The Marquis of Lu Raised Birds "Zhuangzi"

One day, a seabird flew over from the outskirts of the city of Lu. King Lu had never seen this kind of bird before, so he thought it was sacred, so he sent people to capture it, personally welcomed it and offered it to the temple.

In order to show his love and respect for the seabirds, King Lu immediately ordered the most beautiful music in the palace to be played to the birds and entertained them with the most sumptuous feast. But as for the bird, it didn't appreciate the king's hospitality. It was so frightened that it behaved abnormally. It didn't even dare to taste a piece of meat or touch a drop of water. In this way, it starved to death in just three days.

This fable tells us: When dealing with considerable matters, we must insist on concrete analysis of specific issues. Different objects should be treated in different ways. Otherwise, like King Lu who made offerings to seabirds by making offerings to himself, even if the supervisor has good intentions, it will inevitably fail.

[Original text]

In the past, seabirds stopped at the outskirts of Lu. The Marquis of Lu drank wine in the temple ②, played "Jiu Shao" for music ③, and used

Tailao for food ④. The bird was dazzled and sad⑤, not daring to eat a meal⑥ or drink a cup, and died in three days.

This is to raise birds by raising oneself ⑦, but not by raising birds to raise birds ⑧.

—— From "Zhuangzi·Waipian·Zhile"

[Note]

①Zhi - stop, rest. Lujiao - the suburbs of Lu State.

②The Marquis of Lu came to the temple to drink wine (shāng) in the temple - the Marquis of Lu personally welcomed him to the temple and invited him to drink.

I welcome you. Hey, please drink. Temple, ancestral temple, a place to worship and worship ancestors.

③ "Sháo" - It is said to be a piece of music from the Shun Dynasty, played on grand occasions.

④The food is too strong for the meal - a feast of Feng Helm is prepared for the seabirds to enjoy. Tools, preparation (banquet).

Tailao, when ancient emperors and princes offered sacrifices, all three sacrifices of cattle, sheep, and pigs were called "Tailao".

5. Bird is dizzy (xuàn) looking sad - seabirds are dizzy, frightened and sad. Dizziness, blurred vision

Can’t see clearly.

⑥脔 (luán) - meat cut into small pieces.

⑦ This is how you feed yourself to feed birds - this is how you feed seabirds by feeding yourself. To support oneself means to provide

methods and food to support oneself.

⑧ Raising birds is not about raising birds - it is not about raising seabirds in the same way as birds.

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This fable was originally a historical story: "Guoyu Luyu" records: "The seabird called Aiju stopped outside the east gate of Lu. Zang Wenzhong ordered the people to sacrifice it. ." He was criticized by Zhan Qin, a sage from the state of Lu, who believed that Zang Wenzhong added the code for no reason and was not political. Zhuangzi changed the protagonist of the bird raising to Lu Hou, and added the plot of Lu Hou using the music of Jiu Shao and the three animals of pigs, cattle and sheep to feast on the birds. These specific details of raising birds may have been what they should have been in the heyday of slavery, but in Zang Wenzhong's era, they were "added without reason and not politically appropriate", making the solemn sacrificial ceremony stupid and ridiculous.

People and people, people and things, are very different. What you think is the best may be considered bad by others, or even the worst. It is sometimes wrong to judge others by oneself; subjective assumptions often lead to failure. The Marquis of Lu was too humane in raising birds. He treated the birds as human beings, and it would be strange if the birds did not die.