batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l11071-l11215
---
record_id: batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l11071-l11215
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
passage_locator:
label: KNOWLEDGE TRAVELS NORTH. / CHAPTER XXIII. / CHAPTER XXIV. / CHAPTER XXV.;
lines 11071-11215
start: '11071'
end: '11215'
translation: 'Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage presents anecdotes and reflections on influence, sagehood,
unity, and political counsel. Tsê Yang seeks access to the prince of Ch'u and
is advised that only a perfected person could influence such a severe ruler. The
true Sage is described as passive yet beneficial, at one with things, and naturally
loving humanity without self-consciousness. Jen Hsiang Shih is said to have reached
the centre and attained, knowing no beginning, end, quantity, or time. Further
sayings contrast forced striving with harmony, mention ancient rulers and tutors,
and recount Prince Hui of Wei's anger over a broken treaty, with advisers debating
assassination, war, and restraint.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Tsê Yang visited the Ch'u State, but the prince refused him an audience after
I Chieh spoke of him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Tsê Yang asked Wang Kuo to obtain an interview with the prince, but Wang Kuo
said Kung Yüeh Hsiu was better suited.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Kung Yüeh Hsiu is described as catching turtles on the river in winter and
resting in a mountain copse in summer.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The prince of Ch'u is described as dignified, severe, and merciless in punishing.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The true Sage is described as causing others to forget poverty when obscure
and causing princes to forget rank and emoluments when in power.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The true Sage is said to instil peace while silent and to influence people
by mere presence.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage compares the unselfconscious joy of a beauty and the unselfconscious
love of a Sage for humanity.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: obs:8
text: Jen Hsiang Shih reached the centre and attained, recognizing no beginning,
end, quantity, or time.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:9
text: The true Sage is described as ignoring God, man, beginning, and matter, while
moving in harmony with his generation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:10
text: T'ang appointed Mên Yin Têng Hêng as tutor, listened to his counsels, and
gained TAO for himself and reputation for the tutor.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:11
text: Yung Ch'êng Shih says that taking away days would leave no years, and that
without inside there is no outside.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:12
text: Prince Hui of Wei became angry because prince Wei of Ch'i broke a treaty.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:13
text: Prince Hui considered sending someone to assassinate prince Wei of Ch'i.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:14
text: The Captain-General proposed a military campaign with two hundred thousand
warriors, prisoners, seized animals, conquest, and pursuit of the prince.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:15
text: Chi Tzŭ objected to the Captain-General's proposal by comparing it to destroying
a nearly completed ten-perch wall.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Tsê Yang
description: Visitor to the Ch'u State who seeks an audience with the prince.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: I Chieh
description: An official of Ch'u who speaks of Tsê Yang to the prince but does not
secure an audience.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Prince of Ch'u
description: Ruler who refuses Tsê Yang an audience and is later described as severe
and merciless in punishment.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Wang Kuo
description: A local Sage whom Tsê Yang asks to obtain an interview with the prince.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Kung Yüeh Hsiu
description: A hermit described as catching turtles on the river in winter and resting
in a mountain copse in summer.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: The true Sage
description: Ideal figure described as passive, peaceful, unselfconsciously loving
humanity, and at one with things.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Beauty
description: A comparison figure whose beauty is recognized by mankind even if she
is not told of it.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Jen Hsiang Shih
description: Legendary ruler of old who reached the centre and attained.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: T'ang
description: Ruler who appoints Mên Yin Têng Hêng as tutor and listens to his counsel.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Mên Yin Têng Hêng
description: Equerry appointed by T'ang as tutor.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Confucius
description: Named as pushing care and anxiety to an extreme limit as a tutor.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Yung Ch'êng Shih
description: Named as Lao Tzŭ's tutor and speaker of a saying on days, years, inside,
and outside.
role_refs:
- role:11
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Prince Hui of Wei
description: Ruler angered by a broken treaty and considering assassination.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Prince Wei of Ch'i
description: Ruler who breaks a treaty with Prince Hui of Wei.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: Captain-General
description: Military officer who proposes a large punitive campaign.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: fig:16
name_or_label: Chi Tzŭ
description: Official of Wei who objects to the Captain-General's warlike counsel.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
roles:
- id: role:1
label: petitioner seeking audience
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Tsê Yang seeks an interview with the prince of Ch'u.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: unsuccessful intermediary
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: I Chieh speaks of Tsê Yang to the prince, but the prince refuses an audience.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:13
- fig:14
basis: Each is named as a prince or ruler in the passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:13
- id: role:4
label: local Sage
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage glosses Wang Kuo as a local Sage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: adviser on proper intermediary
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Wang Kuo says Kung Yüeh Hsiu is better suited than himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: hermit
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage glosses Kung Yüeh Hsiu as a hermit and describes his seasonal
dwelling habits.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: ideal Sage
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage repeatedly describes the true Sage and his effects on others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: role:8
label: comparison figure
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: A beauty is used as an analogy for unselfconscious natural influence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: attainer at the centre
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Jen Hsiang Shih is said to have reached the centre and attained.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:10
label: ruler receiving counsel
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: T'ang appoints a tutor and listens to his counsels.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:11
label: tutor
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
basis: Mên Yin Têng Hêng is appointed tutor; Confucius and Yung Ch'êng Shih are
described in relation to tutoring.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:16
- id: role:12
label: aphoristic speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Yung Ch'êng Shih gives a concise statement on days, years, inside, and outside.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: role:13
label: warlike counsellor
assigned_to:
- fig:15
basis: The Captain-General proposes a campaign of conquest in response to the broken
treaty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: role:14
label: restraining counsellor
assigned_to:
- fig:16
basis: Chi Tzŭ warns against the Captain-General's proposal and calls him mischievous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: river
literal_form: river where Kung Yüeh Hsiu catches turtles in winter
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: mountain copse
literal_form: mountain copse where Kung Yüeh Hsiu reposes in summer
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: ONE
literal_form: the stated unity in which all things are to the true Sage as ONE
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:4
label: mirror
literal_form: mankind as the mirror in which a beauty sees herself
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: old country and old home
literal_form: the old country and old home that gladden a wanderer's eyes
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
- id: sym:6
label: centre
literal_form: centre at which Jen Hsiang Shih reached and attained
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: ten-perch wall
literal_form: a nearly completed ten-perch wall destroyed before completion
associated_figures:
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Tsê Yang seeks access to the prince of Ch'u
summary: Tsê Yang visits Ch'u; I Chieh speaks for him unsuccessfully; Tsê Yang then
approaches Wang Kuo for help; Wang Kuo points to Kung Yüeh Hsiu as more suitable.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:2
label: Description of the true Sage's passive influence
summary: The passage describes the true Sage as producing peace, dissolving concern
for poverty or rank, rejoicing in creation, and loving humanity without self-consciousness.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:17
- id: scene:3
label: Jen Hsiang Shih reaches the centre
summary: Jen Hsiang Shih is said to have reached the centre and attained, recognizing
no beginning, end, quantity, or time, and being modified with his environment
as part of ONE.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:4
label: Sayings on sagehood and tutoring
summary: The passage contrasts forced striving with the true Sage's harmony, tells
of T'ang appointing a tutor, mentions Confucius's anxious tutoring, and records
Yung Ch'êng Shih's saying about days, years, inside, and outside.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:16
- id: scene:5
label: Prince Hui's anger and conflicting counsel
summary: After prince Wei of Ch'i breaks a treaty, Prince Hui considers assassination.
The Captain-General urges large-scale war, while Chi Tzŭ warns against ruining
seven years of peace and compares it to destroying a nearly finished wall.
figure_refs:
- fig:13
- fig:14
- fig:15
- fig:16
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- ev:15
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Hidden sage influence through passivity
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The true Sage is said to instil peace silently, influence by presence, and
benefit others without self-conscious action.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical motif rather than a narrative episode; the taxonomy
reference is broad.
- id: motif:2
label: Hermit in seasonal natural retreat
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: Kung Yüeh Hsiu is identified as a hermit whose life is described through
winter activity on a river and summer repose in a mountain copse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not describe an explicit quest, only a reclusive figure
associated with natural settings.
- id: motif:3
label: Attainment at the centre of unity
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
- world_center
basis: Jen Hsiang Shih reaches the centre, attains, and is described as part of
ONE, recognizing no beginning, end, quantity, or time.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The wording is metaphysical and brief; 'annihilation_union' is applied
cautiously because the passage states unity but not literal annihilation.
- id: motif:4
label: Counsel restraining royal vengeance
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: In response to a broken treaty, one counsellor urges war while Chi Tzŭ warns
the ruler not to undo years without troop mobilization.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- ev:15
confidence: high
cautions: The excerpt ends shortly after the beginning of another official's introduction,
so the full debate may continue beyond the supplied passage.
- id: motif:5
label: Relational opposites defined by removal
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
- wisdom
basis: Yung Ch'êng Shih's saying presents years as dependent on days and outside
as dependent on inside.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
confidence: medium
cautions: This is an aphorism rather than a developed mythic narrative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11071-11078
quote_or_summary: Tsê Yang visits Ch'u; I Chieh, an official of Ch'u, speaks of
him to the prince, but the prince refuses an audience.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 11079-11088
quote_or_summary: Tsê Yang asks Wang Kuo to obtain an interview; Wang Kuo says Kung
Yüeh Hsiu is better fitted.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 11089-11094
quote_or_summary: '"In winter," said Wang Kuo, "he catches turtles on the river.
In summer, he reposes in some mountain copse."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 11103-11106
quote_or_summary: The prince of Ch'u is described as dignified, severe, and merciless
as a tiger in punishment; only a practiced or perfect man could influence him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11107-11115
quote_or_summary: The true Sage in obscurity causes others to forget poverty; in
power he causes princes to forget rank and emoluments and rejoices in creation
and TAO diffused among people.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 11118-11123
quote_or_summary: '"although silent, he can instil peace; and by his mere presence
cause men to be to each other as father and son."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 11131-11138
quote_or_summary: A beauty is described as seeing herself in mankind as a mirror;
whether or not she knows or hears of her beauty, her joy and mankind's pleasure
do not cease.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 11140-11146
quote_or_summary: The Sage's love for others is said to be natural and endless whether
or not he knows or hears that he loves them; mankind repose in it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 11155-11163
quote_or_summary: Jen Hsiang Shih reaches the centre and attains; he recognizes
no beginning, end, quantity, or time and, as part of ONE, knows no modification.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 11167-11173
quote_or_summary: The true Sage ignores God, man, beginning, and matter; he moves
in harmony with his generation, takes things as they come, and is not overwhelmed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 11175-11182
quote_or_summary: T'ang appoints his Equerry Mên Yin Têng Hêng as tutor, listens
to him without being restricted, gains TAO for himself, and reputation for his
tutor.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: quote
locator: lines 11190-11195
quote_or_summary: Yung Ch'êng Shih said, "Take away days, and there would be no
years. No inside, no outside."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 11199-11203
quote_or_summary: Prince Hui of Wei had made a treaty with prince Wei of Ch'i, who
broke it; Hui was angry and considered sending a man to assassinate him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 11204-11211
quote_or_summary: The Captain-General objects to assassination as beneath a mighty
ruler and proposes using two hundred thousand warriors to take prisoners, seize
animals, conquer the country, and pursue the prince.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 11212-11215
quote_or_summary: Chi Tzŭ objects, comparing the proposal to destroying a nearly
completed ten-perch wall and warning that seven years without calling out troops
is the ruler's foundation work.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:16
type: summary
locator: lines 11186-11189
quote_or_summary: Confucius is said, as a tutor, to have pushed care and anxiety
to an extreme limit.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:17
type: summary
locator: lines 11148-11153
quote_or_summary: The old country and old home gladden a wanderer's eyes, even if
much of it is wilderness; the note compares this to the mind returning to consciousness
of itself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Some line locators are
approximate within the provided range because the input supplies a block excerpt
rather than numbered individual lines. The passage is philosophical and anecdotal,
so some motif assignments are broad and need human review.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not explicitly support comparison to another text or tradition beyond internal Daoist philosophical patterns and available motif taxonomy.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg__l11071-l11215
passage_sha256=7c88269cee1e7faa72e6466bec200b9890efce0bfe200c97bbc3e45778154e57