By Name and by Nature: Two Stories of People Named Unattractive in Daoist and Rabbinic Literature

Abstract

Abstract: As part of a growing interest in comparing ancient Chinese and Jewish texts, this article examines two stories that share a theme of an unattractive person who is named according to their appearance. The Daoist story in the Zhuangzi describes Uglyface Tuo whose hideous looks did not deter women from adoring him and rulers admiring him for his administrative skill. A rabbinic story from the Babylonian Talmud ( b . Nedarim 66b) recounts the story of a homely wife whose husband compelled her to show something pretty about her to a rabbi. Zhuangzi's story thwarts any expectations for correlation between external appearances and internal substance, while the name continues to suggest a correlation between a label and content, defying a single approach. Within the Daoist tradition, and especially in Zhuangzi's thought, this seems to be the point, arguing against epistemic certainty. In the strikingly different Talmudic story, the aptly named person is a woman whose features do not elicit attraction. The correlation of her name and her appearance remains the defining similarity between the narratives. It is this consistency that holds the key to the narrative's resolution: her apposite name holds the power to restore order in the world, an order which her ugliness seems to threaten. The comparison between the two stories allows to enhance their contradictory lessons. The essay concludes by highlighting the benefits of cross-cultural research between these distant fields of study.