氣也，猶囊之貯粟米也。一石，囊之高大亦適一石。如損益粟米，囊亦增減。人以氣為壽，氣猶粟米，形猶囊也。增減其壽，亦當增減其身，形安得如故？如以人形與囊異，氣與粟米殊，更以苞瓜喻之。苞瓜之汁，猶人之血也；其肌，猶肉也。試令人損益苞瓜之汁，令其形如故，耐為之乎？人不耐損益苞瓜之汁，天安耐增減人之年？人年不可增減，高宗之徒誰益之者？而云增加。如言高宗之徒，形體變易，其年亦增，乃可信也。今言年增，不言其體變，未可信也。何則？人稟氣於天，氣成而形立，則命相須以至終死。形不可變化，年亦不可增加。以何驗之？人生能行，死則僵仆，死則氣（減）〔滅〕形消而坏。
The blood and breath of the body are like millet stored in a sack. If there is one picul of it, the height and size of the sack is just one picul. If millet is taken out or put in, the sack too grows or shrinks. A man takes his breath for his span, and the breath is like the millet and the body is like the sack. If his span were increased or lessened, his body too would have to be increased or lessened, and how could his body stay as it was?
If it is said that the body of a man is unlike a sack and that breath is unlike millet, then let the gourd be the likeness. The juice of the gourd is like the blood of a man, and its flesh is like his flesh. Try telling a man to take away or add juice to the gourd and leave its shape as it was. Could he do it? If a man cannot take away or add the juice of a gourd, how can Heaven add to or take from the years of a man?
The years of a man cannot be increased or lessened, so who was it that added to Gaozong and his like? And yet it is said that they were added to. If it were said that the bodies of Gaozong and his like were altered and that their years too were increased, that could be believed. Now it is said that their years were increased, and it is not said that their bodies were changed, and this cannot be believed. Why is this? Man receives breath from Heaven, and when the breath is formed and the body stands, the destiny leans upon them to the end and to death. The body cannot be changed, and the years cannot be added to. By what is this proved? While a man lives he can walk, and when he dies he falls stiff, and when he dies the breath is put out and the body wastes and falls apart.
稟生人形，不可得變，其年安可增？人生至老，身變者，髪與膚也。人少則髪黑，老則髪白，白久則黃。髪之變，形非變也。人少則膚白，老則膚黑，黑久則黯，若有垢矣。髪黃而膚為垢，故《禮》曰：「黃無疆。」髪〔膚〕變異，故人老壽遲死，骨肉不可變更，壽極則死矣。五行之物，可變改者，唯土也。埏以為馬，變以為人，是謂未入陶灶更火者也。如使成器，入灶更火，牢堅不可復變。今人以為天地所陶冶矣，形已成定，何可復更也？
A man born with the body of a man cannot be changed, so how can his years be added to? From birth to old age, what changes in the body is the hair and the skin. When a man is young his hair is black, when he is old it is white, and when it has been white a long while it is yellow. It is the hair that changes, not the body. When a man is young his skin is white, when he is old it is dark, and when it has been dark a long while it is dusky, as if it had dirt on it. The hair turns yellow and the skin gathers dirt, and so the Li says, "Yellow without end." The hair and the skin change and are altered, and so a man grows old and lives long and is late in dying. The bone and the flesh cannot be altered, and when the span is at its end he dies.
Of the things of the five elements, the only one that can be changed and altered is earth. To knead it into a horse, and to alter it into a man, is said of earth that has not yet gone into the potter's kiln and passed through fire. Once it has been made into a vessel, and has gone into the kiln and passed through fire, it is hard and firm and cannot be changed again. Now a man is what Heaven and earth have shaped and fired, and his body is already made and fixed, so how can it be altered again?
圖仙人之形，體生毛，臂變為翼，行於雲則年增矣，千歲不死。此虛圖也。世有虛語，亦有虛圖。假使之然，蟬蛾之類，非真正人也。海外三十五國，有毛民羽民，羽則揖矣。毛羽之民土形所出，非言為道身生毛羽也。禹、益見西王母，不言有毛羽。不死之民，亦在外國，不言有毛羽。毛羽之民，不言之死；不死之民，不言毛羽。毛羽未可以效不死，仙人之有翼，安足以驗長壽乎？
In pictures of the shape of an immortal, hair grows on the body and the arms are changed into wings, and he walks upon the clouds, so that his years are increased and he does not die for a thousand years. This is an empty picture. As there are empty words in the world, so there are empty pictures. And suppose it were so, he would be of the kind of the cicada and the moth, and not a true man.
Among the thirty-five states beyond the sea there are the Maomin (毛民) and the Yumin (羽民), and those that have feathers fly. The people with hair and feathers come out of the shape of that soil. It is not said that they practiced the way and that hair and feathers grew on their bodies. Yu and Yi saw the Queen Mother of the West, and it is not said that she had hair and feathers. The people who do not die are also in the outer states, and it is not said that they have hair and feathers. Of the people with hair and feathers it is not said that they do not die, and of the people who do not die nothing is said of hair and feathers. Hair and feathers cannot prove that a man does not die, and if an immortal has wings, how is that enough to prove long life?