There was once a man named Dao Ai. He was skilled in theft and was known by his contemporaries as the Shiqian of his age. People said he could climb a ten-story cliff without tools, steal treasure from a palace guarded by hundreds, and rarely let anyone see his face. Legend also said he had an apprentice named Dao Xinqing, who often traveled with him through palaces and tombs.
The Qi Xie records one episode of their grave robbing:
One day, the two arrived before the tomb of Lu Ban, the patron master of carpenters, intending to pay him a visit. The tomb was made of wood, yet its mortise-and-tenon joints were so precise and tight that it was almost impossible to break open. Dao Ai went home and fetched an ancestral chisel, pried open a small hole just large enough for one person, and told his apprentice, “I will go in to visit the master. Wait outside.”
So Dao Ai entered alone.
Not long after, he came out of the hole holding a wooden bird. The apprentice was overjoyed and wanted to enter the tomb himself, but suddenly flames leapt up inside. He was startled: this was the tomb of the master carpenter. If even a single spark spread, would it not all burn to ashes? Sweat broke out across his body, and he reached for water to put out the fire. Dao Ai stopped him.
“When I went down to visit the master, I found the things he made to be exquisitely crafted. There were wooden horses that could carry people a thousand li in a day, wooden birds that could bear a thousand jin of goods, and clothing sewn from wooden threads. Such things are rare in this world. But they were all too large to carry out, so I left them there with the fire.”
“Master, you are confused. We could go back for tools and move them out. Surely we could sell them for a good price and never worry about food or clothing again.”
“My apprentice, you still do not understand. If we went back for tools, we would certainly attract attention. Someone else might even dig them out before us, and all our effort would be wasted.”
“Although I brought out only one flying bird, once its mechanism is wound it can fly for three days and three nights. The price it can fetch is higher than all the treasures in that burned tomb combined. If I did not destroy the rest, once they were discovered, the bird in our hands would become worthless.”
“So a treasure is not called a treasure only because it is clever or beautiful. If there is only one in the world, a million pieces of gold cannot buy it, and a thousand li of land cannot exchange for it. If there are a hundred in the world, perhaps a million pieces of gold can purchase one, and a thousand li of land may trade for one. If everyone has it, people will ignore it and look on it coldly. If everyone has eight or ten, people will grow disgusted with it and cast it away like worn-out shoes. Do you understand?”
“I understand, Master. The rarer something is, the more people value it. The more abundant something becomes, the more people dislike it. This is a true saying in the world.”
This conversation between Ai and Xinqing was recorded in the Qi Xie as a warning and reflection for later generations.
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