The word “heavenly book （天书）” was born in ancient times, and it is said that the He Tu and Luo Shu were heavenly books, and there are also many folk myths and legends about the wordless heavenly books. Today’s story is about the legend of the Book of Heaven related to the famous Chinese thinker, Gui Gu Zi （鬼谷子）.
According to legend, when Gui Gu Zi’s master ascended to heaven, he left behind a mysterious scroll of bamboo slips for him.
The bamboo slips were inscribed with the words “heavenly book,” but when Gui Gu Zi opened it, he found that there were no words inside.
He felt very puzzled, because during the nine years he had lived with his master, their bond had grown very deep.
Now that his master had suddenly left, Gui Gu Zi felt empty inside and had no appetite for food or tea, so he went straight to his cave room and lay down to sleep.
But he couldn’t sleep at all and kept thinking about the wordless heavenly book.
He tossed and turned the whole night, and even when it was daylight, the image of the bamboo slips was still floating in his mind. He couldn’t figure out what was going on.
So, he got up and lit a torch, using the light to examine the bamboo slips again.
To his surprise, he found that the bamboo slips were glowing with golden light, and tiny words like ants were shining on them.
Gui Gu Zi exclaimed, “Could this be the legendary ‘Wordless Golden Book’?”
His interest was piqued, and he read the entire book in one breath, memorizing it from the beginning to the end.
It turned out that the book was a classic on the art of statecraft, consisting of thirteen chapters.
After reading it, Gui Gu Zi couldn’t help but applaud. He had never had the upper hand in debates with his master before, and now he realized that his master had such a golden book.
He remembered the days he had lived with his master and felt a mix of warmth, sadness, and loneliness.
So, he put out the torch and went back to sleep in his bed.
When he woke up the next day, he felt tired, but he couldn’t resist opening the golden book again to study it carefully.
However, he was surprised to find that there were no words in the book again.
Gui Gu Zi flipped through the book from the beginning to the end, but still couldn’t find a single word. He was even more convinced that this book was his master’s treasure and needed to be cherished.
So, he took the book into the inner cave, placed it on his bed, and then went out to practice his martial arts and spells as his master had instructed.