One of the Twelve DSE Sample Essays in Chinese - Zhuang Zi's "The Journey to the Promised Land" (Abridged)

Collection of worksheets on benevolence, filial piety, and being a gentleman
When you are preparing for the DSE, are you worried about how to read DSE Chinese, or do you not know where to start? TodayGETUTOR Hong Kong Tutor AssociationWe would like to talk about one of the 12 DSE sample essays - Zhuangzi's "The Journey to the Promised Land" (extract) with all the students who are preparing for the DSE. We have consolidated the translation, main idea and key points of "A Journey to Get Away" (extract) for you, hoping that it will be convenient for you to revise!

Zhuangzi

ZHUANG Zi's "Easy-going Tour" (Extract)Full Translation

First original paragraph:
The king of Wei became the subject of a large gourd, and the tree I planted was five stone in size; it was used to hold syrup, but its hardness could not be lifted by itself, and when it was cut up and used as a dipper, the gourd fell to the ground without any capacity. The gourd is not unquestionably large, but I am taking it up for its uselessness. I am not a big spacious person, but I am taking it up for its uselessness", said Zhuangzi. In the Song Dynasty, there was a man who was good at making medicine for the hands of the tortoise, and he used bleachers and floss-silk as his business. When a guest heard of him, he asked to buy his prescription for a hundred gold. He gathered his family together and said, "I have been making bleach-silk for only a few pieces of gold, but now I am selling my skill for a hundred pieces of gold, so I would like to give it to him. The client obtained it and told the King of Wu about it. When Yue was in trouble, the King of Wu made his generals fight with the Yue in the winter and defeated them in a water battle, so he split the land and sealed it. The king's general was able to seal the land without tortoise's hand, but he also used different methods to seal the land or not to be free from the bleachers' floss-silk. The first thing I would like to do is to make sure that I have a gourd with five stones in it, so why don't I think about using it as a big bottle to float in the river and lake, and worry that there is nothing to hold it? I am not sure if you are a man of the world, but I am a man of the world, and I am a man of the world.

Translation:
Huizi said to Zhuangzi, "The king of Wei gave me the seed of a large gourd, and when I planted it and grew it, the fruit was as large as five stones; but when I used it to hold water, it was not strong enough to bear its own weight; and when I cut it open and made it into a dipper, the dipper was too large to hold anything. This gourd is not small, but I think it is useless, so I break it. Chuang Tzu said, "You are really not good at using 'big'! There was a man in the state of Song who was good at making a secret medicine that would not split his hands, and his family had been in the business of rinsing silk floss for many generations. When a customer heard about this, he offered him a hundred pieces of gold to buy his prescription. So he gathered his family together and said, "We have been washing silk floss for generations and have only received a few gold pieces, but now we can get a hundred gold pieces if we sell this prescription. The guest got the prescription and went to persuade the king of Wu. The king of Wu sent him to fight against the Yue army in the winter, and he defeated the Yue army so much that he gave him a land grant as a reward. The same remedy that does not crack the hands of turtles, some people were rewarded for it, but some people only used it to rinse silk floss, that's the difference in the methods used. Now that you have a big gourd with a capacity of five stones, why don't you consider using it as a waist boat to float on the rivers and lakes, instead of worrying that it is too big and has no place to stay? This shows that your mind is still not clear!

Second original paragraph:
Huizi said to Zhuangzi, "I have a large tree which people call simaroubaceae. Its large roots are swollen and do not fit into the ropes and ink, and its small branches are curled and do not fit into the rules; when it is painted, it is disregarded by the craftsmen. Now the words of Zi are so big and useless that the masses will all go away with them." Zhuangzi said, "Have you not seen the civet? The civet is humble and crouches to wait for the Ao, jumps from thing to thing, does not open up the high and low, and dies at the mercy of the machine and the net. Now the ox is as big as a cloud hanging in the sky, and it can be as big as that, but it cannot hold a mouse. Now that I have a big tree and I am afraid that it is useless, why do I not plant a tree in a country where there is nothing, in a field where there is nothing, and wander around without doing anything, and sleep and lie down at ease? If you do not die young, you will not be harmed by the axe. If there is no use for it, what is the point of suffering?"

Translation:
Huizi said to Zhuangzi, "I have a big tree which people call the stinking toon tree. Its trunk is bloated and out of shape, its twigs are crooked and out of order, and when it grows by the side of the road, even the carpenter will not look back at it. Now your speech is so big and useless that everyone will abandon it. Chuang Tzu said, "Have you not seen the wild cat and the weasel? They are waiting for the small animals that are travelling; they are jumping and leaping, not avoiding heights, and they are often caught in the net and die in the net. Look at the yak, its body is as big as a cloud in the sky, its function is great, but it cannot even catch mice. Now that you have such a big tree, and you are still worried that it is useless, why don't you plant it in the open countryside, in the vast and boundless wilderness, and leisurely stroll beside the tree without any worries, and lie down under the tree with ease and contentment? It will not be felled by the axe, and nothing will come to destroy it; it is of no use, so what is the hardship?"

Translation

1. King of Wei: King Hui of Wei.

2. Exon: gift.

3. Gourd's seed: the seed of a large gourd. The name of the gourd is "Gourd". The seeds of the gourd are the same as the seeds of the gourd.

4. 實：作名詞用，果實，指瓠之籽數。

5. To hold water and pulp: to hold water. Water is juice, syrup is thick liquid, this refers to all liquids in general.

6. Self-exaltation: to overcome oneself, to bear.

7. sauerkraut: a spoon made by cutting open a gourd and used to serve wine.

8. His gourd is too big to fit: The gourd is too big to fit.

9. Quarterly: "Hollow", virtual, by extension, large.

10. Take up: break up.

11. 夫：文言语助辭，用於句首，表表提示作用，無實義。

12. clumsy: this describes a person who is not clever, but here it is used as an adjective to mean not good at it.

13. Non-turtle hands: to keep the skin of the hands from chapping.

14. Bleach: rinsing.

15. Floss-silk: the same as "纊", referring to cotton wool in general.

16. Formula: noun, formula, prescription.

17. Selling skills: selling art.

18. Yue Yau Nguyen: The Vietcong invaded the country again. The word "有" means "to have" or "to have", or "to have" as in "to have" or "to have not". Difficulty" originally refers to difficulties and disasters, but is used as a verb to refer to military difficulties, i.e. war.

19. 將：作動詞用，指將兵，即領領軍隊。 It can also be used as a noun, which is interpreted as the general of a general, even if it is a general.

20. Splitting the ground: cutting the ground. Split, cut.

21. Otaru: Originally referring to a wine vessel, the term also refers to a swimming device that was tied around the waist to help float, like today's life buoys.

22. The heart of the fluffy: a metaphor for a mind that is not clear.

23. Looking: looking back.

24. 獨：副词，難道，豈。

25. Ao: a small animal that moves around. Ao, commonly known as "roam", leisure travelling.

26. Jumping the beam: same as "stumbling", jumping.

27. Not to be shunned: not to be shunned. The same as "avoid".

28. Machine and crossbow: a machine and crossbow for catching beasts of prey.

29. Recklessness: refers to the nets for catching animals. Recklessness and net are both synonymous with "net" in ancient times.

30. Enforcement: capture.

31. Wujiye's Countryside: a spacious and uninhabited countryside, a metaphor for a free and unrestrained spiritual state after attaining Taoism.

32. "Wandering": wandering at will, which is different from the present-day meaning of "wandering" as "restlessness".

33. Abort: to destroy.

Author's background

Zhuang Zi (c. 369 - 286 BC), known as Zhou, was a native of Mengcheng in the State of Song during the Warring States period. He was a renowned thinker, philosopher, and writer, a representative of the Taoist school of thought, and an inheritor and developer of Laozi's thought, and was later nicknamed Laozhuang (老莊), after Laozi.

Article Highlights

Article structure and paragraphing

Part I (para. 1):

Para. 1: The use of the gourd is discussed with Huizi, using the example of the use of the Bu Gui Hands prescription to illustrate that there is a difference between large and small uses, and that the most important thing is to use the gourd in the right way.

Ironically, Huizi has a "heart of fluff", which means that there is also a difference between a small and a big heart. Only by removing prejudices, letting go of attachments, and being open-minded can we break through the limitations, use everything in the right way, and stop at the highest good.

Part II (para. 2):

Para. 1: In discussing with Huizi about the use of the large toon tree, the two examples of "civet vulture" and "ancient Chinese cow" are used to illustrate that everything, no matter how big or small it is, has its own use as well as its own limitations. In contrast to the "big" and "small" external objects, it is more important to know how to "use the big" and "use the small" internally, and whether they can be used appropriately.

The second idea of the paragraph is to take the apparently useless tree as an example to illustrate that the world is often obsessive, lacking in reverse thinking, and only knows how to stick to the rules, and is accustomed to using "usefulness" as a means of utilisation, without knowing that all things are born in a relative way, and that "usefulness" can be a cause of trouble, while "uselessness" can also be used for great purposes.

Para. 3: According to the Tao, the so-called "usefulness" of different forms is only a "minor use". If they are not useful, they can be used for the purpose of nourishing one's life and allowing one's spirit to be free and happy. In this way, what is useless is of great use.

Source:Hong Kong Education Bureau

Extended reading: Interpretation and Analysis of the Twelve Sample Essays of DSE in Chinese

1. The Analects of Confucius (on benevolence, filial piety and the gentleman)
2. Mencius, "What the Fish Desires.
3. Chuang Tzu's "Easy Ride" (Abridged)
4. Xunzi's "Exhortation to Learning" (extract)
5. Sima Qian, "Biography of Lian Bo (廉頗藺相如列传) (extract)
6. ZHUGE Liang's "Table of the Exodus of the Master" (出師表)
7. Han Yu's The Teacher's Discourse
8. Liu Zongyuan's Record of a Banquet in the Western Mountains
9. Fan Zhongyan's Records of Yueyang House
10. Su Xun, A Treatise on the Six Kingdoms
11. Three Poems
- Wang Wei's Autumn Night in a Mountain Dwelling
- Li Bai's "Discretion under the Moon" (I)
- Du Fu's "Ascending a Building" (登樓)
12. Three Lyrics
- Su Shi, "Nian Nu Jiao - Reminiscences of Red Cliff" (念奴嬌-赤壁懷古)
- Li Qingzhao, "The Sound of Sound. Autumn Love
- Xin Wuji, "The Case of the Green Jade..." (The Case of the Green Jade) The Night of the First Day of the Lunar New Year