Zhuangzi was a renowned philosopher from the Warring States period, born in Meng (present-day northeast Shangqiu County, Henan), where he once served as a minor official at a lacquer garden and lived in deep poverty.
Zhuangzi carried forward Laozi's Daoist teachings, becoming a famous representative of the Daoist school among the Hundred Schools of Thought.
Once, King Wei of Chu, hearing of Zhuangzi's reputation, sent two high-ranking officials with lavish gifts to his dwelling, hoping to recruit him for a post in Chu. That day, as Zhuangzi was fishing by the Pu River, the two officials found him and said, "Our king, having heard you are a worthy man, has specially sent us with generous rewards to invite you to serve as prime minister."
Without even turning his head, Zhuangzi kept his eyes fixed on the water, rod in hand, and replied, "I've heard that in Chu there's a sacred tortoise that died three thousand years ago. Your king wraps its shell in silk, stores it in a bamboo chest, and enshrines it in the ancestral temple. Now tell me—would that tortoise rather be dead and have its bones honored in a hall, or alive, dragging its tail through the mud?"
The two officials replied, "Of course, dragging our tails through the mud is better." Zhuangzi suddenly shifted his tone and said, "Go back and tell the King of Chu that I appreciate his kindness, but I would rather drag my tail through the mud."
Seeing that the two ministers could not persuade Zhuangzi to accept their offer, they had no choice but to leave.
Later, the idiom "Dragging a Tail Through Mud" came to describe a carefree, reclusive life, praising a lifestyle that, though low in social status, remains free from official duties and entanglements.
Source: *Zhuangzi*, "Autumn Floods"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "曳尾涂中" came to describe a carefree, reclusive life, praising a lifestyle that, though low in social status, remains free from official duties and entanglements.