Mei Kuang Yu Xia – The situation worsens progressively

Idiom Story:

Zhuangzi, whose real name was Zhou, was a prominent philosopher and the leader of the Daoist school during the Warring States period. He built upon and developed Laozi’s idea of “the Dao following nature,” believing that the Dao is infinite and emphasizing the natural evolution of things without a divine overseer. His thoughts incorporated elements of simple dialectics.

One day, a man named Dong Guozi asked Zhuangzi, “Where exactly is the Dao?” Zhuangzi replied, “The Dao is omnipresent; it exists everywhere.”

Dong Guozi, seeking further clarity, pressed, “Can you specifically define its boundaries so that I may understand it?” Zhuangzi responded, “It can be found in the tiniest of creatures, like ants.”

Surprised, Dong Guozi exclaimed, “How can it be in something so lowly?” Zhuangzi then illustrated his point by listing various things, from weeds and bricks to excrement, asserting that the Dao exists in all of these.

As Dong Guozi noticed Zhuangzi’s examples growing increasingly lowly, he ceased his inquiries. Sensing Dong Guozi’s discomfort, Zhuangzi explained, “Your question is fundamentally shallow. To illustrate my point, I must describe the Dao in the lowest terms. It is like the market officials asking a pig’s handler to determine the pig’s weight by stepping on its legs; the more you press down on the pig’s smallest parts, the clearer you see its fatness. Since pig legs are the least likely to gain weight, one must not view the Dao as a fixed entity to grasp its true nature. The Dao cannot be separated from the essence of things.”

This story exemplifies the idea that if one fails to recognize the Dao in even the most humble aspects of life, their understanding remains superficial, ultimately leading to a deeper, progressively worsening misunderstanding—reflected in the idiom “每况愈下.”