Dispelling Obscuration

AnonymousJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJun 2024

4.0

Word count: 1.9K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The argus pheasant of Huli Zi said to his minister: "The ruler's left team horse has fallen ill. People say that if it were given the blood of a living horse to drink, it could be raised up. The ruler's groom sent to beg a team horse from a servant, but the servant found it hard and did not give one." The minister said: "To kill a horse to save a horse is not in human nature; how would anyone dare?"

Editor's review

Though brief, "Removing the Veil" is a thought-provoking allegorical sketch. Built on a dialogue between "Hulizi's mugwort" and a minister, it centers on the core conflict of whether "killing a horse to save a horse" accords with human feeling, revealing the subtle tension among request, evasion, and moral consideration. Its value lies not in plotted narrative but in forcing an ethical dilemma out of minimal dialogue: when saving one horse requires sacrificing another, how should human feeling be weighed against reason? The language is archaic and compressed, leaving much unsaid—well suited to close reading and discussion. As a document printed by Shanghai Jinzhang Book Company in the Republican period, it also has some value for textual and publishing history. Read it as a thought experiment, attending to the differences in attitude signaled by words such as "difficult," "did not grant," and "how would I dare," and consider the expressive strategy of allegory within the tradition of admonitory writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy pre-Qin allegories and classical short prose
Teachers who need short classical Chinese texts for classroom discussion
Readers interested in Republican-era publications and textual editions
Students who want to train close-reading skills in classical Chinese through short texts

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a full-length story or rich plot
Beginners with weak classical Chinese who need vernacular annotations
Readers who want a clear moral conclusion rather than open discussion

Reading tips

Read the original through once, marking key verbs in the dialogue and tracing the logic of request and refusal.
Reflect on the ethical conflict of "killing a horse to save a horse," write down your own judgment, then compare it with the minister's attitude in the text.
If using it for teaching, have students read the roles aloud to feel the differences in tone among "difficult," "did not grant," and "how would I dare."
After reading, look up the general features of allegory and consider why this text advances through dialogue rather than narration.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
祛蔽第八

FAQ

What is the central conflict of this short text?

The central conflict is whether, to save a sick horse, another horse should be killed for its blood. The requester and the one asked clash over whether this is in accord with human feeling, and the text thereby presents a weighing of human feeling, reason, and moral obligation.

What does the minister's attitude show?

The minister responds with "To kill a horse to save a horse is not in accord with human feeling," showing that he does not approve of sacrificing one horse to save another. This attitude is both a tactful refusal of the request and a turn toward the standard by which "what accords with human feeling" is judged.

What should readers pay attention to in this allegory?

Note that the dialogue leaves much omitted and unsaid, so the relationships and the chain of requests require careful reading. Do not rush to reduce it to a single lesson; instead, attend to differences in attitude behind the wording and read it as an open thought experiment.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.