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Chapter 10 of 33
庄子
To guard against petty thieves who open boxes, rummage through bags, and pry open chests, people inevitably tighten their ropes and reinforce their locks—this is what the world calls "cleverness" 🌱. But when a great bandit arrives, he hoists the chest onto his back, carries off the boxes, and slings the bags over his shoulder as he flees, only worrying that your ropes and locks aren't sturdy enough! Viewed this way, isn't the so-called cleverness of before just amassing goods for the great bandit?
Let me try to discuss this: Among the so-called clever people of the world, who is not amassing goods for the great bandit? Among the so-called sages, who is not standing guard for the great bandit? How do we know this is so? In former times, in the state of Qi, neighboring villages could see one another, the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking could be heard across each other's borders, and the waters where fishing nets were cast and the lands where plows and hoes tilled spanned more than two thousand square li. Within the entire territory, establishing ancestral temples and altars of soil and grain, and administering all levels of regional government—which of these did not emulate the sages? Yet when Tian Chengzi once killed the ruler of Qi and usurped the state, did he steal only that state? He also stole the entire system of sagely wisdom and law by which the sage-kings governed the world. So although Tian Chengzi bore the name of a thief, he sat securely like Yao and Shun. Small states dared not criticize him, large states dared not attack him, and his descendants enjoyed the state of Qi for twelve generations—is this not stealing the state of Qi, along with the sagely wisdom and law, to protect his own thieving person?
Let me try again: Among the so-called cleverest people of the world, who is not amassing for the great bandit? Among the so-called most exalted sages, who is not standing guard for the great bandit? How do we know this is so? In former times, Guan Longfeng was beheaded, Bi Gan had his heart cut out, Chang Hong had his entrails ripped open, and Wu Zixu's corpse was sunk into the river. These four worthies—none of them could escape being killed.
So the disciples of Robber Zhi asked Robber Zhi: "Does robbery also have its 'Way'?" Robber Zhi said: "Where can there be a place without the Way? Accurately guessing what treasures are hidden inside a house—that is sagacity; leading the way in first—that is courage; retreating last—that is righteousness; judging whether the job can be done—that is wisdom; dividing the spoils evenly—that is benevolence. One who lacks these five qualities yet can become a great bandit has never existed in the world."
From this perspective, good people cannot establish themselves without the Way of the sages, and Robber Zhi cannot carry out his robberies without the Way of the sages. The good people of the world are few, while the not-good are many—so the sages benefit the world little, but harm the world greatly.
Therefore it is said: When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold; when the wine of Lu is thin, Handan ends up besieged; when sages appear, great bandits arise with them. Topple the sages, release the bandits, and only then will the world begin to find peace.
When rivers run dry, the valleys become empty; when hills are leveled, the deep pools are filled 🍃. When the sages die, great bandits will not arise, and the world will be at peace! If the sages do not die, great bandits will not cease. Although one may rely on sages to govern the world, in truth this greatly benefits people like Robber Zhi.
Devise dou-measures to measure grain, and the dou itself is stolen along with it; devise steelyard balances to weigh goods, and the balance itself is stolen along with it; devise tally-seals and insignia to secure trust, and the tally-seal itself is stolen along with it; devise benevolence and righteousness to correct people's hearts, and benevolence and righteousness themselves are stolen along with it. How do we know this is so? Those who steal a single belt hook are executed, yet those who steal an entire state become feudal lords—and at the gates of the feudal lords, the signboard of "benevolence and righteousness" hangs—is this not stealing benevolence, righteousness, sageliness, and wisdom as well? So those who chase the name of great banditry, usurp the position of feudal lords, and steal benevolence and righteousness along with the benefits of dou-measures, balances, and tally-seals—even rewards of high rank and generous stipends cannot persuade them to stop, and threats of axes and execution cannot forbid them. This situation that greatly benefits Robber Zhi and cannot be stopped—this is the fault of the sages.
Therefore it is said: "Fish cannot be separated from the deep waters, and the state's sharp instruments must not be shown to others." Those sages—they are the sharp instruments of the world, and cannot be shown to the world. So abandon sageliness, discard wisdom, and great bandits will cease; throw away jade, destroy pearls, and petty thieves will not arise; burn the tallies, smash the seals, and the people will return to simplicity; break the dou-measures, destroy the balances, and the people will not contend; utterly abolish the laws of the world's sages before the people can participate in true discussion; stir up the six pitch-pipes, destroy the yu and se instruments, stop up the ears of Music Master Kuang, and only then can all under heaven preserve their own hearing; eliminate the patterned ornaments, discard the five colors, glue shut the eyes of Li Zhu, and only then can all under heaven preserve their own sight; destroy the carpenter's square and marking line, discard the compass and try square, break the fingers of the artisan Chui, and only then can all under heaven possess their own craftsmanship.
Therefore it is said: The greatest skill appears clumsy 🌊. Cut away the virtues of Zeng Shen and Shi Yu, clamp shut the mouths of Yang Zhu and Mozi, discard benevolence and righteousness, and only then can the virtue of the world return to profound unity. When every person preserves their own sight, the world will not be scorched; when every person preserves their own hearing, the world will not be weighed down; when every person preserves their own wisdom, the world will not be deluded; when every person preserves their own virtue, the world will not be crooked. Those such as Zeng Shen, Shi Yu, Yang Zhu, Mozi, Music Master Kuang, the artisan Chui, and Li Zhu—they were all people who established virtue on the outside and thereby disturbed the world. From the perspective of the Great Way, they are useless.
Do you not know of the age of utmost virtue? In former times, during the ages of Rongcheng, Dating, Bohuang, Zhongyang, Lilu, Lixu, Xuanyuan, Hexu, Zunlu, Zhurong, Fuxi, and Shennong, in those ages people knotted ropes to record events and were content. They found their food sweet, found their clothing beautiful, delighted in their customs, and were at ease in their dwellings. Neighboring states could see one another, the sounds of roosters and dogs could be heard across each other's borders, and the people lived out their lives until old age without ever traveling back and forth. An age such as that—that was true peace. Yet now people stretch their necks and stand on tiptoe, saying "there is a worthy person in such-and-such a place," and then they carry provisions on their backs to go seek them. Within, they abandon their own kin; without, they leave their own proper work. Their footprints tread across the territories of the feudal lords, their wheel tracks connect across a thousand li. This is the fault of those in high positions who delight in cleverness!
If those in high positions truly delight in cleverness without conforming to the Way, the world will fall into great chaos! How do we know this is so? When cunning devices such as bows and crossbows, nets, and triggers abound, birds will fly in disarray through the sky; when cunning devices such as fishhooks, bait, and casting nets abound, fish will dart in disorder through the waters; when cunning devices such as pitfalls and traps abound, wild beasts will run amok through the marshes; when cunning devices such as deception, sophistry, and debates over 'hard-white' and 'same-different' abound, the common people will be befuddled by words. Therefore the world constantly falls into great chaos—the fault lies in delighting in cleverness.
So the whole world knows to pursue what it does not know, yet does not know to seek what it already knows; everyone knows to negate what it considers not-good, yet does not know to negate what it considers good. Therefore the world falls into great chaos.
So above, the brightness of the sun and moon is disturbed; below, the vital essence of mountains and rivers is burned away; in between, the cycle of the four seasons is disrupted. Even the wriggling insects and tiny flying creatures—none is spared from losing its true nature. The disturbance of the world by delighting in cleverness—how severe it is! It has been so since the Three Dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou! Abandoning the simple and primitive nature while delighting in those who bustle and scheme; discarding tranquil non-action while delighting in endless glib speech—endless glib speech has already thrown the world into chaos!
This chapter is one of the most radical and subversive in the Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi. "Qie Qie" (prying open boxes) is used by Zhuangzi as a metaphor pointing to a startling paradox: All artificially constructed "wisdom" and "institutions" will ultimately be hijacked and exploited by more powerful forces.
The core thought can be summarized in several propositions that build upon one another:
First, the paradox of "knowledge." You reinforce chains to guard against petty thieves, yet precisely provide convenience for the great bandit—because the great bandit can carry off the entire chest. Likewise, the sages established benevolence, righteousness, ritual, and law, intending to govern the world, yet these constructions themselves became tools for the usurper of a state. Tian Chengzi usurped Qi, and not only seized the state—he seized "the law of sagely wisdom" along with it, using it to legitimate his own rule.
Second, the mockery of "Even thieves have their Way." Robber Zhi says that being a thief also requires sageliness, courage, righteousness, wisdom, and benevolence—these five words are precisely the cardinal virtues extolled by Confucianism. Zhuangzi uses this mockery to reveal: moral discourse itself is neutral, available to anyone. Good people use it to stand upright; evil people use it to commit evil. And because the "not-good" are numerically superior in the world, this discourse is more likely to be exploited by evil people.
Third, the solution of "abandoning sageliness and discarding wisdom." Zhuangzi's proposed countermeasure is utterly thorough: abolish the dou-measures, the balances, the tally-seals, and benevolence and righteousness—eliminate the tools entirely so that no one can be alienated by tools; let "sagehood" cease to be something to exalt, and no one can use "sage" as a disguise. This cannot, of course, be literally understood as really smashing everything, but is rather a philosophical reductio ad absurdum: when you elevate something to ultimate value, it becomes prey for power.
Fourth, the recollection of "the age of utmost virtue." The ancient age Zhuangzi depicts: people "found their food sweet, found their clothing beautiful, delighted in their customs, and were at ease in their dwellings"—not seeking more, not comparing with others, and needing no "worthy" person to point the way. This is not historical fact but a thought experiment, set against the chaos of an age that "delights in knowledge."
This chapter offers profound lessons for modern people, especially in an age of information explosion, proliferating institutions, and discourse saturation.
The modern version of "reinforcing the chains": We continually make rules to prevent problems—more complex laws, more refined regulations, more secure systems—but every new rule creates new spaces for manipulation. The more complex financial regulation becomes, the more ingeniously financial engineering finds ways around it; the more detailed social media platform rules become, the more people find loopholes to manipulate public opinion. Zhuangzi saw this logic over two thousand years ago: every "protection" you build paves the way for a more powerful "predator."
The alienation of "thieves having their Way" and discourse: Today, "benevolence and righteousness" have been replaced by a host of shiny vocabularies—"social responsibility," "sustainable development," "user-first," "empowerment." These words are not wrong in themselves, but they can be appropriated by any party. A monopolistic enterprise can use "ecosystem win-win" to package monopolistic behavior; an authoritarian government can use "stability" to package suppression. Zhuangzi reminds us: when a discourse is erected as unquestionable orthodoxy, it has already been hijacked.
"Delighting in knowledge" and information anxiety: Zhuangzi says "the world constantly falls into great chaos—the fault lies in delighting in cleverness." Applied today, this is information overload and knowledge anxiety. We "all know to pursue what we do not know"—frantically scrolling news, signing up for courses, chasing after trending topics—yet "do not know to seek what we already know": not digesting and practicing the principles we have already understood. The result is "the common people are befuddled by arguments"—the more we learn, the more chaotic; the more we know, the more anxious 🌊.
"The age of utmost virtue" and modern life: Zhuangzi says the people of that ideal age "found their food sweet, found their clothing beautiful"—note, not that their food and clothing were objectively better, but that they found them so. This is a subjective state of satisfaction, not an improvement in objective conditions. Today our material possessions surpass those of any era, yet the feelings of "sweet" and "beautiful" are still scarcer, because "those above delight in cleverness"—the social mechanism constantly manufactures desire and comparison so that we never feel we have enough.
At the level of daily life, this chapter does not tell people to retreat into passivity but offers several directions for profound inner practice:
Beware of "capture by the system": Wherever you are—career, academia, business, public affairs—become aware that any system, rule, or standard can be exploited by those with the most resources and skill at manipulation. This does not mean you should not have systems, but rather do not become superstitious about them. Maintain a layer of lucid distance from all "sagely wisdom and law"—do not treat any human construction as ultimate truth.
Return to the wisdom of "what you already know": Zhuangzi criticizes people for "seeking what they do not know while failing to seek what they already know." In practice, this means: rather than perpetually chasing new knowledge, new methods, new theories to "solve" problems, first return to the principles you already know but have not yet practiced. You know going to bed early is better than staying up late, you know concentration is better than fragmentation, you know sincerity is better than clever words—but in chasing "new knowledge" you have lost these things you already know. Putting what you already know into practice is more important than seeking what you do not know 🍃.
Reduce the chase after external "worthies": Modern society is full of "there is a worthy person in such-and-such a place"—various gurus, mentors, Key Opinion Leaders, success evangelists. Zhuangzi says people "carry provisions and rush toward them," and the result is "abandoning their own kin on the inside and leaving behind their own proper work on the outside"—losing the most fundamental life of their own. The first step in cultivation is often not seeking teachings externally, but being at ease in one's own dwelling and finding sweetness in one's own food.
The heart-method of "the greatest skill appears clumsy": Do not show off skill, do not chase cunning artifice, guard simplicity and clumsiness. What truly lasts is not the most refined strategy but the most plain principle. In human relations, plain sincerity endures longer than clever deceit; in work, solid grounding is more reliable than quick maneuvers.
This chapter raises an extraordinarily sharp philosophical question: What, precisely, is the relationship between morality and power?
The Confucian logic is: establish benevolence and righteousness → govern the state through benevolence and righteousness → the world is well ordered. Zhuangzi's logic is: establish benevolence and righteousness → benevolence and righteousness become contestable symbolic capital → the great bandit steals the state and steals benevolence and righteousness along with it → the world falls into chaos. This is not mere pessimism but a profound insight into symbolic power: when a value is universally recognized by society, it becomes a form of "capital," subject to appropriation by power. Today's concept of "legitimacy," narratives of the "nation," and discourses of "freedom"—all face precisely the same problem.
On a deeper level, Zhuangzi touches upon the relation between distinction and disorder. He advocates abolishing the dou-measures, abolishing the balances, abolishing the tallies and seals, abolishing benevolence and righteousness—abolishing all artificial "criteria of distinction." Because once standards exist, there arises conformity and non-conformity to the standard, hence competition, disguise, and manipulation. This is the extreme development of Laozi's insight that "when all under heaven know beauty as beauty, ugliness arises": the establishment of every binary distinction simultaneously creates its opposite.
Yet this also leads to a dilemma: if all distinctions are abolished, can human society still have any order? Zhuangzi's own answer is "the age of utmost virtue"—a spontaneous order without complex institutions or guidance from "worthies." This approaches a kind of anarchism or primitive-communist ideal, which is, of course, infeasible in reality. But as philosophical reflection, its value lies in providing a limit-case of critique: it lets us see what any order costs, and what is excluded by that order.
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This content is based on ancient Daoist classical texts and is provided solely for traditional cultural learning and life reference; it does not constitute religious, medical, or investment advice.