A person who had no lips, whose legs were bent so that he could only walk on his toes, and who was (otherwise) deformed, addressed his counsels to duke Ling of Wei, who was so pleased with him, that he looked on a perfectly formed man as having a lean and small neck in comparison with him. Another who had a large goitre like an earthenware jar addressed his counsels to duke Hwan of Khî, who was so pleased with him that he looked on a perfectly formed man as having a neck lean and small in comparison with him. So it is that when one's virtue is extraordinary, (any deficiency in) his bodily form may be forgotten. When men do not forget what is (easily) forgotten, and forget what is not (easily) forgotten, we have a case of real oblivion.Most people who have been raised in western culture have heard the saying, "One shouldn't judge a book by its cover." This story from the Book of Zhuangzi makes this same point and then some.
~ from Chapter 5, Stephen R. McIntyre translation ~
We live in a society that places far too much emphasis on appearance. In ads, books, magazines, movies, and songs, we're told again and again that success is born by those who look young, beautiful, sleek, tan and buff. If we look nothing like this, we either are duped into believing we must spend thousands of dollars to try to attain this look and/or obtain the status symbols that project these traits OR we aren't worth much of anything!
But the depth of a person's character or the breadth of their wisdom is not dependent on one's appearance. Someone could look as disheveled as possible and yet have the sagacity of one thousand people combined.
Chuang Tzu reminds us always to look below the surface. Often times, a diamond is right in front of us, though all we may see is a lump of coal!
To read more musings about the Zhuangzi, you can visit the index page for this ongoing series.
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