The heart of sympathy is the new heart Ren Zu gains in The Legends of Ren Zu when he sees his own plight in a small Gu fleeing from a larger one and moves to shield it.
Searching alone for wisdom Gu, since it has no fixed home, Ren Zu comes upon two Gu worms chasing each other on the road: a tiny white one fleeing and begging not to be eaten, and a larger armored one vowing to eat it wherever it runs. The small Gu hides behind Ren Zu, and when Ren Zu sees its plight as though it were his own, a new heart grows in his chest, the heart of sympathy. Ren Zu stretches out his arms and stops the larger Gu, which names itself strong Gu and the fleeing one weak Gu, and refuses his plea for mercy since nature’s law is that the strong eat the weak. Unable to beat Ren Zu alone, strong Gu flies off, vowing to return. ch. 2036
Surrendered to the Predicament
When strong Gu returns and demands Ren Zu’s hearts for the Predicament, Ren Zu hesitates before giving up the heart of sympathy first, and strong Gu places it into the Predicament’s neck, where it falls into the Predicament’s stomach and swells it slightly. The telling adds that people facing a predicament often lose their hearts of sympathy first. ch. 2053
Chronicle
Connections(3)
0 later connections are veiled.