This is another old note of mine discussing two binome in the Zhuangzi 莊子. In this note, I studied the two words from the etymological perspective, in the context, as well as in different classical texts, and proposed that the two words are synonyms of 徐徐.
In the Zhuangzi 莊子 passage “Daozhi” 盜趾, a paragraph reads: “神農之世, 臥則居居, 起則于于, 民知其母, 不知其父, 與麋鹿共處, 耕而食, 織而衣, 無有相害之心, 此至德之隆也”. This note tries to answer the research question of how to understand the two words juju 居居 and yuyu 于于 in the paragraph.
The question is interesting to ask as well as worthy of pursuing mainly because of two reasons. On the one hand, the semantical roles that the two words play affect, if not determine, our understanding of the paragraph; on the other hand, the grammatical feature, by which I mean the reduplications of words functioning as adjectives, is neither revolutionary nor obsolete. The usage of reduplicated words is widespread in Shijing 詩經. Later in Medieval times, the usage remained in fashion for both poetry and essay composition. When we come to Zhuangzi, “Qi wu lun” 齊物論 is probably the best exemplary passage for the abundant usage of reduplicated words as adjectives. Failing to understand the words means not only the ignorance of a few lexicon items but also indicate the unfortunate of not being able to appreciate the flavor of the literary style.
In attempting to answer the research question, I take three steps. The first step is the fundamental one, where I place the two words back into the context and try to understand them together with the entire paragraph. It is assumed that the meanings of the two words should not contradict the story but exemplify the arguments. The second step is to deconstruct the words and explore their bases. The one-syllable words may give us some clues for understanding the reduplicated two-syllable words. The last step is to retrieve the textual appearances of the two words in Pre-Qin and Han texts. I hope the comparison and linkage of other usages of the words can shed light on my comprehension.
1. Reading in the context
The paragraph in which juju and yuyu appear is a part of Robber Zhi’s discourse. When Confucius went to meet him and tried to persuade him to give up the robbery, Robber Zhi became furious and accused Confucius of “taking up distorted words and hypocritical behaviors to mislead and confuse the rulers of the SCR”. In his argument, Robber Zhi referred to the age of Shennong, when the society was stable and peaceful, and compared it with the later generations when the society degenerated. A translation of the paragraph is provided:
神農之世, 臥則居居, 起則于于, 民知其母, 不知其父, 與麋鹿共處, 耕而食, 織而衣, 無有相害之心, 此至德之隆也。
During the age of Shennong, when lying down, they juju, when getting up, they yuyu. People knew who their mothers were, but they did not know who their fathers were. They dwelled together with elaphure and other deer, eat after plowing, wearing clothes after weaving. They had no mind of hurting each other, and this was the prosperity of extreme inner strength.
According to Robber Zhi, the age of Shenong was such a desirable period where the inner strength reached the climax. Therefore, the looks or manners of people lying down and getting up should not be described as unconventional but within one’s expectation. With this, one can still propose various interpretations of the words, but the exact meanings of the words remain obscure. Nevertheless, the finding is useful for excluding readings that do not fit into the context.
2. Study on ju and yu
Aside from the possibility that juju and yuyu are reduplications of jiajie假借 characters for ju and yu, it is still reasonable to speculate the meanings of the two words based on the meanings of the non-reduplicated words. That means, to understand the meanings of juju and yuyu as derived from the meanings of ju and yu, respectively. It, of course, requires a study of the two words: ju and yu.
The Kangxi zidian 康熙字典 entry for ju gives the following glosses (selective):
1) 凥處也。
It is the place to live.
2) 安也。
It is contented.
3) 又坐也。
It is also to sit.
4) 又積也，蓄也。
It is also to accumulate, to store.
……
Glosses 2) and 3) are potentially where the meaning of juju derived. If we choose 2), the sentence “臥則居居” means “when lying down, they look contented.” If we choose 3), the sentence means “when lying down, they look like they are sitting down.” Both interpretations, especially 2), fit into the context.
A search in the Kangxi zidian 康熙字典 entry of yu for suitable glosses is not fruitful; the dictionary provides the following explanations (selective) of the word:
1)于，曰也。
Yu means to say.
2) 又往也。
It also means to go.
3) 于，猶爲也。
Yu is like to make.
4) 又草名。
It is also a grass name.
5) 又木名。
It is also a wood name.
……
None of the glosses above fits into the context of the paragraph that we are interested in. But we can find the following citation from the entry:
i. 又行貌。【韓愈·上宰相書】于于焉而來矣。
It also means the look of walking. Han Yu writes in “Shang zaixiang shu”: “He looked like he was walking, and then he came.”
ii. 又于于，自足貌。【莊子·應帝王】其臥徐徐，其覺于于。
Also, yuyu. It is a look of satisfaction. “Ying di wang” in Zhuangzi says, “when lying down, they look eased; when getting up, they look satisfied.”
Both cited sentences have the word yuyu instead of yu, and both glosses for yuyu provide suitable meanings to fit into the context of the “Daozhi” paragraph. If we use i., the sentence “臥則居居” means “when getting up, they look like they are walking.” If we use ii., the sentence can be understood as “when getting up, they look satisfied.” More importantly, sentence ii. is taken from Zhuangzi and share similar sentence structure as “臥則居居” in the “Daozhi” paragraph.
Thus, through examining the meanings of ju and yu, we can propose some possibilities of the meanings of juju and yuyu. For juju, it could mean a look of content or a look of sitting down. For yuyu, it could mean a look of satisfaction or a look of walking.
3. Other textual appearances
The last step is the most direct and effective one. Through finding juju and yuyu in early texts and studying the usages of them in other contexts, the meanings of the two words become clear.
In Wang Chong’s 王充 Lunheng 論衡, he used juju in conjunction with yuyu twice in the chapters of “Zi ran” 自然 and “Qi shi” 齊世.
In “Zi ran”:
三皇之時，坐者于于，行者居居，乍自以為馬，乍自以為牛。純德行而民瞳矇，曉惠之心未形生也。
During the ages of the three emperors, those who sat were yuyu; those who walked were juju. Sometimes they took themselves as horses, and sometimes they took themselves as oxen. Pure inner strength was implemented, and then people were dull and beclouded. The mind of understanding the wisdom had not yet emerged.
In “Qi shi”:
故夫宓犧之前，人民至質朴，臥者居居，坐者于于，群居聚處，知其母不識其父。
Certainly, in any particular case, before Fuxi, people were extremely simple and unadorned. Those who lay down were juju; those who sat were yuyu. They resided as a group and gathered together to live. They knew who their mothers were but did not know who their fathers were.
Both paragraphs talk about the same matter-the simple ages of the three emperors. Both paragraphs had similar descriptions of the people in the past; they were depicted as plain and unsophisticated. In both scenarios, yuyu was used to describe the action of sitting down, while juju was used to describe two actions: walking (in “Zi ran”) and lying down (in “Qi shi”). In the “Daozhi” paragraph, juju was used to describe the action of lying down, and yuyu was used to describe the action of getting up. It gets more complicated when we bring the “Ying di wang” paragraph into the picture.
In “Ying di wang”:
泰氏，其臥徐徐，其覺于于，一以己為馬，一以己為牛，其知情信，其德甚真，而未始入於非人。
For Tai, his lying down was xuxu, his getting up was yuyu. He once took himself as a horse, and he once took himself as an ox. His knowing was sincere and trustworthy; his inner strength was extremely genuine. Yet he had not started to enter the state of non-human.
A summary of the usages tells us what actions juju and yuyu describe respectively:
Juju: lying down; walking
Yuyu: getting up; sitting down
It can be seen that both words describe various actions, either mobile or static. In this regard, juju and yuyu are not likely to be adjectives for describing specific actions. Instead, they are very likely to be synonyms. More importantly, the action of lying down was described by xuxu in “Ying di wang”. Since the contexts in “Ying di wang” and “Daozhi” paragraphs are relatable, it is safe to say that xuxu is a synonym of juju.
In “Ying di wang”, Sima Biao 司馬彪 glossed xuxu as “安穩貌”, which means the look of content. Cheng Xuanying 成玄英 glossed it as “寬緩之貌”, which can be translated as an eased and slow look.
Conclusion
Based on the findings from Step three-the study of early textual appearances, I propose that juju and yuyu are synonyms of xuxu, which means a look of content, ease, or satisfaction. The understanding accords with the findings of Step two, and it does not contradict the reading of the entire paragraph in “Daozhi”. Hence, I conclude that both juju and yuyu mean a look of content, satisfaction, and ease. A translation of the paragraph will be: “During the age of Shennong, when lying down, they look contented, when getting up, they look satisfied. People knew who their mothers were, but they did not know who their fathers were. They dwelled together with elaphure and other deer, eat after plowing, wearing clothes after weaving. They had no mind of hurting each other, and this was the prosperity of extreme inner strength.”
