Modern‑day scholarship generally regards Rang Wang (Yielding Kingship) as compiled by later followers of Zhuangzi, drawing upon multiple pre‑Qin sources. The chapter collects about seventeen short fables, grouped into three large sections.
Part 1: Stories of yielding kingship – the core idea: value your life
1. Yao and Shun offer the throne to recluses
Yao offered the world to Xu You, who refused. He next offered it to Zi Zhou Zhi Fu. Zi Zhou Zhi Fu said: ”It might be possible for me to be Son‑of‑Heaven. Yet I suffer from a deep rooted lingering illness. I am about to treat it; I have no leisure to govern the world.”
The world is the most weighty vessel. Even it must not be allowed to harm one’s life nature – how much less other things! Only one who does not treat the world as his private achievement can be entrusted with the world.
Shun offered the world to Zi Zhou Zhi Bo. Zi Zhou Zhi Bo said: ”I suffer from that same deep rooted illness. I must attend to healing; I have no leisure to rule.”
The world is a great vessel, yet you must not trade your life for it. This is what sets those who possess the Dao apart from ordinary people.
Shun offered the throne to Shan Juan. Shan Juan replied: ”I dwell amid the universe. In winter I wear furs; in summer fine linen. In spring I plough, my body labours; in autumn I harvest, my body rests and feeds. I rise at sunrise, rest at sunset. I wander freely within heaven and earth, my heart content. What use have I for the world! Alas, you simply do not understand me.” He refused and departed into deep mountains, and no one knew where he dwelt.
Shun offered the world to his friend, the Farmer of Shi Hu. The Farmer of Shi Hu said: ”How diligent and striving you are, O sovereign! Yet your virtue is still not complete.” Then the husband carried goods on his back, his wife bore burdens on her head, they took their children and fled out to the open sea, never to return.
Key insight: Imperial power, for all its grandeur, cannot outweigh one’s innate life‑nature.
2. King Dan Fu of Bin flees the Di tribes
Great King Dan Fu ruled Bin. The Di tribes attacked him. He sent furs and silks; they refused them. He sent dogs and horses; they refused them. He sent pearls and jade; they refused them. What the Di wanted was the land itself.
Great King Dan Fu said: ”If I stay here, brothers will be killed, sons will perish. I cannot bear this. You all may dwell on here. To be my subject or to be the Di’s subject – what real difference is there! I have heard: Do not use that which nourishes people, to harm the people whom it nourishes.“ He departed leaning on his staff. The people followed him in great numbers, and they founded a new state below Mount Qi.
Great King Dan Fu truly knew how to value life. One who values life will not allow luxuries to injure his body even in high wealth; nor will he let profit burden his frame even in poverty. Today’s men of high rank all dread losing their status; for gain they readily risk their own lives. How deluded!
Key insight: Land and political dominion must never come before human lives.
3. Prince Sou flees the throne
Three successive rulers of Yue were murdered by their ministers. Prince Sou feared this fate and fled into Dan Xue cave. Yue was left without a ruler. His subjects tracked him to the cave. Prince Sou would not come out, so they smoked him out with mugwort smoke and put him in the royal chariot.
Gripping the harness‑rope to climb aboard, Prince Sou cried out toward heaven: ”O kingship! O kingship! Why will you not leave me in peace!”
Prince Sou did not hate being ruler. He hated the perils that came with being ruler. He is one who would not let a throne destroy his life nature – and this was exactly why the men of Yue wished him as their lord.
Key insight: It is the danger attached to high office, not office itself, that he flees. Life is higher than royal rank.
4. Zi Hua Zi counsels Marquis Zhao Xi of Han
Han and Wei fought to seize border territory. Zi Hua Zi visited Marquis Zhao Xi, who looked sorrowful.
Zi Hua Zi said: ”Suppose a covenant were written before you: ‘If you grasp this prize, your right hand shall be cut off; if you grasp it with your right hand, your left hand shall be cut off – yet you shall gain possession of all under heaven.’ Would you grasp it?”
Marquis Zhao Xi answered: ”I would not.”
Zi Hua Zi: ”Very well. From this we see: your two arms are worth more than the world. Your own body is worth more than your two arms. The state of Han is trivial compared to the whole world. The disputed patch of land is far more trivial still. Why wear‑out your body and harm your vital spirit grieving over it?”
Marquis Zhao Xi said: ”Well‑spoken. Many have instructed me, yet I have never heard words such as these.” Zi Hua Zi truly understood weighing what is essential.
Key insight: Your bodily life is your highest good. Land and political gain are secondary.
5. Yan He rejects Lu Lord’s gifts
The Lord of Lu heard Yan He was a man who possessed the Dao. He sent messengers bearing valuable silks and coins as a preliminary overture. Yan He lived in a narrow humble lane, wore coarse‑hemp clothing and fed oxen himself. The royal messenger arrived.
Messenger: ”Is this Yan He’s house?”
Yan He: ”This is my house.”
The messenger presented the gifts. Yan He said: ”I fear there may be mis‑reporting, and you will incur punishment. Better go back and verify the command.” The messenger returned, checked the order, and came back – but Yan He could no longer be found. Truly, Yan He hated wealth and rank.
General thesis: The true essence of the Dao serves self‑cultivation
Therefore it is said: The true essence of the Dao serves self‑cultivation. Its leftover residue serves the state. Its chaff‑and‑dross serves all‑under‑heaven. Seen this way, imperial achievements are merely the leftover business of the sage; they are not what completes and nourishes life‑nature. Now many worldly gentlemen ruin their bodies and abandon their innate nature chasing external things. How pitiful!
When a sage acts, he always examines where he is going and why he acts. Imagine a man who would shoot a high‑flying sparrow using the Sui‑Hou‑Pearl (the Pearl of Marquis Sui) as his pellet. All the world would laugh at him. Why? He expends something infinitely precious for something trivial to obtain. And our life‑nature is far more precious even than the Sui‑Hou‑Pearl!
Key insight: Self‑nurturing life nature comes first. Governing kingdoms is secondary, derivative. Sacrificing your most precious life for trivial external gains is foolish.
Part 2: Seven stories of abiding in poverty, not letting rank and riches disturb your inner life
1. Lie Yukou refuses grain gifts
Lie Yukou lived in poverty, his face showing hunger. Someone spoke to Zheng Ziyang, prime‑minister of Zheng: ”Lie Yukou is a man of the Dao. He dwells within your state yet starves. Perhaps you do not esteem worthy men.”
Zheng Ziyang ordered an official to send him grain. Lie Yukou received the messenger, bowed twice and declined the gift.
When the messenger left, his wife beat her breast in grief: ”I have heard that wives of Dao‑masters live in ease and joy. Now we starve. The high‑official sends you food, yet you refuse it. Is this our fate?”
Lie Yukou smiled: ”The prime‑minister does not know me from his own judgement. He sends grain because of other people’s words. When he wishes to punish me, he will also act on other people’s words. This is why I dare not accept.” Later the populace rose up and killed Zheng Ziyang.
Key insight: Do not accept favours built upon hearsay; foresee the risk of future calamity. Protect your autonomy.
2. Tu Yangyue declines rewards
King Zhao of Chu lost his kingdom. Tu Yangyue (sheep‑butcher Yue, or Tu Yangshuo), the sheep‑butcher, followed him into exile. When the king returned home, he wished to reward those who had accompanied him. Rewards came to Tu Yangyue.
Tu Yangyue said: ”When Your Majesty lost your realm, I lost my sheep‑butchering trade. When you returned, my trade returned. My status and livelihood are restored. What reward should I receive?”
The king insisted he accept a reward. Tu Yangyue replied: ”It was not my fault when the kingdom fell; I dare not accept punishment for it. It was not my merit when the kingdom returned; I dare not accept reward for it.”
The king wished to grant him an audience at court. Tu Yangyue argued according to Chu law: Only those of great achievement may have audience with the ruler. He had neither strategic wisdom nor martial courage. He had merely fled danger, not intentionally followed the king. He would not let the king break the laws of the realm for his sake.
King Zhao said to Minister Si Ma Ziqi: ”Tu Yangyue is of humble station yet speaks with lofty principle. Offer him the rank of one of the three high ministers.”
Tu Yangyue said: ”I know this rank is far more honourable than my butcher‑stall; I know its ten‑thousand‑zhong salary is greater than butcher’s profit. Yet how could I covet office and cause my lord to gain a name for arbitrary favour‑giving? I cannot accept. Let me go back to my sheep‑butcher stall.” And he refused all honours.
Key insight: Hold fast to your own station and moral integrity, do not covet undeserved rank.
3. Yuan Xian dwells in poverty in Lu
Yuan Xian lived in Lu in a four‑walled hut roofed with raw thatch. Woven‑rush doors were broken; mulberry wood formed door hinges; broken earthen jars served for windows. Cloth plugged gaps. The roof leaked, the floor was damp. Yuan Xian sat upright, plucking and singing his zither.
Zi Gong arrived riding fine horses, wearing an outer white robe over dark‑blue inner garments. His large carriage could scarcely fit down the lane. Yuan Xian, in tattered cap and worn shoes, leaned on a thorn‑wood staff to open the gate.
Zi Gong said: ”Alas! Master, are you ill?”
Yuan Xian answered: ”To lack wealth is poverty. To possess the Dao yet be unable to live it out – that is illness. I am poor, I am not ill.”
Zi Gong shifted uncomfortably, shame‑faced. Yuan Xian laughed: ”Chasing worldly fashion, forming cliques; learning only to impress others, teaching for your own glory; using benevolence‑righteousness as pretence, fine carriages as ornament – I cannot bring myself to do such things.”
Key insight: Material poverty is not spiritual sickness. Do not turn wisdom into a tool for social advancement.
4. Zengzi in Wei
Zengzi dwelt in Wei. His quilted hemp robe had no outer surface. His face was swollen, his hands and feet covered in calluses. For three days he lit no fire for cooking; for ten years he made no new clothes. Straightening his cap, its cord snapped; pulling his robe, his elbow showed through; putting on shoes, the heel split open. Dragging his tattered footwear he sang the Odes of Shang. His song filled heaven and earth, as if from metal and stone instruments. No king could make him his minister, no feudal lord could make him his friend.
He who nurtures his will forgets his bodily hardships. He who nurtures his body forgets profit. He who attains the Dao forgets calculating‑mind.
Key insight: Inner spiritual fulfilment outweighs physical comfort.
5. Yan Hui declines official service
Confucius said to Yan Hui: ”Yan Hui, come. You live poor and lowly. Why not take office?”
Yan Hui answered: ”I do not wish office. Fifty mu of farmland outside the city supplies me with thick porridge. Ten mu inside the city yields silk and hemp for clothing. Playing my zither gives me joy. What I have learned from your teaching fills my heart with delight. I want no official post.”
Confucius’ expression changed: ”How noble your purpose! I have long read these words: He who knows contentment is not burdened by gain. He who truly possesses self‑understanding feels no fear in loss. He who cultivates inward virtue feels no shame though holding no rank. I have read this long, and now I see it realised in you. This is a gain for me.”
Key insight: Sufficient material means plus inner joy can make high rank unnecessary.
6. Prince Mou of Zhong Shan questions Zhanzi
Prince Mou of Zhong Shan (Wei Mou) asked Zhanzi: ”My body dwells among rivers and mountains in retreat, yet my heart still lingers upon palace rank. What can I do?”
Zhanzi replied: ”Value your life. If you value your life, you will hold profit lightly.”
Prince Mou: ”I understand this in thought, yet I cannot master my own inner impulses.”
Zhanzi: ”If you cannot master yourself, yield to your spirit; do not hate what rises within you. If you cannot master yourself and yet force yourself to suppress your feelings, this is called double‑injury. Those who suffer double injury will not enjoy long life.”
Prince Mou was the son of a great power ruler. For him to dwell in mountain caves was far harder than for a common‑man. Though he had not fully attained the Dao, he at least possessed the inclination toward it.
Key insight: Outer hermit‑style retreat means nothing if your heart still craves rank. Forcing repression harms your life‑nature.
7. Confucius trapped between Chen and Cai
Confucius was trapped between Chen and Cai. For seven days he could not light a cooking fire. His vegetable soup contained no grain. Weary looking, he still played and sang indoors. Yan Hui gathered wild greens outside. Zi Lu and Zi Gong talked together: ”Our master was driven from Lu, banned from Wei, insulted in Song, stranded in Shang Zhou, surrounded here in Chen Cai. Men who wish him dead go unpunished, men who insult him go unrestrained. Yet he plays music without cease. Has a gentleman no sense of shame?”
Yan Hui could not answer and went inside to tell Confucius. Confucius pushed aside his zither and sighed: ”Zi Lu and Zi Gong are men of narrow vision. Call them in and I shall speak.”
When they entered, Zi Lu said: ”Surely this is utter destitution!”
Confucius replied: ”What words are these! For a gentleman, to be blocked from the Dao is destitution. To encounter worldly calamity while holding fast to benevolence‑righteousness is not destitution. Examine inwardly and find no blockage in the Dao; meet disaster yet do not lose your virtue. When bitter frost and snow arrive, we see the pine and cypress’ endurance. This ordeal of Chen‑Cai may even be a blessing for me.”
He resumed playing. Zi Lu picked up a shield and danced. Zi Gong said: ”I no longer know how high heaven is and how deep earth is.”
The ancients who possessed the Dao rejoiced whether in hardship or in success. Their joy did not depend on outer circumstances. So long as the Dao dwelt within them, hardship and success were no more than the sequence of cold‑heat, wind‑and‑rain. Thus Xu You rejoiced at Ying‑Yang (颍阳); Gong Bo (共伯) found peace upon Qiushou hill (丘首).
Key insight: True joy comes from inner alignment with the Dao, not favourable external fortune.
Part 3: Three narratives of men who chose death
Editorial note: These three episodes are preserved in the received text. Scholars observe a thematic tension: the overall chapter advocates valuing life‑nature, yet these figures choose suicide. The compiler assembled diverse pre‑Qin tales and does not automatically endorse every action narrated.
1. Shun offers the world to Bei Ren Wu Ze
Shun offered the world to his friend Bei Ren Wu Ze. Bei Ren Wu Ze said: ”How strange is this man Shun. He grew up among farm fields, yet went to stand at Yao’s court. Not content with that, he seeks to stain me with his deeds. I am ashamed to look upon him.” He threw himself into the Cold‑Clear Abyss and died.
2. Tang consults Bian Sui and Mao Guang
King Tang planned to attack Jie. He consulted Bian Sui (卞随). Bian Sui: ”This is not my affair.” Tang asked who was fit. Bian Sui answered: ”I know not.”
Tang consulted Mao Guang (Wu Guang, 瞀光, 务光). Mao Guang: ”This is not my affair.” Tang again asked who was fit. Mao Guang said: ”Yi Yin: strong willed and able to endure disgrace. Beyond that I know nothing.”
Tang plotted with Yi Yin, defeated Jie, and offered the throne to Bian Sui. Bian Sui refused: ”When you plotted against Jie you consulted me, so you must think me a scheming villain. Having defeated Jie you offer me the throne, so you must think me greedy. I live in a troubled age, and men without the Dao repeatedly defile me with shameful deeds. I cannot bear to hear this any longer.” He threw himself into the Chou‑River and perished.
Tang next offered the throne to Mao Guang. Mao Guang refused: ”To dethrone your sovereign is unrighteous; to slay the people is unbenevolent. Others endure peril, yet I would enjoy the profit: this is not integrity. I have heard: Do not accept emoluments from what is unrighteous; do not set foot upon the land of a world without the Dao. How much less should I accept exalted rank! I cannot bear to witness these things.” He tied stones to his body and sank in the Lu River.
3. Bo Yi and Shu Qi starve on Mount Shou Yang
When the Zhou dynasty rose, there were two gentlemen from Gu Zhu: Bo Yi and Shu Qi. They said: ”We hear there is a man of the Dao in the west. Let us go and see.”
They arrived at Qiyang. King Wu of Zhou sent Shu Dan (Duke of Zhou) to meet them. They swore a covenant: raise their rank two degrees, grant them official station, and buried the blood‑sacrificed oath‑scroll.
Bo Yi and Shu Qi looked at each other and laughed: ”Strange indeed. This is not what we call the Dao. When Shen Nong held the world, sacrifices were reverent yet he prayed for no blessings. Toward people he was loyal and true and sought nothing in return. If a man wished to govern, let him govern. He did not make success out of others’ ruin; he did not exalt himself by others’ lowliness; he did not profit from the times.
Now Zhou takes advantage of the chaos of Yin. It exalts stratagems, trades favours, maintains power through arms, makes oaths with sacrificial blood, parades virtue to win the crowd, and uses slaughter for gain. This substitutes one tyranny for another disorder.
I have heard: In a well‑governed age, worthy men do not shirk duty. In a troubled age, they do not seek mere survival. Now the world is dark and Zhou’s virtue decays. Rather than mingle with Zhou and stain ourselves, let us withdraw and preserve our integrity.”
They travelled north to Mount Shou Yang and starved to death.
For men such as Bo Yi and Shu Qi: if wealth and rank were available, they would not grasp them. They held lofty integrity, delighted in their own inner purpose, and would not serve the age. Such was the moral stance of these two scholars.
Closing Thoughts
Major themes of Rang Wang (Yielding Kingship):
1. Value life: Your innate life nature ranks higher than kingship, rank, land, wealth and fame. Sacrificing life for trivial external gain is foolish, illustrated by the metaphor of shooting sparrows with the Sui‑Hou‑Pearl(the Pearl of Marquis Sui).
2. The true essence of the Dao serves self‑cultivation: Statecraft and imperial achievement are only secondary residual effects of the Dao, not its primary purpose.
3. Inner joy can exist independent of material comfort. Poverty of goods is not spiritual sickness.
4. Do not force suppress your genuine inner impulses; forced repression injures your life nature.
5. Textual note: The chapter is a later compilation. It preserves conflicting stories, including accounts of men who chose death for moral principle. These create an internal thematic tension against the main “value‑life” teaching.
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