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Confucianism -> Lunheng -> Daoxu -> 26

This is idle talk.
文摯Wen Zhi was boiled three days and nights
without changing colour.
If then only in consequence of the lid being put on
he was choked and died,
this proves that he was not in possession of Dao.
All living and breathing creatures
die, when deprived of air.
When they are dead and boiled, they become soft.
If living and breathing creatures are placed in vessels
with a lid on,
having all their fissures carefully filled,
so that the air cannot circulate,
and their breath cannot pass,
they die instantaneously.
Thrown into a kettle with boiling water,
they are also cooked soft.
Why?
Because they all have the same kind of body, the same breath,
are endowed by heaven with a similar nature,
and all belong to one class.
文摯 If Wen Zhi did not breathe,
he could have been like a piece of metal or stone,
and even in boiling water not be cooked soft.
文摯 Now he was breathing,
therefore, when cooked, he could not but die.


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