This page interprets Robber Zhi from Zhuangzi. Through Robber Zhi refuting Confucius, it denounces the hypocrisy of Confucian benevolence and righteousness. Two additional dialogues examine harms of fame and wealth, advocating following nature and preserving one’s true self in this highly subversive chapter.
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.
–Mao Zedong, Spring 1964 Apes and men once bowed and took their leave;A few stones ground, our infancy weave.Furnaces flared with copper and steel’s bright sheen –When dawned that age? No guess is keen,But a thousand winters and summers green.