The Donkey of Qian: What We Fear Most Is Often What We Have Not Yet Understood
Grandevity Studio presents a new musical setting of Liu Zongyuan’s Tang-dynasty fable The Donkey of Qian. The song uses 100% of the project-established original Classical Chinese text, with no modern lyrical expansion, rewriting, added lines or repeated original sentences. Set to a premium early-2000s HK–TW Mandopop Neo-Soul narrative ballad, the work follows the tiger’s psychological journey from awe and fear to observation, recognition and the decisive realization: 'Your skill goes no further than this.'
Some things seem frightening not because they are truly powerful.
They seem frightening because we do not yet know what they can do.
虎見之，龐然大物也，以為神。
The tiger saw it, an enormous creature, and took it for something divine.
A tiger that has never seen a donkey encounters a massive and completely unfamiliar animal.
It hides in the forest.
Watches.
Moves closer.
Withdraws.
Then the donkey suddenly brays.
The tiger flees in terror.
But the central change in the story is not that the donkey becomes weaker.
It is that the tiger begins to understand it.
Observation after observation.
Test after test.
Fear becomes familiarity.
Mystery becomes measurable ability.
Finally, the irritated donkey reveals its move:
蹄之。
It kicks.
The tiger now understands:
技止此耳！
Your skill goes no further than this!
Grandevity Studio’s The Donkey of Qian sets the project-established version of Liu Zongyuan’s complete original text to newly composed music.
There is no modern lyrical expansion.
No vernacular rewriting.
No newly written chorus.
No added lyric.
No repetition of original sentences simply to extend the running time.
The complete Classical Chinese text is sung once in its original order.
Additional duration comes from instrumental introduction, pauses, suspense, musical transitions and outro.
Every Chinese word heard in the song comes from Liu Zongyuan.
Watch the MV: 🎬 The Donkey of Qian | Official Music Video
Headphones recommended. Begin in a mist-filled mountain valley imagined within the mid-Tang southwestern Qian landscape. A donkey arrives by wooden boat and is released beneath the mountains. A tiger that has never encountered such an animal watches from a distance. One bray sends it fleeing. Observation gradually replaces fear, physical distance shrinks, and the real climax arrives not in violence but in the instant the tiger finally understands the limits of what stands before it.
Liu Zongyuan and The Three Admonitions
Liu Zongyuan lived from 773 to 819.
His courtesy name was Zihou.
His ancestral affiliation was Hedong Xie, in the broader area of present-day Yuncheng and Yongji in Shanxi, while Liu himself was born in Chang’an, today’s Xi’an.
Together with Han Yu, he became one of the central figures associated with the Classical Prose Movement of the Tang dynasty.
Later literary history counted him among the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song.
In 805, after participating in a court reform movement, Liu was demoted when that political effort collapsed.
His years away from the political centre, especially those associated with Yongzhou, became an extraordinarily important period of literary production.
His prose frequently combines precision, irony and an unsentimental view of human behaviour.
The Donkey of Qian belongs to the group of animal allegories known as The Three Admonitions, together with The Deer of Linjiang and The Rats of a Certain Man of Yong.
The animals are not merely animals.
They provide a way to examine human judgment.
“There Were No Donkeys in Qian”
The opening is exceptionally short:
黔無驢。
There were no donkeys in Qian.
Those words contain the psychological premise of the entire fable.
The tiger has no prior experience with a donkey.
It therefore cannot classify what it sees.
Someone transports a donkey into Qian by boat.
Once there, it proves useless to its owner and is released at the foot of a mountain.
To the human owner, it is an animal with no obvious practical use.
To the tiger, it is something else entirely:
龐然大物也，以為神。
An enormous creature, taken for something divine.
The unknown magnifies appearance.
When the Unknown Looks Divine
The donkey has not yet demonstrated any ability.
The tiger has already imagined extraordinary power into it.
It therefore:
蔽林間窺之。
hides among the trees and watches.
Then:
稍出近之，憖憖然，莫相知。
It gradually emerges and moves closer, cautious and uncertain.
The tiger’s initial relationship with the donkey is controlled not by verified strength,
but by missing information.
One Bray, and the Tiger Flees
Then:
他日，驢一鳴，虎大駭，遠遁。
One day the donkey brays.
The tiger is greatly startled and flees.
It even believes:
以為且噬己也，甚恐。
that the donkey may be about to devour it.
The scene is comic.
Its psychology is not.
When information is missing, imagination fills the gap.
And imagination often chooses the most threatening possibility first.
Observation Begins to Replace Fear
The tiger nevertheless returns:
然往來視之，覺無異能者。
It repeatedly watches the donkey and gradually notices no extraordinary ability.
Then:
益習其聲。
It grows accustomed to the sound.
The bray that once caused terror becomes familiar.
The tiger moves in front and behind the donkey.
Still:
終不敢搏。
It does not attack yet.
This is what makes the tiger more interesting than a simple symbol of brute force.
It revises its judgment incrementally.
Familiarity Destroys the Aura
稍近，益狎，蕩倚衝冒。
The tiger comes closer.
Becomes increasingly familiar.
Brushes against the donkey.
Presses.
Provokes.
The physical strength of both animals has remained unchanged from the beginning.
Only the tiger’s information has changed.
As uncertainty falls,
the imagined aura of power collapses with it.
The Donkey Reveals Its Move
At last:
驢不勝怒，蹄之。
The donkey, unable to contain its anger, kicks.
From the donkey’s perspective, this is retaliation.
From the tiger’s perspective, it is evidence.
For the first time, the unknown creature reveals what it can actually do.
The tiger responds:
因喜。
It is pleased.
Because uncertainty has disappeared.
“Your Skill Goes No Further Than This”
The tiger calculates:
技止此耳！
That is the true reversal of the fable.
At first:
something divine.
Now:
nothing more than this.
The donkey has not suddenly weakened.
The tiger has not suddenly become stronger.
Knowledge has changed.
The tiger now understands the donkey’s apparent limit.
It attacks:
因跳踉大㘚，斷其喉，盡其肉，乃去。
The ending follows from recognition.
Liu Zongyuan’s Final Turn
Liu Zongyuan does not end when the tiger leaves.
He writes:
噫！
Alas.
Then:
形之龐也類有德，聲之宏也類有能。
Its huge form made it appear to possess virtue.
Its powerful voice made it appear to possess ability.
The crucial idea is appearance.
It seems.
It resembles.
But seeming is not being.
If the Donkey Had Never Revealed Its Skill
Liu continues:
向不出其技，虎雖猛，疑畏，卒不敢取。
Had the donkey not revealed its skill, even though the tiger was fierce, uncertainty and fear might ultimately have prevented it from attacking.
This gives the allegory a sharper edge.
The donkey’s problem is not simply that it possesses limited ability.
Its apparent power survives only while its true capacity remains untested.
Once the boundary is exposed,
the illusion collapses.
Thus:
今若是焉，悲夫！
Now it has come to this.
How lamentable.
Beyond the Idiom 黔驢技窮
The later idiom 黔驢技窮 is commonly used for someone who has exhausted a limited set of tricks or abilities.
But the original fable contains another important lesson.
The tiger is wrong at first too.
It dramatically overestimates the donkey.
Its initial fear is false.
What allows the tiger to escape that error is not force alone.
It:
observes,
waits,
tests,
learns,
and revises.
So The Donkey of Qian is not merely a satire of empty appearance.
It is also a lesson in responding to the unknown:
do not allow fear to finish your judgment for you.
Music: An Early-2000s HK–TW Neo-Soul Narrative Ballad
The musical direction is:
Premium early-2000s HK–TW Mandopop Neo-Soul Narrative Ballad
Tempo: 82 BPM.
Meter: relaxed 4/4.
Form: through-composed.
There is no repeating pop chorus.
No original sentence is repeated.
The lead vocal is warm, clear and restrained Standard Mandarin.
The arrangement combines:
- Rhodes electric piano
- nylon-string guitar
- rounded neo-soul bass
- soft hip-hop drums
- rim clicks
- pipa
- guqin harmonics
- chamber strings
The opening leaves substantial space around:
黔無驢。
At:
驢一鳴
the groove suddenly stops.
The first bray therefore produces a real psychological rupture.
After:
益習其聲
the rhythm gradually rebuilds.
Observation becomes forward movement.
At:
技止此耳！
a descending instrumental gesture answers the tiger’s realization.
Then, after:
噫！
the drums disappear.
The work moves away from action and returns to Liu Zongyuan’s cold, reflective conclusion.
The MV: The Real Climax Is Recognition
The visual world is imagined within a mid-Tang southwestern Qian mountain environment.
Late autumn moving toward early winter.
Daylight gradually moves toward dusk without entering night.
The opening shows a mist-filled river valley.
A wooden boat arrives.
A sturdy grey-brown Chinese domestic donkey is released beneath the mountains.
Human presence then recedes.
The true visual protagonists become the tiger and the donkey.
The tiger is depicted as a realistic adult South China tiger.
In the early scenes, distance is essential.
The tiger remains partially hidden behind brush, tree trunks, stone slopes and shadow.
The donkey occupies more open ground.
After the first bray, the tiger flees.
With every later observation, the distance becomes shorter.
By:
益狎
the tiger has entered the donkey’s immediate physical space.
At:
蹄之
the donkey finally exposes its visible defensive move.
The tiger’s expression changes.
Fear becomes understanding.
For that reason, the attack itself is not treated as the primary visual spectacle.
The actual climax is the disappearance of the unknown.
After:
噫！
the film returns to empty landscape.
Rock.
Autumn grass.
Thin mist.
Cold light before dusk.
The story is over.
The question remains.
What do we fear:
real power,
or something we have not yet understood?
📜 Complete Sung Text / Original Chinese with English Translation
Liu Zongyuan, The Donkey of Qian
100% project-established original text・No expansion・No rewriting・No added lyrics・No repeated original lines
【No Donkeys in Qian・Brought In by Boat】
黔無驢，有好事者船載以入。
至則無可用，放之山下。
There were no donkeys in Qian. A curious person transported one there by boat.
Once it arrived, he found no use for it and released it at the foot of a mountain.
【An Enormous Creature・Taken for Something Divine】
虎見之，龐然大物也，以為神，
蔽林間窺之。
稍出近之，憖憖然，莫相知。
A tiger saw it. It was an enormous creature, and the tiger took it for something divine.
Hiding among the trees, it watched.
Gradually it emerged and moved closer, cautious and uncertain, unable to understand what the creature was.
【The Donkey Brays・The Tiger Flees】
他日，驢一鳴，虎大駭，遠遁；
以為且噬己也，甚恐。
One day the donkey brayed. The tiger was greatly startled and fled far away;
it believed the donkey was about to devour it and became extremely frightened.
【Repeated Observation・Growing Accustomed to the Sound】
然往來視之，覺無異能者；
益習其聲，又近出前後，終不敢搏。
稍近，益狎，蕩倚衝冒。
Yet the tiger repeatedly returned to observe it and found that it possessed no extraordinary ability.
It became increasingly accustomed to the donkey’s voice, moved closer, and came and went before and behind it, though it still did not dare attack.
Little by little it came nearer and grew increasingly familiar, brushing against it, leaning on it, charging and provoking it.
【The Donkey Becomes Angry・It Kicks】
驢不勝怒，蹄之。
The donkey could no longer contain its anger and kicked the tiger.
【Your Skill Goes No Further・The Tiger Attacks】
虎因喜，計之曰：
「技止此耳！」
The tiger was delighted, calculated the situation and said:
“Your skill goes no further than this!”
因跳踉大㘚，斷其喉，盡其肉，乃去。
It then sprang forward with a great roar, tore open the donkey’s throat, ate all its flesh and departed.
【Alas・How Lamentable】
噫！
形之龐也類有德，聲之宏也類有能。
向不出其技，虎雖猛，疑畏，卒不敢取。
今若是焉，悲夫！
Alas!
Its great size made it appear to possess virtue, and its powerful voice made it appear to possess ability.
Had it not revealed its skill, then although the tiger was fierce, uncertainty and fear would in the end have kept it from attacking.
But now it has come to this. How lamentable!
From “Something Divine” to “Nothing More Than This”
The real drama of The Donkey of Qian is not simply that the tiger wins.
It is that we can watch judgment change.
At first, the tiger trusts appearance.
After the first bray, it trusts fear.
Then it begins to trust observation.
Finally, it trusts a boundary of ability that has been tested.
Liu Zongyuan therefore leaves us with more than a warning about empty appearance.
He also leaves us with a method:
first impressions can be wrong.
Fear can be wrong.
Reliable judgment requires observation,
testing,
and revision.
💿 Credits
- Song Title: The Donkey of Qian
- Chinese Title: 黔之驢
- Classical Source: Liu Zongyuan, The Three Admonitions: The Donkey of Qian
- Author: Liu Zongyuan
- Period: Tang Dynasty
- Genre: Allegory / animal fable
- Original Text / Complete Sung Words: Liu Zongyuan
- Lyrics Format: 100% original Classical Chinese text, with no modern expansion, rewriting, added lyrics or repeated original lines
- Text Order: Strictly follows the project-established sung version
- Music Style: Premium early-2000s HK–TW Mandopop Neo-Soul Narrative Ballad
- Tempo / Meter: 82 BPM / relaxed 4/4
- Composition / Arrangement: Suno AI / Grandevity Studio
- Vocals: Suno AI Mandarin male vocal
- Music Production: Grandevity Studio
- AI-Assisted Visuals: ChatGPT Images
- Video Editing / Art Direction / Creative Production: Grandevity Studio
- Released by: Grandevity Limited
- Production Year: 2026
- Official MV: https://youtu.be/Xj_DLwBvV7k
Music Style and Mood:
Premium early-2000s HK–TW Mandopop Neo-Soul Narrative Ballad at 82 BPM in relaxed 4/4. The through-composed arrangement uses Rhodes electric piano, nylon-string guitar, rounded neo-soul bass, soft hip-hop drums, rim clicks, pipa, guqin harmonics and chamber strings. “The donkey brays” abruptly stops the groove; the rhythm rebuilds as the tiger grows accustomed to the sound; “Your skill goes no further than this” receives a descending instrumental answer; and the drums disappear after “Alas,” returning the music from physical action to Liu Zongyuan’s final reflection.
⚖️ Copyright Notice
Liu Zongyuan’s The Donkey of Qian is a public-domain classical literary work.
This musical production uses 100% of the project-established original Classical Chinese text adopted for the finished song. No modern lyrical expansion, vernacular rewriting, newly added lyrics or other newly written lyric sections have been introduced, and no original sentence is repeated.
The music production, recorded master, arrangement, mix, master, MV visuals, cover artwork, video editing, subtitles, shot design, art direction, promotional writing and overall creative production were produced by or lawfully licensed to Grandevity Limited / Grandevity Studio. Relevant rights are retained and administered subject to applicable law and the terms of the platforms and production tools used.
Unauthorized re-uploading, redistribution, reproduction, editing, sampling, commercial use, platform distribution, AI training, dataset use, remixing, or incorporation into another audiovisual work is prohibited except where otherwise permitted by applicable law or license.
Licensing Contact:
About This Project
The Donkey of Qian is part of Grandevity Studio’s Classical Literature Reimagined in Music series.
The purpose is not to give Liu Zongyuan new lines.
It is to allow his original words to become sound again.
A mist-filled mountain valley.
A tiger watching from the forest.
A sudden bray.
Fear.
Retreat.
Observation.
Testing.
Recognition.
And finally:
技止此耳！
Your skill goes no further than this!
More than a thousand years later, the fable still asks a precise question:
when something looks large, powerful and unfamiliar,
are we responding to its real ability,
or to what we have not yet understood?