The Big Oak Tree and a Philosopher

Zhuangzi was an ancient philosopher who lived about the third century BC. He was one particular of the founders of Taoism, along with Laozi. His style of delivering his principles and concepts was a small distinctive from that of other philosophers. He did not leave any written records explaining his philosophy. Instead, he left a large number of stories that contain substantial and profound meanings. From the written records that do exist, he appears to have been a naturalist. His stories tell us a lot about nature and all-natural functions, such as a tree, an insect, a fish, a bird, or a spirit. He makes use of trees quite a few instances in his stories to teach individuals the accurate nature of existence. A mahogany tree appears in several of his stories, but for this story he utilized an oak tree.

In one part of ancient China there was a gigantic oak tree. The tree was so immense that 100 cows could stand below its shade. The trunk was so thick that 200 consumers would not be adequate to encircle it. A lot of people came to see the tree each day from sheer curiosity. A carpenter and his disciples lived nearby, but the master carpenter did not pay any attention to the oak tree. A single of the disciples asked his master why he did not cut the tree down and develop homes after all, the tree could be employed to create hundreds of homes. The master answered that the tree was useless considering it was too old and too tough to cut and craft.

The top thing to do was to leave it alone.

The oak tree appeared in the master's dreams that night. The tree asked "How dare you call me useless?" It then mentioned how other oak trees had been cut and killed by human beings to develop homes, ships, or furniture, and to serve people's selfish causes and purposes. "Getting useless was beneficial for me as it meant I could survive." The oak tree pointed out that, despite its uselessness to human beings, it had been useful in delivering nests for birds and insects. Its leaves, falling down in autumn, gave nutrition to the land and grew other trees, plants, and flowers. The oak tree finished by saying: "Do not judge usefulness only by the measures of human beings. Nature is not only for human beings. Human beings will need to not forget that they survive only thanks to nature."

The carpenter woke up the subsequent morning and believed about what the oak tree had said. He talked with other villagers and decided to make the oak tree a subject of worship as a part of their local religion.