| 家○上○下○二○ ○二年七月二十九日 | ○厭葱韭○以賓寡人○久矣夫○今老邪○其欲 | 徐無鬼見武侯○武侯曰○先生居山林○食芓栗 | 側乎○ | 其側者乎○久矣夫○莫以真人之言謦欬吾君之 | 聞人足音跫然而喜矣○又况乎昆弟親戚之謦欬 | 夫逃虛空者○藜藋柱乎鼪鼬之径○踉位其空○ | 年也○見似人者而喜矣○不見亦去人滋深乎○ | 知而喜○去國旬月○所嘗見於國中者喜○及期 | 曰○子不聞夫越之流人乎○去國數日○見其所 | 女商曰○若是乎○ | 徐無鬼曰○吾直告之吾相狗馬耳○ | 何以說吾君○使吾君說若此乎○ | 大有功者不可為數○而吾君未嘗启齒○今先生 | ○書○禮○樂○從說則以金板○六韜○奉事而 | 以說吾君乎○吾所以說吾君者○横說之則以詩 | 武侯大悦而笑○徐無鬼出○女商曰○先生獨何 | 是者○超軼絶塵○不知其所○ | 也○天下馬有成材○若廱若失○若喪其一○若 | 者中矩○圓者中規○是國馬也○而未若天下馬 | 吾相馬也○吾相馬○直者中繩○曲者中鈎○方 | ○若視日○上之贄○若亡其一○吾相狗又不若 | 狗也○下之贄○執飽而止○是狸德也○中之贄 | 武侯超然不對○少焉○徐無鬼曰○嘗語君吾相 | 勞於我○ | 欲○牽好惡○則耳目病矣○我將勞君○君有何 | 盈耆欲○長好惡○則性命之情病矣○君將黜耆 | 徐無鬼曰○我則勞於君○君有何勞於我○君將 | 矣○苦於山林之勞○故乃肯見於寡人○ | 徐無鬼因女商見魏武侯○武侯勞之曰○先生病 | 莊子南華經第二十四章徐無鬼 |
| 黄帝曰○異哉小童○非徒知具茨之山○又知大 | 曰○然○ | 若知大隗之所存乎○ | 曰○然○ | 子○問涂焉○曰○若知具茨之山乎○ | 襄城之野○七聖皆迷○無所問涂○适遇牧馬童 | 乘○張若○諧朋前馬○昆閽○滑稽后車○至於 | 黄帝將見大隗乎具茨之山○方明為御○昌寓驂 | 矣○君將惡乎用夫偃兵哉○ | 修胸中之誠以應天地之情而勿攖○夫民死已脫 | ○其戰不知孰善○勝之惡乎在○君若勿已矣○ | 殺人之士民○兼人之土地○以養吾私與吾神者 | ○無以巧勝人○無以謀勝人○無以戰勝人○夫 | 於麗譙之間○無徙驥於錙壇之宫○無藏逆於得 | 造形○成固有伐○變固外戰○君亦必無盛鶴列 | 成美○惡器也○君雖為仁義○幾且偽哉○形固 | 兵○造兵之本也○君自此為之○則殆不成○凡 | 徐無鬼曰○不可○愛民○害民之始也○為義偃 | ○其可乎○ | 武侯曰○欲見先生久矣○吾欲愛民而為義偃兵 | 所病之何也○ | 者○好和而惡奸○夫奸○病也○故勞之○唯君 | 之民○以養耳目鼻口○夫神者不自許也○夫神 | 居下不可以為短○君獨為萬乘之主○以苦一國 | 徐無鬼曰○天地之養也一○登高不可以為長○ | 武侯曰○何謂邪○ | 曰○勞君之神與形○ | 君曰○何哉○奚勞寡人○ | 肉○將來勞君也○ | 徐無鬼曰○無鬼生於貧賤○未嘗敢飲食君之酒 | 乾酒肉之味邪○其寡人亦有社稷之福邪○ |
| 之道矣○吾能冬爨鼎而夏造冰矣○魯遽曰○是 | 是邪○或者若魯遽者邪○其弟子曰○我得夫子 | 莊子曰○然則儒墨楊秉四○與夫子為五○果孰 | 惠子曰○可○ | 下皆堯也○可乎○ | 莊子曰○天下非有公是也○而各是其所是○天 | 惠子曰○可○ | 也○可乎○ | 莊子曰○射者非前期而中謂之善射○天下皆羿 | ○潜之萬物○終身不反○悲夫○ | 也○此皆順比於歲○不物於易者也○馳其形性 | 者悲○势物之徒樂變○遭時有所用○不能無為 | 之巧則壯○錢財不積則貪者憂○權势不尤則夸 | 事則不比○庶人有旦暮之業則勸○百工有器械 | 貴際○農夫無草萊之事則不比○商賈無市井之 | 名○法律之士廣治○禮教之士敬容○仁義之士 | ○勇敢之士奋患○兵革之士樂戰○枯槁之士宿 | 招世之士興朝○中民之士榮官○筋國之士矜雅 | 樂○察士無凌誶之事則不樂○皆囿於物者也○ | 知士無思慮之變則不樂○辯士無談說之序則不 | 黄帝再拜稽首○稱天師而退○ | 奚以異乎牧馬者哉○亦去其害馬者而已矣○ | 小童辭○黄帝又問○小童曰○夫為天下者○亦 | ○請問為天下○ | 黄帝曰○夫為天下者○則誠非吾子之事○雖然 | 亦若此而已○予又奚事焉○ | 予病少痊○予又且复游於六合之外○夫為天下 | 長者教予曰○若乘日之車而游於襄城之野○今 | 焉○予少而自游於六合之內○予适有瞀病○有 | 小童曰○夫為天下者○亦若此而已矣○又奚事 | 隗之所存○請問為天下○ |
| 為愧不若黄帝○而哀不己若者○以德分人謂之 | 對曰○勿已則隰朋可○其人也○上忘而下畔○ | 公曰○然則孰可○ | 將弗久矣○ | 國○上且鈎乎君○下且逆乎民○其得罪於君也 | 者不比之○又一聞人之過○終身不忘○使之治 | 曰○不可○其為人洁廉○善士也○其於不己若 | 公曰○鮑子牙○ | 管仲曰○公誰欲與○ | 諱云○至於大病○則寡人惡乎属國而可○ | 管仲有病○桓公問之曰○仲父之病病矣○可不 | ○ | 自夫子之死也○吾無以為質矣○吾無與言之矣 | 石曰○臣則嘗能斲之○雖然○臣之質死久矣○ | 宋元君聞之○召匠石曰○嘗試為寡人為之○匠 | ○聽而斲之○盡堊而鼻不傷○郢人立不失容○ | 慢其鼻端若蝇翼○使匠人斲之○匠石運斤成風 | 莊子送葬○過惠子之墓○顧謂從者曰○郢人堊 | ○ | 時而與舟人鬥○未始離於岑而足以造於怨也○ | 有遺類矣○夫楚人寄而蹢閽者○夜半於無人之 | 其求鈃鈡也以束縛○其求唐子也而未始出域○ | 莊子曰○齊人蹢子於宋者○其命閽也不以完○ | ○ | 以辭○相鎮以聲○而未始吾非也○則奚若矣○ | 惠子曰○今乎儒墨楊秉○且方與我以辯○相拂 | ○未始異於聲而音之君已○且若是者邪○ | 調一弦○於五音無當也○鼓之○二十五弦皆動 | 室○鼓宫宫動○鼓角角動○音律同矣○夫或改 | 子乎吾道○於是為之調瑟○廢一於堂○廢一於 | 直以陽召陽○以陰召陰○非吾所謂道也○吾示 |
| 誰氏○是故生無爵○死無謚○實不聚○名不立 | 之至也○聖人并包天地○澤及天下○而不知其 | 能舉也○名若儒墨而凶矣○故海不辭東流○大 | 所一者○德不能同也○知之所不能知者○辯不 | 道之所一○而言休乎知之所不知○至矣○道之 | 彼之謂不道之道○此之謂不言之辯○故德總乎 | 秉羽而郢人投兵○丘愿有喙三尺○ | 之○市南宜僚弄丸而兩家之難解○孫叔敖甘寝 | 曰○丘也聞不言之言矣○未之嘗言○於此乎言 | 宜僚受酒而祭○曰○古之人乎○於此言已○ | 仲尼之楚○楚王觴之○孫叔敖執爵而立○市南 | 夫悲人之悲者○其后而日遠矣○ | ○我悲人之自喪者○吾又悲夫悲人者○吾又悲 | 而知之○若我而不賣之○彼惡得而鬻之○嗟乎 | 我必賣之○彼故鬻之○若我而不有之○彼惡得 | 我而齊國之衆三賀之○我必先之○彼故知之○ | 曰○吾嘗居山穴之中矣○當是時也○田禾一睹 | 使若死灰乎○ | ○夫子○物之尤也○形固可使若槁骸○心固可 | 南伯子綦隱幾而坐○仰天而嘘○顏成子入見曰 | 年而國人稱之○ | 顏不疑歸而師董梧○以鋤其色○去樂辭顯○三 | 嗟乎○無以汝色驕人哉○ | 其巧○恃其便以敖予○以至此殛也○戒之哉○ | ○狙執死○王顧謂其友顏不疑曰○之狙也○伐 | 乎王○王射之○敏給搏捷矢○王命相者趨射之 | 而走○逃於深蓁○有一狙焉○委蛇攫搔○見巧 | 吴王浮於江○登乎狙之山○衆狙見之○恂然棄 | 聞也○其於家有不見也○勿已則隰朋可○ | 也○以賢下人○未有不得人者也○其於國有不 | 聖○以財分人謂之賢○以賢臨人○未有得人者 |
| 曰○奚謂邪○ | 曰○將逃堯○ | 齧缺遇許由曰○子將奚之○ | ○适當渠公之街○然身食肉而終○ | 之則難○不若刖之則易○於是乎刖而鬻之於齊 | 無幾何而使梱之於燕天○盗得之於道○全而鬻 | 與之也○吾是以泣也○ | 征者必有怪行○殆乎○非我與吾子之罪○幾天 | 與之為事所宜○今也然有世俗之償焉○凡有怪 | 地之誠而不以物與之相攖○吾與之一委蛇而不 | 為事○不與之為謀○不與之為怪○吾與之乘天 | 吾與之邀樂於天○吾與之邀食於地○吾不與之 | 若勿怪○何邪○吾所與吾子游者○游於天地○ | 未嘗為牧而牂生於奧○未嘗好田而鶉生於宎○ | 酒肉○入於鼻口矣○而何足以知其所自來○吾 | 子綦曰○歅○汝何足以識之○而梱祥邪○盡於 | ○父則不祥○ | 母乎○今夫子聞之而泣○是御福也○子則祥矣 | 九方歅曰○夫與國君同食○澤及三族○而况父 | 子綦索然出涕曰○吾子何為以至於是极也○ | 曰○梱也○將與國君同食以終其身○ | 子綦瞿然喜曰○奚若○ | 九方歅曰○梱也為祥○ | 子○孰為祥○ | 子綦有八子○陳諸前○召九方歅曰○為我相吾 | 誠○ | 物易己也○反己而不窮○循古而不摩○大人之 | 大備矣○知大備者○無求○無失○無棄○不以 | 為德乎○夫大備矣○莫若天地○然奚求焉○而 | 為賢○而况為大乎○夫為大不足以為大○而况 | ○此之謂大人○狗不以善吠為良○人不以善言 |
| 句踐也以甲楯三千栖於會稽○唯种也能知亡之 | 是為帝者也○何可勝言○ | 葯也○其實堇也○桔梗也○鷄卹也○豕零也○ | 得之也生○失之也死○得之也死○失之也生○ | 真人○ | 循○古之真人○以天待人○不以人入天○古之 | 聽耳○以心复心○若然者○其平也繩○其變也 | 棄知○於魚得計○於羊棄意○以目視目○以耳 | 甚疏○抱德煬和○以順天下○此謂真人○於蟻 | 至則不比○不比則不利也○故無所甚親○無所 | 得休歸○所謂卷娄者也○是以神人惡衆至○衆 | 舜舉乎童土之地○年齒長矣○聰明衰矣○而不 | 舉之童土之地○曰○冀得其來之澤○ | 徙成都○至鄧之虛而十有萬家○堯聞舜之賢○ | 羊肉○羊肉羶也○舜有羶行○百姓悦之○故三 | 濡需者也○卷娄者○舜也○羊肉不慕蟻○蟻慕 | 與豕俱焦也○此以域進○此以域退○此其所謂 | 利處○不知屠者之一旦鼓臂布草操烟火○而己 | 廣宫大囿○奎蹄曲隈○乳間股脚○自以為安室 | 也○濡需者○豕虱是也○擇疏鬣長毛○自以為 | 以為足矣○而未知未始有物也○是以謂暖姝者 | ○學一先生之言○則暖暖姝姝而私自說也○自 | 有暖姝者○有濡需者○有卷娄者○所謂暖姝者 | ○ | 也○而不知其賊天下也○夫唯外乎賢者知之矣 | 制天下○譬之猶一覕也○夫堯知賢人之利天下 | ○唯且無誠○且假乎禽貪者器○是以一人之斷 | 仁義○捐仁義者寡○利仁義者衆○夫仁義之行 | 之則至○譽之則勸○致其所惡則散○愛利出乎 | 人與人相食與○夫民不難聚也○愛之則親○利 | 曰○夫堯畜畜然仁○吾恐其為天下笑○后世其 |
| 家○上○下○二○ ○二年七月二十九日 | 卹○錯字左血右阝 | 搔○搔字以爪代虫 | 廱○錯字上广下雍 | 有錯字請通知我 | 惑解惑○复於不惑○是尚大不惑○ | 有大揚搉乎○闔不亦問是已○奚惑然為○以不 | 頡滑有實○古今不代○而不可以虧○則可不謂 | 其問之也○不可以有崖○而不可以無崖○ | ○不知而后知之○ | 則其解之也似不解之者○其知之也似不知之也 | 盡有天○循有照○冥有枢○始有彼○ | ○大定持之○ | ○大目視之○大均緣之○大方體之○大信稽之 | 知大信○知大定○至矣○大一通之○大陰解之 | 知大一○知大陰○知大目○知大均○知大方○ | 天之所謂也○ | 也○人之於知也少○雖少○恃其所不知而后知 | 故足之於地也踐○雖踐○恃其所不蹍而后善博 | ○不知問是也○ | 而人以為己寶○不亦悲乎○故有亡國戮民無已 | 禍之長也兹萃○其反也緣功○其果也待久○ | 殆○凡能其於府也殆○殆之成也不給改○ | 故目之於明也殆○耳之於聰也殆○心之於殉也 | 審○ | 故水之守土也審○影之守人也審○物之守物也 | 源而往者也○ | 只風與日相與守河○而河以為未始其攖也○恃 | 之過○河也有損焉○日之過○河也有損焉○請 | 目有所适○鶴脛有所節○解之也悲○故曰○風 | 所以存○唯种也不知其身之所以愁○故曰○鴟 |
Hsu Wu Kuei, introduced by Nu Shang, went to see Wu Hou of Wei. The Prince greeted him sympathizingly, and said, "You are suffering, Sir. You must have endured great hardships in your mountain life that you should be willing to leave it and visit me."
"It is I who should sympathize with your Highness, not your Highness with me," answered Hsu Wu Kuei. "If your Highness gives free play to passion and yields to loves and hates, then the natural conditions of your existence will suffer. And if your Highness puts aside passion and abjures love and hates, then your senses of sight and hearing will suffer. It is I who should sympathize with your Highness, not your Highness with me."
The Prince was too astonished to reply; and after a while Hsu Wu Kuei continued, "I will try to explain to your Highness how I judge of dogs. The lowest in the scale will eat their fill and then stop, like a cat. Those of the middle class are as though staring at the sun. The highest class are as though they had parted with their own individuality.
"But I do not judge of dogs as well as I judge of horses. I judge of horses as follows. Their straightness must be that of a line. Their curve must be that of an arc. Their square-ness, that of the square. Their roundness, that of the compasses. These are the horses of the State. They are not equal to the horses of the Empire. The horses of the Empire are splendid. They move as though anxious to get along, as though they had lost the way, as though they had parted with their own individuality. Thus, they outstrip all competitors, over the unstirred dust, out of sight!"
The Prince was greatly pleased and smiled. But when Hsu Wu Kuei went out, Nu Shang asked him, saying, "What can you have been saying to his Highness? Whenever I address him, it is either in a pacific sense, based upon the Canons of Poetry, History, Rites, and music; or in a belligerent sense, based upon the Golden Roster or the Six Plans of Battle. I have transacted with great success innumerable maters entrusted to me, yet his Highness has never vouchsafed a smile. What can you have been saying to make him so pleased as all this?"
"I merely told him," replied Hsu Wu Kuei, "how I judged of dogs and horses."
"Was that all?" enquired Nu Shang, incredulously.
"Have you not heard," said Hsu Wu Kuei, "of the outlaw of Yueh? After several days' absence from his State, he was glad to meet any one he had known there. After a month, he was glad to meet any one he had even seen there. And after a year, he was glad to meet any one who was in any way like to his fellow-countrymen. Is not this a case of absence from one's kind increasing the desire to be with them?
"Thus a man who had fled into the wilderness, where bishop-worth chokes the path of the weasel and stoat, now advancing, now stopping,--how he would rejoice if the footfall of a fellow-creature broke upon his ear. And how much more were he to hear the sound of a brother's, of a relative's voice at his side. Long it is, I ween, since his Highness has heard the voice of a pure man at his side!"
Hsu Wu Kuei went to visit the Prince. The latter said, "living, Sir, up in the hills, and feeding upon berries or satisfying yourself with leeks, you have long neglected me. Are you now growing old? Or do you hanker after flesh-pots and wine? Or is it that mine is such a well governed State?"
"I am of lowly birth," replied Hsu Wu Kuei. "I could not venture to eat and drink your Highness' meat and wine. I came to sympathize with your Highness."
"What do you mean?" cried the Prince. "What is there to sympathize about?"
"About your Highness' soul and body," replied Hsu Wu Kuei.
"Pray explain," said the Prince.
"Nourishment is nourishment," said Hsu Wu Kuei. "Being high up does not make one high, nor does being low make one low. Your Highness is the ruler of a large State, and you oppress the whole population thereof in order to satisfy your sensualities. But your soul is not a party to this. The soul loves harmony and hates disorder. For disorder is a disease. Therefore I came to sympathize. How is it that your Highness alone is suffering?" [Your Spiritual Soul is the Tao inside you.]
"I have long desired to see you," answered the Prince. "I wish to love my people, and by cultivation of duty towards one's neighbor to put an end to war. Can this be done?"
"It cannot," replied Hsu Wu Kuei. "Love for the people is the root of all evil to the people. Cultivation of duty towards one's neighbor in order to put an end to war is the origin of all fighting. If your Highness starts from this basis, the result can only be disastrous.
"Everything that is made good, turns out bad. And although your Highness should make charity and duty to one's neighbor, I fear they would be spurious articles. For the inward intention would appear in the outward manifestation. The adoption of a fixed standard would lead to complications. And revolutions within lead to fighting without. Surely your Highness would not make a bower into a battlefield, nor a shrine of prayer into a scene of warfare!
"Have nothing within which is obstructive of virtue. Seek not to vanquish others in cunning, in plotting, in war. If I slay a whole nation and annex the territory in order to find nourishment for my passions and for my soul,--irrespective of military skill, wherein does the victory lie?
"If your Highness will only abstain, that will be enough. Cultivate the sincerity that is within your breast, so as to be responsive to the conditions of your environment, and be not aggressive. The people will thus escape death; and what need then to put an end to war?"
When the Yellow Emperor went to see Tao upon the Chu-tz'u Mountain, Fang Ming was his charioteer, Ch'ang Yu sat on his right, Chang Jo and Hsi P'eng were his outriders, and K'un Hun and Hua Chi brought up the rear. On reaching the wilds of Hsiang-ch'eng, these seven Sages lost their way and there was no one whom to ask the road. By and by, they fell in with a boy who was grazing horses, and asked him, saying, "Do you know the Chu-tz'u Mountain?"
"I do," replied the boy.
"And can you tell us," continued the Sages, "where Tao abides?"
"I can," replied the boy.
"This is a strange lad," cried the Yellow Emperor. "Not only does he know where the Chu-tz'u Mountain, but also where Tao abides! Come tell me, pray, how would you govern the empire?"
"I should govern the empire," said the boy, "just the same as I look after my horses. What else should I do? When I was a little boy and used to live within the points of the compass, my eyes got dim of sight. An old man advised me to mount the chariot of the sun, and visit the wilds of Hsiang-cheng. My sight is now much better, and I continue to dwell without the points of the compass. I should govern the empire in just the same way. What else should I do?"
"Of course," said the Yellow Emperor, "government is not your trade. Still I should be glad to hear what you would do."
The boy declined to answer, but on being again urged, cried out, "What difference is there between governing the empire and looking after horses? See that no harm comes to the horses, that is all!"
Thereupon the Emperor prostrated himself before the boy; and addressing him as Divine Teacher, took his leave.
If schemers have nothing to give them anxiety they are not happy. If dialecticians have not their premises and conclusion, they are not happy. If critics have none on whom to vent their spleen, they are not happy. Such men are the slaves of objective existences.
Those who attract the sympathies of the world, start new dynasties. Those who win the people's hearts, take high official rank. Those who are strong undertake difficulties. Those who are brave encounter dangers. Men of arms delight in war. Men of peace think of nothing but reputation. Men of law strive to improve the administration. Professors of ceremony and music cultivate deportment. Moralists devote themselves to the obligations between man and man.
Take away agriculture from the husbandman, and his classification is gone. Take away trade from the merchant, and his classification is gone. Daily work is the stimulus of the laborer. The skill of the artisan is his pride. If money cannot be made the avaricious man is sad. If his power meets with a check, the boaster will repine. Ambitious men love change.
Thus, men are always doing something; inaction is to them impossible. They observe in this the same regularity as the seasons, ever without change. They hurry to destruction, dissipating in all directions their vital forces, alas! never to return.
Chuang Tzu said, "If archers who aimed at nothing and hit something were accounted good shots, everybody in the world would be another Yi. Could this be so?"
"It could," replied Hui Tzu.
"If there was no general standard of right in the world," continued Chuang Tzu, "but each man had his own, then everybody would be a Yao. Could this be so?"
"It could," replied Hui Tzu.
"Very well," said Chuang Tzu. "Now there are the Confucianists, the Mihists, the schools of Yang and Ping, making with your own five in all. Pray which of these is right? Possibly it is a similar case to that of Lu Chu?--A disciple said to him, 'Master, I have attained to your Tao. I can do without fire in water: I can make ice in summer.'
"'You merely avail yourself of latent heat and latent cold,' replied Lu Chu. 'That is not what I call Tao. I will demonstrate to you what my Tao is.'
"Thereupon he tuned two lutes, and placed one in the hall and the other in the adjoining room. And when he struck the kung note on one, the kung note on the other sounded; when he struck the 'chio' note on one, the 'chio' note on the other sounded. This because they were both tuned to the same pitch.
"But if he changed the interval of one string, so that it no longer kept its place in the octave, and then struck it, the result was that all the twenty five strings jangled together. There was sound as before, but the influence of the key-note was gone. Is this your case?"
"The Confucianists, the Mihists, and the followers of Yang and Ping," replied Hui Tzu, "are just now engaged in discussing this matter with me. They try to overwhelm me with argument or howl me down with noise. Yet they have not proved me wrong. Why then should you?"
"A man of the Ch'i State," replied Chuang Tzu, "sent away his son into the Sung State, to be a door-keeper, with maimed body. But a vase, which he valued highly, he kept carefully wrapped up. He who would seek for a stray child, but will not leave his home, is like to lose him. If a man of Ch'u, who was sent away to be a door-keeper, began, in the middle of the night, when no one was about, to fight with the boatman, I should say that before his boat left the shore he would already have got himself into considerable trouble."
Chuang Tzu was once attending a funeral, when ha passed by the grave of Hui Tzu. Turning to his attendants, he said, "A man of Ying who had his nose covered with a hard scab, no thicker than a fly's wing, sent for a stone-mason to chip it off. The stone-mason plied his adze with great dexterity while the patient let him chip. When the scab was all off, the nose was found to be uninjured, the man of Ying never having changed color.
"When Yuan, prince of Sung, heard of this, he summoned the stone-mason and said, 'Try to do the same for me.'
"'I used to be able to do it Sire,' replied the stone-mason, 'but my material has long since perished.' And I too, ever since he perished, have been without my material, having no one with whom I can speak."
Kuan Chung being at the point of death, Duke Huan went to see him. "You are ill, venerable Sir," said the Duke, "really ill. You had better say to whom, in the event of your getting worse, I am to entrust the administration of the State."
"Whom does your Highness wish to choose?" enquired Kuan Chung.
"Will Pao Yu do?" asked the Duke.
"He will not," said Kuan Chung. "He is pure, incorruptible, and good. With those who are not like himself, he will not associate. And it he has once heard of a man's wrong-doing, he never forgets it. If you employ him in the administration of the empire, he will get to loggerheads with his prince and to sixes and sevens with the people. It would not be long before he and your Highness fell out."
"Whom then can we have?" asked the Duke.
"There is no alternative," replied Kuan Chung; "it must be Hsi P'eng. He is a man who forgets the authority of those above him, and makes those below him forget his. Ashamed that he is not the peer of the Yellow Emperor, he grieves over those who are not the peers of himself. To share one's virtue with others is called true wisdom. To share one's wealth with others is reckoned meritorious. To exhibit superior merit is not the way to win men's hearts. To exhibit inferior merit is the way. There are things in the State he does not hear; there are things in the family he does not see. There is no alternative; it must be Hsi P'eng."
The prince of Wu took a boat and went to the Monkey Mountain, which he ascended. When the monkeys saw him, they fled in terror and hid themselves in the thickets. One of them, however, disported himself carelessly, as though showing off its skill before the prince. The prince took a shot at it; but the monkey, with great rapidity, seized the flying arrow with its hand. Then the prince bade his guards try, the result being that the monkey was killed.
Thereupon the prince turned to his friend Yen Pu I, and said, "That monkey flaunted its skill and its dexterity in my face. Therefore it has come to this pass. Beware! Do not flaunt your superiority in the faces of others."
Yen Pu I went home, and put himself under the tuition of Tung Wu, with a view to get rid of such superiority. He put aside all that gave him pleasure and avoided gaining reputation. And in three years his praise was in everybody's mouth.
Tzu Ch'i of Nan-poh was sitting leaning on a table. He looked up to heaven and sighed, at which juncture Yen Ch'eng Tzu entered and said, "How, Sir, can such an important person as yourself be in body like dry wood, in mind like dead ashes?"
"I used to live in a cave on the hills," replied Tzu Ch'i. "At that time, T'ien Ho, because he once saw me, was thrice congratulated by the people of Ch'i. Now I must have given some indication by which he recognized me. I must have sold for him to buy. For had I not manifested myself, how would he have recognized me? Had I not sold, how could he have bought?
"Alas! I grieve over one who grieves for another. And then I grieve over him who grieves over one who grieves for another! And so I get daily farther and farther away."
When Confucius went to Ch'u, the prince entertained him at a banquet. Sun Shu Ao stood up with a goblet of wine in his hand, and I Liao of Shih-nan poured a libation, saying, "On such occasions as this, the men of old were wont to make some utterance."
"Mine," replied Confucius, "is the doctrine of wordless utterances. Shall I who make no utterance, make utterance now?
"I Liao of Shih-nan juggled with balls, and the trouble of two houses was arranged. Sun Shu Ao remained quietly in repose, and the men of Ying threw down their arms. I should want a three-foot tongue indeed! Theirs was the Tao of inaction. His was the argument of silence. Wherefore, for Te to rest in undivided Tao, and for speech to stop at the unknowable,--this is perfection.
"With undivided Tao, Te cannot be coincident. No argument can demonstrate the unknowable. Subdivision into Confucianists and Mihists only makes confusion worse confounded.
"The sea does not reject the streams which flow eastward into it. Therefore it is immeasurably great. The true Sage folds the universe in his bosom. His good influence benefits all throughout the empire, without respect to persons. Born without rank, he dies without titles. He does not take credit for realities. He does not establish a name. This is to be a great man. A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker. How much less in the case of greatness? And if doing great things is not enough to secure greatness, how much less shall it secure virtue?
"In point of greatness, there is nothing to be compared with the universe. Yet what does the universe seek in order to be great?
"He who understands greatness in this sense, seeks nothing, loses nothing, rejects nothing, never suffers injury from without. He takes refuge in his own inexhaustibility. He finds safety in according with his nature. This is the essence of true greatness."
Tzu Ch'i had eight sons. He ranged them before him, and summoning Chiu Fang Yin, said to him, "Examine my sons physiognomically, and tell me which will be the fortunate one."
"K'un," replied Chiu Fang Yin, "will be the fortunate one."
"In what sense?" asked the father, beaming with delight.
"K'un," said Chiu Fang Yin, "will eat at the table of a prince, and so end his days."
Thereupon Tzu Ch'i burst into tears and said, "What has my son done that this should be his fate?"
"Eating at the table of a prince," replied Chiu Fang Yin, "will benefit the family for three generations. How much more his father and mother! But for you, Sir, to go and weep is enough to turn back the luck from you. The son's fortune is good, but the father's bad."
"Yin," said Tzu Ch'i, "I should like to know what you mean by calling K'un fortunate. Wine and meat gratify the palate, but you do not say how these are to come. Supposing that to me, not being a shepherd, a lamb were born in the south-west corner of my hall; or that to me, not being a sportsman, quails were hatched in the north-east corner. If you did not call that uncanny, what would you call it?" My sons and I do but roam through the universe. With them I seek the joys of heaven; with them I seek the fruits of earth. With them I engage in no business; with them I concoct no plot; with them, I attempt nothing out-of-the-way. With them I mount upon the truth of the universe, and do not offer opposition to the exigencies of our environment. With them I accommodate myself naturally; but with them I do not become a slave to circumstances. Yet now the world is rewarding me!
"Every uncanny effect must be preceded by some uncanny cause. Alas! my sons and I have done nothing. It must be the will of God. Therefore I weep."
Shortly afterwards, when K'un was on his way to the Yen State, he was captured by brigands. To sell him as he was, would be no easy matter. To sell him without his feet would be easy enough. So they cut off his feet and sold him into the Ch'i State, where he became door-keeper to Duke Chu and had meat to his dinner for the rest of his life.
Yeh Ch'ueh meeting Hsu Yu, said to him, "Where are you going?"
"Away from Yao!" replied the latter.
"What do you mean?" asked Yeh Ch'ueh.
"Yao," said Hsu Yu, "thinks of nothing but charity. I fear he will become a laughing-stock to the world, and that in future ages men will eat one another. There is no difficulty in winning the people. Love them and they will draw near. Profit them and they will come up. Praise them and they will vie with one another. But introduce something they dislike, and they will be gone. Love and profit are born of charity and duty to one's neighbor. Those who ignore charity and duty to one's neighbor are few; those who make capital out of them are many.
"For the operation of these virtues is not disinterested. It is like lending gear to a sportsman. Wherefore, for one man to dogmatize for the good of the whole empire, is like splitting a thing at a single blow.
"Yao knows that good men benefit the empire. But he does not know that they injure it. Only those on a higher level than good men know this. There are nincompoops; there are parasites; there are enthusiasts.
"A man who learns from a single teacher, and then goes off exultant, satisfied with his acquirements though ignorant that there was a time when nothing existed,--such a one is a nincompoop.
"Parasites are like the lice on a pig's back. They choose bald-patches, which are to them palaces and parks. The parts between the toes, the joints, the dugs, and the buttocks, are to them so many comfortable and convenient resting places. They know not that one day the butcher will tuck his sleeves and spread straw and apply fire, and that they will perish in the singeing of the pig. As they sow, so so they reap. This is to be a parasite.
"Of enthusiasts, Shun is an example. Mutton does not care for ants; it is the ants which care for the mutton. Mutton has a frowsy smell; and there is a frowziness about Shun which attracts the people. Therefore it was that after three changes of residence, when he came to the Teng district, he had some hundred thousand families with him. Then Yao, hearing of his goodness, appointed him to a barren region, trusting, as he said, that Shun's arrival would enrich it. When Shun took up his appointment, he was already old, and his intellect was failing; yet he would not cease work and retire from office. He was, in fact, an enthusiast.
"So it is that the spiritual man dislikes a crowd. For where there is a crowd there is diversity, and where there is diversity advantage does not accrue. He is therefore neither very intimate, nor very distant. He clings to virtue and nourishes a spirit of harmony, in order to be in accord with his fellow-men. This is to be a divine man.
"Leave wisdom to ants. Strive for what fishes desire. Leave attractiveness to mutton. Use your eyes to contemplate, your ears to listen to, your mind to consider, their own internal workings. For him who can do these things, his level will be that of a line, his modifications in due and proper season.
"Therefore, the divine man trusts to the natural development of events. He does not strive to introduce the artificial into the domain of the natural. Accordingly, life is a gain and death a loss, or death is a gain and life a loss.
"For instance, drugs. They are characteristically poisonous. Such are Chien-Keng, Chi-Yung, and Shih-Ling. Circumstances, however, make of each a sovereign remedy. The list is inexhaustible.
"When Kou Chien encamped with three thousand armed warriors at Kuei-ch'i, only Chung saw the defeat would be followed by a rally. Yet he could not foresee the evil that was to come upon himself. Wherefore it has been said, 'An owl's eyes are adapted to their use. A crane's leg is of the length required. 'T would be disastrous to shorten it.'
"Thus it has been said, 'The wind blows and the river suffers. The sun shines and the river suffers.' But though wind and sun be both brought into relation with the river, it does not really suffer there from. Fed from its source, it still continues to flow on.
"The relation between water and earth is determinate. The relation between a man and his shadow is determinate. The relation between thing and thing is determinate. The relation between eye and vision is baneful. The relation between ear and hearing is baneful. The relation between mind and object is baneful. The relation between all kinds of capacity and man's inner self is baneful. If such baneful-ness be not corrected, disasters will spring up on all sides. Retrogression is hard to achieve, and success long in coming. Yet alas! men regard such capacities as valuable possessions.
"The destruction of States and the ceaseless slaughter of human beings result from an inability to examine into this. [Because of gain, fame, authority etc]
"The foot treads the ground in walking; nevertheless it is ground not trodden on which makes up the good walk. A man's knowledge is limited; but it is upon what he does not know that he depends to extend his knowledge to the apprehension of God. [Only by meditation]
"The great ONE is omnipresent. The great Negative is omnipotent. The great Nomenclature is all-inclusive. The great Uniformity is all-assimilative. The great Space is all-receptive. The great Truth is all-exacting. The great Law is all-binding.
"The ultimate end is God. He is manifested in the laws of nature. He is the hidden spring. At the beginning, he was. This, however, is inexplicable. It is unknowable. But from the unknowable we reach the known. [Must read the Chinese texts to compare the above 2 paragraphs.]
"Investigation must not be limited, nor must it be unlimited. In this vague undefined-ness there is an actuality. Time does not change it. It cannot suffer diminution. May we not then call it our great Guide? [ponder during meditation can solve problem- not good for gaining enlightenment.]
"Why not bring our doubting hearts to investigation thereof? And then, using certainty to dispel doubt, revert to a state without doubt, in which doubt is doubly dead?" [Da Xue also mentions investigation.]
Edited on 9th June 2008