Sages and Saints Part XV:
老子
Lao Zi, the Dragon
Lao Zi, or Master Lao, alleged author of the Dao De Jing and contemporary of Confucius, is likened to a dragon in two statements; one from Records of the Great Historian [shiji 史记], and the other from the Zhuang Zi. The former appears in chapter 63, ‘Biographies of Laozi and Hanfei’ [laozi hanfei liezhuan老子韩非列传]:
鳥，吾知其能飛；魚，吾知其能遊；獸，吾知其能走。走者可以為罔，遊者可以為綸，飛者可以為矰。至於龍，吾不能知其乘風雲而上天。吾今日見老子，其猶龍邪！
I know that birds can fly, I know that fish can swim, and I know that wild animals can run. Those that run can be [trapped in] nets. Those that swim can be [caught by] fishing lines. Those that fly they can [be shot by] arrows trailing a silk string. But with dragons I cannot know if they ride the winds and clouds and ascend to the heavens. Today I met Lao Zi, who is just like a dragon!
The second passage, in the Zhuang Zi, occurs in a chapter called ‘Heavenly Movement’ [tian yun 天运]:
孔子見老聃歸，三日不談。弟子問曰：“夫子見老聃，亦將何歸哉？”孔子曰：“吾乃今於是乎見龍。龍合而成體，散而成章，乘乎雲氣而養乎陰陽。予口張而不能嗋，予又何規老聃哉！
After Confucius returned from his meeting with Lao Dan [i.e., Lao Zi], he did not speak for three days. A disciple [of Confucius] asked: ‘When the Master met Lao Dan, what advice did you give him?’ Confucius said: ‘Today I saw a dragon for the first time. This dragon [is able] to join together to manifest a physical body and it [can] also scatter into a radiance of colours. It [can] ride on the clouds and mist and be nourished by yin and yang. My mouth was wide open and I couldn’t close it. So how could I offer Lao Dan any advice?’
Post-Scriptum: This article will be published as part of a book, entitled ‘The Arts of Daoism’ about meditation, stillness cultivation, abstention from grains [bi gu辟谷], sleeping gong [shui gong 睡功], dreams, vegetarianism and diet in Daoism, formulae for fasting and meditation incense, including several chapters from the alchemical classic The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement [da cheng jie yao 大成捷要]. It will be a mixture of anecdotal and oral transmissions from my teacher Li Shifu combined with translations of a number of chapters from ancient texts. It is set to be released by March 2021.
