Confucius was wandering in the Forest of the Black Curtain and sat resting on the Apricot Altar. His disciples were reading; Confucius was singing and playing the zither. Before the tune was half finished, a fisherman came down from his boat. His beard and eyebrows were both white. His hair was unbound, and his sleeves were waving. He walked up from the marsh and stopped at the dry land. His left hand rested on his knee; his right hand supported his chin as he listened. When the tune ended, he beckoned to Zigong and Zilu, and the two answered together.
The stranger pointed to Confucius and said, “What does that man do?”
Zilu replied, “He is a gentleman of Lu.”
The stranger asked his clan. Zilu replied, “His clan is Kong.”
The stranger said, “What does this Kong govern?”
Zilu did not answer. Zigong replied, “This Kong: by nature he submits to loyalty and trust; in person he practices benevolence and righteousness; he adorns ritual and music and selects human relations. Above, he is loyal to the rulers of the age; below, he transforms the common people. He would benefit the world. This is what this Kong governs.”
He asked again, “Is he a ruler with territory?”
Zigong said, “No.”
“Is he an assistant to a lord or king?”
Zigong said, “No.”
The stranger then laughed and turned back, saying as he went, “Benevolent, indeed, he is benevolent, but I fear he will not escape harm to himself. He wears out his mind and labors his body, endangering his true nature. Alas! How far he is from the Way.”
Zigong returned and reported to Confucius. Confucius pushed aside the zither and rose, saying, “He must be a sage!” He then went down to seek him. When he reached the bank of the marsh, the fisherman was about to pole his boat and pull it away. He turned and saw Confucius, then turned back and stood facing him. Confucius stepped back, bowed twice, and advanced.
The stranger said, “What do you seek?”
Confucius said, “A moment ago, sir, you left with some unfinished words. I, Qiu, am unworthy and did not understand what you meant. I venture to wait in the lower wind, hoping to hear the sound of your cough and spit, so that you may finally assist me.”
The stranger said, “Ha! How extreme is your love of learning!”
Confucius bowed twice and rose, saying, “I, Qiu, have cultivated learning from youth until now, sixty-nine years, and have never had the good fortune to hear the highest teaching. Dare I not be empty-minded?”
The stranger said, “Like follows like, and same sound responds to same sound – this is certainly the principle of Heaven. I beg to set aside what I have and discuss what you do. What you do is human affairs. The Son of Heaven, the feudal lords, the great officers, and the common people – when these four are each correct in themselves, this is the beauty of governance. When these four leave their positions, there is no greater disorder. When officials govern their duties and people worry about their affairs, then there is no overstepping.
“Therefore: fields waste and houses leak, clothing and food are insufficient, taxes and levies do not arrive, wives and concubines are not harmonious, old and young have no order – these are the worries of the common people.
“When ability is not equal to office, official affairs are not governed, conduct is not pure, subordinates are idle and negligent, merit and beauty are not achieved, rank and salary are not maintained – these are the worries of the great officers.
“When the court has no loyal ministers, the state is confused, craftsmen are not skillful, tribute duties are not fine, the spring and autumn sacrifices are out of order, and the Son of Heaven is not obeyed – these are the worries of the feudal lords.
“When yin and yang are not harmonious, cold and heat are out of season, injuring the myriad creatures; when the feudal lords are violent and disorderly, arbitrarily attacking one another, harming the people; when ritual and music are not regulated, wealth and resources are exhausted, human relations are not ordered, and the hundred clans are licentious – these are the worries of the Son of Heaven and his officials.
“Now you, above, have no position of lord, marquis, or official; below, you have no office of great minister. Yet you presume to adorn ritual and music, select human relations, and transform the common people – is this not greatly overdoing things?
“Moreover, people have eight faults, and affairs have four afflictions. You cannot but examine them.
“To handle what is not one’s affair is called meddling.
To advance when no one looks is called obsequiousness.
To guess at wishes and speak accordingly is called sycophancy.
To speak without choosing right and wrong is called flattery.
To love speaking of others’ faults is called slander.
To break friendships and separate kin is called harm.
To praise the false and ruin the disliked is called malice.
To make no choice of good or bad, to accommodate both sides, to secretly pull out what one desires, is called dangerousness.
“These eight faults: outwardly they confuse others, inwardly they injure oneself. The gentleman does not befriend them; the enlightened ruler does not employ them.
“The so-called four afflictions:
To love managing great affairs, to change and alter the constant, in order to hang up fame – this is called greed.
To monopolize knowledge and take over affairs, to encroach on others and use them for oneself – this is called avarice.
To see one’s fault but not change, to hear remonstrance and go further – this is called obstinacy.
If others agree with oneself, then it is acceptable; if they do not agree, then even if good, it is not good – this is called pride.
“These are the four afflictions. Only when one can remove the eight faults and not practice the four afflictions can one begin to be taught.”
Confucius sighed with a sorrowful look, bowed twice, and rose, saying, “I, Qiu, was twice driven from Lu, had my traces cut off in Wei, had a tree cut down in Song, and was surrounded in Chen and Cai. I do not know what fault I committed, yet I met these four slanders. Why?”
The stranger’s expression changed sadly, and he said, “How extreme is your difficulty in awakening! There is a man who fears his shadow and hates his footprints, and so he runs away from them. The more he lifts his feet, the more footprints there are; the faster he runs, the shadow never leaves his body. He thinks he is still too slow, so he runs without stopping, until his strength is exhausted and he dies. He does not know to stay in the shade to rest his shadow, to stay in stillness to stop his footprints. He is extremely foolish.
“You examine the space between benevolence and righteousness, scrutinize the boundaries of sameness and difference, observe the changes of movement and stillness, adjust the measure of receiving and giving, order the feelings of like and dislike, and harmonize the rhythm of joy and anger – yet you are nearly unable to escape. Carefully cultivate your person, cautiously guard your true nature, and return things to others. Then you will have no entanglement. Now you do not cultivate your person but seek it in others – is this not outward?”
Confucius said with a sorrowful look, “May I ask what is meant by the true?”
The stranger said, “The true is the utmost of essence and sincerity. Without essence and sincerity, one cannot move others. Therefore, forced weeping, though sad, is not grieving; forced anger, though severe, is not authoritative; forced affection, though smiling, is not harmonious. True grief is silent yet grieving; true anger is not yet issued yet awe-inspiring; true affection is not yet smiling yet harmonious. When the true is within, the spirit moves without – this is why the true is valued.
“When applied to human relations: in serving parents, it is kindness and filial piety; in serving the ruler, it is loyalty and fidelity; in drinking wine, it is joy and delight; in mourning, it is grief and sorrow. Loyalty and fidelity take merit as their master; drinking wine takes joy as its master; mourning takes grief as its master; serving parents takes fittingness as its master.
“When merit is complete and beautiful, there is no trace of it. In serving parents with fittingness, one does not discuss the means. In drinking wine for joy, one does not choose the vessels. In mourning with grief, one does not ask about ritual.
“Ritual is what the vulgar world does; the true is what is received from Heaven, natural and unchangeable. Therefore the sage models Heaven and values the true, and is not bound by custom. The foolish do the opposite. They cannot model Heaven but worry about others; they do not know to value the true. They are busy and change with custom, and so are never sufficient. Alas! You were early steeped in falsehood and late in hearing the Great Way!”
Confucius bowed twice and rose, saying, “Today I, Qiu, have met you as if by Heaven’s favor. You, sir, do not consider it shameful to associate me with your service and teach me personally. May I ask where you dwell? I beg to receive instruction and finally learn the Great Way.”
The stranger said, “I have heard: with one who can go along, one may go to the wondrous Way; with one who cannot go along, one does not know the Way. Carefully do not go with him, and your person will be without fault. Encourage yourself. I leave you, I leave you!”
Thereupon he poled his boat away, moving along among the reeds.
Yan Yuan turned the carriage around; Zilu handed him the carriage strap. Confucius did not look back. He waited until the water waves settled and the sound of the oar was no longer heard, and only then dared to mount.
Zilu stood beside the carriage and asked, “I, You, have been in your service a long time, yet I have never seen you meet anyone with such reverence. Rulers of ten thousand chariots and lords of a thousand chariots, when they see you, never fail to meet you as equals in separate courts, yet you still have a proud look. Now this fisherman, holding his oar, stands facing you, and you bend your waist like a chime-stone, speak and bow in response – is this not too much? Your disciples all find you strange. How did this fisherman deserve this?”
Confucius leaned on the crossbar and sighed, saying, “How extreme is You’s difficulty in transforming! He has been steeped in ritual and righteousness for some time, yet his rustic and vulgar heart has not yet left him. Come, I will tell you: to meet an elder and not respect him is to lose ritual; to see a worthy and not honor him is to lack benevolence. If he were not a Perfect Man, he could not humble himself before others. If one humbles himself before others without essence, he does not get their truth, and so he long injures himself. Alas! Among men, there is no greater calamity than lack of benevolence, yet You alone excels in it.
“Moreover, the Way is that by which all things proceed. The myriad creatures that lose it die; those that get it live. In affairs, to go against it is to fail; to follow it is to succeed. Therefore where the Way is, the sage honors it. Now this fisherman, with respect to the Way, can be said to have it. How dare I not respect him?”
Note
Confucius / Kong Qiu / Zhongni (孔子 / 孔丘 / 仲尼)
The founder of Confucianism. In this chapter he appears as a humble seeker. He is traveling with his disciples, singing and playing the zither, when a fisherman criticizes his life’s work. Rather than defending himself, Confucius bows and asks for instruction. This is a classic Daoist portrayal: Confucius is sincere but still attached to ritual, benevolence, and righteousness, while the fisherman represents a deeper, more natural wisdom.
The Fisherman (渔父)
An anonymous old man who comes from a boat. In Chinese literature, the fisherman is often a symbol of the hidden sage – someone who lives simply, speaks plainly, and has no interest in fame or office. He criticizes Confucius for “overdoing things”: trying to reform the world without official position, adorning ritual and music, and selecting human relations. He teaches that the highest truth is zhen – authenticity, sincerity, and naturalness. At the end, he leaves without revealing his name, like a Daoist immortal.
Zigong (子贡)
A disciple of Confucius, known for eloquence and practical ability. He answers the fisherman’s questions about Confucius and later reports back.
Zilu (子路)
A disciple of Confucius, known for courage and directness. He is confused when Confucius bows so deeply to the fisherman. Confucius rebukes him for lacking respect and understanding.
Yan Yuan / Yan Hui (颜渊 / 颜回)
Confucius’ favorite disciple. He turns the carriage around and waits respectfully while Confucius watches the fisherman leave.
Forest of the Black Curtain (缁帷之林)
A literary or symbolic forest. “Black curtain” may suggest a secluded, shaded place – appropriate for a philosophical encounter.
Apricot Altar (杏坛)
The platform where Confucius sits. In later Confucian tradition, the “Apricot Altar” became a famous symbol of Confucius’ teaching. It represents the school and the transmission of learning.
State of Lu (鲁)
Confucius’ home state. The fisherman identifies Confucius as “a gentleman of Lu.”
Wei, Song, Chen, Cai (卫、宋、陈、蔡)
States where Confucius and his disciples faced hardship. Confucius says he was “twice driven from Lu, had his traces cut off in Wei, had a tree cut down in Song, and was surrounded in Chen and Cai.” These refer to famous episodes in Confucius’s travels, when he was rejected, threatened, or trapped without food. The “Chen-Cai distress” is one of the most famous stories in Confucian tradition.
Meeting as Equals in Separate Courts (分庭伉礼)
An ancient ritual in which host and guest stand in separate courtyards and bow as equals. Zilu says that even great rulers meet Confucius this way, yet Confucius still looks proud. Now Confucius bows deeply to a fisherman – this is shocking to the disciples.
Bending the Waist Like a Chime-Stone (曲要磬折)
A chime-stone (qing) is an L-shaped stone instrument. To “bend like a chime-stone” means to bow very deeply, almost at a right angle. It shows extreme respect.
Social Roles and Responsibilities
The fisherman lists four social types and their proper concerns:
- Son of Heaven (天子): The Zhou king. His worry is cosmic and political harmony: yin and yang, seasons, feudal lords, ritual, music, resources, human relations.
- Feudal Lords (诸侯): Regional rulers. Their worry is loyal ministers, good craftsmen, tribute, sacrifices, and obedience to the Son of Heaven.
- Great Officers (大夫): High officials. Their worry is competence, clean conduct, subordinates, merit, rank, and salary.
- Common People (庶人): Farmers and ordinary folk. Their worry is fields, houses, food, clothing, taxes, family harmony, and order between old and young.
The fisherman’s point: each person should stay in their proper role. Confucius, he says, has no official position, yet he tries to reform the world – so he is “overdoing things.”
The Eight Faults and Four Afflictions
The fisherman gives a sharp moral diagnosis of human behavior.
Eight Faults (八疵):
- Meddling (总): Handling what is not your affair.
- Obsequiousness (佞): Advancing when no one looks.
- Sycophancy (谄): Guessing wishes and speaking accordingly.
- Flattery (谀): Speaking without choosing right and wrong.
- Slander (谗): Loving to speak of others’ faults.
- Harm (贼): Breaking friendships and separating kin.
- Malice (慝): Praising the false and ruining the disliked.
- Dangerousness (险): Accommodating both sides and secretly extracting what you want.
Four Afflictions (四患):
- Greed (叨): Loving great affairs, changing the constant, to win fame.
- Avarice (贪): Monopolizing knowledge and affairs, using others for oneself.
- Obstinacy (很): Seeing one’s fault but not changing, hearing advice and going further.
- Pride (矜): Accepting only those who agree with you; rejecting the good if it differs.
Only one who removes these eight faults and avoids these four afflictions can be taught.
The True (真) and the Critique of Ritual
The fisherman’s central teaching is about the true.
- The true is the utmost of essence and sincerity (精诚).
- Without essence and sincerity, you cannot move others.
- Forced tears, forced anger, forced affection – none are real.
- True grief, true anger, true affection arise from within and move the spirit without.
- Ritual (li) is a human, worldly convention. The true is received from Heaven and cannot be changed.
- The sage models Heaven and values the true (法天贵真), and is not bound by custom.
This is a classic Daoist critique of Confucian ritual: ritual is useful, but it can become empty performance. What matters is authenticity – the real feeling behind the form.
The Man Who Fears His Shadow
The fisherman gives a famous parable:
A man fears his shadow and hates his footprints. He runs to escape them. But the more he runs, the more footprints he makes; the faster he runs, the shadow never leaves him. He runs until he dies of exhaustion.
The solution is not to run faster. It is to stay in the shade – and the shadow disappears. Stay still – and the footprints stop.
The parable means: Confucius is trying to solve the world’s problems by running harder, preaching more, reforming more. But his very activity creates more problems. The Daoist answer is to stop, cultivate oneself, guard one’s true nature, and return things to others.
The Fisherman as a Daoist Sage
The fisherman never gives his name. He arrives from the water, speaks with authority, and leaves among the reeds. He is not a government official, not a scholar, not a ritualist. He is a hidden sage – the kind of person Daoist texts often praise: unassuming, close to nature, free from ambition.
His final words to Confucius are: “With one who can go along, one may go to the wondrous Way; with one who cannot go along, one does not know the Way.” Then he leaves. Confucius watches until the waves settle and the sound of the oar is gone.
For Confucius, this is a moment of humility. He tells Zilu that where the Way is, the sage must honor it – even if it appears in the form of an old fisherman.
杂篇·渔父第三十一
孔子游乎缁帷之林，休坐乎杏坛之上。弟子读书，孔子弦歌鼓琴。奏曲未半，有渔父者，下船而来，须眉交白，被发揄袂，行原以上，距陆而止，左手据膝，右手持颐以听。曲终而招子贡、子路二人俱对。客指孔子曰：“彼何为者也？”子路对曰：“鲁之君子也。”客问其族。子路对曰：“族孔氏。”客曰：“孔氏者何治也？”子路未应，子贡对曰：“孔氏者，性服忠信，身行仁义，饰礼乐，选人伦。上以忠于世主，下以化于齐民，将以利天下。此孔氏之所治也。”又问曰：“有土之君与？”子贡曰：“非也。”“侯王之佐与？”子贡曰：“非也。”客乃笑而还行，言曰：“仁则仁矣，恐不免其身。苦心劳形以危其真。呜呼！远哉，其分于道也。”
子贡还，报孔子。孔子推琴而起，曰：“其圣人与？”乃下求之，至于泽畔，方将杖挐而引其船，顾见孔子，还乡而立。孔子反走，再拜而进。客曰：“子将何求？”孔子曰：“曩者先生有绪言而去，丘不肖，未知所谓，窃待于下风，幸闻咳唾之音，以卒相丘也。”客曰：“嘻！甚矣，子之好学也！”孔子再拜而起，曰：“丘少而修学，以至于今，六十九岁矣，无所得闻至教，敢不虚心！”客曰：“同类相从，同声相应，固天之理也。吾请释吾之所有而经子之所以。子之所以者，人事也。天子诸侯大夫庶人，此四者自正，治之美也；四者离位而乱莫大焉。官治其职，人忧其事，乃无所陵。故田荒室露，衣食不足，征赋不属，妻妾不和，长少无序，庶人之忧也；能不胜任，官事不治，行不清白，群下荒怠，功美不有，爵禄不持，大夫之忧也；廷无忠臣，国家昏乱，工技不巧，贡职不美，春秋后伦，不顺天子，诸侯之忧也；阴阳不和，寒暑不时，以伤庶物，诸侯暴乱，擅相攘伐，以残民人，礼乐不节，财用穷匮，人伦不饬，百姓淫乱，天子有司之忧也。今子既上无君侯有司之势，而下无大臣职事之官，而擅饰礼乐，选人伦，以化齐民，不泰多事乎？且人有八疵，事有四患，不可不察也。非其事而事之，谓之总；莫之顾而进之，谓之佞；希意道言，谓之谄；不择是非而言，谓之谀；好言人之恶，谓之谗；析交离亲，谓之贼；称誉诈伪以败恶人，谓之慝；不择善否，两容颊适，偷拔其所欲，谓之险。此八疵者，外以乱人，内以伤身，君子不友，明君不臣。所谓四患者：好经大事，变更易常，以挂功名，谓之叨；专知擅事，侵人自用，谓之贪；见过不更，闻谏愈甚，谓之很；人同于己则可，不同于己，虽善不善，谓之矜。此四患也。能去八疵，无行四患，而始可教已。
孔子愀然而叹，再拜而起，曰：“丘再逐于鲁，削迹于卫，伐树于宋，围于陈蔡。丘不知所失，而离此四谤者何也？”客凄然变容曰：“甚矣，子之难悟也！人有畏影恶迹而去之走者，举足愈数而迹愈多，走愈疾而影不离身，自以为尚迟，疾走不休，绝力而死。不知处阴以休影，处静以息迹，愚亦甚矣！子审仁义之间，察同异之际，观动静之变，适受与之度，理好恶之情，和喜怒之节，而几于不免矣。谨修而身，慎守其真，还以物与人，则无所累矣。今不修之身而求之人，不亦外乎！”
孔子愀然曰：“请问何谓真？”客曰：“真者，精诚之至也。不精不诚，不能动人。故强哭者，虽悲不哀，强怒者，虽严不屯，强亲者，虽笑不和。真悲无声而哀，真怒未发而威，真亲未笑而和。真在内者，神动于外，是所以贵真也。其用于人理也，事亲则慈孝，事君则忠贞，饮酒则欢乐，处丧则悲哀。忠贞以功为主，饮酒以乐为主，处丧以哀为主，事亲以适为主。功成之美，无一其迹矣；事亲以适，不论所以矣；饮酒以乐，不选其具矣；处丧以哀，无问其礼矣。礼者，世俗之所为也；真者，所以受于天也，自然不可易也。故圣人法天贵真，不拘于俗。愚者反此。不能法天而恤于人，不知贵真，禄禄而受变于俗，故不足。惜哉，子之蚤湛于伪而晚闻大道也！”
孔子再拜而起曰：“今者丘得遇也，若天幸然。先生不羞而比之服役而身教之。敢问舍所在，请因受业而卒学大道。”客曰：“吾闻之，可与往者，与之至于妙道；不可与往者，不知其道。慎勿与之，身乃无咎。子勉之，吾去子矣，吾去子矣！”乃剌船而去，延缘苇间。
颜渊还车，子路授绥，孔子不顾，待水波定，不闻拏音而后敢乘。子路旁车而问曰：“由得为役久矣，未尝见夫子遇人如此其威也。万乘之主，千乘之君，见夫子未尝不分庭伉礼，夫子犹有倨傲之容。今渔父杖挐逆立，而夫子曲要磬折，言拜而应，得无太甚乎！门人皆怪夫子矣，渔父何以得此乎！”孔子伏轼而叹，曰：“甚矣，由之难化也！湛于礼义有间矣，而朴鄙之心至今未去。进，吾语汝：夫遇长不敬，失礼也；见贤不尊，不仁也。彼非至人，不能下人。下人不精，不得其真，故长伤身。惜哉！不仁之于人也，祸莫大焉，而由独擅之。且道者，万物之所由也。庶物失之者死，得之者生。为事逆之则败，顺之则成。故道之所在，圣人尊之。今之渔父之于道，可谓有矣，吾敢不敬乎！”
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