The people of Yueh assassinated their rulers three times in one generation. Upset by all this, Prince Sou fled to the caves of Tan, which meant that the kingdom of Yueh was without a ruler. The people of Yueh tried to find Prince Sou but couldn’t, until they discovered the caves of Tan. Prince Sou refused to come out, but the people of Yueh smoked him out with noxious fumes. Then they put him in the royal carriage. Prince Sou grasped the strap and hauled himself up into the carriage, looked to Heaven and said, ‘O ruler, O ruler! Couldn’t I have been spared all this?’ Prince Sou was not frightened of being the ruler, it was all the troubles that go with it that he was afraid of. It can be said of Prince Sou that he was not willing to allow the concerns of the kingdom to damage his life and it was exactly because of this that the people of Yueh wished to have him as their ruler.
The countries of Han and Wei were at war over a territorial dispute. Master Hua Tzu went to see Marquis Chao Hsi of Han, who looked worried. Master Hua Tzu said, ‘Now imagine that the people of the world were to present you with a document which read, “If you lay hold of this with your left hand, you will lose your right hand; lay hold with your right hand, and you will lose your left hand; however, if you lay hold of this, you will also rule the world.” So, Lord, would you do so?’
The Marquis Chao Hsi said, ‘I wouldn’t touch it.’
Master Hua Tzu said, ‘Excellent! From that point of view, I can certainly see that two hands are more important than the whole world. Furthermore, your body itself is more important than just your two hands. The whole of Han is much less important than the whole of the world and this scrap of land you are fighting over is of less significance than Han. However, surely, my Lord, if you so value your body and your life, you should not be following a path of misery and distress trying to seize this territory!’
Marquis Chao Hsi said, ‘Splendid! I have been offered all sorts of advice from different people, but I have never before been offered words of such wisdom.’
Master Hua Tzu, it can be said, knew the difference between what was significant and what was minor.
The ruler of Lu had heard that Yen Ho had gained the Tao and so he sent a messenger bearing gifts of silk to start up discussions with him. Yen Ho was sitting in the doorway of his simple house, dressed in coarse hemp cloth and feeding a cow. The ruler of Lu’s messenger arrived and Yen Ho met him.
The messenger asked, ‘Is this Yen Ho’s house?’
Yen Ho replied, ‘This is Ho’s house.’
The messenger proceeded to offer the gifts to him, but Yen Ho said, ‘I think that unfortunately you have got your instructions confused. If you present these to the wrong person, you will get into trouble. I suggest you return and check that you are doing the right thing.’
So the messenger went back, ensured his instructions were accurate and then came back to look for him, but he could not find him. It is true that those like Yen Ho really do hate honours and wealth.
It is said, the true purpose of the Tao is in caring for yourself, its edges are concerned with running the country and the family, while it is only its dregs which are concerned with ruling the world. So, from this we can understand that what Emperors and kings do is surplus to what the sage does, for it does not relate to care of the self or of life.
The leaders of this generation, that is to say most of them, throw away their lives in pursuit of material gain. Isn’t it pathetic! When the sage starts something, he will certainly have considered what he is doing and why he is doing it. Now this is like a man who takes the pearl of the Marquis of Sui and shoots a bird in the sky with it, high up in the air. People would obviously laugh at him. Why is this so? Because he has used something of great value to obtain something of little value. Now surely life is even more valuable than the pearl of the Marquis of Sui!
Master Lieh Tzu was in great poverty and had a hungry look about him. A visitor spoke about this to Tzu Yang, Prime Minister of Cheng, saying, ‘Lieh Tzu Kou looks like a scholar who has the Tao, yet here he lives in your state and you let him exist in poverty?’ Prime Minister Tzu Yang sent an officer to see him with a gift of rice. Master Lieh Tzu greeted him and bowed, but twice refused the gift.
After the messenger had gone, Master Lieh Tzu went inside, and his wife looked scornfully at him and beat her breast saying, ‘I have been told that the wife and children of one who has the Tao have comfort and happiness, but right now we are starving. The ruler understood his mistake, and sends you some food to eat, Master. But the Master refuses it. Is this then our destiny?’
Master Lieh Tzu laughed and said, ‘The ruler does not know me. He sent the rice because someone told him to. Likewise, one day someone could speak against me and he could treat me like a criminal. That is why I will not accept.’ As it so happened, the people rose against Tzu Yang in civil war and put him to death.
When King Chao of Chu105 was forced into exile from his country, sheep-butcher Yueh fled also and followed King
