In our previous episode we discussed Gengsang Chu. We learned that when the inner mind is truly settled, natural radiance shines forth. Yet you may wonder: If I do not deliberately show myself, how can other people understand me? Are there true soul‑friends in this world? Must we rely entirely on words for mutual understanding? Xu Wugui addresses precisely these questions.
1. Xu Wugui visits Marquis Wu of Wei (First audience)
Through the introduction of Nü Shang, Xu Wugui obtained an audience with Marquis Wu of Wei.
The Marquis said in a tone of consolation: ”Master, you must be weary! Burdened by toil in the mountain forests, you have deigned to come and see me.”
Xu Wugui replied: ”It is I who come to console you. What have you to console me for! If you indulge your appetites and inflate your likes and dislikes, your inborn life‑nature will sicken. If you suppress your appetites and restrain your likes and dislikes, your ears and eyes will sicken. Therefore I come to console you. What have you to console me for!”
Marquis Wu sat stunned and made no reply. After a little while Xu Wugui said:
“Let me tell you how I judge dogs. The lowest‑grade dog eats its fill and then stops; it has the nature of a wild‑cat. The middle‑grade dog gazes fixedly toward the sun, its spirit concentrated. The highest‑grade dog seems to forget its very own self.
Judging dogs is not as good as judging horses for me. In a fine state‑horse, straight limbs match the plumb‑line, curved limbs match the hook, square parts match the try‑square, round parts match the compass. Yet even such a state‑horse cannot compare to the world‑class horse. The world‑class horse possesses innate natural talent: it seems troubled, seems lost, as though it has forgotten itself. Such a horse bursts forth, out‑distancing all dust, no one knowing where it will go.”
Marquis Wu was greatly delighted and laughed aloud.
When Xu Wugui came out, Nü Shang said: ”Master! What exactly did you do to gladden our lord? When I persuade him, I expound the Book of Songs, Book of History, Rites, Music for broad argument; for pointed counsel I use the Golden Tablets and the Six Strategies. Countless are those who have rendered great service by following such teachings, yet our lord has never so much as cracked a smile. What did you do to make him rejoice like this?”
Xu Wugui answered: ”I merely told him how I judge dogs and horses.”
“Merely that?” said Nü Shang.
Xu Wugui said: ”Have you not heard of people exiled from their homeland? A man who left his state only a few days rejoices when he sees an old acquaintance. After ten‑odd months abroad, he rejoices to see anyone he once saw back home. After a full year, he rejoices merely at seeing someone who looks like a compatriot. Does this not show: the longer you are separated from people, the deeper your longing grows?
Consider one who flees into empty wilderness, where badger‑rat paths are over‑grown with weeds. If he has dwelt long in that desolation, he rejoices merely at hearing human footsteps. How much more would he rejoice at the coughs and chatter of brothers and kin close beside him! Too long has it been since genuine human words have echoed beside our lord.”
Key insight: Surrounded by formal classics and statecraft rhetoric, the ruler had long heard no plain, unfeigned truth. Like a cast‑away longing for human contact, his heart responded to authentic speech.
Commentary note: This opening anecdote makes a striking point. Grand moral and political oratory can become hollow performance. What moves human beings most deeply is unpretentious, genuine conversation that touches inner lived experience, not polished doctrinal lectures. You do not have to keep proving to others “who I am and how valuable I am”. Abide in your authentic self, do what belongs to you, speak from your heart, and you are more likely to be truly seen.
2. Xu Wugui visits Marquis Wu a second time
Xu Wugui again visited Marquis Wu of Wei. The Marquis said:
“Master, you dwell in mountain forests, eating acorns and chestnuts, content with leeks and scallions. You have kept me at arm’s length for a long time. Are you growing old? Do you now crave rich wine and meat? Or is my state about to receive some blessing?”
Xu Wugui said: ”I was born in poverty and humble circumstances. I dare not hope for your wine and meat. I have come to console you.”
The Marquis: ”Console me in what way?”
“Console your spirit and your bodily frame.”
Marquis Wu: ”What does that mean?”
Xu Wugui said: ”Heaven and Earth nourish all things equally. To stand high does not make you superior; to stand low does not make you inferior. You alone, as lord of a state of ten thousand chariots, wear out the whole people merely to gratify your ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Your spirit cannot approve of this. The spirit delights in harmony and abhors deceit. Deceit is sickness – therefore I console you. What exactly is your sickness?”
Marquis Wu replied: ”I have long wished to meet you. I wish to love my people and enact righteousness to bring an end to warfare. May this be done?”
Xu Wugui said: ”It cannot be done. Loving the people is the beginning of harming them. Ceasing war out of righteousness is the root of stirring up war. If you set about in this way, you will achieve little. All pursuit of fine reputations becomes an instrument of evil. Though you practice benevolence‑righteousness, you will verge on hypocrisy. When one form is made manifest, other forms are created in reaction; achieving merit breeds boasting; change breeds outward conflict.
Do not array grand troops beneath high towers. Do not assemble chariots and foot‑soldiers within altar palaces. Do not harbour twisted gain in what you acquire. Do not overcome others through clever stratagems, do not overcome them through plotting, do not overcome them through warfare. Slaughtering other states’ people and seizing their land to feed your private desires – what goodness lies in such warfare? Where lies the victory?
If you cannot refrain from these things, cultivate sincerity within your breast, respond to the genuine feelings of Heaven‑and‑Earth and do not perturb them. Once the people are already delivered from death‑threats, what need have you for schemes to end war?”
Key insight: Zhuangzi does not reject benevolence in itself. He criticises deliberate, performative benevolence and calculated pacifism, which easily generate hypocrisy and new conflict. Inner sincerity and non‑interference with the natural order take priority.
Commentary note: This passage is often misread as a total rejection of compassion. The critique targets intentional, public virtue‑politics. When rulers advertise “I will love the people” as a political programme, it creates posturing, rival moral claims, and new cycles of violence. The better path is inner sincerity and leaving things undisturbed.
3. The Yellow Emperor seeks Da Wei at Mount Juci
The Yellow Emperor intended to visit Da Wei on Mount Juci. Fang‑Ming drove his carriage, Chang Yu rode as side‑companion; Zhang Ruo and Xi Peng ran before the horses; Kun Hun and Hua Ji followed behind the chariot. Arriving at the wilderness of Xiangcheng, all seven sages became lost and had nowhere to ask directions.
They chanced upon a boy herding horses and asked directions: ”Do you know where Mount Juci lies?”
“Yes I do,” the boy answered.
“Do you know where Da Wei dwells?”
“Yes I do.”
The Yellow Emperor said: ”What a remarkable youth! Not only do you know Mount Juci, you know where Da Wei abides. May I ask how one governs the world?”
The boy replied: ”Governing the world is simply like what I myself do. What more is there to do? When I was young I wandered within the six directions and suffered dizziness and mental confusion. An elder told me: ’Ride the chariot of the sun and roam across the wilderness of Xiang‑cheng.’ After my sickness eased, I would wander beyond the six directions once more. Governing the world, it is just like this – why must one do many things?”
The Yellow‑Emperor persisted with his question. The boy said: ”Governing the world – how is it different from herding horses! Merely remove whatever harms the true nature of the horses, nothing more.”
The Yellow‑Emperor bowed twice deeply, called him Heavenly‑Master, and departed.
Key insight: True governance means removing that which damages innate nature, rather than imposing elaborate human schemes upon the world.
Commentary note: Many people chase lectures and famous masters hoping to obtain sets of methods to transform the world. Zhuangzi reminds us: Our troubles often arise from pursuing too many techniques and ready‑made answers. Our inner world gets stuffed full of concepts and becomes an obstacle. True governance is not about actively remaking everything, but removing that which damages innate nature. Cultivation is not endlessly seeking new knowledge outward; it is clearing away inner obstacles.
4. Different types of people trapped by external things
Strategists grow unhappy without twists and turns of thought; debaters grow unhappy without structured discourse; scrutineers grow unhappy without matters for nit‑picking censure. All these are people confined by outer objects.
Men who seek public renown strive for court advancement; men suited to civil administration take pride in official rank; men of physical strength glory in overcoming hardship; the brave throw themselves into peril; soldiers delight in battle; recluses worn thin by austerity cling to fame; legalist scholars seek broad governance; ritual‑minded men value outward bearing; advocates of benevolence‑righteousness value social intercourse.
Farmers are ill‑at‑ease without ploughing and weeding; merchants are ill‑at‑ease without market‑trade. Common folk are diligent when they have daily work; artisans thrive on craft‑skill with tools.
The greedy grieve if wealth does not pile up; the vainglorious grieve if their prestige is not outstanding. Men who chase power and profit delight in upheaval. When opportunity arises they deploy themselves and cannot practise non‑action. All these adapt to the times yet cannot transcend things. They exhaust their bodies and spirits, drowning among the myriad things and never returning to their root. What a pity!
Commentary note: Every temperament has its own drive. When that drive becomes compulsive, people become prisoners of what they do. The Daoist ideal is to act, yet remain inwardly free from being ruled by one’s occupation or passion.
5. Zhuangzi and Huizi on right‑and‑wrong; Lu Ju and the zither
Zhuangzi said: ”If an archer hits the mark without aiming for a target, and we call him a master archer – could we then say all under heaven are Yi the great archer?”
Huizi: ”We could.”
Zhuangzi: ”If there exists no universally agreed standard of right, and everyone affirms what they themselves affirm – could we say all under heaven are Yao the sage‑king?”
Huizi: ”We could.”
Zhuangzi: ”Then the Confucians, Mohists, Yangists, Bing‑school plus yourself make five schools in total. Which of you is truly correct? Or is it rather like Lu Ju? Lu Ju’s disciple said: ’I have mastered my master’s Dao! I can boil a cauldron in winter and produce ice in summer.’
Lu Ju said: ’That is merely summoning yang by yang, summoning yin by yin. It is not what I call the Dao. Let me show you my Dao.’
He tuned two zithers. He placed one zither in the main hall, one in an inner chamber. When he plucked the gong note on one, the gong string of the other vibrated. When he plucked the jue note, the jue note of the other vibrated – their tonal pitch was identical. Suppose you retune one single string so it no longer matches the five notes. Pluck it, and all twenty‑five strings still vibrate; its sound does not change, yet this one string now dominates the pitch. Are you all rather like this?”
Huizi replied: ”Now the Confucians, Mohists, Yangists, Bing‑school all debate against me. They refute me with words, overwhelm me with rhetoric, yet they will not admit I am wrong. What of that?”
Zhuangzi answered: ”There was a man of Qi who abandoned his son in the state of Song, leaving him to become a mutilated gate‑keeper; yet he carefully wrapped and protected a bronze bell for fear of breaking it. He sought his lost son yet never stepped outside his own domain. Such is confused partiality. There was also a man of Chu lodging as a guest, who berated the gate‑keeper; in the dead of night he quarrelled with a boat‑man before the boat had even left the shore, and thus created enmity.”
Key insight: Winning an argument does not prove one holds objective truth. Each school argues from its own subjective frame, much like the inconsistent behaviour of the Qi and Chu men in the anecdotes.
Commentary note: This exchange with Huizi does not say “all opinions are equally true”. It points out: human argument very often operates inside self‑contained frames. Defeating your opponent in speech does not dissolve your own unexamined starting assumptions.
6. Master‑Carpenter Shi cuts chalk from Ying‑man’s nose
Zhuangzi was escorting a funeral procession and passed Huizi’s grave. Turning to his followers he said:
“A man of Ying had flecks of white chalk as thin as a fly’s‑wing on the tip of his nose. He told Carpenter‑Shi to slice it away. Carpenter‑Shi swung his axe, making a roaring wind. He struck; every speck of chalk vanished, yet the nose stayed unharmed. The man of Ying stood perfectly still, never changing countenance.
Lord Yuan of Song heard of this and summoned Carpenter‑Shi: ’Try doing this for me.’
Carpenter‑Shi said: ’I once could perform this feat. But alas, my matching partner Ying‑man has long been dead.’
Since Master Huizi has died, I have no matching counterpart. I have no‑one left with whom I can converse and argue!”
Key insight: Great exchange of ideas needs a worthy counterpart. Zhuangzi laments the loss of his intellectual foil and friend Huizi.
Commentary note: The story is famous for illustrating true intellectual friendship. The axe‑work was only half the miracle; the other half was the complete trust and stillness of Ying‑man. Without the right counterpart, even your highest skill cannot operate. It also suggests: do not merely search for such a partner out‑there; cultivate inner steadiness in yourself first.
7. Guan Zhong discusses Bao Shuya and Xi Peng
Guan Zhong fell gravely ill. Duke Huan asked him: ”Uncle Zhong, your sickness is serious. If the worst should come, to whom may I entrust the governance of the state?”
Guan Zhong: ”Whom do you intend to appoint?”
“Bao Shuya.”
Guan Zhong said: ”That cannot be. He is pure‑minded and a good‑hearted man, yet he will not draw close to anyone inferior to himself. Moreover, once he hears of another’s fault he never forgets it. If you give him rule over the state, he will run counter to his lord above and alienate the common people below. He will incur his lord’s displeasure before long.”
Duke Huan: ”Then who is suitable?”
Guan Zhong answered: ”If I must name someone, let it be Xi Peng. Above he forgets rank distinctions; below he does not turn away the multitude. He feels shame that he does not equal The Yellow Emperor, and feels compassion for those inferior to himself. To distribute virtue among others is called sagehood; to distribute wealth among others is called worthiness. To exercise worthiness by lording‑it‑over‑others wins no‑one’s heart. To exercise worthiness by humbling‑oneself‑before‑others never fails to win people’s hearts. Concerning state‑affairs some things he does not pry into; concerning household‑matters some things he does not scrutinise. If you must choose someone, choose Xi Peng.”
Key insight: Upright strictness alone makes for bad leadership. True capacity includes forbearance and tolerant oversight.
Commentary note: Virtue of strict moral purity is not enough for public office. A good leader needs compassion and willingness to overlook minor faults; rigid people tend to create social friction.
8. King Wu of Chu, the clever monkey, and Yan Buyi
King Wu sailed on the river and climbed Monkey Mountain. Seeing him, most monkeys fled in fright into thick thorn‑bushes. One monkey remained, leaping and springing about, displaying its agility before the king. The king shot an arrow at it; the monkey nimbly caught the flying missile. The king ordered all his attendants to shoot together, and the monkey was killed.
Turning to his friend Yan Buyi, the king said: ”This monkey boasted of its cleverness and relied on its agility to show contempt for me – and thus met its death. Take warning! Never let your bearing show arrogance toward others!”
Yan Buyi returned home and took Dong Wu as his teacher. He cast‑off his proud demeanour, abandoned pleasures and rejected high status. After three years the people of the state all praised him.
Key insight: Parading cleverness and arrogance courts disaster; hiding one’s light brings respect.
Commentary note: Talent itself is neutral. Danger arises when you use talent to show‑off and look‑down‑on others. The Daoist counsel is to soften outward display.
9. Nanbo Ziqi leans on his armrest
Nanbo Ziqi leaned on his armrest, breathed out gazing toward heaven. Yan Chengzi entered and said: ”Master, you are extraordinary. Can the bodily frame truly become like withered bones, and the mind truly become like dead ashes?”
Nanbo Ziqi said: ”I once dwelt in a mountain cave. At that time Tian He saw me, and the multitudes of the state of Qi thrice congratulated him. Surely I must have manifested some reputation first, and therefore they knew of me; I must have made display of myself, and therefore they traded upon my fame. If I had possessed no such renown, how could they have known me? If I had not displayed myself, how could they exploit my name?
Alas! I grieve for those who lose their true selves. I grieve for those who grieve over others. And I grieve for those who grieve at the grief of others. After that I daily drew away from all such emotions.”
Key insight: Even reclusion can become a performance for fame. One must let go of grief‑and‑concern itself to reach inner stillness.
Commentary note: Retreating to mountains and caves is no automatic guarantee of spiritual attainment. If you play the hermit role to win public admiration, you are still trapped by other‑people’s opinions. Even the feeling of sorrow‑for‑others can become another mental attachment you need to release.
10. Confucius in Chu: the wordless virtue of Shinan Yiliao and Sunshu Ao
Confucius travelled to Chu. The King of Chu held a feast for him. Sunshu Ao stood holding the wine‑cup; Shinan Yiliao received the wine‑offering and made a libation. He said: ”In ancient times, men would speak on such an occasion.”
Confucius said: ”I have heard of speech‑without‑words, yet I have never spoken it. Let me speak of it now. Shinan Yiliao juggled balls and dissolved hostilities between two houses. Sunshu Ao lay peacefully, holding a feather‑fan, and the soldiers of Chu laid down their weapons. Would that I possessed a long beak (so I need not speak at all)!”
This is called the Dao that is not spoken of; this is called debate‑without‑words. Therefore all Virtue converges in the oneness of the Dao, and speech halts where knowledge cannot reach: that is perfection. What the Dao unites, Virtue cannot make uniform. What knowledge cannot grasp, argument cannot unfold. To set up schools with names like Confucian and Mohist invites misfortune.
The sea does not reject the inflowing eastern streams – this is the height of greatness. The sage enfolds Heaven‑and‑Earth, bestows grace on all‑under‑heaven, yet no‑one knows his name. Therefore in life he holds no noble rank, in death he receives no posthumous title. He accumulates no wealth, establishes no fame. This is called the Great‑Man. A dog is not good merely for barking; a human is not worthy merely for fine words – how much less for pursuing “greatness”! To strive deliberately for greatness is not true greatness; how much less striving for Virtue! Nothing is so complete‑great as Heaven and Earth, yet they seek nothing and are inherently complete. He who understands complete‑greatness seeks nothing, loses nothing, discards nothing, and does not exchange his true self for outer things. Returning into oneself he is never exhausted; following antiquity he does not adorn himself. Such is the sincerity of the Great‑Man.
Commentary note: A dog is not good merely for barking; a human is not virtuous merely because he speaks well. Eloquence and rhetorical skill are not proof of inner virtue. True greatness does not chase after the reputation of being great.
11. Ziqi’s eight sons: Jiu Fangyin judges Kun
Ziqi had eight sons. He arrayed them before him and summoned Jiu Fangyin, the‑physiognomist. ”Physiognomise my sons for me. Who has good fortune?”
Jiu Fangyin said: ”Kun has good fortune.”
Ziqi, startled and glad: ”In what way?”
“He will eat together with the lord of a state all his days until his death.”
Ziqi burst into tears: ”Why should my son come to such an end!”
Jiu Fangyin said: ”To eat with a lord bestows favour on three clans, how much more on his own parents! Now you weep hearing this: you reject good fortune. The son has fortune; the father has none.”
Ziqi said: ”What do you understand? Is this truly good fortune for Kun? It amounts only to wine and meat passing nose and mouth. How do you know where such fortune originates! I never kept sheep, yet sheep appeared in the inner corners of my house. I did not love hunting, yet quails appeared in my inner chambers. Do you not find this strange?
I and my sons wandered among Heaven‑and‑Earth. We rejoiced with Heaven, fed from Earth. We did not pursue worldly affairs, did not scheme, did not contrive strange deeds. We followed the true nature of Heaven‑and‑Earth and let outer things not perturb us; we drifted in harmony and did not conform to worldly expedience. And now there comes this worldly recompense! Where strange omens appear, strange consequences follow. Danger lies herein. This is not the fault of my son or myself; it must come from Heaven. That is why I weep.”
Not long afterwards Kun was sent on a mission to Yan and captured by bandits. Selling him whole‑bodied proved difficult, so they cut off his feet to make sale easier. He was sold to Qi and became gate‑keeper for Lord Qu‑gong, eating meat all his life until death.
Key insight: Worldly “blessings” may conceal hidden calamity. Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.
Commentary note: What society labels “good luck”, status, wealth, royal patronage, can carry unseen costs and spiritual bondage. From the Daoist perspective, freedom to follow your innate nature counts higher than worldly success.
12. Nie Que meets Xu You: fleeing Yao
Nie Que met Xu You and said: ”Where are you going?”
“I am fleeing Yao,” Xu You replied.
“Why so?”
“Yao labours tirelessly to practise benevolence. I fear he will make the world laugh, and that in later ages men will eat one another. The common people are easy to gather: treat them with love and they draw near; give them profit and they come; praise them and they strive; show them what they hate and they scatter. Love and profit spring from benevolence‑righteousness. Few abandon benevolence‑righteousness; many exploit them for gain. The practice of benevolence‑righteousness lacks sincerity and becomes a tool for the greedy. To benefit the whole world by one man’s judgement is like a single fleeting glance. Yao knew worthies can benefit the world, yet he did not see they can also harm the world. Only those who transcend valuing worthiness can understand this.”
Commentary note: This is not a wholesale rejection of kindness. It warns of systems where public “virtue” becomes a social tool for power‑seeking actors.
13. Three kinds of people: the smug, the complacent‑parasitic, the toil‑bound
There are the smug‑self‑satisfied, the complacent‑parasitic, and the toil‑bound.
The smug‑self‑satisfied: They learn the teachings of one master and grow complacent and self‑delighted, thinking they have attained completion, unaware that originally nothing existed. These are the smug‑self‑satisfied.
The complacent‑parasitic are like lice on a pig. They choose thick bristles and imagine they dwell in vast palaces. They nest in the hollows of hooves, thighs and udders and think they occupy safe dwellings. They do not know the butcher will one day spread straw and light fire, and they will burn together with the pig. They rise and fall along with their host: these are the complacent‑parasitic.
The toil‑bound is exemplified by Shun. Mutton does not crave ants; ants crave mutton because of its rank odour. Shun possessed deeds that emitted such “rank‑odour‑like” virtue, and the common folk delighted in him. Three times he moved and formed new settlements; at the ruins of Deng more than one hundred thousand households gathered. Yao heard of his worth and raised him up from barren ground, hoping to receive the benefit of his presence. Shun grew old, his hearing and sight decayed, yet he could not retire. This is the toil‑bound.
Therefore the Divine‑Man dislikes masses of followers. When multitudes gather, disharmony arises, and harm follows. Have no special fondness, have no special estrangement. Hold fast to Virtue and nourish harmony, in order to follow the world: this is the True‑Man. For ants, cast‑off cleverness; for fish, be content in your lot; for sheep, cast‑off intentional striving. Use your eyes for seeing, your ears for hearing, your heart for returning to your inner self. If you are like this, you are level as a measuring‑cord, and change follows naturally. Such were the True‑Men of old: they treated all things according to Heaven, and did not impose the human upon Heaven.
14. Medicinal herbs, Goujian, and the Seven Great Insights
Medicinal plants: some bring life when taken, bring death when taken; some bring death when taken, bring life when taken. Plants such as the aconite root, balloon‑flower, chicken‑egg‑plant, pig‑purslane each become the chief ingredient according to circumstances – one could never enumerate all cases.
Goujian retreated with three thousand armoured soldiers to Kuaiji. Only Wen Zhong understood how to survive ruin, yet Wen Zhong did not foresee the disaster awaiting himself. Hence the saying: The owl’s eyes suit only the night; the crane’s legs have their proper length. Cut them short and there is sorrow.
Winds passing over a river wear it down; sunlight passing over a river wears it down. Yet though wind and sun together assail it, the river seems untouched because it draws from its source. Water abides secure upon earth; shadows abide secure upon humans; things abide secure within themselves.
Therefore: to chase extreme sharpness of sight brings peril; to chase extreme acuteness of hearing brings peril; to let the heart chase outer objects brings peril. Whenever faculties are exerted outward, peril follows. Once peril is formed, it cannot be undone in time. Disasters multiply; returning to your source demands great effort and long time. Yet men treasure these faculties as their own: how sad! Hence endless occurrences of ruined states and slaughtered peoples, for they do not inquire into this truth.
The feet tread upon the earth; though they tread only a small patch, it is the ground they do not tread that enables broad movement. Human knowledge is small; yet through what we do not know we may understand what Heaven is.
To know the Great‑One, the Great‑Yin, the Great‑Vision, the Great‑Equity, the Great‑Square, the Great‑Trust, the Great‑Stability – this is perfection.
- The Great‑One penetrates all things.
- The Great‑Yin dissolves all things.
- The Great‑Vision observes all things.
- The Great‑Equity follows all things.
- The Great‑Square embodies all things.
- The Great‑Trust verifies all things.
- The Great‑Stability sustains all things.
All things possess Heavenly nature; following it brings illumination; in the obscure lies the pivot of change; where there is arising there is the other pole. Understanding may look like non‑understanding, knowing may look like non‑knowing: only through not‑knowing do you truly know. When you inquire into the Dao, you cannot set fixed boundaries, yet you cannot have no‑boundaries at all. Turbulent yet substantial, unchanged through past‑present, it cannot be diminished. Is this not the great comprehensive outline? Why be confused! Use non‑confusion to dissolve confusion and return to non‑confusion: this is the Great Non‑Confusion.
Closing Thoughts
Key takeaways from Xu Wugui:
True understanding does not rely on clever rhetoric and preaching. True power is not gained by endless outward chasing. Worldly fortune and misfortune are not absolute. Let go of the urge to constantly prove yourself outwardly, and return to your authentic inner nature – this is the path toward mutual resonance and inner peace.
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