Wood and geese between the change of the dragon and snake means that you must judge the situation and find the right time to do things.
Between wood and geese and the change of the dragon and snake are two words from "Zhuangzi? Shanmu" is a passage in which Zhuangzi answers a question from a disciple, and what he is trying to convey is that a gentleman should be between wood and geese, when there is a change of dragon and snake. The core meaning of the quote is that one must judge the situation and find the right time to do things.
The good and the bad are a matter of time and a game, and must be judged and analyzed and treated differently. The same as the dragon and the snake, although the appearance is similar, but the quality is very different. As the saying goes, the monk and the Buddha's repair, the dragon and the snake's change. Being a human being is sometimes like a snake, sometimes like a dragon, life is changeable and indeterminate.
The snake should hibernate in the mud and learn to live with earthworms and ants, and the dragon should lift its wings and fly, and strive for strength. In short, when you have a good opportunity, you should show your talent, and when you meet someone you don't like, you should know how to hold back, so that you can be a gentleman.
Rationale
Everyone in the early stages of their career, rather than a hidden dragon, in fact, with the snake is no different, this time can not go to show their own; when there is enough talent and encountered the right time to go to fight to show; when your career is flourishing, the momentum of the prosperous to learn to converge, or will be regretted endlessly.
Some people say that Confucianism originated from the I Ching, as a representative of Taoism Zhuangzi said the change of the Dragon and Snake refers to the talented people in dealing with the situation must know how to accurately judge the situation, like Jiang Zi Ya straight hook fishing, waiting for the right time. Thus, between the wood and the goose, the dragon and the snake, in fact, is about the truth of doing things.