Zhuangzi 1.1

北冥有魚，其名為鯤。鯤之大，不知其幾千里也。化而為鳥，其名為鵬。鵬之背，不知其幾千里也；怒而飛，其翼若垂天之雲。是烏也，海運則將徙於南冥。南冥 者，天池也。齊諧者，志怪者也。諧之言曰：“鵬之徙於南冥也，水擊三千里，摶扶搖而上者九萬里，去以六月息者也。”野馬也，塵埃也，生物之以息相吹也。天 之蒼蒼，其正色邪？其遠而無所至極邪？其視下也亦若是，則已矣。且夫水之積也不厚，則其負大舟也無力。覆杯水於坳堂之上，則芥為之舟，置杯焉則膠，水淺而 舟大也。風之積也不厚，則其負大翼也無力。故九萬里則風斯在下矣，而後乃今培風；背負青天而莫之夭閼者，而後乃今將圖南。蜩與學鳩笑之曰：“我決起而飛， 槍榆、枋，時則不至而控於地而已矣，奚以之九萬里而南為？”適莽蒼者三餐而反，腹猶果然；適百里者宿舂糧；適千里者三月聚糧。之二蟲又何知！小知不及大 知，小年不及大年。奚以知其然也？朝菌不知晦朔，惠蛄不知春秋，此小年也。楚之南有冥靈者，以五百歲為春，五百歲為秋；上古有大椿者，以八千歲為春，八千 歲為秋。而彭祖乃今以久特聞，眾人匹之，不亦悲乎！

In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Kun - I do not know how many li in size. It changes into a bird with the name of Peng, the back of which is (also) - I do not know how many li in extent. When this bird rouses itself and flies, its wings are like clouds all round the sky. When the sea is moved (so as to bear it along), it prepares to remove to the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the Pool of Heaven. There is the (book called) Qi Xie, a record of marvels. We have in it these words: 'When the phang is removing to the Southern Ocean it flaps (its wings) on the water for 3000 li. Then it ascends on a whirlwind 90,000 li, and it rests only at the end of six months.' (But similar to this is the movement of the breezes which we call) the horses of the fields, of the dust (which quivers in the sunbeams), and of living things as they are blown against one another by the air. Is its azure the proper colour of the sky? Or is it occasioned by its distance and illimitable extent? If one were looking down (from above), the very same appearance would just meet his view. And moreover, (to speak of) the accumulation of water; if it be not great, it will not have strength to support a large boat. Upset a cup of water in a cavity, and a straw will float on it as if it were a boat. Place a cup in it, and it will stick fast; the water is shallow and the boat is large. (So it is with) the accumulation of wind; if it be not great, it will not have strength to support great wings. Therefore (the peng ascended to) the height of 90,000 li, and there was such a mass of wind beneath it; thenceforth the accumulation of wind was sufficient. As it seemed to bear the blue sky on its back, and there was nothing to obstruct or arrest its course, it could pursue its way to the South.

A cicada and a little dove laughed at it, saying, 'We make an effort and fly towards an elm or sapanwood tree; and sometimes before we reach it, we can do no more but drop to the ground. Of what use is it for this (creature) to rise 90,000 li, and make for the South?' He who goes to the grassy suburbs, returning to the third meal (of the day), will have his belly as full as when he set out; he who goes to a distance of 100 li will have to pound his grain where he stops for the night; he who goes a thousand li, will have to carry with him provisions for three months. What should these two small creatures know about the matter? The knowledge of that which is small does not reach to that which is great; (the experience of) a few years does not reach to that of many. How do we know that it is so?

The mushroom of a morning does not know (what takes place between) the beginning and end of a month; the short-lived cicada does not know (what takes place between) the spring and autumn.

These are instances of a short term of life. In the south of Chu there is the (tree) called Ming-ling, whose spring is 500 years, and its autumn the same; in high antiquity there was that called Da-chun, whose spring was 8000 years, and its autumn the same. And Peng Zu is the one man renowned to the present day for his length of life: if all men were (to wish) to match him, would they not be miserable?

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Ames pg. 17
Kirill Ole Thompson

The Zhuangzi opens with an invocation of dark, mysterious oceanic depths in describing the immensity and range of the primordial Kun fish that suddenly transforms into the great Peng bird:

In the northern darkness there is a fish, and his name is Kun.
The Kun is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he measures.
He changes and becomes a bird whose name is Peng.
The back of Peng measures I don't know how many thousand li across and,
when he rises up and flies off, his wings are like clouds all over the sky.
When the sea begins to move, this bird sets off for the southern darkness,
which is the Lake of Heaven.

Sea and sky, the respective elements of Kun and Peng, represent yin and yang poles of qi 氣, the flowing fluid substratum of the cosmos and all phenomena. Primal yin 陽 and yang-qi 降氣 impulses, movements, formations, and distributions shape the world, and thus body forth primal patterns of dao creativity.

Zhuangzi's expression "northern darkness" signifies the yin-pole of the world, whence the yang-qi and the qi of incipient phenomena begin to emerge. Zhuangzi elsewhere qualifies the expression "darkness" as "mysterious darkness", to describe the realm where phenomena - mental as well as physical - originate, the realm where they are yet-to-begin-to-exist.
In Chinese culture, fish symbolise fertility, strength, prosperity, freedom, and enjoy; fish are also regarded as supernatural since they can survive in seemingly uninhabitable depths and move freely in any direction. Hence, the gargantuan fish named Kun manifests the principle of fertility and life in the primordial ocean.
Kun is born of the yin-pole, but bears in incipient yang-qi; Peng rising from Kun manifests the rise of incipient yang out of yin. Notably, whereas the fish lies hidden and mysterious in the dark northern sea, the yangbird is out in the open - it covers the sky and flies as a companion of the prevailing winds. Peng at once churns the air and flies south towards the yang-pole, centred in the Lake of Heaven - the crystalline yang-body of water.
But, as "return" and "reversal" are the movement of dao, Peng eventually changes back into Kun and returns to the mysterious northern darkness.

yin yang
陽 降

氣 life force, spiritual energy, energy flow, air, breath 气 steam 米 rice

Zhuangzi