Follow us on Facebook to receive important updates Follow us on Twitter to receive important updates Follow us on sina.com's microblogging site to receive important updates Follow us on Douban to receive important updates
Chinese Text Project
Simplified Chinese version
Back Forward
Daoism -> Zhuangzi -> Outer Chapters -> The Revolution of Heaven -> 4.1

孔子西When Confucius was travelling in the west in Wei,
颜渊 Yan Yuan asked the music-master Jin,
saying,
?”'How is it, do you think, with the course of the Master?'
The music-master replied,
'Alas!
!” it is all over with your Master!'
颜渊:“?”'How so?' asked Yan Yuan;
and the other said,
'Before the grass-dogs are set forth (at the sacrifice),
they are deposited in a box or basket,
and wrapt up with elegantly embroidered cloths,
while the representative of the dead and the officer of prayer prepare themselves by fasting to present them.
After they have been set forth, however,
passers-by trample on their heads and backs,
and the grass-cutters take and burn them in cooking. That is all they are good for.
If one should again take them, replace them in the box or basket,
wrap them up with embroidered cloths,
and then in rambling, or abiding at the spot, should go to sleep under them,
if he do not get (evil) dreams,
he is sure to be often troubled with the nightmare.
Now here is your Master in the same way taking the grass-dogs, presented by the ancient kings,
and leading his disciples to wander or abide and sleep under them.
Owing to this, the tree (beneath which they were practising ceremonies) in Sung was cut down;
he was obliged to leave Wei;
he was reduced to extremities in Shang and Zhou:
were not those experiences like having (evil) dreams?
He was kept in a state of siege between Chen and Cai,
so that for seven days he had no cooked food to eat,
and was in a situation between life and death:
were not those experiences like the nightmare?


Enjoy this site? Please help.Site design and content copyright 2006-2024. When quoting or citing information from this site, please link to the corresponding page or to https://ctext.org/ens. Please note that the use of automatic download software on this site is strictly prohibited, and that users of such software are automatically banned without warning to save bandwidth. 沪ICP备09015720号-3Comments? Suggestions? Please raise them here.