Marblehead Posted October 15, 2017 Yao's teacher was Hsŭ Yu; Hsŭ Yu's teacher was Gnaw Gap; Gnaw Gap's teacher was Princely Scion; and Princely Scion's teacher was Wearcoat. {{This is undoubtedly the same imaginary figure as Master Rushcoat who appears at the beginning of Chapter 7.}} Yao inquired of Hsŭ Yu, saying, "Can Gnaw Gap be the companion of heaven? If so, I could rely on Princely Scion to invite him to replace me on the throne." "Perilous!" said Hsŭ Yu. "That would put all heaven in a precarious position. As a person, Gnaw Gap is intelligent, shrewd, quick-witted, and clever. His natural talents surpass those of other men and, furthermore, he is able to utilize his human abilities to receive the aid of heaven. He is cautious in preventing error, but he does not know whence errors arise. Let him be the companion of heaven? He would avail himself of his human abilities and neglect heaven. Then he would make his own person the basis of everything and alienate all other forms, would rush about furiously out of respect for knowledge, would be driven by trivialities, would be stymied by things, would react to things in whichever direction he glanced, would react to a host of opinions, would evolve along with things and thus would not begin to have any enduring principle of his own. How could he be fit to be the companion of heaven? Nevertheless, there are clans and there are ancestors. He could be the father of one group, but not the father of the fathers of many groups. This sort of government would lead to disorder. It would be a disaster for the north-facing ministers, a catastrophe for the south-facing ruler." 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted October 15, 2017 Not Confucian in my opinion. Anyone see Confucius in that section? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) In chapter 12 Watson , Confucius doesn't know this on his own, he asks and is told by Lao Tan. Gnaw gap would not be a forgetter of self and adopt the ways of heaven. He would be partial and seek such as other men do. So this lesson in Zz is not one that Confucius teaches. .. or so it looks that way. .. and so it seems sometimes ,that Zz never ceases to order me up a serving of spankings. Edited October 17, 2017 by Stosh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted October 17, 2017 Yeah, Chuang Tzu has a way of taking both sides of an issue at the same time. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
