The grace of kings is not the same as the morals governing individuals.”
“The Grace of Kings” is an allusion to Shakespeare.
“And by their hands this grace of kings must die,
If hell and treason hold their promises,
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.”
-- Henry V, Act 2, Prologue
It is also, within the context of this series, an allusion to one of Zhuangzi’s most famous parables (to explain how would … alas, be a spoiler).
This phrase will return again and again in the rest of the series, each time acquiring a different meaning, as more and more stories, commentaries, parables are layered on top of one another, with later commentators and historians re-interpretating earlier events, and still later commentators and historians revisioning those re-interpretations to rediscover their “true” meanings, and on and on …
Pretty much the way all of us muddle our way through this massive collective storytelling game we call “civilization,” generation after generation.
Remember this comment from Luan Zya – it will haunt everything that comes after.
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