Han Feizi: Zheng Man Buys Shoes 韩非子：郑人置履

Han Fei, or Han Feizi (ca. 280 BC – 233 BC) was a Chinese philosopher who developed the doctrine of the School of Law or Legalism. Unlike the other famed philosophers of the time, Han Fei was a member of the ruling aristocracy, having been born into the ruling family of the state of Han during the end phase of the Warring States Period.

Han Fei's philosophy centred on the ruler who could firmly controls the state with the help of three concepts: his position of power, proper techniques, and laws. Legalism assumes that everyone acts according to one principle: avoiding punishment while simultaneously trying to achieve gains. Thus, the law must severely punish any unwanted action, while at the same time reward those who follow it.

His handbook for the ruler deals with the problems of strengthening and preserving the state, the way of the ruler, the use of power, and punishment and favour. Ironically, the ruler most influenced by Han Feizi, the king of Qin, eventually sent Han Feizi to prison, where he later committed suicide.

Here is a fable cited by him on a person who rigidly adheres to rules and regulations (or established convention), while at the same time ignoring the reality of a situation.

A man from Zheng, needing some shoes, measured his feet, but left the measurements behind on his chair. When he got to market, he forgot to bring the measurements. He found some shoes, but he murmured, ‘I forgot to bring the measurements.’ He turned around to return home and get them. By the time he got back to the market, it was closed, and so he did not get any shoes.

Someone said, "Why didn't you just try them on your feet?" The man said, "I trust the measurements, not my feet."

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韩非，或韩非子（大约公元前280年至233年左右）发起法学说的中国哲学家。与当时其他的著名哲学家不同的是，韩非生长在战国时代韩国统治者的贵族家庭。

韩非的哲学主要是集中在统治者以势、术与法牢牢控制国家。法家假设每个人都以一个原则来行动：避免惩罚的同时获取最大利益。所以，法律应该惩罚不必要的行为，并奖励那些遵守守法的人。

他为统治者书写的指导涉及加强及维持统治的问题，统治者之道，权力的应用，奖与罚，等等。有讽刺意味的是，秦王受韩非的影响很大，最后却把韩非关进监牢，他就在牢里自杀。

这里是他讲的一个有关一个人拘守礼法而无视于现实情况的寓言：

郑人有且置履者，先自度其足，而置之其坐。至之市而忘操之。已得履，乃曰：“吾忘持度。”反归取之。及反，市罢，遂不得履。

人曰：“何不试之以足？ ”曰：“宁信度, 无自信也。”

Zhuangzi: I Prefer to Wag my Tail in the Mud 庄子：吾将曳尾于涂中

Zhuangzi was born in a poor family, lived primarily on making straw sandals. However, he was indifferent to fame and gain, which seemed to him like devils rather than angels, and had long pursued spiritual freedom. Zhuangzi advocates respecting life and nourishing life instead of being caught up by outside matters and being destroyed by desires.

Zhuang Zi preferred non-action. He has always been viewed as the paragon of high moral character and purity of spirit. One story (extracted from the book ‘Zhuangzi’) illustrates these qualities well.

Zhuangzi was fishing on the Pu River when the king of the state of Chu sent two high officials to see him and said, "Our king desires to burden you with the administration of the Chu State."

Zhuangzi went on fishing without turning his head and said, "I have heard that in Chu there is a sacred tortoise which died when it was three thousand years old. The king keeps this tortoise carefully enclosed in a chest in his ancestral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its remains venerated, or would it rather be alive and wagging its tail in the mud?"

"It would rather be alive," replied the two officials, "and wagging its tail in the mud."

"Begone!" cried Zhuangzi. "I too will wag my tail in the mud."

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庄子生长于贫苦家庭，主要以作草鞋为生。但是，他不热衷于名利，对他而言这些是恶不是善。他追求的是精神自由。庄子提倡尊敬生命，丰富生活，而不是拘禁于外在事物与为欲所毁。

庄子主张无为。所以常常被认为是高尚品德与纯净精神的模范。以下出自《庄子》一书的故事可说明他的这些素质。

庄子钓于濮水，楚王使大夫二人往先焉，曰：“愿以境内累矣！”

庄子持竿不顾，曰：“吾闻楚有神龟，死已三千岁矣，王巾笥而藏之庙堂之上。此龟者，宁其死为留骨而贵乎？宁其生而曳尾于涂中乎？”

二大夫曰：“宁生而曳尾涂中。”

庄子曰：“往矣，吾将曳尾于涂中。”

The Death of Hou Yi 后羿之死

The Chinese notion of moral responsibility was explained by Mencius (371-289 BC) when he cited the case of the famously skilful archer Hou Yi who was shot by a student Feng Meng who had mastered everything Yi had taught him. Mencius considered Hou Yi should also be held responsible for his own death because he failed to make a sound judgment before taking someone into his confidence.

However, Mencius’ purpose in citing the story is also to show just the opposite that the shot was indeed a bad one because it assaulted the ritual (li) on several fronts. By killing his teacher - presumably for fame, as the student would have then been the best archer in the land - the student simultaneously ignored the importance of the student-teacher relationship and the norms that maintain it, threatened the integrity of the tradition, and reduced the skill to a mere means that allowed him to attain an external good.

The followings are extracted from the book ‘Mencius’.

Feng Meng learned archery of Hou Yi. When he had acquired completely all the science of Hou Yi, he thought that in the entire kingdom only Hou Yi was superior to himself, and so he slew him.

Mencius said, ‘In this case Hou Yi also was to be blamed.’

Gong Meng Yi said, ‘It would appear as if he were not to be blamed.’

Mencius said,

But he thereby only meant that his blame was slight. How can he be held without any blame? The people of Zheng sent Zi Zhuo Ru Zi to make a stealthy attack on Wei, which sent Yu Gong Zhi Si to pursue him. Zi Zhuo Ru Zi said, ‘I feel unwell today, so much that I cannot hold my bow. I am a dead man!’

At the same time he asked his driver, ‘Who is it that is pursuing me?’ The driver said, ‘It is Yu Gong Zhi Si,’ on which, Zi Zhuo Ru Zi exclaimed, ‘I shall live.’

The driver said, ‘Yu Gong Zhi Si is the best archer of Wei, what do you mean by saying 'I shall live?'’

Zi Zhuo Ru Zi replied, ‘Yu Gong Zhi Si learned archery from Yin Gong Zhi Tuo, who again learned it from me. Now, Yin Gong Zhi Tuo is an upright man, and the friends of his selection must be upright also.’

When Yu Gong Zhi Si came up, he said, ‘Master, why are you not holding your bow?’ Zi Zhuo Zhi SI answered him, ‘I am feeling unwell today, and cannot hold my bow.’ On this Yu Gong Zhi Si said, ‘I learned archery from Yin Gong Zhi Tuo, who again learned it from you. I cannot bear to injure you with your own skills. However, the prince has ordered me to deal with you, which I dare not neglect.’

He then took his arrows, knocked off their steel points against the carriage-wheel, discharged four of them, and returned.

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孟子（公元前370-289）以后羿被杀来说明道德责任。后羿在当时是最有名的好弓箭手，逢蒙学会了后羿所有手艺后把后羿杀死。孟子认为后羿对自己的死也有责任，因为他不能慧眼识人。

但是，孟子讲这个故事的目的也是要表明逢蒙的那一箭实在是‘坏’箭，因为它与礼节不符。杀死他的老师 - 看来是为了名誉吧，因为他的老师是当时最好的射手 - 这个学生忽略了师生的关系，与用于维持这种关系的准则，因而危害了传统的完整，这样就把一门技艺当成是获得体外利益的工具。

以下是《孟子》所记载的故事：

逢蒙学射於羿，尽羿之道；思天下惟羿为愈己，於是杀羿。

孟子曰：‘是亦羿有罪焉。’

公明仪曰：‘宜若无罪焉。’

曰：

薄乎云尔，恶得无罪！郑人使子濯孺子侵卫，卫使庾公之斯追之。子濯孺子曰：‘今日我疾作，不可以执弓，吾死矣夫！’

问其仆曰：‘追我者谁也？’其仆曰：‘庾公之斯也。’曰：‘吾生矣！’

其仆曰：‘庾公之斯，卫之善射者也。夫子曰：“吾生。”何谓也？’

曰：‘庾公之斯学射於尹公之他，尹公之他学射於我。夫尹公之他，端人也，其取友必端矣。’

庾公之斯至，曰：‘夫子何为不执弓？’曰：‘今日我疾作，不可以执弓。’曰：‘小人学射於尹公之他，尹公之他学射於夫子。我不忍以夫子之道，反害夫子。虽然，今日之事，君事也，我不敢废。’

抽矢扣轮，去其金，发乘矢而後反。

Zhuangzi Predicted the Fate of Tigers 庄子预知老虎命运

This is the year of tiger. Tigers are known to be the kings of jungle and yet they are one of the Earth's fastest disappearing species. Why? This is because every part of a dead tiger is valuable (more valuable than a live tiger in the eyes of poachers). A tiger's coat sells for as much as US$20,000 on the black market. An intact tiger forearm can bring in hundreds of US dollars per kilogram. Tiger penis soup sells for US$320 a bowl in Taiwan. (Some people actually believe that tiger penis soup will increase their sexuality.) Tiger bones, claws, eyes and even the whiskers command high prices for use in Eastern potions and elixirs. To fulfil the demand, the world's last tigers are being illegally trapped, poisoned and shot, then smuggled across international boundaries.

So being useful is not something that is good as at times it is better to be useless. Zhuanzi knows it best.

Zhuangzi was walking in the mountains when he saw a huge tree with branches full of luxuriant foliage. A lumberjack had stopped next to it, but wasn't attempting to cut it down. When Zhuangzi asked the lumberjack the reason, he responded, ‘There's nothing useful about that tree.’ Zhuangzi said: ‘This tree is so worthless it's been able to live out its natural lifespan.’

After coming out of the mountains, Zhuangzi stayed overnight in the home of an old friend. His friend was so delighted that he ordered his young servant to slaughter a goose so they could have it for dinner. The young servant politely asked, ‘One of them can cackle, and one of them can't cackle. Please tell me which one I should slaughter?’ The host responded, ‘Kill the one that can't cackle.’

The next day one of his disciples asked Zhuangzi, ‘Yesterday when we were in the mountains and came across that tree, it was able to live out its natural lifespan because it was worthless. Now our host has ordered the goose to be killed because it's worthless. Which is the better position?’

Zhuangzi laughed and said, ‘All around, I'd say the better position would be somewhere between being of worth and being worthless. Being somewhere between being of worth and being worthless might seem like the best place to be, but it's actually not. That's because one hasn't yet gotten rid of being tied to some idea. But that wouldn't be true if you could mount on the chariot of Dao and virtue and float about on it, without praise, without disapproval; In one moment a dragon, in one moment a snake. Changing in unison with the times; and never consenting to act in one specified way. In one moment above, in one moment below; using harmony as a measuring stick. Floating about with the ancestor of all living things; allowing things to be things, but not making things out of things. Then how would one be tied to anything? This was the method used by Shen Nong and Huang Di. But that's not truly the sentiments of most creatures who pass concepts of human ethics on to humanity: Joining together, then separating; Constructing, then destroying; Appearing to be honest, then back stabbing; Glorifying, then criticizing; Making promises, then backing down; Acting virtuous, then scheming; Deeming unworthy, then deceiving. Is there anything to be certain of? Yes, it's sad. But remember, my disciples, the only place to find a comfortable home is in Dao and virtue.’

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今年是虎年。老虎被称为森林之王，却是在地球上消失最快的物种之一。为什么呢？这是因为死去的老虎的每一个部分都值钱（在猎物者的眼中，比活生生的老虎更有价值）。在黑市中，虎皮可卖美元两万。一个完整的虎臂每公斤可值几百美元。虎鞭在台湾每碗可卖美元三百二十元（一些人真的相信虎鞭可壮阳）。虎骨、爪、眼，甚至虎须都因在东方可用来做药与补品而可卖得高价。为了满足需求，世上所剩下的老虎都被非法捕捉、毒害与射杀，然后偷运过国际国界。

所以有用并不是件好事。有时无用反而好。庄子最明白这一点了。

庄子行於山中，见大木枝叶盛茂，伐木者止其旁而不取也。问其故，曰：“无所可用。”庄子曰：“此木以不材得终其天年。”夫子出於山，舍於故人之家。故人喜，命竖子杀雁而烹之。竖子请曰：“其一能鸣，其一不能鸣，请奚杀？”主人曰：“杀不能鸣者。”

明日，弟子问於庄子曰，“昨日山中之木，以不材得终其天年；今主人之雁，以不材死。先生将何处？”

庄子笑曰：“周将处乎材与不材之间。材与不材之间，似之而非也，故未免乎累。若夫乘道德而浮游则不然，无誉无皆，一龙一蛇，与时俱化，而无肯专为。一上一下，以和为量，浮游乎万物之祖。物物而不物於物，则胡可得而累邪！此神农、黄帝之法则也。若夫万物之情，人伦之传，则不然。合则离，成则毁，廉则挫，尊则议，有为则亏，贤则谋，不肖则欺，胡可得而必乎哉！悲夫！弟子志之，其唯道德之乡乎！”

Aping the Beauty's Frown 丑女效颦

The most famous unlovely woman in China is a fabled one -- Dong Shi.

It was told by Zhuangzi – a Daoist philosopher who lived around 400 BC. He challenged Confucius' concepts of feudal laws and proprieties and contended that Confucius abided by laws and proprieties of the former Zhou dynasty that were unsuited to the current time and rule. He believed that conventions should be adapted to their times, as failure to do so would be as ridiculous as boating on land or dressing a monkey.

The story of Dong Shi is an example Zhuangzi gave to back up his argument, demonstrating that what made Dong Shi grotesque was not primarily her visage but her crude imitation. As time passed, the philosopher's reasoning on rule of state fell into oblivion, but his story of Dong Shi evolved into the household fable, a warning to people not to ape others.

Mencius is quoted as saying more than 2,000 years ago: ‘A rich and splendid spirit is beautiful.’ This opinion coincides with modern aesthetics. Real beauty exudes from the inner rather than the superficial self, and can stand the test of time.

Below is the fable told by Zhuangzi.

Xi Shi, a famous beauty, had a pain in her bosom, so she had a frown on her face when she went out.

An ugly girl who lived nearby saw her and thought she looked very beautiful. Therefore when she went home, she also put her hands on her bosom and had a frown on her face.

When a rich man in the neighbourhood saw her, he shut his doors tightly and did not go out. When a poor man saw her, he took his wife and children and gave her a wide berth.

The ugly lady only knew Xi Shi's frown looked beautiful but she did not know the reason for its beauty.

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最不令人喜爱的一个中国女人是一个寓言中的人物东施。

这是一个大约生活于公元前四世纪的道家哲学家庄子所说的寓言。庄子挑战孔子的封建法律与礼仪的概念，而认为孔子所尊赞的前朝周代的法律与礼仪并不适用于当时的时代与执政。他相信习俗应随时代而改变，不然，就好像路上行舟或为猴子穿衣那样荒谬。

以东施为例来支持他的论点，显示使东施丑怪的并不是她的容貌，而是肤浅的模仿。随着时间的过去，哲学家有关治理国家的理论已被遗忘，可是他的故事却成为家户喻晓的寓言，警劝人们不要一味模仿他人。

孟子就被引用在两千年前说过，‘充实谓之美’。这个说法与现代美学观点相符合。真正的美来自内心而不是表面的我，它能经历得起时间的考验。

下面是庄子所说的寓言。

西施病心而颦。

其里之丑人，见而美之，归亦捧心而颦。

其里之富人见之，坚闭门而不出；贫人见之，挈妻子而去之走。

彼知颦美，而不知颦之所以美。

Cutting Up a Cow 庖丁解牛

A dominant theme in the Chinese aesthetics is the notion of gongfu, which refers to the need to have a long time physical and spiritual training and constant practices to achieve a result that is supposed to come across with perfect and natural ease.
Here is a story told by Zhuangzi about Cook Ding cutting up oxen to illustrate the notion of gongfu:
Cook Ding was cutting up a cow for Duke Wenhui. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every tread of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every sound of the rending flesh, and every note of the movement of the chopper were in perfect harmony - rhythmical like the dance of ‘The Mulberry Grove,’ simultaneous like the chords of the ‘Ching Shou’. (‘The Mulberry Grove’ and ‘Ching Shou’ are two pieces of beautiful antique music.)
‘Ah, admirable,’ said the prince, ‘that your art should become so perfect!’
The cook laid down his chopper and replied: ‘What I love is Dao, which is more advanced than art. When I first began to cut up cows, what I saw was a simply whole cow. When I first began to clean, what I saw was simply a whole mess. After three years' practice, I saw no more cow as whole. At present, I work with my mind, but not with my eyes. The functions of my senses stop; my spirit dominates. Following the natural veins, my chopper slips through the great cavities, slides through the great openings, taking advantage of what is already there. I did not attempt the central veins and their branches, and the connectives between flesh and bone, not to mention the great bones. A good cook changes his chopper once a year, because he cuts. An ordinary cook changes his chopper once a month, because he hacks. Now my copper has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut several thousand cows; yet its edge is as sharp as if it just came from the whetstone. At the joints there are always interstices, and the edge of the chopper is without thickness. If we insert that which is without thickness into an interstice, there is certainly plenty of room for it to move along! Nevertheless, when I come to a complicated joint, and see that there will be some difficulty, I proceed anxiously and with caution. I fix my eyes on it. I move slowly. Then by a very gentle movement of my chopper, the part is quickly separated, and yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then standing with the chopper in my hand, I look all around, with an air of triumph and satisfaction. Then I wipe my chopper and put it in its sheath.’
‘Excellent,’ said the prince, ‘from the words of this cook, I learned the ways of cultivating life.’
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中国美学中的一个重要的概念是‘功夫’，指需要长时间的体格与精神锻炼，与不间断的练习，而达到的完美与自然天成的结果。

庄子就以《庖丁解牛》来说明功夫的概念。

庖丁为文惠君解牛，手之所触，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然向然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音。合于《桑林》之舞，乃中《经首》之会。

文惠君曰：“嘻，善哉！技盖至此乎？”

庖丁释刀对曰：“臣之所好者道也，进乎技矣。始臣之解牛之时，所见无非牛者。三年之后，未尝见全牛也。方今之时，臣以神遇而不以目视，官知止而神欲行。依乎天理，批大郤，导大窾，因其固然，技经肯綮之未尝，而况大軱乎！良庖岁更刀，割也；族庖月更刀，折也。今臣之刀十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。虽然，每至于族，吾见其难为，怵然为戒，视为止，行为迟。动刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。提刀而立，为之四顾，为之踌躇满志，善刀而藏之。”

文惠君曰：“善哉，吾闻庖丁之言，得养生焉。”

Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream 庄周梦蝶

There is a Chinese saying that life is like a dream and a dream is like life. This is illustrated vividly by Zhuangzi with the following story:

‘Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a fluttering butterfly. What fun he had, doing as he pleased! He did not know he was Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and found himself to be Zhou. He did not know whether Zhou had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly had dreamed he was Zhou. Between Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction. This is what is meant by the transformation of things.’

The story probably also sums up much of Zhuangzi’s thought. How do we know when we’re dreaming, and when we’re awake? How do we know if what we perceive is “real” or a mere “illusion” or “fantasy”? Is the “me” of various dream-characters the same as or different from the “me” of my waking world? How do I know, when I experience something I call “waking up” that it is actually a waking up to “reality” as opposed to simply waking up into another level of dream?

It is interesting to note that he used butterfly as the thing in his dream. The butterfly is a symbol of transformation; it follows the breeze yet arrives at the flower; its actions are spontaneous and free. Thus it doesn't wear itself out fighting the forces of nature.

Once fully awakened, if one can tell, one may distinguish between what is a dream and what is reality. Before one has fully awakened, such a distinction is not even possible to draw empirically.

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华人有句俗语说：人生如梦，梦如人生。庄子的一下故事就很好的说明了这一点：

“昔者庄周梦为蝴蝶，栩栩然蝴蝶也，自喻适志与，不知周也。俄然觉，则蘧蘧然周也。不知周之梦为蝴蝶与，蝴蝶之梦为周与？周与蝴蝶则必有分矣。此之谓物化。”

这个故事可能概括了庄子大部分的思想。我们如何知道我们何时在做梦，何时清醒？我们如何知道我们所看到的是‘实在’或者只是‘幻觉’或‘幻想’？在梦中许多个体的‘我’与醒后世界里的‘我’是否是相同的还是不同的‘我’？我如何知道，当我经验我所谓的‘醒来世界’是真真实实的清醒‘现实’，或只是相对于另一个层次的梦境？

很有趣的，我们注意到他用蝴蝶作为梦境之物。蝴蝶是变换的符号，它随着和风找到花朵，它的行动自然与自由。所以在与自然斗争中，它不会疲惫。

一旦完全清醒 -- 如果我们能知道的话，我们可以分辨清楚梦与现实。在我们还没有完全清醒之前，以经验来作出这个辨别根本就不可能。

Zhuangzi advocates No Action 庄子提倡无为

Zhuangzi advocates wuwei, which means ‘no action’ and involves knowing when to act and when not to act. This story from the Zhuangzi illustrates the importance of wuwei.
‘The ruler of the South Sea was called Shu (倏), the ruler of the North Sea was called Hu (忽) and the ruler of the Central Region was called Hun Dun ( 浑沌). Shu and Hu often met each other in the land of Hun Dun, who treated them very well. They wanted to repay his kindness, saying, “Every man has seven apertures with which to hear, to see, to eat and to breathe, but Hun Dun alone has none of them. Let’s try and bore some for him.” They bored one aperture each day, and on the seventh day Hun Dun died.’
Shu and Hu literally mean ‘swift’ and ‘unstable’ respectively. Hun implies turbid or murky states, and also something simple and natural. Hun Dun (浑沌) suggests ‘blended’, ‘integral’, or ‘undivided’. So in Chinese expressions, the primeval state of the universe before the earth was first separated from the heavens was called Hun Dun.
Seven apertures here mean the function of so-called the five senses, that is, the sense of hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch.
One interpretation says that Shu and Hu did not act ‘spontaneously’ or with ‘non-interference’. They were more concerned with proper protocol such as gift-giving. They had a human-oriented bias in that their response was to give Hun Dun human orifices so that he would have the ‘prestige’ of a human face. They did not act with natural and spontaneous actions in accordance with the core Daoist philosophy of wuwei which demands that one submit to and move with, as opposed to against, the natural processes and change.
As a result of their actions, Hun Dun died.
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庄子提倡无为，意思是没有行动，要知道何时行动，何时不应行动。以下庄子的寓言说明无为的重要。
‘南海之帝为倏，北海之帝为忽，中央之帝为浑沌。倏与忽时相与遇于浑沌之地，浑沌待之甚善。倏与忽谋报浑沌之德，曰：“人皆有七窍以视听食息，此独无有，尝试凿之。”日凿一窍，七日而浑沌死。’
‘倏’意为极快，‘忽意’为不平稳，‘混’表示混浊，朦胧的状态，和简单自然的东西。‘混沌’意味混合、完整、未分开。所以，在华人词语中，在天与地还没有分开之前的原始状态的宇宙就叫混沌。
一种解释说倏与忽没有依自然而行动，或者说没有执行‘不干扰’行为。他们更关心的是还礼之类的适当的礼节。他们有着以人为本的偏见，因而他们的反应是给与混沌人类的窍孔，这样混沌就可以有人类的尊严。他们没有依照道家的无为哲学来依自然行事。无为要求一个人服从或依照自然方法或变动，而不是反其道而行。
他们的行动的结果，混沌死了。

Zhuangzi: The Happiness of Fish 庄子：鱼之乐

Among all the Chinese thinkers from antiquity onward, Zhuangzi, an early Daoist, is fond of using fables to explicate his ideas.
Huizi and Chuang Tzu were close friends. They often studied together and discussed problems.
One day, Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, ‘See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That's what fish really enjoy!’

Huizi said, ‘You're not a fish — how do you know what fish enjoy?’

Zhuangzi said, ‘You're not me, so how do you know I don't know what fish enjoy?’

Huizi said, ‘I'm not you, so I certainly don't know what you know. On the other hand, you're certainly not a fish — so that still proves you don't know what fish enjoy!’

Zhuangzi said, ‘Let's go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy — so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.’
It would appear that there is a humorous miscommunication between a daoist and a logician. Zhuangzi is an aesthetician and Huizi a rational epistemologist. However, at the end, Zhuangzi emerges as the superior dialectician, the clearer, more analytic epistemologist.
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在所有中国古代思想家中，早期道家庄子最喜欢以寓言来说明他的思想。
庄子与惠子是好朋友。他们喜欢在一起学习和讨论问题。有一天，他们谈到鱼之乐。
庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰：‘儵（读音tiao二声，鲦）鱼出游从容，是鱼之乐也。’惠子曰：‘子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？’庄子曰：‘子非我，安知我不知鱼之乐？’惠子曰：‘我非子，固不知之矣；子固非鱼也，子之不知鱼之乐，全矣。’庄子曰：‘请循其本。子曰‘汝安知鱼之乐’云者，既已知吾知之而问我，我知之濠上也。’
看来，这是道家与逻辑家间有趣的各言其语。庄子是个美学家而惠子是个有理性的知识论者。结果，庄子反而看起来是个较好的辩证家，一个更有条理，思路清晰的知识论者。