Xiangyan presents an impossible question: a man falls into a well; how can he get out without a rope? The koan is not a riddle to solve but a device to shatter the seeker's habitual search for answers. The 'without a rope' condition removes all conceptual tools, leaving only the direct experience of the dilemma itself. In that utter non-knowing, the Way reveals itself - not as a solution, but as the ground from which the question arises.