列子·湯問·愚公移山 The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains (Liezi) Liezi (attributed) 列子 (traditionally 5th century BCE; text compiled by the 4th century CE) Six Dynasties · Text compiled by the 4th century CE Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-002008 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/002008 Rights: Classical Chinese text compiled no later than the 4th century CE; public domain everywhere. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice. Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/列子/湯問篇 (retrieved 2026-10-11) English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0 Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/liezi-the-foolish-old-man-moves-the-mountains ---- 太行、王屋二山，方七百里，高萬仞，本在冀州之南，河陽之北。北山愚公者，年且九十，面山而居，懲山北之塞，出入之迂也，聚室而謀曰：「吾與汝畢力平險，指通豫南，達于漢陰，可乎？」雜然相許。其妻獻疑曰：「以君之力，曾不能損魁父之丘，如太行、王屋何？且焉置土石？」雜曰：「投諸渤海之尾，隱土之北。」遂率子孫荷擔者三夫，叩石墾壤，箕畚運於渤海之尾。鄰人京城氏之孀妻有遺男，始齔，跳往助之。寒暑易節，始一反焉。河曲智叟笑而止之，曰：「甚矣，汝之不惠！以殘年餘力，曾不能毀山之一毛，其如土石何？」北山愚公長息曰：「汝心之固，固不可徹，曾不若孀妻弱子。雖我之死，有子存焉；子又生孫，孫又生子；子又有子，子又有孫，子子孫孫無窮匱也，而山不加增，何苦而不平？」河曲智叟亡以應。操蛇之神聞之，懼其不已也，告之於帝。帝感其誠，命夸蛾氏二子負二山，一厝朔東，一厝雍南。自此，冀之南，漢之陰，無隴斷焉。 ---- 太行、王屋二山，方七百里，高万仞，本在冀州之南，河阳之北。北山愚公者，年且九十，面山而居，惩山北之塞，出入之迂也，聚室而谋曰：「吾与汝毕力平险，指通豫南，达于汉阴，可乎？」杂然相许。其妻献疑曰：「以君之力，曾不能损魁父之丘，如太行、王屋何？且焉置土石？」杂曰：「投诸渤海之尾，隐土之北。」遂率子孙荷担者三夫，叩石垦壤，箕畚运于渤海之尾。邻人京城氏之孀妻有遗男，始龀，跳往助之。寒暑易节，始一反焉。河曲智叟笑而止之，曰：「甚矣，汝之不惠！以残年余力，曾不能毁山之一毛，其如土石何？」北山愚公长息曰：「汝心之固，固不可彻，曾不若孀妻弱子。虽我之死，有子存焉；子又生孙，孙又生子；子又有子，子又有孙，子子孙孙无穷匮也，而山不加增，何苦而不平？」河曲智叟亡以应。操蛇之神闻之，惧其不已也，告之于帝。帝感其诚，命夸蛾氏二子负二山，一厝朔东，一厝雍南。自此，冀之南，汉之阴，无陇断焉。 ---- English translation by Claude (an AI) The two mountains Taihang and Wangwu were seven hundred miles around and ten thousand fathoms high. They stood south of Jizhou and north of Heyang. The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain was nearly ninety years old, and his house faced the mountains. He was troubled that they blocked the way to the north, so that every journey in and out was long and roundabout. He gathered his household and said to them: "Let us all put our strength together and level these heights, so that a road runs straight to the south of Yu and reaches the southern bank of the Han. Shall we?" They all agreed at once. His wife raised a doubt: "With your strength you could not even wear down the little hill of Kuifu. What can you do to Taihang and Wangwu? And where will you put the earth and stones?" They all said: "We will throw them into the end of the Bohai Sea, north of Yintu." So he led those of his sons and grandsons who could carry a pole, three men in all, to break up the rocks and dig the soil and carry it in baskets and hods to the end of the Bohai Sea. Their neighbour, the widow of the Jingcheng family, had a son just old enough to be losing his milk teeth, and he skipped along to help them. Winter turned to summer before they made one trip there and back. The Wise Old Man of the River Bend laughed and tried to stop him, saying: "How foolish you are. With the strength you have left in your last years, you cannot even damage a single hair of the mountain. What can you do with all that earth and stone?" The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain sighed deeply and said: "Your mind is so stubborn that nothing can get through it. You are not even as sensible as the widow and her little boy. Even when I die, my sons will remain. My sons will have grandsons, and the grandsons will have sons; those sons will have sons, and those sons will have grandsons. Sons and grandsons, generation after generation, will never come to an end. But the mountains will not grow any higher. Why should we worry that they cannot be levelled?" The Wise Old Man of the River Bend had no answer. The god who holds the snakes heard of this and was afraid that the old man would never stop, so he reported it to the Lord of Heaven. The Lord of Heaven was moved by his sincerity and ordered the two sons of Kua'e to carry the mountains away on their backs, one to be set down east of Shuo and the other south of Yong. From that time on, from the south of Ji to the southern bank of the Han, there has been no high ground in the way.