Brief: This Zhuangzi ‑ Quqie excerpt delivers sharp political satire. It argues sage‑made laws and virtues get hijacked by powerful usurpers, advocating discarding sages‑cleverness to restore primitive plain‑simplicity.
The Paradox of Precaution
When people prepare against thieves who pry open boxes, rummage through bags, and crack open chests, they will surely tighten the cords, secure the locks, and fasten the bolts. This is what the world calls “wisdom.”
But when a great thief arrives, he simply shoulders the chest, hoists the box, and carries off the bag – running away, in fact, hoping that the cords, locks, and bolts are as tight and secure as possible!
Then is not what the world previously called “wisdom” merely a means of accumulating goods for the great thief?
The Theft of a State
Therefore, let me attempt to discuss this: among what the world calls “wisdom,” is there anything that does not end up accumulating for the great thief? Among what it calls “sages,” is there anyone who does not end up standing guard for the great thief?
How do we know this? In ancient times, the State of Qi was so densely settled that neighboring villages could see each other, the sounds of roosters and dogs could be heard from one settlement to the next. The area covered by nets and traps, by plows and hoes, extended over two thousand li. Within the four borders, the establishment of ancestral temples and altars of soil and grain, the administration of cities, districts, neighborhoods, and villages – was any of this not modeled on the sages’ laws?
And yet, one day, Tian Chengzi murdered the ruler of Qi and stole the entire state. Was it only the state that he stole? He stole the sages’ wise laws along with it! Thus, although Tian Chengzi bore the name of a thief and a robber, he sat in the peace and security of a Yao or Shun. Small states dared not criticize him; great states dared not punish him. For twelve generations, his family held the State of Qi. Is this not precisely stealing the state of Qi together with the sages’ wise laws, in order to guard his thieving self?
The Way of the Great Thief
Let me attempt to discuss this further: among what the world calls “supreme wisdom,” is there anything that does not end up accumulating for the great thief? Among what it calls “supreme sages,” is there anyone who does not end up standing guard for the great thief?
How do we know this? Long Feng was beheaded, Bi Gan had his heart cut out, Chang Hong was disemboweled, and Wu Zixu’s body was ground to dust. These four were worthy men, yet none of them escaped execution.
Robber Zhi’s followers asked him: “Does thievery also have its Way?”
Zhi replied: “Where is there anywhere that does not have a Way? To guess correctly what is hidden in a house – that is sagacity. To enter first – that is courage. To leave last – that is righteousness. To know whether a venture is feasible – that is wisdom. To divide the spoils equally – that is benevolence. Without these five qualities, no one in the world has ever succeeded in becoming a great thief.”
From this perspective, a good man cannot stand without the Way of the sages; Robber Zhi cannot operate without the Way of the sages. But good men are few in the world, while the not-good are many. Therefore, the sages benefit the world in few cases and harm it in many.
Thus it is said: “When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold.” The thin wine of Lu led to the siege of Handan. When sages appear, great thieves arise.
Smash the sages, release the thieves, and only then will the world begin to be governed.
The Tools of Control
When a river runs dry, the valleys become empty; when a hill is leveled, the abyss is filled. When the sages are dead, the great thieves will not arise, and the world will be at peace without cause.
If the sages do not die, the great thieves will not cease. Even if you honor the sages and use them to govern the world, you are merely handing great advantage to Robber Zhi.
Create bushels and measures to quantify things – and they will steal the bushels and measures along with everything else. Create scales and weights to weigh things – and they will steal the scales and weights along with everything else. Create tallies and seals to establish trust – and they will steal the tallies and seals along with everything else. Create benevolence and righteousness to correct behavior – and they will steal benevolence and righteousness along with everything else.
How do we know this? He who steals a belt hook is executed; he who steals a state becomes a feudal lord. And where there are feudal lords, there benevolence and righteousness reside. Is this not precisely stealing benevolence, righteousness, and sage-wisdom?
Therefore, those who pursue the great thieves, raise up feudal lords, and steal the advantages of benevolence, righteousness, bushels, scales, tallies, and seals – even the reward of carriages and crowns cannot encourage them further, and the threat of the axe cannot deter them. This is what makes Robber Zhi so profitable and impossible to suppress – and it is the fault of the sages.
The Remedy: Abolish the Sages
Thus it is said: “A fish must not leave the deep; the sharp instruments of a state must not be displayed to the people.”
The sages are the sharp instruments of the world – they are not the means by which the world should be illuminated.
Therefore, abolish the sages and discard cleverness, and the great thieves will cease. Smash the jade and destroy the pearls, and petty thieves will not arise. Burn the tallies and break the seals, and the people will return to plain simplicity. Smash the bushels and snap the scales, and the people will not compete. Exhaust and destroy all the sage-laws of the world, and only then can the people begin to reason and discuss.
Disorder the six pitch-pipes, melt down the flutes and zithers, plug the ears of the blind musician Shi Kuang, and only then will every person in the world begin to contain his own keenness of hearing.
Erase the patterns, scatter the five colors, glue shut the eyes of Li Zhu, and only then will every person in the world begin to contain his own clarity of sight.
Destroy the hooks and lines, discard the compasses and squares, break the fingers of the craftsman Gong Chui, and only then will every person in the world begin to possess his own skill.
Thus it is said: “Great skill appears as clumsiness.”
Erase the conduct of Zeng and Shi, gag the mouths of Yang and Mo, cast away benevolence and righteousness, and only then will the virtue of the world begin to merge in mysterious unity.
When people contain their own clarity, the world will not be dazzled. When people contain their own keenness of hearing, the world will not be entangled. When people contain their own knowledge, the world will not be confused. When people contain their own virtue, the world will not stray.
Those people – Zeng, Shi, Yang, Mo, Shi Kuang, Gong Chui, Li Zhu – all set up their virtue externally, and thereby dazzled and confused the world. The law has no use for them.
The Age of Perfect Virtue
Do you alone not know the Age of Perfect Virtue? In ancient times, under the reigns of Rong Cheng, Da Ting, Bo Huang, Zhong Yang, Li Lu, Li Chu, Xuan Yuan, He Xu, Zun Lu, Zhu Rong, Fu Xi, and Shen Nong – in that age, the people tied knots in ropes and used them for record-keeping. They found their food sweet, their clothing beautiful, their customs joyful, their dwellings secure. Neighboring states could see each other; the sounds of roosters and dogs could be heard from one to the next – yet the people grew old and died without ever visiting one another.
In such a time as that, the world was perfectly governed.
But now, people crane their necks and stand on tiptoe, saying, “There is a worthy man in such-and-such a place!” They pack provisions and rush toward him – abandoning their own kin at home and deserting their lords abroad. Footprints connect across the borders of feudal states; carriage tracks tangle across a thousand li. This, too, is the fault of those in power who love cleverness!
The Curse of Cleverness
If those in power truly love cleverness but lack the Way, the world will fall into great chaos. How do we know this?
When the cleverness of bows, crossbows, nets, and mechanical traps increases, the birds are disturbed in the sky. When the cleverness of hooks, bait, nets, and fish traps increases, the fish are disturbed in the water. When the cleverness of stakes, snares, and hunting nets increases, the beasts are disturbed in the marshes. When the cleverness of deceit, trickery, the sophistries of “hard and white” and “same and different” increases, the common people are bewildered by debate.
Therefore, whenever the world falls into great chaos, the fault lies in the love of cleverness. The whole world knows to seek what it does not know, but no one knows to seek what it already knows. Everyone knows to condemn what they consider bad, but no one knows to condemn what they consider good – and that is why there is great chaos.
Above, it obscures the brightness of the sun and moon; below, it melts away the essence of mountains and rivers; in between, it destroys the orderly progression of the four seasons. From the tiniest crawling insect to the lightest flying creature, nothing retains its nature.
How devastating is the love of cleverness in bringing chaos to the world! This has been so ever since the Three Dynasties. They abandoned the simple and the natural, and delighted in the servile and the cunning. They let go of quiet stillness and non-action, and delighted in the clamor of busy schemes. But the clamor of busy schemes has already thrown the world into chaos!
Note
Tian Chengzi (田成子):
Tian Chengzi, also known as Tian Chang, Tian Heng, a powerful minister of the State of Qi who assassinated Duke Jian of Qi and seized control of the state. His descendants eventually replaced the ruling Jiang family as rulers of Qi. Zhuangzi uses him as the central example: Tian Chengzi didn’t just steal a kingdom – he stole the sage’s legal and moral system along with it, using Confucian institutions to legitimize his usurpation.
Long Feng (龙逢, Long Pang, 龙逄, 关龙逄), Bi Gan (比干), Chang Hong (苌弘), and Zi Xu (子胥):
Four legendary loyal ministers who were brutally executed by the tyrannical rulers they served. Long Feng was beheaded by King Jie of Xia; Bi Gan had his heart cut out by King Zhou of Shang; Chang Hong was disemboweled; and Wu Zixu (Zi Xu) was forced to commit suicide and his body cast into the river. Zhuangzi cites them to prove that sage-like virtue offers no protection – in fact, it often invites destruction.
Robber Zhi (盗跖):
The notorious bandit leader from Chapter 8 – Webbed Toes and Branching Fingers, here given a surprisingly philosophical voice. When his followers ask whether thievery has its own “Way (Dao),” Zhi answers that it does – and describes the virtues of a master thief using the very same terms Confucians use for sages: sagacity, courage, righteousness, wisdom, and benevolence. This is Zhuangzi’s devastating satire: the moral vocabulary of the sages can be hijacked by anyone, including criminals.
“He who steals a hook is executed; he who steals a state becomes a prince” (窃钩者诛，窃国者为诸侯):
One of the most famous lines in all of Chinese philosophy. It captures Zhuangzi’s core political argument: the legal and moral systems created by the sages ultimately serve the powerful, not the just.
“Fish must not leave the deep” (鱼不可脱于渊):
A quotation from the Daodejing (Chapter 36), meaning that a state’s instruments of power must remain hidden. Zhuangzi reinterprets this: the sages themselves are the “sharp instruments” of the world, and displaying them causes chaos.
The Twelve Primordial Rulers (容成氏, 大庭氏, etc.):
A list of mythical sovereigns from the remotest antiquity, before recorded history. Zhuangzi invokes them to represent the ideal “Age of Perfect Virtue” – a time of knot-ropes (before writing), when people were content with their food, clothing, customs, and homes, and neighboring states could hear each other’s roosters and dogs but never interfered with one another. This echoes Laozi’s vision of a small, self-sufficient society.
The “Sages” as the Root of Chaos:
Zhuangzi’s most radical thesis in this chapter: it is not the absence of sages that causes disorder, but their presence. The sages invent moral codes, laws, measuring systems, and rituals – and these become tools that the powerful seize and weaponize. “When sages appear, great thieves arise.”
Zeng, Shi, Yang, Mo, Shi Kuang, Gong Chui, Li Zhu:
Recurring figures from earlier chapters – moral exemplars, debaters, musicians, craftsmen, and visual prodigies. Here Zhuangzi groups them all together as people who “set up their virtue externally” and thereby confuse and disturb the world.
胠箧第十
将为胠箧探囊发匮之盗而为守备，则必摄缄滕，固扃鐍，此世俗之 所谓知也。然而巨盗至，则负匮揭箧担囊而趋，唯恐缄滕扃鐍之不 固也。然则乡之所谓知者，不乃为大盗积者也？
故尝试论之：世俗之所谓知者，有不为大盗积者乎？所谓圣者，有 不为大盗守者乎？何以知其然邪？昔者齐国邻邑相望，鸡狗之音相闻 ，罔罟之所布，耒耨之所刺，方二千余里。阖四竟之内，所以立宗庙 社稷，治邑屋州闾乡曲者，曷尝不法圣人哉？然而田成子一旦杀齐君 而盗其国，所盗者岂独其国邪？并与其圣知之法而盗之，故田成子有 乎盗贼之名，而身处尧舜之安。小国不敢非，大国不敢诛，十二世有 齐国，则是不乃窃齐国并与其圣知之法以守其盗贼之身乎？
尝试论之：世俗之所谓至知者，有不为大盗积者乎？所谓至圣者， 有不为大盗守者乎？何以知其然邪？昔者龙逢斩，比干剖，苌弘胣， 子胥靡。故四子之贤而身不免乎戮。故跖之徒问于跖曰：“盗亦有道 乎？”跖曰：“何适而无有道邪？夫妄意室中之藏，圣也；入先，勇 也；出后，义也；知可否，知也；分均，仁也。五者不备而能成大盗 者，天下未之有也。”由是观之，善人不得圣人之道不立，跖不得圣 人之道不行。天下之善人少而不善人多，则圣人之利天下也少而害天 下也多。故曰：唇竭则齿寒，鲁酒薄而邯郸围，圣人生而大盗起。掊击圣人，纵舍盗贼，而天下始治矣。
夫川竭而谷虚，丘夷而渊实。圣人已死，则大盗不起，天下平而无 故矣！圣人不死，大盗不止。虽重圣人而治天下，则是重利盗跖也。 为之斗斛以量之，则并与斗斛而窃之；为之权衡以称之，则并与权衡 而窃之；为之符玺以信之，则并与符玺而窃之；为之仁义以矫之，则 并与仁义而窃之。何以知其然邪？彼窃钩者诛，窃国者为诸侯，诸侯之门而仁义存焉，则是非窃仁义圣知邪？故逐于大盗，揭诸侯，窃仁 义并斗斛权衡符玺之利者，虽有轩冕之赏弗能劝，斧钺之威弗能禁。 此重利盗跖而使不可禁者，是乃圣人之过也。
故曰：“鱼不可脱于渊，国之利器不可以示人。”彼圣人者，天下 之利器也，非所以明天下也。故绝圣弃知，大盗乃止；擿玉毁珠，小 盗不起；焚符破玺，而民朴鄙；掊斗折衡，而民不争；殚残天下之圣 法，而民始可与论议；擢乱六律，铄绝竽瑟，塞瞽旷之耳，而天下始 人含其聪矣；灭文章，散五采，胶离朱之目，而天下始人含其明矣。 毁绝钩绳而弃规矩，攦工倕之指，而天下始人 有其巧矣。故曰：大巧若拙。削曾、史之行，钳杨、墨之口，攘弃仁 义，而天下之德始玄同矣。彼人含其明，则天下不铄矣；人含其聪， 则天下不累矣；人含其知，则天下不惑矣；人含其德，则天下不僻矣。 彼曾、史、杨、墨、师旷、工倕、离朱者，皆外立其德而爚乱天下者 也，法之所无用也。
子独不知至德之世乎？昔者容成氏、大庭氏、伯皇氏、中央氏、栗陆氏、骊畜氏、轩辕氏、赫胥氏、尊卢氏、祝融氏、伏羲氏、神农氏 ，当是时也，民结绳而用之。甘其食，美其服，乐其俗，安其居，邻 国相望，鸡狗之音相闻，民至老死而不相往来。若此之时，则至治已 。今遂至使民延颈举踵，曰“某所有贤者”，赢粮而趣之，则内弃其 亲而外去其主之事，足迹接乎诸侯之境，车轨结乎千里之外。则是上 好知之过也！
上诚好知而无道，则天下大乱矣！何以知其然邪？夫弓弩毕弋机变之知多，则鸟乱于上矣；钩饵罔罟罾笱之知多，则鱼乱于水矣；削格罗落罝罘之知多，则兽乱于泽矣；知诈渐毒、颉滑坚白、解垢同异之变多，则俗惑于辩矣。故天下每每大乱，罪在于好知。故天下皆知求 其所不知而莫知求其所已知者，皆知非其所不善而莫知非其所已善者， 是以大乱。故上悖日月之明，下烁山川之精，中堕四时之施，惴耎之 虫，肖翘之物，莫不失其性。甚矣，夫好知之乱天下也！自三代以下 者是已！舍夫种种之机而悦夫役役之佞；释夫恬淡无为而悦夫啍啍之 意，啍啍已乱天下矣！
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