Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu both recognized the Tao as an all-pervading presence in life, giving it a unity that extends across the universe and shapes what we experience as the inherent nature of all things. 
That there is a cosmic connection to all things and that man is simply one of those things and we are to find and understand our role. Lieh Tzu shows this connection by bringing Confucius into his work, dedicating an entire chapter to him and his influence on human behavior.
Chapter four, which we’ve already explored, highlights how the merits of Confucius’ teachings should be taken out of the hands of a privileged class and demonstrates that the power of virtue equally applies to everyone.
The similarities and differences between Lieh Tzu’s “everyday man” and Chuang Tzu’s “perfected man” became especially clear as history unfolded, with the teachings of virtue and Confucius being formalized by government leaders who adopted an examination system to decide who could rise in society. Lieh Tzu aimed to use his writing to poke fun at the rigid pretensions of the Confucians and highlight their impact on daily life. Chuang Tzu, on the other hand, would sometimes mock or even praise the reasoning the Confucians employed.
I’m reminded that I wrote the entry below in August 1995, more than thirty years ago. Even now, I still wonder where it all came from and why I felt compelled to write my own version of the Book of Lieh Tzu. I wondered why it was so important to understand what following the Tao would mean for my future, and how my role in it was supposed to develop.
Eventually, it shifted from questioning the path I was on to simply following it. During this time, two driving forces began to play a central role moving forward: the decision to adopt an infant from China and the idea of pursuing the creation of a Chinese-designed friendship park in Boynton Beach.
I had written extensively about both Chuang and Lieh Tzu in my first book about the I Ching and an introduction of Taoism. By now it was as though they were with me every day or were available at my calling. The idea of uncovering the past to shed light on the future began to take root in my thoughts and actions, shaping a process that could bring about what was to come as a kind of a renewed or shared vision that would be of relevance. Letting go and setting things in motion, allowing them to guide me to wherever the next step is meant to lead today.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Eight – Explaining Conjunctions
147. Confusing Human Traits with Reality
What traits can define us? Can the reputation we carry with us everywhere we go truly define all there is to know? What can reputation be, but how have others decided to see us and decide for themselves and how can it matter in the end? If both good and bad are present in all of us are both capable of coming forward? 
Can even the most hardened among us not find room in his heart for random acts that may be seen as kindness?
Does not the Tao teach us that every act springs forward in spontaneity finding its own name and its own reality? Being so, how could it be missed?
Lieh Tzu tells us of a respected merchant out on his rounds who was caught by robbers at a pass in the hills of Mu Lia. They took all that he had and left him along the roadside to die.
The man, whose name was Yuan Hsing Mu lay there for what seemed to him an eternity when another robber found him. Having watched from a distance what had happened he came forward to give him food and water. Yuan Hsing Mu ate three mouthfuls before his eyesight returned. Thanking the man, he asked him his name. The man confided that he was known as Ch’iu of Hu‑fu. The merchant, now beginning to come to his senses recognized the name as one belonging to a criminal who was renowned for his evil deeds committed throughout the countryside.
Shocked he exclaimed: “What, aren’t you a criminal? What do you mean by giving me food? I am a respectable man; I will not eat your food!”
Yuan Hsing Mu then pressed both hands against his stomach and tried to vomit the food he had given up. But it stuck gurgling in his throat. He then suddenly fell on his face and died. All to the shock of Chiu, who stood by unsure of what to do next? While the man Chiu of Hu‑fu was certainly a criminal, there was nothing criminal about the food.
What could have been more wrong than to confuse the man’s name with his deeds as he attempted to assist someone in need, and the random act of kindness that had been rejected? 8/23/95
Number one hundred forty-seven of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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