Under the Heaven (8)

1 Huishi liked using his universal view to enlighten others. Those people who liked to debate in his age became interested in the following subjects:

2 “Egg has hair”: In the egg, there must been equipped the motive force which makes chicken has hair.

3 “Hen has three feet”: Two visible feet plus the will power that drive feet to walk.

4 “Event that happens in Ying could happen elsewhere”: So, you know all events and developments under the sun by watching those in Ying.

5 “Dog may be goat”: As long as in the first place we name goat by dog. Thus dog is the animal that jumps and runs in hilly place as easily as in plain, baaing and evacuating black grainy shit.

6 “Horse may lay eggs”: As long as at the very beginning we call hen, duck or bird by the name of horse.

7 “Frog has tail”: Tadpole has tail, and frog is molted from tadpole, so we can say frog has tail.

8 “Fire not hot”: The hot of a fire is the feeling of people who has closed to the fire. It is not the quality of fire itself.

9 “Hill has mouth”: Mouth is where people breathe and making a sound. The hill wind with sound is happen always, so we may say “Hill has mouth”.

10 “Wheel not rolling on the ground”: Wheel is a circle and what has attached the ground is a small point of the circle, and this point can’t represent the whole wheel.

11 “Eye can’t see”: Without consciousness, eye can’t see anything.

12 What a man sees is the surface of a thing, he can’t never see its real contain or property.

13 In compare with something it’s long or short is relative not absolute compare. The big turtle is longer than the small or the infant snake.

14 Square and circle are relative not absolute. Watching carefully, a small part of the line of a square is not square and a circle is not circle. For this reason, the carpenter using a ruler to draw a square, he can’t say it is absolutely square, also the circle carpenter using compass to draw, he can’t say it is absolutely circle.

15 He chisels a hole on wood but the hole does not fit the chisel tightly.

16 When bird flies, its shadow is moveless.

17 At a certain moment, flying arrow is neither moving nor still.

18 The infant dog is not a mature dog.

19 A yellow horse, a brown ox and the concept of animal like horse and ox there are three animals, instead of two.

20 A white dog, if watch his black eyes only, it is possible be called a black dog.

21 The first horse ever emerged in this world; its mother must be not a horse. So, we say this pony had no mother like horse.

22 Cut a wood of one-inch length into half every day, and you will never complete cutting in ten thousand years.

23 The above said issues were just a part of Huishi’s arguments.

24 People of this school spared all his life to dispute with Huishi about the said issues. Its representatives were Hengtuan and Gongsun Long. They confused people by these freak theories and tried to change people’s mind. They won in the disputes by sophism but nobody was convinced, because what they did are wordplays and the purpose is to show off their intelligence by his wit.

25 Huishi always was eager for win, he was proud of his eloquence, thinking him the greatest man of wisdom. But he knew little about Tao.

26 A man called Huang Liao from south asked Huishi, “Why does heaven not cave in? Why does earth not subside? What is the cause of rain, wind, thunder and lightening?” Huishi bolted out the answers by his way of eloquence. He would endlessly spout of each event in universe. What’s more, what he said became more and more freak.

27 He always refuted something that others thought true by his freak theories. Hence, few people trusted Huishi.

28 Huishi went astray because he disregarded the essential part of all things--soul-- and instead focused on the part of material. On the level of universe, his knowledge and wit are no more than hum of mosquito and gadfly. His knowledge is useless in research of universe.

29 It is enough to know that all things are one and from the same source. We should spend more time on studying Tao and soul, which is the way to concentrate the main points.

30 Huishi splurged too much energy on assorted items. At last, he just enjoyed the reputation of man of debate. It was rather pitiful. Huishi wasted his talent, acquainting nothing in his life. He indulged himself in material world so that he lost the way back home as if a man chased echo by shouting or a man ran round his shadow. It was very pitiful that he had achieved nothing at last.