A man from the state of Qi was consumed by a terrifying thought: what if the sky fell down? What if the earth collapsed? Where would he live? Where would he stand? He could not eat. He could not sleep. His fear was absolute.
A friend, worried about him, came to explain: "The sky is nothing but accumulated air. There is air everywhere — above you, below you, around you. Every time you breathe or move, you are already inside the sky. Why would it fall?"
The man asked: "If the sky is air, what about the sun, moon, and stars? Won't they fall?" The friend answered: "They are just lumps of light floating in the air. Even if they fell, they could not hurt you."
"What about the earth collapsing?" "The earth is solid rock and soil, filling every direction. You walk on it every day. Why would it collapse?"
The man was enormously relieved. He ate well that night and slept peacefully. The friend, too, felt relieved — having worried about the man who worried about the sky.
杞国有人忧天地崩坠，身亡所寄，废寝食者。又有忧彼之所忧者，因往晓之，曰：「天，积气耳，亡处亡气。若屈伸呼吸，终日在天中行止，奈何忧崩坠乎？」
其人曰：「天果积气，日月星宿，不当坠耶？」晓之者曰：「日月星宿，亦积气中之有光耀者，只使坠，亦不能有所中伤。」
其人曰：「奈地坏何？」晓者曰：「地，积块耳，充塞四虚，亡处亡块。若躇步跐蹈，终日在地上行止，奈何忧其坏？」
其人舍然大喜，晓之者亦舍然大喜。
杞国有人忧天地崩坠，身亡所寄，废寝食者。又有忧彼之所忧者，因往晓之，曰：「天，积气耳，亡处亡气。若屈伸呼吸，终日在天中行止，奈何忧崩坠乎？」
其人曰：「天果积气，日月星宿，不当坠耶？」晓之者曰：「日月星宿，亦积气中之有光耀者，只使坠，亦不能有所中伤。」
其人曰：「奈地坏何？」晓者曰：「地，积块耳，充塞四虚，亡处亡块。若躇步跐蹈，终日在地上行止，奈何忧其坏？」
其人舍然大喜，晓之者亦舍然大喜。
Reflection & Analysis · 寓意解读
Core Wisdom
Most of our fears are about things that cannot happen. The sky is not falling. The earth is not collapsing. Eat your dinner and sleep well.
The idiom "杞人忧天" (the man of Qi who worried about the sky) describes unfounded anxiety — fear of catastrophes that exist only in the imagination. The man's fear is not irrational in the abstract; the sky is above us and could theoretically fall. But understanding its nature dissolves the fear.
Zhuangzi's version is more subtle than it appears. The friend's explanation is Daoist cosmology: the sky is qi, the earth is solid, everything is in its natural place. The lesson is not "don't worry" — it is "understand the nature of what you fear, and the fear will dissolve on its own."