Section: Miscellaneous Chapter (杂篇) | Chinese Title: 列御寇 (Liè Yùkòu)

Named after the legendary figure Liè Yùkòu (Liè Yùkòu, Lièzǐ 列子), who appears throughout the text as an exemplar of partial attainment — powerful but still dependent. This chapter contains material closely related to the Inner Chapters, including Zhuāng Zhōu's famous burial instructions.

The opening episode returns to Liè Yùkòu's perennial temptation: involvement with political power. He considers accepting grain from the prime minister of Zhèng but is warned by his wife that the gift creates obligation. Lièzǐ refuses — exactly as in Chapter 28 — but the chapter adds the political consequence: when the people of Zhèng rebel and kill the prime minister, Lièzǐ would have been implicated. The gift was not generosity but a trap.

The chapter contains a taxonomy of nine types of people who are difficult to assess because their external behaviour disguises their inner nature. Among them: those who appear brave but are cowardly inside, those who appear gentle but are ruthless, and those who appear honest but are manipulative. The text warns against judging character by appearance — echoing Chapter 5's theme that form does not reveal inner truth.

The chapter's most personal passage: Zhuāng Zhōu is about to die. His disciples discuss an elaborate funeral. Zhuāng Zhōu objects: Heaven and Earth will be his coffin, the sun and moon his paired jade discs, the stars his pearls, and the Ten Thousand Things his funerary gifts. What could they add? The disciples worry that the crows and kites will eat his body. Zhuāng Zhōu replies: above ground, the crows and kites eat me; below ground, the ants and crickets eat me. Why rob one to give to the other?

For the martial artist, the burial instructions embody the ultimate teaching on non-attachment: even the body is to be returned without ceremony. The nine types of people warn against the same error in combat: assuming that an opponent's external posture reveals their actual intention.

Scholarly Classification

School of Zhuangzi / Transmitter School (Liu). Contains material closely related to the Inner Chapters, including Zhuāng Zhōu's own burial instructions.

Key Passages in Chinese

以天地为棺椁，以日月为连璧，星辰为珠玑，万物为赍送。吾葬具岂不备邪？
Yǐ tiāndì wéi guānguǒ, yǐ rìyuè wéi liánbì, xīngchén wéi zhūjī, wànwù wéi jīsòng. Wú zàng jù qǐ bù bèi xié?
— With Heaven and Earth as my coffin, the sun and moon as my jade discs, the stars as my pearls, and the Ten Thousand Things as my funerary gifts — are my burial furnishings not complete?

在上为乌鸢食，在下为蝼蚁食。夺彼与此，何其偏也？
Zài shàng wéi wūyuān shí, zài xià wéi lóuyǐ shí. Duó bǐ yǔ cǐ, hé qí piān yě?
— Above ground the crows eat me; below ground the ants eat me. Why rob the one to give to the other?

Parables and Key Episodes

• Lièzǐ refuses the prime minister's grain — the gift was a trap
• Nine types of people whose appearance disguises their nature
• Zhuāng Zhōu's burial instructions — Heaven and Earth as coffin, stars as pearls
• The crows and the ants — why rob one to give to the other?

Key Terms

• Guānguǒ (棺椁) — Inner and outer coffin, which Zhuāng Zhōu replaces with Heaven and Earth
• Jiǔ Zhǐ (九征) — Nine types, the taxonomy of deceptive external appearances