Taihang and Wangwu Mountains are some seven hundred Ii around, and hundreds of thousands of feet high.
North of these mountains lived an old man of nearly ninety, who was called the Fool Elder. His house faced these mountains, and he found it very inconvenient to have to make a detour each time he went out and came back; so one day he summoned his family to discuss the matter.
“Suppose we work together to level the mountains?” he suggested.
”Then we can open a road southward to the bank of the Han lliver.”
To this they all agreed. Only his wife was dubious.
”You haven’t the strength to level even a small hill,” she objected.
“How can you move these two mountains? Besides, where will you dump all the earth and rocks?”
”We’ll dump them in the sea,” was the reply.
Then the Fool Elder set out with his son and grandson, the three of them carrying poles. They dug up stones and earth, and carried them in baskets to the sea. A neighbour of theirs named Jing was a widow with a son of seven or eight, and this boy went with them to help them. The sea is far and it took them almost a year to make one trip.
A old man living at the river bend, who was called the Wise Elder, laughed at their efforts and did his best to stop them.
“Enough of this folly!” he cried. “How stupid this is! Old and weak as you are, you won’t be able to remove even a fraction of the mountains. How can you dispose of so much earth and stones?”
The Fool Elder heaved a long sigh.
“How dull and dense you are!” he said. ”You haven’t even the sense of a widow or child. Though I shall die, I shall leave behind me my son, and my son’s sons, and so on from generation to generation. Since these mountains can’t grow any larger, why shouldn’t we be able to level them?”
Then the Wise Elder had nothing to say.
Philosophical Notes
The Power of Unwavering Determination and Perseverance:
The core message is that relentless effort and persistence can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. Fool Elder, despite his age and the mockery of others (“The Wise Elder”), refuses to be deterred by the immensity of the task.
It teaches that success often comes not from sudden, miraculous strength, but from consistent, dedicated work over time, generation after generation (“My sons will carry on, and their sons, and so on without end”).
The Triumph of Will Over Circumstance:
The mountains represent enormous challenges, hardships, or entrenched problems in life (social, personal, political, etc.). The Fool Elder symbolizes the human spirit that refuses to accept limitations imposed by circumstance or scale.
It emphasizes that attitude and action are more powerful than initial conditions. What seems foolish (blind faith in moving mountains) becomes profound wisdom through sheer commitment.
Leave a Reply