When the autumn floods came, a hundred rivers poured into the Yellow River. The waters swelled so wide that from one bank, you could not tell an ox from a horse on the other side. The River God, Hebo, was delighted. He looked at his vast domain and thought: All the beauty of the world is gathered here, in me.
He sailed east, following the current, until he reached the Northern Sea. He looked east — and saw no end to the water. The ocean stretched beyond the horizon, beyond imagination, beyond anything he had ever known.
Hebo turned to the Sea God, Ruo, and sighed: "There is a saying among common folk: 'He who has heard a hundred truths thinks no one is better than himself.' That saying was written about me."
秋水时至，百川灌河。泾流之大，两涘渚崖之间，不辩牛马。于是焉河伯欣然自喜，以天下之美为尽在己。顺流而东行，至于北海，东面而视，不见水端。
于是焉河伯始旋其面目，望洋向若而叹曰：「野语有之曰：'闻道百以为莫己若'者，我之谓也。」
秋水时至，百川灌河。泾流之大，两涘渚崖之间，不辩牛马。于是焉河伯欣然自喜，以天下之美为尽在己。顺流而东行，至于北海，东面而视，不见水端。
于是焉河伯始旋其面目，望洋向若而叹曰：「野语有之曰：'闻道百以为莫己若'者，我之谓也。」
Reflection & Analysis · 寓意解读
Core Wisdom
Pride dissolves at the edge of the ocean. The one who has only seen the river thinks he knows the world; the one who sees the sea knows he knows nothing.
Zhuangzi's parable is a companion to "The Frog in the Well." Hebo is not stupid — he is genuinely powerful within his domain. But his domain is a river, and the ocean is something else entirely. His pride was real; his humility is equally real.
The idiom "望洋兴叹" (gazing at the ocean and sighing) describes the moment of realizing that your abilities, however impressive in one context, are insignificant in a larger one. It is not despair — it is the beginning of wisdom.