Ni Que asked Wang Ni. Four times he asked, and four times Wang Ni did not know. Ni Que then jumped up in great joy, went and told Pu Yi Zi.
Pu Yi Zi said: “Have you only now come to know this? The Yu clan was not equal to the Tai clan. The Yu clan still hid benevolence to win men; he did win men, but he had not yet emerged from the non-human. The Tai clan slept easily and woke simply. Sometimes he regarded himself as a horse, sometimes as an ox. His knowledge was true and trustworthy, his virtue very real, and he had never entered into the non-human.”
Jian Wu saw the madman Jie Yu. The madman Jie Yu said: “What did Ri Zhong Shi tell you?”
Jian Wu said: “He told me: A ruler of men should from himself issue laws, models, right norms, and measures; who would dare not listen and be transformed?”
The madman Jie Yu said: “That is deceptive virtue. In governing the world, it is like wading through the sea and cutting a river, or making a mosquito carry a mountain. Does the sage govern the outside? He rectifies himself and then acts; firmly he is one who can do the task, and that is all. Moreover, birds fly high to avoid the harm of stringed arrows; field mice burrow deep under the sacred mound to avoid the calamity of smoking and digging. Are these two creatures without knowledge?”
Tian Gen wandered in Yin Yang, came to the bank of the Liao River, and happened to meet No-Name Man. He asked: “Please tell me about governing the world.”
No-Name Man said: “Go away! You are a vulgar man. Why is your question so ill-timed? I am about to be a companion of the Creator. When tired, I mount the bird of vague vastness, go beyond the six extremities, wander in the land of Nothing-Whatsoever, and dwell in the wild of broad emptiness. Why do you again disturb my mind with governing the world?”
He asked again. No-Name Man said: “Let your mind wander in blandness, unite your qi with silence, follow the naturalness of things and allow no private self – then the world will be governed.”
Yang Zi Ju saw Lao Dan and said: “Suppose there is a man: swift, strong, penetrating, clear, learning the Way without weariness – can he be compared to a wise king?”
Lao Dan said: “In the eyes of the sage, such a one is a clerk bound by skills, one who labors his body and troubles his mind. Moreover, the markings of the tiger and leopard bring them to the hunt; the agility of the monkey and the dog’s ability to catch hares bring them to the leash. Can such a one be compared to a wise king?”
Yang Zi Ju changed countenance and said: “May I ask about the government of a wise king?”
Lao Dan said: “The government of a wise king: merit covers the world but seems not to come from himself; transformation reaches all things but the people do not rely on him. No name can be raised for him; he lets things rejoice in themselves. He stands in the unfathomable and wanders in Nothing-Whatsoever.”
In Zheng there was a divine shaman named Ji Xian. He knew men’s death and life, survival and loss, misfortune and blessing, long life and early death. He predicted by year, month, ten-day period, and day as if divine. When the people of Zheng saw him, they all abandoned things and ran. Liezi saw him and his heart was intoxicated. He returned and told Huzi: “At first I thought your Way, Master, was the highest; but now there is something even higher.”
Huzi said: “I have with you completed the outward patterns, but not the reality. Have you really attained the Way? Many females but no male – how can there be eggs? You use the Way to oppose the world and insist on being trusted, so men can get hold of you and read your face. Try bringing him here and show him me.”
The next day, Liezi brought him to see Huzi. He went out and said to Liezi: “Alas! Your master is dead! He will not live! He cannot last ten days! I saw something strange – I saw damp ashes.”
Liezi went in, tears soaking his lapel, and told Huzi. Huzi said: “Just now I showed him the Earth Pattern: dormant, not shaken, not upright. He probably saw me closing off the mechanism of virtue. Try bringing him again.”
The next day, he again brought him to see Huzi. He went out and said to Liezi: “How fortunate! Your master met me and has recovered. He is wholly alive! I saw his blocked mechanism.”
Liezi went in and told Huzi. Huzi said: “Just now I showed him Heaven’s Soil: name and reality did not enter, and the mechanism issued from the heel. He probably saw my good mechanism. Try bringing him again.”
The next day, he again brought him to see Huzi. He went out and said to Liezi: “Your master is not uniform; I cannot read him. Try making him uniform, and I will read him again.”
Liezi went in and told Huzi. Huzi said: “Just now I showed him the Great Void where nothing prevails. He probably saw my balanced qi mechanism. The leviathan’s turning is a deep pool; still water is a deep pool; flowing water is a deep pool. There are nine names for pools; here are three. Try bringing him again.”
The next day, he again brought him to see Huzi. Before he had stood firm, he lost himself and fled. Huzi said: “Chase him!”
Liezi chased but could not catch him. He returned and reported to Huzi: “He is gone, vanished; I could not catch him.”
Huzi said: “Just now I showed him what has never yet emerged from my source. I met him empty and compliant, not knowing who or what. So he took me as drifting, as flowing waves, and therefore fled.”
Then Liezi considered that he had never begun to learn. He returned home. For three years he did not go out. He cooked for his wife; he fed pigs as if feeding people; he had no intimacy with affairs. He carved and polished back to uncarved simplicity. Like a clod, he stood alone with his form. In confusion he sealed himself; he ended in this one thing.
Do not be the corpse of fame; do not be the storehouse of schemes; do not be the bearer of affairs; do not be the master of knowledge. Embody the endless and wander without trace. Exhaust what you have received from Heaven and do not regard it as gain – be empty, that is all. The Perfect Man’s use of mind is like a mirror: it does not send off, does not welcome, responds but does not store. Thus he can overcome things without being injured.
The Emperor of the South Sea was Shu; the Emperor of the North Sea was Hu; the Emperor of the Center was Hundun. Shu and Hu often met in Hundun’s land, and Hundun treated them very well. Shu and Hu plotted to repay Hundun’s kindness, saying: “All men have seven openings for seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing. This one alone has none. Let us try to bore them.” Each day they bored one opening. On the seventh day, Hundun died.
Note
This Zhuangzi ‑ Yingdiwang excerpt explores ideal wu‑wei rulership via fables including Huzi and the shaman. It introduces the mirror‑mind metaphor and concludes with the famous parable of the death of Hundun.
Zhuangzi:
A foundational Daoist philosopher of the Warring States period. The book Zhuangzi uses parables, paradoxes, and imaginary dialogues to criticize rigid social values and to praise life in accord with the Dao.
Ying Di Wang (Fit for Emperors and Kings):
The title of Chapter Seven. It means something like “Fit for Emperors and Kings” or “The Normal Course for Rulers and Kings.” Its main theme is that the ideal ruler governs by non-action (wuwei), not by laws, moral campaigns, cleverness, or forced order.
Ni Que, Wang Ni, Pu Yi Zi:
Semi-legendary or fictional Daoist figures. Ni Que‘s joy at Wang Ni‘s fourfold “I do not know” suggests that true wisdom is not a matter of fixed answers.
You Yu / Yu clan (有虞氏):
A reference to Shun, one of the legendary sage kings of ancient China. He is praised in Confucian tradition for benevolence, but here Zhuangzi suggests that even his benevolence was a device for winning people.
Tai clan (泰氏):
A legendary ruler of an earlier, more natural age, sometimes associated with Tai Hao or Fuxi. He represents a state before moral self-consciousness, where one does not try to govern others by benevolence.
Jian Wu (肩吾), Kuang Jie Yu (狂接舆), Ri Zhong Shi (日中始):
Jian Wu is a traditional interlocutor. Kuang Jie Yu, “the madman Jie Yu,” is a famous hermit-like critic of Confucius and political ambition. Ri Zhong Shi is a minor figure representing the idea that rulers should impose laws and norms.
Tian Gen (天根), No-Name Man:
Allegorical figures. “Tian Gen” means “Heaven’s Root”; “No-Name Man” represents the nameless Dao. Their dialogue teaches that governing the world begins with inner emptiness, not political technique.
Yang Zi Ju (阳子居):
Often identified with Yang Zhu (杨朱), an early Chinese philosopher associated with self-preservation and skepticism about moral activism. Here he asks Laozi about the “wise king.”
Lao Dan / Laozi:
Traditionally regarded as the founder of Daoism and author of the Dao De Jing. In the Zhuangzi, he appears as a sage who teaches non-action and non-possessive government.
Ji Xian (季咸):
A “divine shaman” of the state of Zheng. He represents the ancient arts of divination and physiognomy – reading fate and character from appearance.
Liezi:
A Daoist philosopher and supposed author of the Liezi. Here he is a disciple of Huzi. At first he is dazzled by the shaman’s powers, but later he learns that true depth cannot be read or grasped.
Huzi (壶子):
“Master Hu,” a Daoist sage in this chapter. He shows the shaman four different inner states, each deeper and less readable, until the shaman flees.
Zheng state:
An ancient Chinese state. Its mention locates the shaman story in a real political and cultural setting.
Divine shaman and physiognomy:
Ancient China had specialists in divination, dream interpretation, and reading faces and bodies for fate. The story warns that such powers belong to the surface; the sage’s root cannot be measured.
Earth Pattern, Heaven’s Soil, Great Void, Never-Emerged Source:
These are Huzi’s four presentations of his inner state. They move from visible stillness to vital depth to total balance to an ungraspable source. The shaman can read only what has form or tendency; he cannot read what never emerges.
Nine pools / three pools:
Huzi mentions that there are nine names for depths, but only three are given: the leviathan’s turning, still water, and flowing water. This suggests that inner depth has many modes, and the shaman has seen only a few.
Mirror mind:
“The Perfect Man’s use of mind is like a mirror.” This is a central Daoist image. A mirror does not grasp, welcome, or store; it reflects without attachment. Thus the sage responds to things without being harmed by them.
Fame, schemes, affairs, knowledge:
The text says not to be the “corpse of fame,” the “storehouse of schemes,” the “bearer of affairs,” or the “master of knowledge.” These are all forms of ego and control that block non-action.
Shu (儵), Hu (忽), Hundun (浑沌):
The South Sea Emperor Shu means “Swift” or “Sudden”; the North Sea Emperor Hu means “Sudden” or “Abrupt”; the Central Emperor Hundun means “Chaos” or “Undifferentiated Wholeness.” This famous myth says that forcing order and adding senses to primal chaos kills it.
Seven openings:
The eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. Shu and Hu think Hundun should have them like other humans. By boring them, they destroy Hundun’s natural completeness. The story is often read as a warning against imposing artificial civilization, knowledge, and sensory division on the natural whole.
应帝王第七
齧缺问于王倪，四问而四不知。齧缺因跃而大喜，行以告蒲衣子。 蒲衣子曰：“而乃今知之乎？有虞氏不及泰氏。有虞氏其犹藏仁以要人，亦得人矣，而未始出于非人。泰氏其卧徐徐，其觉于于。一以己 为马，一以己为牛。其知情信，其德甚真，而未始入于非人。”
肩吾见狂接舆。狂接舆曰：“日中始何以语女？”肩吾曰：“告我 ：君人者以己出经式义度，人孰敢不听而化诸！”狂接舆曰：“是欺德也。其于治天下也，犹涉海凿河而使蚊负山也。夫圣人之治也，治 外夫？正而后行，确乎能其事者而已矣。且鸟高飞以避矰弋之害，鼷鼠深穴乎神丘之下以避熏凿之患，而曾二虫之无知？”
天根游于殷阳，至蓼水之上，适遭无名人而问焉，曰：“请问为天 下。”无名人曰：“去！汝鄙人也，何问之不豫也！予方将与造物者 为人，厌则又乘夫莽眇之鸟，以出六极之外，而游无何有之乡，以处 圹埌之野。汝又何帠以治天下感予之心为？”又复问，无名人曰： “汝游心于淡，合气于漠，顺物自然而无容私焉，而天下治矣。”
阳子居见老聃，曰：“有人于此，向疾强梁，物彻疏明，学道不倦 ，如是者，可比明王乎？”老聃曰：“是於圣人也，胥易技系，劳形 怵心者也。且也虎豹之文来田，猨狙之便执斄之狗来藉。如是者，可 比明王乎？”阳子居蹴然曰：“敢问明王之治。”老聃曰：“明王之 治：功盖天下而似不自己，化贷万物而民弗恃。有莫举名，使物自喜。 立乎不测，而游于无有者也。”
郑有神巫曰季咸，知人之死生、存亡、祸福、寿夭，期以岁月旬日 若神。郑人见之，皆弃而走。列子见之而心醉，归，以告壶子，曰： “始吾以夫子之道为至矣，则又有至焉者矣。”壶子曰：“吾与汝既 其文，未既其实。而固得道与？众雌而无雄，而又奚卵焉！而以道与 世亢，必信，夫故使人得而相汝。尝试与来，以予示之。”
明日，列子与之见壶子。出而谓列子曰：“嘻！子之先生死矣！弗 活矣！不以旬数矣！吾见怪焉，见湿灰焉。”列子入，泣涕沾襟以告 壶子。壶子曰：“乡吾示之以地文，萌乎不震不正，是殆见吾杜德机 也。尝又与来。”明日，又与之见壶子。出而谓列子曰：“幸矣！子 之先生遇我也，有瘳矣！全然有生矣！吾见其杜权矣！”列子入，以 告壶子。壶子曰：“乡吾示之以天壤，名实不入，而机发于踵。是殆 见吾善者机也。尝又与来。”明日，又与之见壶子。出而谓列子曰： “子之先生不齐，吾无得而相焉。试齐，且复相之。”列子入，以告 壶子。壶子曰：“吾乡示之以太冲莫胜，是殆见吾衡气机也。鲵桓之審为渊，止水之審为渊，流水之審为渊。渊有九名，此处三焉。尝 又与来。”明日，又与之见壶子。立未定，自失而走。壶子曰：“追 之！”列子追之不及。反，以报壶子曰：“已灭矣，已失矣，吾弗及 已。”壶子曰：“乡吾示之以未始出吾宗。吾与之虚而委蛇，不知其 谁何，因以为弟靡，因以为波流，故逃也。”然后列子自以为未始学 而归。三年不出，为其妻爨，食豕如食人，于事无与亲。雕琢复朴， 块然独以其形立。纷而封哉，一以是终。
无为名尸，无为谋府，无为事任，无为知主。体尽无穷，而游无朕 。尽其所受乎天而无见得，亦虚而已！至人之用心若镜，不将不迎， 应而不藏，故能胜物而不伤。
南海之帝为儵北海之帝为忽，中央之帝为浑沌。儵与忽时相与遇于 浑沌之地，浑沌待之甚善。儵与忽谋报浑沌之德，曰：“人皆有七窍 以视听食息此独无有，尝试凿之。”日凿一窍，七日而浑沌死。
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