Mair 18:5

[Marblehead]

When Yen Yam went eastward to Ch'i, Confucius had a worried look.  Tzukung stepped off his mat and inquired, saying, "Your humble disciple ventures to ask why you have such a worried look now that Yen Yuan is going eastward to Ch'i."

"You've asked a good question!" said Confucius.  "Of old, Master Kuan had a saying of which I thoroughly approve.  He said, 'A small bag cannot be made to contain something large; a short rope cannot be made to draw from a deep well.'  Indeed, it is like this, there being that which is determined by our destiny and that which is suitable for our physical form.  These can neither be augmented nor diminished.  I'm afraid that Yuan will talk about the Way of Yao, Shun, and the Yellow Emperor with the Marquis of Ch'i, and that he'll go on to talk about Torchman and the Divine Farmer.  The marquis will seek for correspondences in himself but will not find them.  Not finding them, he will suspect the speaker and the one whom he suspects will be put to death.

"And haven't you heard about the seabird of old that alighted in the suburbs of Lu?  The Marquis of Lu went out to welcome the seabird and held a banquet for it in his ancestral temple.  For music, they performed 'The Ninefold Splendors,' {{The regal court music of Shun.}} and they offered it beef, mutton, and pork as sacrificial victuals.  The bird's eyes, however, glazed over with sadness and it was unwilling to eat so much as a single sliver of flesh, nor drink a single cupful of wine; and in three days it died.  The marquis was trying to nourish the bird as he would have nourished himself, and not with the nourishment suitable for a bird.  Now, if we are to nourish birds as birds should be nourished, we ought to let them perch in the deep forests, wander over sandy islets, float on rivers and lakes, feed on loaches and minnows, follow along in rank till they stop, dwelling in self-contentment.  The seabird disliked hearing human voices, so why go ahead and make all that hullabaloo?  When the music of 'The Pond of Totality ' and 'The Ninefold Splendors' is performed in the cavernous wilds, birds fly away upon hearing it, beasts run away upon hearing it, and fish dive into the depths upon hearing it, but when the masses of men hear it, they circle around and look on.  Fish dwell in the water and live; if men were to dwell in the water they would die.  They are decidedly different from each other, so their likes and dislikes are different.  Therefore the former sages did not insist that the abilities of all be identical nor that their affairs be similar.  Their naming was limited by reality, and they established usages as appropriate.  This is called 'holding on to blessings through orderly adaptation.'"

[OldDog]

Perhaps there are other lessons in this story.

 

It appears that Yuan did not fully appreciate the situation.

 

In his counsel with the marquis, what if Yuan presumes to be superior ... more sophisticated ... in his knowledge than the marquis. And rather than teach for the sake of the lesson, he is seeking favor. Should the marquis fail to understand, all he would see was is Yuan's impudence. So, instead of gaining favor Yuan risks punishment.

 

Or, perhaps the teaching could cause the marquis to see faults in himself ... rather than correspondences. Not liking what he sees ... and having his faults exposed ... the marquis could be angered and punish Yuan.

 

Either way, the fault is Yuan's. Chuangtse saw this potential and so was dismayed when Yuan went to Ch'i

 

There lesson here is to know your audience ... the length of their rope ... and do not presume in the face of authority.

[wandelaar]

Yes - but I also think this is important:

 

Quote

Therefore the former sages did not insist that the abilities of all be identical nor that their affairs be similar.  Their naming was limited by reality, and they established usages as appropriate.  This is called 'holding on to blessings through orderly adaptation.'

 

Where Lao tzu paints a more superhuman ideal of the sage, Chuang tzu has an eye for human limitations and personal peculiarities. 

[Marblehead]

Nietzsche spoke to this concept as well.  Don't destroy a man's beliefs; when he begins to doubt he may kill to defend those beliefs.

 

[OldDog]

Ah, yes ... the perennial existential threat!

 

Maybe there is even a political lesson buried in there. ; )

[OldDog]

7 hours ago, wandelaar said:

Where Lao tzu paints a more superhuman ideal of the sage, Chuang tzu has an eye for human limitations and personal peculiarities. 

 

Yes. Perhaps this is part of the indifference often displayed by the sage. Realization that ideas/concepts cannot be forced upon others no matter how strongly one feels about them. 

 

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.