batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l9030-l9184
---
record_id: batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l9030-l9184
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
passage_locator:
label: THE SECRET OF LIFE. / CHAPTER XX. / MOUNTAIN TREES. / CHAPTER XXI.; lines
9030-9184
start: '9030'
end: '9184'
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: A sequence of anecdotes presents an unconventional artist accepted by Prince
Yüan, Wên Wang's appointment of an old fisherman through a politically useful
dream, Lieh Tzŭ's archery tested on a mountain precipice by Po Hun Wu Jên, Sun
Shu Ao's equanimity in office and dismissal, and Confucius' praise of sages untouched
by danger, rank, life, or death.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Prince Yüan summons officials to draw a map; most prepare brushes and ink
while one late-arriving man leaves after obeisance and is later found bare-backed
at home.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Prince Yüan declares the late-arriving man suitable and calls him a true artist.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Wên Wang sees an old man fishing in Tsang, but the passage states that the
fishing is not for catching fish.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Wên Wang tells his ministers of a dream in which a dark sage with a large
beard, riding a parti-coloured horse, instructs him to entrust administration
to the old man of Tsang.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The ministers interpret the dream as a command from Wên Wang's late father
and say it should not be disobeyed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The old man of Tsang administers without changing statutes or issuing unjust
regulations, and after three years public and official order is reported.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: After being made Grand Tutor and asked whether such government can be extended
over the empire, the old man remains silent, leaves abruptly, and disappears by
evening.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Confucius says Wên Wang should not be criticized and that the dream was merely
to satisfy the vulgar mind.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Lieh Tzŭ demonstrates archery with a cup of water on his elbow, releasing
arrows while standing like a statue.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Po Hun Wu Jên distinguishes ordinary shooting from extraordinary shooting
and takes Lieh Tzŭ up a high mountain to the edge of a thousand-foot precipice.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: At the precipice, Wu Jên stands with part of his feet over the chasm, while
Lieh Tzŭ falls prostrate and sweats down to his heels.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: Wu Jên says the perfect man can soar to the blue sky, dive to the yellow springs,
or fly to an extreme point of the compass without change of countenance.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: Sun Shu Ao has been appointed to office three times and dismissed three times
without visible elation or chagrin.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:14
text: Sun Shu Ao explains that office gained or lost is outside his own self, so
he feels no chagrin.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: Confucius describes perfect sages as not defeated, seduced, robbed, or pained
by life and death, rank, or power.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:16
text: Confucius says the souls of such men pierce huge mountains, descend into the
abyss without getting wet, fill the universe, and have more the more they give.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Prince Yüan of Sung
description: A ruler who desires a map and judges one unconventional participant
to be a true artist.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: late-arriving artist
description: A man who arrives late, does not wait after obeisance, goes home, removes
his clothes, and squats bare-backed.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Wên Wang
description: A ruler who encounters the old man of Tsang, reports a dream to his
ministers, appoints the old man, and later asks about extending government over
the empire.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: old man of Tsang
description: An old fisherman who does not fish to catch fish, is entrusted with
administration, governs without altering statutes or issuing unjust regulations,
and later disappears.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Wên Wang's ministers
description: Ministers who interpret Wên Wang's dream as a command from his late
father and oppose the need for divination.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Yen Yüan
description: A questioner who asks Confucius how Wên Wang could accomplish by dream
what he could not do himself.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Confucius
description: A speaker who defends Wên Wang and later praises the perfect sages
of old.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Lieh Yü K'ou / Lieh Tzŭ
description: An archer who performs a precise demonstration but becomes terrified
at the precipice.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Po Hun Wu Jên
description: A teacher or tester who distinguishes ordinary from extraordinary shooting
and tests Lieh Tzŭ at a high precipice.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Chien Wu
description: A questioner who asks Sun Shu Ao how he controls his emotions after
repeated appointment and dismissal.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Sun Shu Ao
description: A minister repeatedly called to and dismissed from office without elation
or chagrin, who explains that office lies outside the self.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: perfect sages of old
description: Figures praised by Confucius as beyond defeat, seduction, robbery,
pangs of life and death, rank, and power.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: ruler or patron
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: Prince Yüan commands map-making; Wên Wang appoints an administrator and asks
about imperial government.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: unconventional true artist
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The man disregards ordinary waiting behavior and is nevertheless declared
a true artist by Prince Yüan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: detached fisherman
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The old man fishes not to catch fish but to amuse himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: effective administrator who withdraws
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: He governs successfully without changing statutes, then leaves and disappears
when asked about wider rule.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: strategic user of dream authority
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Confucius says the dream was used merely to satisfy the vulgar mind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: interpreters of ancestral command
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The ministers identify the dream as a command from Wên Wang's late father.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: questioner
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:10
basis: Yen Yüan questions Confucius about Wên Wang's dream; Chien Wu questions Sun
Shu Ao about emotional control.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: authoritative commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Confucius answers Yen Yüan and later evaluates the perfect sages of old.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: skilled but unsteady practitioner
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Lieh Tzŭ performs skilled archery but becomes terrified at the precipice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: ordeal tester
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Wu Jên tests whether Lieh Tzŭ can shoot under extraordinary conditions at
a precipice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:11
label: detached office-holder
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Sun Shu Ao treats office gained or lost as outside himself and shows no chagrin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:12
label: perfect sage exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Confucius describes such sages as unaffected by danger, life and death, rank,
and power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: map-making implements
literal_form: map, brushes, ink
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: unproductive fishing
literal_form: old man fishing without aiming to catch fish
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: authorizing dream
literal_form: dream of a black sage with a large beard riding a parti-coloured horse
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: horse in dream
literal_form: parti-coloured horse with red stockings on one side
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: cup of water
literal_form: cup of water on the archer's elbow
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: high mountain and precipice
literal_form: high mountain and thousand-foot precipice
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: blue sky and yellow springs
literal_form: blue sky and yellow springs
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: office and rank
literal_form: office, rank, and power
associated_figures:
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:9
label: huge mountains and abyss
literal_form: huge mountains and abyss
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Prince Yüan chooses the unconventional artist
summary: Prince Yüan summons officials for map-making, but selects the man who arrives
late, leaves, and is found bare-backed at home.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Wên Wang appoints the old man of Tsang through a dream narrative
summary: Wên Wang encounters an old fisherman, reports a dream to make his appointment
acceptable, entrusts him with government, and later sees him withdraw after successful
administration.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Archery tested at the precipice
summary: Lieh Tzŭ demonstrates controlled archery, but Po Hun Wu Jên tests him on
a mountain precipice where Lieh Tzŭ becomes terrified.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:4
label: Equanimity toward office and sage transcendence
summary: Chien Wu questions Sun Shu Ao about his calm in office and dismissal; Confucius
then praises sages who are untouched by danger, death, rank, and power.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: unconventional mastery recognized by a ruler
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Prince Yüan accepts the late-arriving, nonconforming man as the true artist
rather than the officials visibly preparing their tools.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives no explicit explanation beyond the ruler's judgment.
- id: motif:2
label: dream used to authorize political appointment
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Wên Wang presents a dream command to appoint the old man, and the ministers
accept it as an ancestral command; Confucius later says the dream satisfied the
vulgar mind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames the dream pragmatically rather than as necessarily
literal divine or ancestral revelation.
- id: motif:3
label: sage administrator withdraws after effective rule
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The old man governs effectively without disruptive regulations, is elevated,
then silently leaves and disappears when asked to extend government over the empire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The disappearance is unexplained and should not be expanded into an afterlife
or immortality claim.
- id: motif:4
label: ordeal on mountain precipice reveals inner deficiency
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- mountain
basis: Wu Jên moves the archery test from ordinary conditions to a high mountain
precipice, where Lieh Tzŭ's terror reveals a defect in his internal state.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the event as instruction or testing, not as a formal
rite.
- id: motif:5
label: perfect person traverses sky and underworld without fear
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
- hero_descent
basis: Wu Jên describes the perfect man as able to soar to the blue sky and dive
to the yellow springs without change of countenance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The movement is described rhetorically as a mark of composure; no actual
journey narrative occurs.
- id: motif:6
label: detachment from rank, life, and death
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Sun Shu Ao treats office as outside the self, and Confucius praises sages
unmoved by danger, rank, power, life, and death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical and spiritual pattern rather than a narrative quest
motif.
- id: motif:7
label: cosmic extension of the sage soul
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: Confucius says the souls of perfect sages pierce mountains, descend into
the abyss, fill the universe, and increase through giving.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The language may be figurative; the passage does not narrate a literal
ascent or descent.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9030-9042
quote_or_summary: Prince Yüan of Sung wants a map; officials prepare brushes and
ink; one man arrives late, leaves, is found bare-backed at home, and is called
a true artist by the Prince.
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 9047-9058
quote_or_summary: Wên Wang sees an old man fishing in Tsang; the passage says he
does not fish to catch fish but to amuse himself, and Wên Wang considers employing
him in government.
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 9059-9076
quote_or_summary: Wên Wang reports a dream of a black sage with a large beard on
a parti-coloured horse instructing him to appoint the old man of Tsang; ministers
call it a command from his late father and reject the need for divination.
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 9077-9099
quote_or_summary: The old man of Tsang is entrusted with administration, changes
no statutes, issues no unjust regulations, produces social order, is appointed
Grand Tutor, and then silently leaves and disappears after being asked about rule
over the empire.
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 9100-9110
quote_or_summary: Yen Yüan questions Confucius about Wên Wang's use of the dream;
Confucius rebukes him and says the dream was merely to satisfy the vulgar mind.
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 9112-9125
quote_or_summary: Lieh Yü K'ou instructs Po Hun Wu Jên in archery, drawing a full
bow with a cup of water on his elbow and shooting arrows while standing like a
statue.
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 9126-9140
quote_or_summary: Po Hun Wu Jên says this is ordinary shooting, leads Lieh Tzŭ up
a high mountain to a thousand-foot precipice, stands partly over the chasm, and
beckons him; Lieh Tzŭ falls prostrate and sweats.
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 9141-9153
quote_or_summary: Wu Jên says the perfect man soars to the blue sky, dives to the
yellow springs, or flies to extreme points without change of countenance; he says
Lieh Tzŭ is terrified and internally defective.
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 9155-9174
quote_or_summary: Chien Wu asks Sun Shu Ao how he remains calm after being called
to and dismissed from office three times; Sun Shu Ao says getting and losing office
are outside his own self.
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 9175-9184
quote_or_summary: Confucius praises perfect sages as unmoved by danger, life and
death, rank, and power; their souls pierce mountains, descend into the abyss,
fill the universe, and gain more by giving.
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: uncertain
notes: Literal episode extraction is strong. Motif labels are candidate-level and
should be reviewed, especially where rhetorical sage imagery is mapped to ascent
or descent families.
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: |-
Only the provided passage and metadata were used. Comparison claims were left empty because the passage does not itself compare these episodes to external traditions or corpora.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg__l9030-l9184
passage_sha256=49f2b762bffc4af67745e7884566e3f574b3017bbee9c29022e870e135d68b62