折疑論 4.20

4.20

'One who listens to music and hears a clear shang yet takes it for gong or jue is at fault not because of the striking of the strings, but because his hearing is inaccurate. One who seeks jade and sees the jade disc of He yet takes it for mere fluorite does not do so because the supreme treasure is base, but because the viewer lacks discernment. (As for the jade disc of He, the Records of the Grand Historian says: Bian He obtained an uncut jade at Mount Jing. He presented it to King Wen and King Wu of Chu, and both kings had his feet amputated. Later he presented it to King Cheng, who ordered a lapidary to carve it, and indeed obtained a beautiful jade, calling it a treasure worth multiple cities. As for wufu, it is a stone resembling jade. If one mistakes the jade disc of He for wufu, it is not that the jade is base, but that the viewer lacks discernment.)