Inside the Golden Luan Hall, Wang Mingyi turned slightly, not daring to accept a full bow from Zhou Tieyi, and then began to speak, "The Sages of antiquity spoke of investigating things to attain knowledge, meaning that every blade of grass and every tree possesses principle. To clearly understand this principle is to attain the Dao, and thus one is able to govern the world."
Wang Mingyi likewise began his analysis from the pronouncements of the Confucian Sages, before voicing his own perplexity, "Yet the Sages did not state precisely what this 'principle' is. On the day I received the Eight Characters from Marquis Zhou, I too attempted to investigate things. I observed the bamboo in the courtyard, wishing to apprehend the principle within it so that I might use it to govern the world."
"However, the longer I observed, the more perplexed I actually became."
Chapter 574