North of the river lived the Foolish Old Man, nearly ninety years old, his house facing two great mountains. The peaks blocked every path, forcing his family on long detours whenever they ventured out. One day he gathered his household and proposed: "Let us level these mountains together. We shall open a road straight through to the southern plains — what do you say?" His family agreed unanimously.
An old man from the River Bend — known as the Wise Old Man — laughed at him and said: "How foolish you are! At your age, with what strength you have left, you cannot even uproot a single weed from these slopes. What could you possibly do to rocks and earth?"
The Foolish Old Man sighed deeply and replied: "Your mind is rigid, more closed than that of a widow or a small child. Though I may die, my sons will live on. Sons beget grandsons, grandsons beget sons — sons upon sons, grandsons upon grandsons, an endless line. Yet the mountains grow no taller. Why should they not be leveled?"
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。
河曲智叟笑而止之曰：「甚矣，汝之不慧！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？」
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。
河曲智叟笑而止之曰：「甚矣，汝之不慧！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？」
Reflection & Analysis · 寓意解读
Core Wisdom
Perseverance transcends impossibility. What seems absurd to the pragmatic heart often proves divine to the determined one.
This parable from the Liè Zǐ challenges the very notion of impossibility. The Wise Old Man represents rational calculation; the Foolish Old Man represents faith in collective effort across time.
The story raises a profound question: is it foolish to attempt the impossible, or is it foolish to accept limits imposed by convention? The heavens sided with the Foolish Old Man — suggesting that the universe itself rewards those who refuse to accept "impossible" as an answer.