Chapter 802: 491 chapters, it turns out he is Laozi's student

491 chapters, it turns out he is Laozi's student...

491 chapters, it turns out he is Laozi's student...

――――A red apricot branch protruding over the wall

Crown Prince Xi brought Zhuangzi, who had changed into his sword attire, together to pay respects to King Zhao.: Your Majesty, another person has come from afar, named Zhuangzi the swordsman, seeking an audience with Your Majesty, King Zhao. Upon hearing that the swordsman had come from afar to see him, King Zhao was delighted. He had long been waiting with his sword in the hall, and ordered his attendants and officials to line up to welcome the swordsman Zhuangzi from afar.

Zhuangzi followed Crown Prince Xi into the hall; facing the solemn officials in the palace, Zhuangzi showed no fear, as if entering an uninhabited place. At that time, the etiquette of Zhao required officials, upon seeing the king, to hurry forward and perform the kowtow. Yet when Zhuangzi saw King Zhao, he neither hurried forward nor performed the kowtow.

The officials attending King Zhao, seeing Zhuangzi's poised and graceful demeanor, all whispered to each other, saying: 'This must be a swordsman of exceptional skill; otherwise how could he be so nonchalant and graceful? Moreover, we have never seen such a nonchalant and graceful swordsman.'

Since King Zhao took a liking to this sword art, he spent all day mingling with those disheveled swordsmen, and thus the ruler‑subject etiquette gradually became lax and was no longer observed. Consequently, he paid no mind to Zhuangzi's failure to perform the kowtow.

On the contrary, he gazed at the poised and graceful Zhuangzi with admiration: 'This swordsman's swordsmanship is extraordinary.'

"Swordsman from afar, what is your surname and given name? What lofty swordsmanship do you wish to present to me? Please quickly show it to Your Majesty." King Zhao said.

Seeing that King Zhao valued him so highly, Zhuangzi then courteously performed a salute and said: "My surname is Zhuang, given name Zhou, courtesy name Zixiu; I am from Meng County, Song State. People all call me Zhuangzi. I took Laozi as my former teacher, studied literature, but made little progress; later I wandered the world, seeking swordsmanship from all directions. I have my own insights on swordsmanship. Having heard that Your Majesty likes swordsmanship, I have come from afar, wishing to offer all that I have learned of swordsmanship to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing that the swordsman before him named Zhuangzi was a disciple of Laozi, King Zhao felt a sudden surge of respect.

King Zhao had long heard that Laozi accepted only two disciples in his lifetime, one being Kongzi. He never expected that Laozi's other disciple, Zhuangzi, would be right before his eyes.

But then King Zhao thought again: Laozi is a Daoist, and the Daoists mainly promote the idea of non‑action.

"Non‑action" means taking no action toward society. Since it is non‑action, taking no action toward society means one can do nothing, is incapable—isn't that a useless person? Unable to do anything, what use is there? As a human, one ought to do something for society, make some contribution. If one cannot make a great contribution, one should still make a small one; if one cannot undertake great endeavors, one should still undertake small ones; in short, as a human, one should act for society—how can one call it non‑action? Isn't that harmful to people?

Like the other feudal lords, King Zhao considered Laozi's teachings utterly useless; yet those feudal lords, while deeming Laozi's theory useless, still admired Laozi as a person. The swordsman who has appeared before us claims to be Laozi's disciple—could it be that Laozi also studied swordsmanship?

Zhuangzi had long perceived the doubt in King Zhao's heart.

Thus, Zhuangzi stepped forward and said to King Zhao: ………………………

(Heart with the disaster area, feeling with the disaster area: may peace, courage, confidence, and strength accompany and be with the people of the disaster area!)