Disordered School of Fish

NMH

07-02-2026

© Fish by Master Qi Baishi (1863-1957)

Kingfisher has a special talent: drawing with his beak. There is nothing mysterious about that. Daily practice over countless days has forged a remarkable ability. Add to this a bit of the innate endowment of a bird supreme at catching fish, and the training itself becomes enjoyable.

But Kingfisher using his beak to draw on the ground is something very strange. Busy pecking here, then hopping to scratch out marks there, Kingfisher does not notice when Zhuangzi has arrived. Looking at the jumble of lines—scribbled, chaotic, all over the place—along with Kingfisher’s comical manner, Zhuangzi burst out laughing. Kingfisher is startled.

Zhuangzi asks: “What are you drawing that makes you lose your usual composure?”

Kingfisher replies seriously, “Master, I am drawing chaos. That must be why both body and mind appear disordered.”

It sounds plausible. Zhuangzi asks: “Where does chaos come from? Lying in wait for fish, catching fish, eating your fill, playing about, then returning to the cave…”

Kingfisher guesses his meaning and quickly answers: “Not me—it’s those fish…”

Seeing Zhuangzi’s interest, Kingfisher continues:

“For years, I’ve been catching fish; I thought it was monotonous. Now I’ve discovered something strange within the ordinary. Everything is peaceful. I perch. The fish swim—very orderly. Then I dive to catch one fish, and the orderly school instantly scatters. Each fish darts in a different direction; the shape of the school disappears… It takes a long time before they regroup. Then I dive again—another scattering… No two moments of chaos are ever the same. One fish that rushed upward in the previous chaos may dive downward the next time. One that veered left before may veer right later… Because of this, my fishing has become unpredictable and exhausting.”

Zhuangzi says: “So you are trying to sketch the order of chaos?”

Kingfisher nods.

Zhuangzi says: “Then even if you were reborn for several lifetimes, you still wouldn’t finish that drawing!”

Kingfisher objects: “But I’ve observed carefully and gained many insights. Eventually, it should be finished…”

Zhuangzi says: “You think in a hyperactive way. And hyperactivity only gives rise to absurdity and stupidity. Isn’t your odd behavior already betraying all the nonsense in your head?”

Kingfisher asks: “So chaos is limitless?”

Zhuangzi replies: “It has limits—and that limit is the form of ‘knowing.’”

Kingfisher asks: “Then knowing that I am absurd, and correcting myself so my behavior no longer looks absurd—would that lead to ‘knowing’?”

Zhuangzi says: “Putting on an appearance of not being absurd is itself a kind of absurdity. But recognizing the absurdity as it arises, and limiting its unintended consequences—that is what leads to an improvement in the mode of ‘knowing.’”

Kingfisher asks: “If I know that, will catching fish become easier afterward?”

Zhuangzi says: “You plunge down suddenly, threatening the lives of the school. Is it reasonable to expect them to maintain order just so you can catch fish for your meal?”

Kingfisher stubbornly argues: “Why not? I only eat a few fish a day… If they stay orderly, I expend less effort. Once I’m full, I stop…”

Zhuangzi laughs loudly: “Absurdity really is hard to cure. Can you measure your own desire? Once full, you wander about chatting idly, making other hungry kingfishers elsewhere covet this orderly school and flock to this pond. Will the fish have time to reproduce fast enough to feed your whole clan of kingfishers? And creatures that eat their fill and live at ease tend to reproduce a lot…”

Kingfisher is stunned and finds no grounds to argue back. Lowering his voice, he says: “So, as you put it, long-term uncertainty of survival gives rise to absurdity.”

Zhuangzi says: “And absurdity also gives rise to further uncertainty.”

Kingfisher asks: “Isn’t that because desire is limitless, with nothing to restrain it?”

Zhuangzi replies: “Now you are close to ‘knowing.’”

Kingfisher says: “Then I’ll stop drawing.”

Zhuangzi nods: “Then you have ‘known.’”

A while later, villagers once again see Kingfisher calmly perch on a bamboo branch in the middle of the pond. Kingfisher is orderly, and the school of fish below swims in order once more.

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Zhuang Zhou. (1964). Zhuangzi.

[3] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/