batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l4298-l4432
---
record_id: batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l4298-l4432
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
passage_locator:
label: HORSES' HOOFS. / CHAPTER X. / OPENING TRUNKS. / B.C. 481.; lines 4298-4432
start: '4298'
end: '4432'
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 argues that celebrated wisdom, moral categories, measures,
signs, and governmental instruments can be appropriated by powerful thieves. It
cites T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ's seizure of Ch'i, the deaths of four sages, Robber Chê's
account of Tao in thieving, and a series of injunctions to discard artificial
standards so that people may return to natural integrity and become fit for Tao.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ is said to have slain the Prince of Ch'i, stolen the kingdom,
and also stolen the wisdom-tricks obtained from the Sages.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Small states did not blame T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ, great states did not punish him,
and his descendants ruled Ch'i for twelve generations.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The passage states that great wit and great wisdom serve as aids or protections
for strong thieves.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Four named sages—Lung Fêng, Pi Kan, Chang Hung, and Tzŭ Hsü—are described
as dying violently despite their wisdom.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: An apprentice asks Robber Chê whether there is Tao in thieving.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Robber Chê replies that thieving includes wisdom to locate booty, courage
to enter first, heroism to leave last, shrewdness to calculate success, and justice
in dividing spoil.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage states that the doctrine of the Sages is indispensable both to
good men and to Robber Chê, but that bad men are more numerous than good men.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The passage compares the disappearance of sages and robbers to a stream ceasing
so a gully dries, and a hill being levelled so a chasm is filled.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says that measures, scales, tallies, signets, charity, and duty
can all be stolen or exploited.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: The passage contrasts a purse-thief who is punished with a state-thief who
becomes a prince.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The passage instructs discarding wisdom, jade, pearls, tallies, signets, measures,
scales, sage restrictions, musical instruments, color categories, and geometric
tools.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: The passage says each person will keep his own sense of hearing, sight, and
natural skill when artificial standards and expert exemplars are removed.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ
description: A figure said to have slain the Prince of Ch'i, stolen the kingdom,
and taken the Sages' wisdom-tricks.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Prince of Ch'i
description: The ruler whom T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ is said to have slain.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sages
description: A collective group whose wisdom-tricks are said to be stolen and whose
doctrine is described as useful to both good men and robbers.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Lung Fêng
description: A sage said to have been beheaded.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Pi Kan
description: A sage said to have been disembowelled.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Chang Hung
description: A sage said to have been sliced to death.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Tzŭ Hsü
description: A sage said to have been chopped to mince-meat.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Robber Chê
description: A robber who explains that Tao is present in thieving through wisdom,
courage, heroism, shrewdness, and justice.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Apprentice to Robber Chê
description: A questioner who asks whether there is Tao in thieving.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Lao Tzŭ
description: Named in a note as the speaker of the words about fishes and instruments
of government.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Shih K'uang
description: A figure whose ears are to be stopped in an injunction about hearing.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Li Chu
description: A figure whose eyes are to be glued up in an injunction about sight.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Kung Ch'ui
description: A famous artisan whose fingers are to be snapped off in an injunction
about natural skill.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: robber or thief
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:8
basis: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ is called a thief after stealing Ch'i, and Chê is explicitly
named Robber Chê.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: usurping ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He stole a kingdom and his descendants ruled Ch'i.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: slain ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Prince of Ch'i is described as slain by T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: source of wisdom-tricks
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The wisdom-tricks are said to have come from the Sages, and their doctrine
is said to aid good men and robbers alike.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: sage unable to escape death
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: All four are called Sages, yet their wisdom did not preserve them from death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: teacher of thieving principles
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Robber Chê answers the apprentice by listing capacities required for great
robbery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: questioning apprentice
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The apprentice asks whether there is Tao in thieving.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: cited Daoist authority
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: A note attributes the saying about fishes and instruments of government to
Lao Tzŭ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: expert exemplar to be neutralized
assigned_to:
- fig:11
- fig:12
- fig:13
basis: The passage names expert figures whose ears, eyes, or fingers are to be disabled
so people retain their own faculties.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: stolen kingdom
literal_form: the State or kingdom of Ch'i
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: stolen wisdom-tricks
literal_form: wisdom-tricks of the Sages
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: measures and scales
literal_form: pecks, bushels, scales, and steelyards
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: sym:4
label: tallies and signets
literal_form: tallies and signets used for good faith
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: sym:5
label: jade and pearls
literal_form: jade and pearls
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: water sustaining fish
literal_form: fishes and water
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: stream, gully, hill, and chasm
literal_form: stream, gully, hill, and chasm
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: musical standards
literal_form: six pitch-pipes, organs, and flutes
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:9
label: visual and geometric standards
literal_form: five categories of colour, arcs, lines, square, and compasses
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ seizes Ch'i
summary: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ kills the Prince of Ch'i, takes the kingdom and sage wisdom-tricks,
avoids punishment, and founds a ruling line lasting twelve generations.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Wisdom does not save the sages
summary: Four sages are listed as violently killed, and the passage states that
their wisdom could not preserve them from death.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Robber Chê explains Tao in thieving
summary: An apprentice asks Robber Chê whether Tao exists in thieving, and Chê identifies
five capacities that make a great robber successful.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Sages and robbers as paired appearances
summary: The passage argues that sages and robbers arise together and compares their
removal to natural processes by which a gully dries or a chasm is filled.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Discarding standards and instruments
summary: The passage instructs readers to discard wisdom, valuables, tallies, signets,
measures, scales, restrictions, musical instruments, colors, and geometric tools
so that people recover natural integrity and their own faculties.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:11
- fig:12
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: theft of rulership and wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
basis: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ steals both the State of Ch'i and the Sages' wisdom-tricks;
the passage later generalizes that one who steals a state becomes a prince and
also steals moral and sage attributes attached to rule.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is philosophical-political argument rather than a mythic narrative
of divine or sacred theft; the taxonomy match is functional and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
label: wisdom empowering the wrongdoer
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage repeatedly states that great wisdom and the doctrine of the Sages
protect or aid strong thieves and are indispensable to Robber Chê.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is expressed as critique of conventional wisdom rather than
praise of wisdom.
- id: motif:3
label: abolition of artificial standards restores natural integrity
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage commands the destruction or discarding of valuables, measures,
signs, music, color categories, and tools so people revert to natural integrity
and keep their own senses and skill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly names this Daoist anti-artifice pattern.
- id: motif:4
label: paired rise and fall of sages and robbers
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage states that the appearance of Sages caused the appearance of
great robbers and that if Sages are extinct there will be no more robbers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The relation is polemical and causal rather than a balanced cosmic dualism.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The saying that fishes cannot be taken away from water and that instruments
of government cannot be delegated is explicitly linked in the passage note to
Lao Tzŭ and to chapter xxxvi of the Tao-Tê-Ching.
claim_level: linguistic_similarity
target: Tao-Tê-Ching chapter xxxvi / Lao Tzŭ saying
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The claim depends on the translator's note within the supplied passage
and does not compare the Chinese wording directly.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage supports a comparison within Daoist anti-artifice patterns, in
which wisdom, standards, and instruments of government are treated as causes of
disorder rather than remedies.
claim_level: same_function
target: Daoist critique of artificial wisdom and governing instruments
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is a broad functional comparison supported by the passage's claims,
not a demonstrated historical relationship beyond the explicit Tao-Tê-Ching note.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4298-4316
quote_or_summary: T'ien Ch'êng Tzŭ slays the Prince of Ch'i, steals the kingdom
and the Sages' wisdom-tricks, is not punished by other states, and his descendants
rule Ch'i for twelve generations.
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 4317-4325
quote_or_summary: The passage asks whether T'ien stole Ch'i and the wisdom-tricks
to secure himself, and states that great wit and great wisdom serve and protect
strong thieves.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4326-4340
quote_or_summary: Lung Fêng, Pi Kan, Chang Hung, and Tzŭ Hsü are listed as sages
who died violently; their wisdom did not preserve them from death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4341-4353
quote_or_summary: Robber Chê's apprentice asks whether there is Tao in thieving;
Chê says thieving involves wisdom, courage, heroism, shrewdness, and justice.
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 4354-4358
quote_or_summary: The doctrine of the Sages is said to be indispensable to both
good men and Chê, but because bad men are many, the Sages' harm outweighs their
good.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 4368-4380
quote_or_summary: The appearance of Sages is said to cause great robbers; if Sages
are driven out or become extinct, robbers will disappear, like a gully drying
when a stream ceases or a chasm filling when a hill is levelled.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4381-4391
quote_or_summary: The passage says that pecks, bushels, scales, steelyards, tallies,
signets, charity, and duty can all be stolen.
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 4392-4404
quote_or_summary: A purse-thief is punished, but one who steals a state becomes
a prince and thereby steals charity, duty, and the Sages' wisdom; rewards and
punishments cannot deter such robbers.
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 4405-4412
quote_or_summary: The saying about fishes needing water and instruments of government
not being delegated is attributed in the note to Lao Tzŭ and linked to Tao-Tê-Ching
chapter xxxvi.
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 4413-4423
quote_or_summary: The passage says Sages' wisdom contains instruments of government
and instructs readers to discard wisdom, jade, pearls, tallies, signets, measures,
scales, and sage restrictions so people may return to natural integrity and receive
Tao.
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 4424-4432
quote_or_summary: The passage commands confusing pitch-pipes, breaking instruments,
stopping Shih K'uang's ears, ending decoration, dispersing colors, gluing Li Chu's
eyes, destroying arcs and lines, discarding square and compasses, and snapping
Kung Ch'ui's fingers so each person keeps natural hearing, sight, and skill.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward from the supplied English passage.
Motif taxonomy mapping is more tentative because the passage is philosophical
argument rather than mythic narrative.
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: |-
Used only supplied passage text and metadata; translator notes within the passage were treated as available evidence.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg__l4298-l4432
passage_sha256=1226c50df688631cfaf90f62b1b8684057b63e09807f52487294764185b48e03