batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l9790-l9926
---
record_id: batch.motif.daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg-l9790-l9926
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER XXI. / CHAPTER XXII. / KNOWLEDGE TRAVELS NORTH. / CHAPTER XXIII.;
lines 9790-9926
start: '9790'
end: '9926'
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: Kêng Sang Ch'u, a disciple of Lao Tzŭ who has attained his master's TAO,
lives on the Wei-lei Mountains and benefits the district without conventional
cleverness or public virtue. The local people wish to honor him like a spirit
or tutelary god, but he is ashamed and teaches his disciples about hidden influence,
concealment, and the harms of honoring virtue and knowledge. Nan Yung Ch'u asks
how to attain TAO; Kêng Sang advises preserving form and vitality but then sends
him to Lao Tzŭ. Nan Yung travels seven days to Lao Tzŭ and is unsettled by Lao
Tzŭ's first question.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u is named as a disciple of Lao Tzŭ who alone had attained the
TAO of his master.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u lives north on the Wei-lei Mountains, dismisses systematically
clever or conventionally charitable attendants, and keeps the useless and incompetent
as servants.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: After three years, the district of Wei-lei is said to have been greatly benefited.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: An inhabitant proposes praying to Kêng Sang Ch'u as to the spirits and honoring
him as a tutelary god of the land.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: On hearing the proposal, Kêng Sang Ch'u turns his face south, toward Lao Tzŭ's
abode, in shame.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u compares the operation of TAO to spring quickening plants and
autumn bringing them to maturity without a visible agent.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u says the perfect man may be shut up like a corpse in a tomb
while people become unartificial and without care.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The disciples reply with images of fish, eels, beasts, foxes, and small hills,
and they defend honoring the virtuous by citing customs since Yao and Shun.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u uses images of a large beast leaving the hills and a large
fish stranded on shore to argue that one who cares for himself hides his body.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u criticizes Yao and Shun and says that honoring virtue and fostering
knowledge lead to emulation, theft, violence, and future cannibalism.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Nan Yung Ch'u asks what someone of his age should do to attain this teaching.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u tells Nan Yung Ch'u to preserve his form complete, keep his
vitality secure, and allow no anxious thoughts to intrude for three years.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: Nan Yung Ch'u says eyes, ears, and hearts may have the same form while differing
in ability, and says he only hears TAO with his ears.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: Kêng Sang Ch'u says he cannot transform Nan Yung Ch'u and tells him to go
south to see Lao Tzŭ.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:15
text: Nan Yung Ch'u takes provisions, travels seven days to Lao Tzŭ, is questioned
about bringing people with him, and becomes confused about how to answer.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Kêng Sang Ch'u
description: A disciple of Lao Tzŭ who has attained his master's TAO, lives on the
Wei-lei Mountains, instructs disciples, and sends Nan Yung Ch'u to Lao Tzŭ.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Lao Tzŭ
description: Kêng Sang Ch'u's master; his abode lies to the south; Nan Yung Ch'u
travels to him and is questioned by him.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: People of Wei-lei
description: Local inhabitants who benefit from Kêng Sang Ch'u's presence and wish
to honor him as a sage, spirit, or tutelary god.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Kêng Sang Ch'u's disciples
description: Disciples who are astonished at Kêng Sang Ch'u's shame and argue that
the people of Wei-lei should honor him.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Nan Yung Ch'u
description: A disciple who asks how to attain the teaching, receives instruction
from Kêng Sang Ch'u, and then travels to Lao Tzŭ.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Yao and Shun
description: Earlier rulers or exemplars invoked by the disciples as precedents
for honoring the virtuous and criticized by Kêng Sang Ch'u as roots of later harm.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Kêng Sang Ch'u's attendants
description: Attendants among whom the clever and conventionally charitable are
dismissed, while the useless and incompetent remain or serve.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: attained disciple and instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Kêng Sang Ch'u is described as Lao Tzŭ's disciple who attained his master's
TAO and teaches his own disciples.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: master and higher teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Lao Tzŭ is named as Kêng Sang Ch'u's master and as the teacher to whom Nan
Yung Ch'u is sent.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:3
label: local beneficiaries and would-be venerators
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Wei-lei people are benefited and propose honoring Kêng Sang Ch'u as a
spirit or tutelary god.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: questioning disciples
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The disciples are astonished and question Kêng Sang Ch'u's shame, defending
public honor for the virtuous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: seeker of attainment
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Nan Yung Ch'u asks what to do to attain the teaching and travels to Lao Tzŭ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: role:6
label: exemplary rulers invoked and criticized
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Yao and Shun are cited by the disciples as precedents and criticized by Kêng
Sang Ch'u.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: selected or dismissed attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage distinguishes attendants dismissed for cleverness or conventional
charity from useless or incompetent attendants who remain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Wei-lei Mountains
literal_form: mountains
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: shallow vessel
literal_form: vessel
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: corpse in a tomb
literal_form: corpse enclosed in a tomb
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: large animal or fish exposed outside its proper place
literal_form: cart-swallowing beast outside the hills; boat-swallowing fish stranded
on dry shore
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: small and large-scale transformation images
literal_form: small wasps and huge caterpillars; bantams and goose eggs; fowls of
Lu
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: unspoken questions as accompanying people
literal_form: Lao Tzŭ's phrase about Nan Yung Ch'u bringing people with him, explained
as the questions he intended to ask
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Kêng Sang Ch'u on the Wei-lei Mountains
summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u, a disciple of Lao Tzŭ, lives on the Wei-lei Mountains,
keeps unconventional attendants, and the district benefits after three years.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The people propose veneration
summary: An inhabitant says Kêng Sang Ch'u should be prayed to like a spirit and
honored as a tutelary god; Kêng Sang Ch'u turns south in shame.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Kêng Sang Ch'u explains hidden influence
summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u says TAO operates without a visible agent and that the perfect
man can influence people while hidden like a corpse in a tomb; he calls himself
a shallow vessel.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Disciples defend honoring the virtuous
summary: The disciples use animal and place analogies and invoke the custom since
Yao and Shun of honoring the virtuous and useful.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Kêng Sang Ch'u argues for concealment and against public virtue
summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u uses images of animals endangered outside their proper elements,
says the self-caring person hides, and criticizes Yao and Shun, honor for virtue,
and cultivated knowledge.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Nan Yung Ch'u asks about attainment
summary: Nan Yung Ch'u asks how to attain the teaching; Kêng Sang Ch'u prescribes
preserving form and vitality and avoiding anxious thoughts for three years.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: Limits of Kêng Sang Ch'u's instruction
summary: Nan Yung Ch'u says he only hears TAO with his ears; Kêng Sang Ch'u replies
with transformation and hatching images and sends him to Lao Tzŭ.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:8
label: Nan Yung Ch'u reaches Lao Tzŭ
summary: Nan Yung Ch'u takes provisions, travels seven days to Lao Tzŭ, and is disoriented
by Lao Tzŭ's question about bringing people with him.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: hidden sage benefits a community without visible agency
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Kêng Sang Ch'u's presence benefits Wei-lei, and he describes the perfect
man's hidden influence and TAO's agentless operation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The motif label is analytical; the passage frames the effect specifically
as the operation of TAO.
- id: motif:2
label: rejection of public veneration of the sage
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The people want to honor Kêng Sang Ch'u as a spirit or tutelary god, but
he responds with shame and calls himself a shallow vessel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as a Daoist critique of recognition rather than
a denial that the sage has influence.
- id: motif:3
label: self-preserving concealment
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Kêng Sang Ch'u argues that great animals are endangered when displaced and
states that the person who cares for himself hides his body and loves the occult.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No specific supplied taxonomy family directly matches this motif.
- id: motif:4
label: inner preservation as path to attainment
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- wisdom
basis: Nan Yung Ch'u asks how to attain the teaching, and Kêng Sang Ch'u prescribes
preserving form, securing vitality, and excluding anxious thoughts for three years.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a brief prescription rather than a full ritual initiation
sequence.
- id: motif:5
label: seeker travels to a higher teacher
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- departure
- wisdom
basis: After Kêng Sang Ch'u says he cannot transform Nan Yung Ch'u, Nan Yung travels
seven days with provisions to Lao Tzŭ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The passage records the beginning of the encounter with Lao Tzŭ but not
its resolution within the supplied range.
- id: motif:6
label: teacher unable to transform pupil sends him onward
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- wisdom
basis: Kêng Sang Ch'u compares differing capacities for transformation or hatching,
says his own talents are limited, and directs Nan Yung Ch'u to Lao Tzŭ.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The transformation images are analogical speech, not an enacted transformation.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9790-9807
quote_or_summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u, Lao Tzŭ's disciple who attained his master's TAO,
lives north on the Wei-lei Mountains; he dismisses clever or conventionally charitable
attendants, keeps the useless and incompetent, and after three years Wei-lei is
greatly benefited.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 9808-9818
quote_or_summary: A local inhabitant says Kêng Sang Ch'u should be prayed to as
to spirits and honored as a tutelary god; Kêng Sang Ch'u hears this and turns
south toward Lao Tzŭ's abode in shame.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 9819-9829
quote_or_summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u says spring and autumn act without a visible agent
through TAO; he says the perfect man can be hidden like a corpse in a tomb while
influencing the people, and he calls himself a shallow vessel.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 9830-9842
quote_or_summary: The disciples reply with images of a big fish in a ditch, an eel,
a large beast, and a fox, and invoke the custom since Yao and Shun of honoring
the virtuous and useful.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 9843-9864
quote_or_summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u uses images of a cart-swallowing beast exposed
to snares and a boat-swallowing fish stranded for ants; he says the self-caring
man hides, criticizes Yao and Shun, and says honoring virtue and fostering knowledge
lead to emulation, theft, violence, and future cannibalism.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 9865-9875
quote_or_summary: Nan Yung Ch'u asks what one of his age should do to attain this;
Kêng Sang Ch'u answers that he should preserve his form complete, keep vitality
secure, and admit no anxious thoughts for three years.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 9876-9888
quote_or_summary: Nan Yung Ch'u says eyes, ears, and hearts have similar forms but
differ in seeing, hearing, and understanding; he says that so far he only hears
TAO with his ears.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 9889-9904
quote_or_summary: Kêng Sang Ch'u speaks of wasps unable to transform huge caterpillars
and bantams unable to hatch goose eggs; he says his talents are small-scale and
tells Nan Yung Ch'u to go south to Lao Tzŭ.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 9905-9926
quote_or_summary: Nan Yung Ch'u takes provisions, travels seven days to Lao Tzŭ,
and is asked why he has brought people with him, explained as the questions he
intended to ask; he becomes abashed and says he has forgotten how to answer.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/chuang-tzu-giles.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are candidate
analytical groupings using the provided taxonomy where applicable. No external
comparison claims are made.
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: |-
All evidence is summarized from the supplied public-domain passage; no external sources or unsupported taxonomy identifiers were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:daoist-zhuangzi-giles-gutenberg__l9790-l9926
passage_sha256=b0071117f23a4176ce16da5d854ebe223e53282c76ff532d8e91b307d8c6faf6