The Writings of Kwang-tze — Sacred Books of China Part II, SBE Vol. 40 (trans. James Legge, 1891)

4. If officers of wisdom do not see the changes which their anxious thinking has suggested, they have no joy; if debaters are not able to set forth their views in orderly style, they have no joy; if critical examiners find no subjects on which to exercise their powers of vituperation, they have no joy :— they are all hampered by external restrictions.

Those who try to attract the attention of their age (wish to) rise at court ; those who try to win the regard of the people? count holding office a glory; those who possess muscular strength boast of doing what is difficult; those who are bold and daring exert themselves in times of calamity ; those who are able

' This is the title borne to the present day by the chief or pope of Taoism, the representative of Kang T4o-ling of our first century.

? Taking the initial Aung in the third tone. If we take it in the first tone, the meaning is different.

[40] Hp. 98 swordmen and spearmen delight in fighting; those whose powers are decayed seek to rest in the name (they have gained); those who are skilled in the laws seek to enlarge the scope of government ; those who are proficient in ceremonies and music pay careful attention to their deportment ; and those who profess benevolence and righteousness value opportunities (for displaying them).

The husbandmen who do not keep their fields well weeded are not equal to their business, nor are traders who do not thrive in the markets. When the common people have their appropriate employment morning and evening, they stimulate one another to diligence; the mechanics who are masters of their implements feel strong for their work. If their wealth does not increase, the greedy are distressed ; if their power and influence is not growing, the ambitious are sad.

Such creatures of circumstance and things delight in changes, and if they meet with a time when they can show what they can do, they cannot keep themselves from taking advantage of it. They all pursue their own way like (the seasons of) the year, and do not change as things do. They give the reins to their bodies and natures, and allow themselves to sink beneath (the pressure of) things, and all their lifetime do not come back (to their proper selves) :— is it not sad!?

5. Kwang-jze said, ‘ An archer, without taking aim beforehand, yet may hit the mark. If we say that he is a good archer, and that all the world may

? All the parties in this paragraph disallow the great principle of Téoism, which does everything by doing nothing.

p. 99

If we say that he is a good archer, and that all the world may

? All the parties in this paragraph disallow the great principle of Téoism, which does everything by doing nothing.

p. 99

be fs}, is this allowable ?’ Hui-ze replied, ‘ It is.’ Kwang-jze continued, ‘All men do not agree in counting the same thing to be right, but every one maintains his own view to be right; (if we say) that all men may be Ydos, is this allowable?’ Hui-sze (again) replied, ‘It is;’ and A wang-jze went on, ‘Very well; there are the literati, the followers of Mo (T1), of Yang (0), and of Ping * ;—making four (different schools), Including yourself, Master, there are five. Which of your views is really right ? Or will you take the position of La Ati *? One of his disciples said to him, “ Master, I have got hold of your method, I can in winter heat the furnace under my tripod, and in summer can produce ice.” La Kii said, “ That is only with the Yang element to call out the same, and with the Yin to call out the yin ;—that is not my method. I will show you what my method is.” On this he tuned two citherns, placing one of them in the hall, and the other in one of the inner apartments. Striking the note Kung‘ in the one, the same note vibrated in the other, and so it was with the note Kio‘; the two instruments being tuned in the same way. But if he had differently tuned them on other strings different

1 The famous archer of the Hsia dynasty, in the twenty-second century B.C.

* The name of Kung-sun Lung, the Lung Li-444n of Bk. XXI, par. 1.

® Only mentioned here. The statement of his disciple and his remark on it are equally obscure, though the latter is partially illustrated from the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and- other hexagrams of the Yih Xing.

“ The sounds of the first and third notes of the Chinese musical scale, corresponding to our A and E. I know too little of music myself to pronounce further on LQ X%’s illustration.

H 2

p. 100

from the normal arrangement of the five notes, the five-and-twenty strings would all have vibrated, without any difference of their notes, the note to which he had tuned them ruling and guiding all the others. Is your maintaining your view to be right just like this ?’

_ BK, XXIV

from the normal arrangement of the five notes, the five-and-twenty strings would all have vibrated, without any difference of their notes, the note to which he had tuned them ruling and guiding all the others. Is your maintaining your view to be right just like this ?’

Hui-3ze replied, ‘Here now are the literati, and the followers of Mo, Yang, and Ping. Suppose that they have come to dispute with me. They put forth their conflicting statements; they try vociferously to put me down; but none of them have ever proved me wrong:—what do you say to this?’ wang-jze said, ‘There was a man of KAt who cast away his son in Sung to be a gatekeeper there, and thinking nothing of the mutilation he would incur; the same man, to secure one of his sacrificial vessels or bells, would have it strapped and secured, while to find his son who was lost, he would not go out of the territory of his own state :—so forgetful was he of the relative importance of things. If a man of AAd, going to another state as a lame gate-keeper, at midnight, at a time when no one was nigh, were to fight with his boatman, he would not be able to reach the shore, and he would have done what he could to provoke the boatman’s animosity},’

6. As Awang-3ze was accompanying a funeral, when passing by the grave of Hui-jze*, he looked

The illustrations in this last member of the paragraph are also obscure. Lin Hsi-fung says that all the old explanations of them are defective; his own explanation has failed to make itself clear to me.

* The expression in the last sentence of the paragraph, ‘the Master,’ makes it certain that this was the grave of Kwang-gze’s friend with whom he had had so many conversations and arguments.

PT, III, SECT. 11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. IOI

round, and said to his attendants, ‘On the top of the nose of that man of Ying? there is a (little) bit of mud like a fly’s wing.’ He sent for the artisan Shih to cut it away. Shih whirled his axe so as to produce a wind, which immediately carried off the mud entirely, leaving the nose uninjured, and the (statue of) the man of Ying! standing undisturbed. The ruler Yiian of Sung? heard of the feat, called the artisan Shih, and said to him, ‘Try and do the same thing on me.’ The artisan said, ‘ Your servant has been able to trim things in that way, but the material on which I have worked has been dead for a long time. Awang-jze said, ‘Since the death of the Master, I have had no material to work upon. I have had no one with whom to talk.’

Awang-jze said, ‘Since the death of the
Master, I have had no material to work upon. I
have had no one with whom to talk.’

7. Kwan Kung being ill, duke Hwan went to ask for him, and said, ‘Your illness, father Aung, is very severe; should you not speak out your mind to me? Should this prove the great illness, to whom will it be best for me to entrust my State?’ Kwan Kung said, ‘To whom does your grace wish to entrust it?’ ‘To Péo Shd-y43)’ was the reply. ‘He will not do. He is an admirable officer, pure and incorruptible, but with others who are not like himself he will not associate. And when he once hears

1 Ying was the capital of KAQ. I have seen in China about the graves of wealthy and distinguished men many life-sized statues of men somehow connected with them.

2 Yiian is called the ‘ruler’ of Sung. That duchy was by this time a mere dependency of KAi. The sacrifices of its old ruling House were finally extinguished by XA? in B.c. 206.

8 P&o Shd-y4 had been the life-long friend of the dying premier, and to him in the first place had been owing the elevation of Hwan to the marquisate.

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of another man’s faults, he never forgets them. If you employ him to administer the state, above, he will take the leading of your Grace, and, below, he will come into collision with the people ;—in no long time you will be holding him as an offender’ The duke said, ‘Who, then, is the man?’ The reply was, ‘If I must speak, there is Hst Phing?;—he will do. He is a man who forgets his own high position, and against whom those below him will not revolt. He is ashamed that he is not equal to Hwang-Ti, and pities those who are not equal to himself. Him who imparts of his virtue to others we call a sage; him who imparts of his wealth to others we call a man of worth. He who by his worth would preside over others, never succeeds in winning them; he who with his worth condescends to others, never but succeeds in winning them. Hest Phang has not been (much).heard of in the state; he has not been (much) distinguished in his own clan. But as I must speak, he is the man for you.’

8. The king of Wd, floating about on the Xiang, (landed and) ascended the Hill of monkeys, which all, when they saw him, scampered off in terror, and hid themselves among the thick hazels. There was one, however, which, in an unconcerned way, swung about on the branches, displaying its cleverness to the king, who thereon discharged an arrow at it. With a nimble motion it caught the swift arrow, and the king ordered his attendants to hurry forward and shoot it; and thus the monkey was seized and killed. The king then, looking round, said to his friend Yen

’ For a long time a great officer of KXAt, but he died in the same year as Kwan Xung himself.

PT, Ill. SECT. 11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 103

The king then, looking round, said to his friend Yen

’ For a long time a great officer of KXAt, but he died in the same year as Kwan Xung himself.

PT, Ill. SECT. 11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 103

Pa-i}, ‘This monkey made a display of its artfulness, and trusted in its agility, to show me its arrogance ;—this it was which brought it to this fate. Take warning from it. Ah! do not by your looks give yourself haughty airs!’ Yen Pd-t!, when he returned home, put himself under the teaching of Tung Wd}, to root up? his pride. He put away what he delighted in and abjured distinction. In three years the people of the kingdom spoke of him with admiration.

9. Nan-po §ze-£/1? was seated, leaning forward on his stool, and sighing gently as he looked up to heaven. (Just then) Yen K/ang-jze* came in, and said, when he saw him, ‘ Master, you surpass all others. Is it right to make your body thus like a mass of withered bones, and your mind like so much slaked lime?’ The other said, ‘I formerly lived in a grotto ona hill. At that time Thien Ho‘ once came to see me, and all the multitudes of K/i congratulated him thrice (on his having found the proper man). I must first have shown myself, and so it was that he knew me; I must first have been selling (what I had), and so it was that he came to buy. If I had not shown what I possessed, how should he have known it; if I had not been selling (myself), how should he have come to buy me? I pity

1 We know these names only from their occurrence here. Tung
Wifi must have been a professor of Taoism.

* The text here is wy, ‘to help ;’ but it is explained as = BH, ‘a hoe’ The Khang-hst dictionary does not give this meaning of the character, but we find it in that of Yen Yiian.

8 See the first paragraph of Bk. IT.

‘Hy Tk must be the fj yc of Sze-m4 X/ien, who became marquis of KAi in B.c. 389.

p. 104

the men who lose themselves'; I also pity the men who pity others (for not being known); and I also pity the men who pity the men who pity those that pity others. But since then the time is long gone by; (and so I am in the state in which you have found me)*.

10. Kung-ni, having gone to KAA, the king ordered wine to be presented to him. Sun Sh-4o® stood, holding the goblet in his hand. {-lido of Shih-nan 8, having received (a cup), poured its contents out as a sacrificial libation, and said, ‘The men of old, on such an occasion as this, made some speech.’ Aung-ni said, ‘I have heard of speech without words; but I have never spoken it; I will do so now. 1-lido of Shih-nan kept (quietly) handling his little spheres,

2 In seeking for worldly honours.

* That is, I have abjured all desire for worldly honour, and desire attainment in the T4o alone.

1-lido of
Shih-nan kept (quietly) handling his little spheres,

2 In seeking for worldly honours.

* That is, I have abjured all desire for worldly honour, and desire attainment in the T4o alone.

8 See Mencius VI, ii, 15. Sun Shfi-Ao was chief minister to king Khwang who died in B.c. 591, and died, probably, before Confucius was born, and f-lifo (p. 28, n. 3) appears in public life only after the death of the sage. The three men could not have appeared together at any time. This account of their doing so was devised by our author as a peg on which to hang his own lessons in the rest of the paragraph. The two historical events referred to I have found it difficult to discover. They are instances of doing nothing, and yet thereby accomplishing what is very great. The action of f-lido in ‘quietly handling his balls’ recalls my seeing the same thing done by a gentleman at Aii-fau, the city of Confucius, in 1873. Being left there with a companion, and not knowing how to get to the Grand Canal, many gentlemen came to advise with us how we should proceed. Among them was one who, while tendering his advice, kept rolling about two brass balls in one palm with the fingers of the other hand. When I asked the meaning of his action, I was told, ‘To show how he is at his ease and master of the situation.’ I mention the circumstance because I have nowhere found the phrase in the text adequately explained.

p. 105

and the difficulties between the two Houses were resolved; Sun Shi-do slept undisturbed on his couch, with his (dancer's) feather in his hand, and the men of Ying enrolled themselves for the war. I wish I had a beak three cubits long'.

In the case of those two (ministers) we have what is called ‘ The Way that cannot be trodden?;’ in (the case of Kung-ni) we have what is called ‘the Argument without words*’ Therefore when all attributes are comprehended in the unity of the To, and speech stops at the point to which knowledge does not reach, the conduct is complete. But where there is (not)* the unity of the T4o, the attributes cannot (always) be the same, and that which is beyond the reach of knowledge cannot be exhibited by any reasoning. There may be as many names as those employed by the Literati and the Mohists, but (the result is) evil. Thus when the sea does not reject the streams that flow into it in their eastward course, we have the perfection of greatness. The sage embraces in his regard both Heaven and Earth ; his beneficent influence extends to all under the sky ; and we do not know from whom it comes. Therefore though when living one may have no rank, and when dead no honorary epithet; though the reality (of what he is) may not be acknowledged and his name not established ; we have in him what is called ‘The Great Man.’

A dog is not reckoned good because it barks well ; and a man is not reckoned wise because he speaks

* This strange wish concludes the Speech of Confucius. What follows is from AKwang-3ze.

* Compare the opening chapters of the Tao Teh Xing.

° The T4o is greater than any and all of its attributes.

p. 106

skilfully ;—how much less can he be deemed Great! If one thinks he is Great, he is not fit to be accounted Great ;—how much less is he so from the practice of the attributes (of the T4o)!! Now none are so grandly complete as Heaven and Earth; but do they seek for anything to make them so grandly complete ? He who knows this grand completion does not seek for it; he loses nothing and abandons nothing ; he does not change himself from regard to (external) things ; he turns in on himself, and finds there an inexhaustible store; he follows antiquity and does not feel about (for its lessons) ;—such is the perfect sincerity of the Great Man.

11. 3ze-kAi? had eight sons. Having arranged them before him, he called Kid-fang Yan 8, and said to him, ‘Look at the physiognomy of my sons for me ;—which will be the fortunate one?’ Y&n said, ‘Khw&n is the fortunate one.’ 3ze-#ht looked startled, and joyfully said, ‘In what way?’ Yan replied, ‘Khwan will share the meals of the ruler of a state to the end of his life.’ The father looked uneasy, burst into tears, and said, ‘What has my son done that he should come to such a fate?’ Y&n replied, ‘When one shares the meals of the ruler of a state, blessings reach to all within the three branches of his kindred‘, and how much more to his father and mother! But you, Master, weep when you hear this ;—you oppose (the idea of) such happiness. It is the good fortune of your son, and

1 See note 3 on previous page.

* This can hardly be any other but Nan-kwo Bze-kit.

* A famous physiognomist ; some say, of horses. Hwé4i-nan 3ze calls him Xif-fang K4o ( ).

“ See Mayers’s Manual, p. 303.

p. 107

It is the good fortune of your son, and

1 See note 3 on previous page.

* This can hardly be any other but Nan-kwo Bze-kit.

* A famous physiognomist ; some say, of horses. Hwé4i-nan 3ze calls him Xif-fang K4o ( ).

“ See Mayers’s Manual, p. 303.

p. 107

you count it his misfortune.’ 3ze-£ht said, ‘O Y&n, what sufficient ground have you for knowing that this will be Khw&n’s good fortune? (The fortune) that is summed up in wine and flesh affects only the nose and the mouth, but you are not able to know how it will come about. I have never been a shepherd, and yet a ewe lambed in the south-west corner of my house. I have never been fond of hunting, and yet a quail hatched her young in the south-east corner. If these were not prodigies, what can be accounted such? Where I wish to occupy my mind with my son is in (the wide sphere of) heaven and earth; I wish to seek his enjoyment and mine in (the idea of) Heaven, and our support from the Earth. I do not mix myself up with him in the affairs (of the world); nor in forming plans (for his advantage) ; nor in the practice of what is strange. I pursue with him the perfect virtue of Heaven and Earth, and do not allow ourselves to be troubled by outward things. I seek to be with him in a state of undisturbed indifference, and not to practise what affairs might indicate as likely to be advantageous. And now there is to come to us this vulgar recompense, Whenever there is a strange realisation, there must have been strange conduct. Danger threatens ;—not through any sin of me or of my son, but as brought about, I apprehend, by Heaven. It is this which makes me weep!’

Not long after this, 3ze-£/i sent off Khwan to go to Yen1, when he was made prisoner by some robbers on the way. It would have been difficult to sell him if he were whole and entire, and they thoughtp. 108 their easiest plan was to cut off (one of his) feet first. They did so, and sold him in At, where he became Inspector of roads for a Mr. KA. Nevertheless he had flesh to eat till he died.

1 The state so called.

p. 108

their easiest plan was to cut off (one of his) feet first. They did so, and sold him in At, where he became Inspector of roads for a Mr. KA. Nevertheless he had flesh to eat till he died.

12. Nieh Khiieh met Hsii Yd (on the way), and said to him, ‘Where, Sir, are you going to?’ ‘I am fleeing from Y4o, was the reply. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Y4o has become so bent on his benevolence that I am afraid the world will laugh at him, and that in future ages men will be found eating one another®?. Now the people are collected together without difficulty. Love them, and they respond with affection; benefit them, and they come to you; praise them, and they are stimulated (to please you); make them to experience what they dislike, and they disperse. When the loving and benefiting proceed from benevolence and righteousness, those who forget the benevolence and righteousness, and those who make a profit of them, arethe many. In this way the practice of benevolence and righteousness comes to be without sincerity and is like a borrowing of the instruments with which men catch birds*, In all this the one man’s seeking to benefit the world by his decisions and enactments (of such a nature) is as if he were to cut through (the nature of all) by one operation ;—Y4o knows how wise and superior men can benefit the world, but he does not

1 One expert supposes the text here to mean ‘duke XAii;’ but there was no such duke of K/i. The best explanation seems to be that Ki was a rich gentleman, inspector of the roads of KAi, or of the streets of its capital, who bought Khwan to take his duties for him.

* Compare in Bk. XXIII, par. 2.

8 A scheming for one’s own advantage.

PT, Ill. SECT.11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 109 also know how they injure it. It is only those who stand outside such men that know this 1’

There are the pliable and weak; the easy and hasty; the grasping and crooked. Those who are called the pliable and weak learn the words of some one master, to which they freely yield their assent, being secretly pleased with themselves, and thinking that their knowledge is sufficient, while they do not know that they have not yet begun (to understand) a single thing. It is this which makes them so pliable and weak. The easy and hasty are like lice on a pig. The lice select a place where the bristles are more wide apart, and look on it as a great palace or a large park. The slits between the toes, the overlappings of its skin, about its nipples and its thighs,—all these seem to them safe apartments and advantageous places ;—they do not know that the butcher one morning, swinging about his arms, will spread the grass, and kindle the fire, so that they and the pig will be roasted together. So do they appear and disappear with the place where they harboured :—this is why they are called the easy and hasty.

So do they appear and disappear with the place where they harboured :—this is why they are called the easy and hasty.

Of the grasping and crooked we have an example in Shun. Mutton has no craving for ants, but ants have a craving for mutton, for it is rank. There was a rankness about the conduct of Shun, and the people were pleased with him. Hence when he thrice changed his residence, every one of them became a capital city. When he came to the wild

1 I suppose that the words of Hsii YQ stop with this sentence, and that from this to the end of the paragraph we have the sentiments of Xwang-3ze himself. The style is his,—graphic but sometimes coarse.

2 See note on Mencius V, i, 2, 3.

p. 110

of Tang}, he had 100,000 families about him. Y4o having heard of the virtue and ability of Shun, appointed him to a new and uncultivated territory, saying, ‘I look forward to the benefit of his coming ° here. When Shun was appointed to this new territory, his years were advanced, and his intelligence was decayed ;—and yet he could not find a place of rest or a home. This is an example of being grasping and wayward.

Therefore (in opposition to such) the spirit-like man dislikes the flocking of the multitudes to him. When the multitudes come, they do not agree; and when they do not agree, no benefit results from their coming. Hence there are none whom he brings very near to himself, and none whom he keeps at a great distance. He keeps his virtue in close embrace, and warmly nourishes (the spirit of) harmony, so as to be in accordance with all men. This is called the True man?, Even the knowledge of the ant he puts away; his plans are simply those of the fishes*; even the notions of the sheep he discards. His seeing is simply that of the eye; his hearing that of the ear; his mind is governed by its general exercises. Being such, his course is straight and level as if marked out by a line, and its every change is in accordance (with the circumstances of the case).

13. The True men of old waited for the issues of events as the arrangements of Heaven, and did not by their human efforts try to take the place of Heaven, The True men of old (now) looked on

' Situation unknown.
* The spirit-like man and the true man are the same.
5 Fishes forget everything in the water.

PT. Ill, SECT. 11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE, Ill v

* The spirit-like man and the true man are the same. 5 Fishes forget everything in the water.

PT. Ill, SECT. 11. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE, Ill v success as life and on failure as death; and (now) on success ag death and on failure as life. The operation of medicines will illustrate this:—there are monk’s-bane, the £ieh-kang, the tribulus fruit, and china-root; each of these has the time and case for which it is supremely suitable ; and all such plants and their suitabilities cannot be mentioned particularly. K4u-Aien! took his station on (the hill of) Kwai-é4i with 3,000 men with their buff-coats and shields:—(his minister) Aung knew how the ruined (Yiieh) might still be preserved, but the same man did not know the sad fate in store for himself', Hence it is said, ‘The eye of the owl has its proper fitness; the leg of the crane has its proper limit, and to cut off any of it would distress (the bird).’ Hence (also) it is (further) said, ‘When the wind passes over it, the volume of the river is diminished, and so it is when the sun passes over it. But let the wind and sun keep a watch together on the river, and it will not begin to feel that they are doing it any injury;—it relies on its springs and flows on.’ Thus, water does its part to the ground with undeviating exactness ; and so does the shadow to the substance; and one thing to another. Therefore there is danger from the power of vision in the eyes, of hearing in the ears, and of the inordinate thinking of the mind; yea, there is danger from the exercise of every power of which man’s constitution is the depository.

1 See the account of the struggle between K4u-Aien of Yiteh and FA-£44i of W in the eightieth and some following chapters of the ‘ History of the various States of the Eastern K4u (Lieh Kwo ih)’ We have sympathy with K4u-éien, till his ingratitude to his two great ministers, one of whom was Wan Xung (the Kung of the text), shows the baseness of his character.

p. 112

When the danger has come to a head, it cannot be averted, and the calamity is perpetuated, and goes on increasing. The return from this (to a state of security) is the result of (great) effort, and success can be attained only after a long time; and yet men consider (their power of self-determination) as their precious possession :—is it not sad? It is in this way that we have the ruin of states and the slaughtering of the people without end; while no one knows how to ask how it comes about.

It is in this way that we have the ruin of states and the slaughtering of the people without end; while no one knows how to ask how it comes about.

14. Therefore, the feet of man on the earth tread but on a small ‘space, but going on to where he has not trod before, he traverses a great distance easily; so his knowledge is but small, but going on to what he does not already know, he comes to know what is meant by Heaven'. He knows it as The Great Unity; The Great Mystery; The Great Illuminator ; The Great Framer; The Great Boundlessness ; The Great Truth; The Great Determiner. This makes his knowledge complete. As The Great Unity, he comprehends it; as The Great Mystery, he unfolds it; as the Great Illuminator, he contemplates it; as the Great Framer, it is to him the Cause of all; as the Great Boundlessness, all is to him its embodiment; as The Great Truth, he examines it; as The Great Determiner, he holds it fast.

Thus Heaven is to him all; accordance with it is the brightest intelligence. Obscurity has in this its pivot; in this is the beginning. Such being the

* This paragraph grandly sets forth the culmination of all inquiries into the T4o as leading to the knowledge of Heaven; and the means by which it may be attained to.

PT, III, SECT. Il. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 113 case, the explanation of it is as if it were no explanation; the knowledge of it is as if it were no knowledge. (At first) he does not know it, but afterwards he comes to know it. In his inquiries, he must not set to himself any limits, and yet he cannot bé without a limit. Now ascending, now descending, then slipping from the grasp, (the T4o) is yet a reality, unchanged now as in antiquity, and always without defect :—may it not be called what is capable of the greatest display and expansion ? Why should we not inquire into it? Why should we be perplexed about it? With what does not perplex let us explain what perplexes, till we cease to be perplexed. So may we arrive at a great freedom from all perplexity !

40] | I

p. 114

BOOK XXV.

Part III. Section III.
3eh-yang}.

Why should we be perplexed about it? With what does not perplex let us explain what perplexes, till we cease to be perplexed. So may we arrive at a great freedom from all perplexity !

40] | I

p. 114

BOOK XXV.

Part III. Section III.
3eh-yang}.

1. 3eh-yang having travelled to Kh, t Kieh? spoke of him to the king, and then, before the king had granted him an interview, (left him, and) returned home. 3eh-yang went to see Wang Kwo%, and said to him, ‘Master, why do you not mention me to the king?’ Wang Kwo replied, ‘I am not so good a person to do that as Kung-yiieh Hsif +.’ ‘What sort of man is he ?’ asked the other, and the reply was, ‘In winter he spears turtles in the Kiang, and in summer he rests in shady places on the mountain. When passers-by ask him (what he is doing there), he says, “This is my abode.” Since 1 Kiech was not able to induce the king to see you, how much less should I, who am not equal to him, be able to do so! { Kieh’s character is this :—he has no (real) virtue, but he has knowledge. If you do not freely yield yourself to him, but employ him to carry on his spirit-like influence (with you), you will certainly get upset and benighted in the region of riches and honours. His help will not be of a virtuous character, but will go to make your virtue

See vol. xxxix, pp. 154, 155. ® ? A native of Kd, and, probably, a parasite of the court.

5 An officer of KAQ, ‘a worthy man.’

* A recluse of Kf, but not keeping quite aloof from the court.

PT. fll, SECT.1I. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE, TI5 less ;—it will be like heaping on clothes in spring as a protection against cold, or bringing back the cold winds of winter as a protection against heat (in summer). Now the king of Kh is of a domineering presence and stern. He has no forgiveness for offenders, but is merciless as a tiger. It is only a man of subtle speech, or one of correct virtue, who can bend him from his purpose}.

‘But the sagely man ?, when he is left in obscurity, causes the members of his family to forget their poverty; and, when he gets forward to a position of influence, causes kings and dukes to forget their rank and emoluments, and transforms them to be humble. With the inferior creatures, he shares their pleasures, and they enjoy themselves the more; with other men, he rejoices in the fellowship of the T Ao, and preserves it in himself. Therefore though he may not speak, he gives them to drink of the harmony (of his spirit). Standing in association with them, he transforms them till they become in their feeling towards him as sons with a father. His wish is to return to the solitude of his own mind, and this is the effect of his occasional intercourse with them. So far-reaching is his influence on the minds of men; and therefore I said to you, “Wait for Kung-yiieh Hsid.”’

His wish is to return to the solitude of his own mind, and this is the effect of his occasional intercourse with them. So far-reaching is his influence on the minds of men; and therefore I said to you, “Wait for Kung-yiieh Hsid.”’

2. The sage comprehends the connexions between himself and others, and how they all go to constitute him of one body with them, and he does not know how it is so;—he naturally does so. In fulfilling his constitution, as acted on and acting, he

1 Much of the description of f Xieh is difficult to construe.
? Kung-yiieh Hsi@.
12

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(simply) follows the direction of Heaven; and it is in consequence of this that men style him (a sage). If he were troubled about (the insufficiency of) his knowledge, what he did would always be but small, and sometimes would be arrested altogether ;—how would he in this case be (the sage)? When (the sage) is born with all his excellence, it is other men who see it for him, If they did not tell him, he would not know that he was more excellent than others. And when he knows it, he is as if he did not know it; when he hears it, he is as if he did not hear it. His source of joy in it has no end, and men’s admiration of him has no end ;—all this takes place naturally’. The love of the sage for others receives its name from them. If they did not tell him of it, he would not know that he loved them; and when he knows it, he is as if he knew it not; when he hears it, he is as if he heard it not. His love of others never has an end, and their rest in him has also no end :—all this takes place naturally '.

3. When one sees at a distance his old country and old city, he feels a joyous satisfaction *%. Though it be full of mounds and an overgrowth of trees and grass, and when he enters it he finds but a tenth part remaining, still he feels that satisfaction. [How much more when he sees what he saw, and hears what he heard before! All this is to him like a tower eighty cubits high exhibited in the sight of all men.

1 That is, ‘he does so in the spontaneity of his nature.’ The pe requires the employment of the term ‘nature’ here, not according to any abstract usage of the term, but meaning the natural constitution. Compare the PE Zz in Mencius VII, i, 30,

2 So does he rejoice in attaining to the knowledge of his nature,

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Compare the PE Zz in Mencius VII, i, 30,

2 So does he rejoice in attaining to the knowledge of his nature,

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(The sovereign) Zan-hsiang! was possessed of that central principle round which all things revolve?, and by it he could follow them to their completion. His accompanying them had neither ending nor beginning, and was independent of impulse or time. Daily he witnessed their changes, and himself underwent no change; and why should he not have rested in this? If we (try to) adopt Heaven as our Master, we incapacitate ourselves from doing so. Such endeavour brings us under the power of things. If one acts in this way, what is to be said of him? The sage never thinks of Heaven nor of men. He does not think of taking the initiative, nor of anything external to himself. He moves along with his age, and does not vary or fail. Amid all the completeness of his doings, he is never exhausted. For those who wish to be in accord with him, what other course is there to pursue ?

When Thang got one to hold for him the reins of government, namely, Man-yin Tang-hang’, he employed him as his teacher. He followed his master, but did not allow himself to be hampered by him, and so he succeeded in following things to their completion. The master had the name; but that name was a superfluous addition to his laws, and the twofold character of his government was made apparent *. Aung-ni’s ‘Task your thoughts to the utmost’ was his expression of the duties of a

* A sage sovereign prior to the three Hwang or August ones. . * See the same phraseology in Book II, par. 3.

* I have followed Lin Hsi-4ung in taking these four characters as the name of one man.

‘ There was a human element in it instead of the Heavenly only; but some critics think the text here is erroneous or defective.

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master. Yung-khang said, ‘Take the days away and there will be no year; without what is internal there will be nothing external 1’

4. (King) Yung? of Wei made a treaty with the marquis Thien Méau® (of Ai), which the latter violated. The king was enraged, and intended to send a man to assassinate him. When the Minister of War‘ heard of it, he was ashamed, and said (to the king), ‘You are a ruler of 10,000 chariots, and by means of a common man would avenge yourself on your enemy. I beg you to give me, Yen, the command of 200,000 soldiers to attack him for you. I will take captive his people and officers, halter (and lead off) his oxen and horses, kindling a fire within him that shall burn to his backbone. I will then storm his capital; and when he shall run away in terror, I will flog his back and break his spine. <i-yze® heard of this advice, and was ashamed of it, and said (to the king), ‘We have been raising the wall (of our capital) to a height of eighty cubits, and the work has been completed. If we now get it thrown down, it will be a painful toil to the convict builders. It is now seven years

<i-yze® heard of this advice, and was ashamed of it, and said (to the king), ‘We have been raising the wall (of our capital) to a height of eighty cubits, and the work has been completed. If we now get it thrown down, it will be a painful toil to the convict builders. It is now seven years

' Said to have been employed by Hwang-Ti to make the calendar.

2 B.C. 370-317.

8 I do not find the name Mau as belonging to any of the Thien rulers of K#1. The name of the successor of Thien Ho, who has been before us, was *F,, Wa, for which RE, M4u, may be a mistake; or ‘the marquis Mau’ may be a creation of our author.

* Literally, ‘the Rhinoceros’ Head,’ the title of ‘the Minister of War’ in Wei, who was at this time a Kung-sun Yen. See the memoir of him in Sze-ma Khien, Book 1X of his Biographies,

5 I do not know that anything more can be said of Xft and HwA than that they were officers of Wei.

PT. II, SECT. U1. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 11g since our troops were called out, and this is the foundation of the royal sway. Yen would introduce disorder ;—he should not be listened to.’ Hw4- ze? heard of this advice, and, greatly disapproving of it, said (to the king), ‘He who shows his skill in saying “Attack K%t” would produce disorder; and he who shows his skill in saying “Do not attack it” would also produce disorder. And one who should (merely) say, “ The counsellors to attack Ai and not to attack it would both produce disorder,” would himself also lead to the same result.’ The king said, ‘Yes, but what am I to do?’ The reply was, ‘ You have only to seek for (the rule of) the T4o (on the subject).

Hui-sze, having heard of this counsel, introduced to the king T4i 3in-zin?, who said, ‘There is the creature called a snail; does your majesty know it ?’ ‘I do. ‘On the left horn of the snail there is a kingdom which is called Provocation, and on the right horn another which is called Stupidity. These two kingdoms are continually striving about their territories and fighting. The corpses that lie on the ground amount to several myriads. The army of one may be defeated and put to flight, but in fifteen days it will return.” The king said, ‘ Pooh! that is empty talk!’ The other rejoined, ‘ Your servant begs to show your majesty its real significance. When your majesty thinks of space—east, west, north, and south, above and beneath—can you set any limit to it?’ ‘It is illimitable,’ said the king ; and his visitor went on, ‘ Your majesty knows

1 See note 5 on preceding page.

2 Evidently a man of considerable reach of thought.

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2 Evidently a man of considerable reach of thought.

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how to let your mind thus travel through the illimitable, and yet (as compared with this) does it not seem insignificant whether the kingdoms that communicate one with another exist or not?’ The king replies, ‘It does so;’ and T4i 3in-zin said, finally, ‘Among those kingdoms, stretching one after another, there is this Wei; in Wei there is this (city of) Liang’; and in Liang there is your majesty. Can you make any distinction between yourself, and (the king of that kingdom of) Stupidity?’ To this the king answered, ‘There is no distinction,’ and his visitor went out, while the king remained disconcerted and seemed to have lost himself.

When the visitor was gone, Hui-3ze came in and saw the king, who said, ‘ That stranger is a Great man. An (ordinary) sage is not equal to him.’ Hui-sze replied, ‘If you blow into a flute, there come out its pleasant notes; if you blow into a sword-hilt, there is nothing but a wheezing sound. YAo and Shun are the subjects of men’s praises, but if you speak of them before T4i 3in-zin, there will be but the wheezing sound.’

5. Confucius, having gone to KA, was lodging in the house of a seller of Congee at Ant-hill. On the roof of a neighbouring house there appeared the husband and his wife, with their servants, male and female?, 3ze-lQ said, ‘What are those people doing,

1 Liang, the capital, came to be used also as the name of the state ;—as in Mencius.

2 «They were on the roof, repairing it, say some. ‘They had got on the roof, to get out of the way of Confucius,’ say others. The sequel shows that this second interpretation is correct ; but we do not see how the taking to the roof facilitated their departure from the house. .

PT, Ill. SECT. 1. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE, 12I collected there as we see them?’ ung-nt replied, ‘The man is a disciple of the sages. He is burying himself among the people, and hiding among the fields. Reputation has become little in his eyes, but there is no bound to his cherished aims. Though he may speak with his mouth, he never tells what is in his mind. Moreover, he is at variance with the age, and his mind disdains to associate with it ;—he is one who may be said to lie hid at the bottom of the water on the dry land. Is he not a sort of 1 Lido of Shih-nan?’ 9ze-I0 asked leave to go and call him, but Confucius said, ‘Stop. He knows that I understand him well. He knows that 1 am come to Kd, and thinks that I am sure to try and get the king to invite him (to court), He also thinks that I am a man swift to speak. Being such a man, he would feel ashamed to listen to the words of one of voluble and flattering tongue, and how much more to come himself and see his person! And why should we think that he will remain here?’ 3ze-li, however, went to see how it was, but found the house empty.

Being such a man, he would feel ashamed to listen to the words of one of voluble and flattering tongue, and how much more to come himself and see his person! And why should we think that he will remain here?’ 3ze-li, however, went to see how it was, but found the house empty.

6. The Border-warden of K/ang-w(!, in questioning 3ze-l4o%, said, ‘ Let not a ruler in the exercise of his government be (like the farmer) who leaves the clods unbroken, nor, in regulating his people, (like one) who recklessly plucks up the shoots. Formerly, in ploughing my corn-fields, I left the clods unbroken, and my recompense was in the rough unsatisfactory crops; and in weeding, I destroyed and tore up (many good plants), and my recompense was in the scantiness of my harvests. In subse-

? Probably the same as the Khang-wf 3ze in Book II, par. 9. ® See Analects IX, vi, 4.

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quent years I changed my methods, ploughing deeply and carefully covering up the seed; and my harvests were rich and abundant, so that all the year I had more than I could eat. When ‘wang-3ze heard of his remarks, he said, ‘ Now-adays, most men, in attending to their bodies and regulating their minds, correspond to the description of the Border-warden. They hide from themselves their Heaven(-given being); they leave (all care of) their (proper) nature; they extinguish their (proper) feelings ; and they leave their spirit to die :— abandoning themselves to what is the general practice. Thus dealing with their nature like the farmer who is negligent of the clods in his soil, the illegitimate results of their likings and dislikings become their nature. The bushy sedges, reeds, and rushes, which seem at first to spring up to support our ‘bodies, gradually eradicate our nature, and it becomes like a mass of running sores, ever liable to flow out, with scabs and ulcers, discharging in flowing matter from the internal heat. So indeed it is!’

7. Po Xii! was studying with Lao Tan, and asked his leave to go and travel everywhere. Lao Tan said, ‘ Nay ;—elsewhere it is just as here. He repeated his request, and then Lado Tan said, ‘ Where would you go first?’ ‘I would begin with Ait,’ replied the disciple. ‘Having got there, I would go to look at the criminals (who had been executed). With my arms I would raise (one of) them up and set him on his feet, and, taking off my court robes, I would cover him with them, appealing at

* We can only say of Po Xii that he was a disciple of Lao-jze.

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With my arms I would raise (one of) them up and set him on his feet, and, taking off my court robes, I would cover him with them, appealing at

* We can only say of Po Xii that he was a disciple of Lao-jze.

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the same time to Heaven and bewailing his lot, while I said, “My son, my son, you have been one of the first to suffer from the great calamities that afflict the world*.”’ (L4o Tan) said}, ‘(It is said), “Do not rob. Do not kill” (But) in the setting up of (the ideas of) glory and disgrace, we see the cause of those evils; in the accumulation of property and wealth, we see the causes of strife and contention. If now you set up the things against which men fret; if you accumulate what produces strife and contention among them; if you put their persons in such a state of distress, that they have no rest or ease, although you may wish that they should not come to the end of those (criminals), can your wish be realised ?

‘The superior men (and rulers) of old considered that the success (of their government) was to be found in (the state of) the people, and its failure to be sought in themselves; that the right might be with the people, and the wrong in themselves. Thus it was that if but a single person lost his life, they retired and blamed themselves. Now, however, it is not so. (Rulers) conceal what they want done, and hold those who do not know it to be stupid; they require what is very difficult, and condemn those who do not dare to undertake it ; they impose heavy burdens, and punish those who are unequal to them; they require men to go far, and put them to death when they cannot accomplish the distance. When the people know that the utmost of their

1 There are two FY here, and the difficulty in translating is to
determine the subject of each.
2 The BE of the text here is taken as = EE.

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strength will be insufficient, they follow it up with deceit. When (the rulers) daily exhibit much hypo- crisy, how can the officers and people not be hypocritical? Insufficiency of strength produces hypocrisy ; insufficiency of knowledge produces deception ; insufficiency of means produces robbery. But in this case against whom ought the robbery and theft to be charged ?’

Insufficiency of strength produces hypocrisy ; insufficiency of knowledge produces deception ; insufficiency of means produces robbery. But in this case against whom ought the robbery and theft to be charged ?’

8. When Xii Po-yii was in his sixtieth year, his views became changed in the course of it’. He had never before done anything but consider the views which he held to be right, but now he came to condemn them as wrong; he did not know that what he now called right was not what for fifty-nine years he had been calling wrong. All things have the life (which we know), but we do not see its root; they have their goings forth, but we do not know the door by which they depart. Men all honour that which lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but they do not know their dependence on what lies without that sphere which would be their (true) knowledge :—may we not call their case one of great perplexity? Ah! Ah! there is no escaping from this dilemma. So itis! So it is!

9. Kung-nt asked the Grand Historiographer? Ta Thao, (along with) Po Khang-éhien and Ahih-wei, saying, ‘Duke Ling of Wei was so addicted to

1 Confucius thought highly of this Aii Po-yii, and they were friends (Analects, XIV, 26; XV, 6). It would seem from this paragraph that, in his sixtieth year, he adopted the principles of Taoism. Whether he really did so we cannot tell. See also Book IV, par. 5.

* We must translate here in the singular, for in the historiographer’s department there were only two officers with the title of ‘Grand;’ Po Khang-khien and Khih-wei would be inferior members of it.

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drink, and abandoned to sensuality, that he did not attend to the government of his state. Occupied in his pursuit of hunting with his nets and bows, he kept aloof from the meetings of the princes. In what was it that he showed his title to the epithet of Ling!?’ TA ThAo said, ‘It was on account of those very things.’ Po Kfang-khien said, ‘Duke Ling had three mistresses with whom he used to bathe in the same tub. (Once, however), when Shih-jhif came to him with presents from the imperial court, he made his servants support the messenger in bearing the gifts*, So dissolute was he in the former case, and when he saw a man of worth, thus reverent was he to him. It was on this account that he was styled “ Duke Ling.”’ ’ihwei said, ‘When duke Ling died, and they divined about burying him in the old tomb of his House, the answer was unfavourable; when they divined about burying him on Sh4-é/id, the answer was favourable. Accordingly they dug there to the depth of several fathoms, and found a stone coffin. Having washed and inspected it, they discovered an inscription, which said,

“This grave will not be available for your posterity ; Duke Ling will appropriate it for himself.”

Accordingly they dug there to the depth of several fathoms, and found a stone coffin. Having washed and inspected it, they discovered an inscription, which said,

“This grave will not be available for your posterity ; Duke Ling will appropriate it for himself.”

1 Ling (Se), as a posthumous epithet, has various meanings, none of them very bad, and some of them very good. Confucius ought to have been able to solve his question himself better than any of the historiographers, but he propounded his doubt to them for reasons which he, no doubt, had.

* We are not to suppose that the royal messenger found him in the tub with his three wives or mistresses. The two incidents mentioned illustrate two different phases of his character, as some of the critics, and even the text itself, clearly indicate.

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Thus that epithet of Ling had long been settled for the duke!. But how should those two be able to know this?’

10. Shao Aih? asked Thai-kung Thido %, saying, ‘What do we mean by “The Talk of the Hamlets and Villages?” ’ The reply was, ‘Hamlets and Villages are formed by the union—say of ten surnames and a hundred names, and are considered to be (the source of) manners and customs. The differences between them are united to form their common character, and what is common to them is separately apportioned to form the differences. If you point to the various parts which make up the body of a horse, you do not have the horse; but when the horse is before you, and all its various parts stand forth (as forming the animal), you speak of “the horse.” So it is that the mounds and hills are made to be the elevations that they are by accumulations of earth which individually are but low. (So also rivers like) the Kiang and the Ho obtain their greatness by the union of (other smaller) waters with them. And (in the same way) the Great man exhibits the common sentiment of humanity by the union in himself of all its individualities. Hence when ideas come to him from without, though he

1 This explanation is, of course, absurd.

® These two names are both metaphorical, the former meaning ‘Small Knowledge,’ and the latter, ‘The Grand Public and Just Harmonizer.’ Small Knowledge would look for the T4o in the ordinary talk of ordinary men. The other teaches him that it is to be found in ‘the Great man,’ blending in himself what is ‘just’ in the sentiments and practice of all men. And so it is to be found in all the phenomena of nature, but it has itself no name, and does nothing.

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The other teaches him that it is to be found in ‘the Great man,’ blending in himself what is ‘just’ in the sentiments and practice of all men. And so it is to be found in all the phenomena of nature, but it has itself no name, and does nothing.

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has his own decided view, he does not hold it with bigotry ; and when he gives out his own decisions, which are correct, the views of others do not oppose them. The four seasons have their different elemental characters, but they are not the partial gifts of Heaven, and so the year completes its course. The five official departments have their different duties, but the ruler does not partially employ any one of them, and so the kingdom is governed, (The gifts of) peace and war(are different), but the Great man does not employ the one to the prejudice of the other, and so the character (of his administration) is perfect. All things have their different constitutions and modes of actions, but the TAo (which directs them) is free from all partiality, and therefore it has no name. Having no name, it therefore does nothing. Doing nothing, there is nothing which it does not do.

‘Each season has its ending and beginning; each age has its changes and transformations; misery and happiness regularly alternate. Here our views are thwarted, and yet the result may afterwards have our approval; there we insist on our own views, and looking at things differently from others, try to correct them, while we are in error ourselves. The case may be compared to that of a great marsh, in which all its various vegetation finds a place, or we may look at it as a great hill, where trees and. rocks are found on the same terrace. Such may be a description of what is intended by “The Talk of the Hamlets and Villages.”’

Shao Xih said, ‘ Well, is it sufficient to call it (an
expression of) the T4éo?’ Thai-kung Thido said,
‘It is not so. If we reckon up the number of things,

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they are not 10,000 merely. When we speak of them as “the Myriad Things,” we simply use that large number by way of accommodation to denominate them. In this way Heaven and Earth are the greatest of all things that have form; the Yin and Yang are the greatest of all elemental forces. But the T4o is common to them. Because of their greatness to use the T4o or (Course) as a title and call it “the Great T4o0” is allowable. But what comparison can be drawn between it and “the Talk of the Hamlets and Villages?” To argue from this that it is a sufficient expression of the T do, is like calling a dog and a horse by the same name, while the difference between them is so great.’

But what comparison can be drawn between it and “the Talk of the Hamlets and Villages?” To argue from this that it is a sufficient expression of the T do, is like calling a dog and a horse by the same name, while the difference between them is so great.’

11. Shao Xih said, ‘ Within the limits of the four cardinal points, and the six boundaries of space, how was it that there commenced the production of all things?’ Thai-kung Thido replied, ‘The Yin and Yang reflected light on each other, covered each other, and regulated each the other ; the four seasons gave place to one another, produced one another, and brought one another to an end. Likings and dislikings, the avoidings of this and movements towards that, then arose (in the things thus produced), in their definite distinctness ; and from this came the separation and union of the male and female. Then were seen now security and now insecurity, in mutual change; misery and happiness produced each other ; gentleness and urgency pressed on each other; the movements of collection and dispersion were established :—these names and processes can be examined, and, however minute, can be recorded. The rules determining the order in which they follow one another, their mutual influencep. 129 now acting directly and now revolving, how, when they are exhausted, they revive, and how they end and begin again ; these are the properties belonging tothings. Words can describe them and knowledge can reach to them; but with this ends all that can be said of things. Men who study the T4o do not follow on when these operations end, nor try to search out how they began :—with this all discussion of them stops.’

Shéo Xih said, ‘At Kan" holds that (the T4o) forbids all action, and Kieh-sze! holds that it may perhaps allow of influence. Which of the two is correct in his statements, and which is one-sided in his ruling?’ Thdai-kung Thido replied, ‘Cocks crow and dogs bark ;—this is what all men know. But men with the greatest wisdom cannot describe in words whence it is that they are formed (with such different voices), nor can they find out by thinking what they wish to do. We may refine on this small point ; till it is so minute that there is no point to operate on, or it may become so great that there is no embracing it. ‘Some one caused it;” “No one did it;” but we are thus debating about things ; and the end is that we shall find we are in error. “ Some one caused it;”—then there was a real Being. “No one did it;”’—then there was mere vacancy. To have a name and a real existence,—that is the _ condition of a thing. Not to have a name, and not