<<Liezi. What are the famous fables in Tang Wen>>(3)

The famous three fables in "Liezi Tangwen" are Yugong Yishan, Kuafu chasing the sun and two little children arguing about the sun.

1. Yugong removes the mountain

The story of Yugong's persistence in digging up the mountain and eventually moving the mountain away from the Emperor of Heaven. Through the perseverance of Yugong and the cowardice of Zhicao, as well as the contrast between "foolishness" and "wisdom", the story shows the confidence and perseverance of the ancient Chinese working people, and illustrates the truth that one must be persistent in order to overcome difficulties.

2. Kuafu chases the sun

Legend has it that in the era of the Yellow Emperor's dynasty, one of the chiefs of the Kuafu tribe wanted to take down the sun and put it into people's hearts, so he started to chase the sun. When he was thirsty, he drank the Yellow River and the Wei River dry, and prepared to go to the Great Lake (or Dazawa) in the north to drink water, and he died of thirst on his way to Dazawa. His cane was transformed into a forest of peaches, which became a peach garden; and his body was transformed into Mount Quatre.

3. Two Children Arguing About the Sun

This is an account of Confucius' encounter with two children arguing about the proximity of the sun and his inability to make a decision. It shows that knowledge is infinite and learning is never-ending, and it also praises Confucius' spirit of seeking truth from facts and admitting his lack of knowledge, and the ancient people's spirit of searching for objective truth, thinking independently, and questioning boldly.

The whole text shows the characters and unfolds the storyline through the description of dialogues, and the language of the characters is highly personalized, while the characters' images are clearly visible and vivid.

Expanded Information

Background

"Cease to Offer Technique" is a science fiction fable created by Liezi on the basis of scientific development during the Warring States period, in which the advocate of song and dance performers assembled from artificial materials not only looks exactly like a real person, but can sing and dance well.

The fantasy in the fable utilizes the scientific and technological achievements of the Warring States period, and takes the scientific and technological development of the time as its starting point. The deeper meaning of the fable is a comment on the skillfulness of the representatives of Mohism at that time.

The "Winter Officials" part of the "Zhou Li" was lost in the early Han Dynasty, and was later added to the "Kao Gong Ji" to replace the "Zhou Li - Winter Officials".

The Kao Gong Ji is a practical and specific work on production techniques, and is also the earliest book that has been handed down in ancient China that describes the production techniques and quality specifications of governmental handicrafts.

According to the evidence of later generations, the book was written at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period, and it is a compilation of scientific and technological knowledge about handicraft manufacturing at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period, and it truly reflects the scientific and technological level of handicraft manufacturing at that time.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Liezi. Tang Man