Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1This was their common faculty. They were all one in this, and did not form themselves into separate classes; so were they constituted and left to their natural tendencies*. Therefore in the 1 Compare the same language in the previous Book, par. 3. But the weaver’s or agriculturist’s art has no more title to be called primitive than the potter’s or carpenter's. 5 A difficult expression; but the translation, probably, gives its lees ee eS Ee : meee aces 278 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK, IX. age of perfect virtue men walked along with slow and grave step, and with their looks steadily directed forwards. At that time, on the hills there were no foot-paths, nor excavated passages; on the lakes there were no boats nor dams; all creatures lived in companies ; and the places of their settlement were made close to one another. Birds and beasts multiplied to flocks and herds ; the grass and trees grew luxuriant and long. In this condition the birds and beasts might be led about without feeling the constraint ; the nest of the magpie might be climbed to, and peeped into. Yes, in the age of perfect virtue, men lived in common with birds and beasts, and were on terms of equality with all creatures, as forming one family ;—how could they know among themselves the distinctions of superior men and small men? Equally without knowledge, they did not leave (the path of) their natural virtue; equally free from desires, they were in the state of pure simplicity. In that state of pure simplicity, the nature of the people was what it ought to be. But when the sagely men appeared, limping and wheeling about in (the exercise of) benevolence, pressing along and standing on tiptoe in the doing of righteousness, then men universally began to be perplexed. (Those sages also) went to excess in their performances of music, and in their gesticulations in the practice of ceremonies, and then men began to be separated from one another. If the raw materials true significance. ‘Heaven’ here is synonymous with ‘the T4o;’ but its use shows how readily the minds, even of Lao and Awang, had recourse to the earliest term by which the Chinese fathers had expressed their recognition of a Supreme and Controlling Power and Government, - oct es eee PT, II, SECT. 1. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 279
21. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 279 had not been cut and hacked, who could have made a sacrificial vase from them? If the natural jade had not been broken and injured, who could have made the handles for the libation-cups from it? If the attributes of the TA4o had not been disallowed, how should they have preferred benevolence and righteousness? If the instincts of the nature had not been departed from, how should ceremonies and music have come into use? If the five colours had not been confused, how should the ornamental figures have been formed? If the five notes had not been confused, how should they have supplemented them by the musical accords? The cutting and hacking of the raw materials to form vessels was the crime of the skilful workman ; the injury done to the characteristics of the T4o in order to the practice of benevolence and righteousness was the error of the sagely men. 3. Horses, when living in the open country, eat the grass, and drink water; when pleased, they intertwine their necks and rub one another; when enraged, they turn back to back and kick one another ;—this is all that they know to do. But if we put the yoke on their necks, with the moonlike frontlet displayed on all their foreheads, then they know to look slily askance, to curve their necks, to rush viciously, trying to get the bit out of their mouths, and to filch the reins (from their driver) ;— this knowledge of the horse and its ability thus to act the part of a thief is the crime of Po-ldo. In the time of (the Ti) Ho-hsii?, the people occupied 1 An ancient sovereign ; but nothing more definite can be said about him. Most of the critics identify him with Shan-nang, the 280 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IX. their dwellings without knowing what they were doing, and walked out without knowing where they were going. They filled their mouths with food and were glad; they slapped their stomachs to express their satisfaction. This was all the ability which they possessed. But when the sagely men appeared, with their bendings and stoppings in ceremonies and music to adjust the persons of all, and hanging up their benevolence and righteousness to excite the endeavours of all to reach them, in order to comfort their minds, then the people began to stump and limp about in their love of knowledge, and strove with one another in their pursuit of gain, so that there was no stopping them :—this was the error of those sagely men. Father of Husbandry, who occupies the place in chronological tables after Ffi-hsi, between him and Hwang-Ti. In the Tables of the Dynastic Histories, published in 1817, he is placed seventh in the list of fifteen reigns, which are placed without any specification of their length between Ff-hst and Shan-nang. The name is written as iy § and Fil F. PT. IL, SECT. 11, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 281 BOOK X. Part II. Section III. Khi Khieh, or ‘Cutting open Satchels.’
3The name is written as iy § and Fil F. PT. IL, SECT. 11, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 281 BOOK X. Part II. Section III. Khi Khieh, or ‘Cutting open Satchels.’ 1. In taking precautions against thieves who cut open satchels, search bags, and break open boxes, people are sure to cord and fasten them well, and to employ strong bonds and clasps; and in this they are ordinarily said to show their wisdom. Whena great thief comes, however, he shoulders the box, lifts up the satchel, carries off the bag, and runs away with them, afraid only that the cords, bonds, and clasps may not be secure; and in this case what was called the wisdom (of the owners) proves to be nothing but a collecting of the things for the great thief. Let me try and set this matter forth, Do not. those who are vulgarly called wise prove to be collectors for the great thieves? And do not those who are called sages prove to be but guardians in the interest of the great thieves ? How do I know that the case is so? Formerly, in the state of K/i, the neighbouring towns could see one another; their cocks and dogs never ceased to answer the crowing and barking of other cocks and dogs (between them). The nets were set (in the water and on the land); and the ploughs and hoes were employed over more than a space of two thousand li square. All within its four boundaries, the 1 See pp. 141, 142. oe 282 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. establishment of the ancestral temples and of the altars of the land and grain, and the ordering of the hamlets and houses, and of every corner in the districts, large, medium, and small, were in all particulars according to the rules of the sages’. So it was; but yet one morning, Thien AAang-3ze? killed the ruler of A‘4t, and stole his state. And was it only the state that he stole? Along with it he stole also the regulations of the sages and wise men (observed in it), And so, though he got the name of being a thief and a robber, yet he himself continued to live as securely as Yao and Shun had done. Small states did not dare to find fault with him; great states did not dare to take him off; for twelve generations (his descendants) have possessed the state of AA#i*, Thus do we not have a case in which not only did (the party) steal the state of K/i, 1 The meaning is plain; but to introduce the various geographical terms would make the translation cumbrous. The concluding HH is perplexing.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1This was their common faculty. They were all one in this, and did not form themselves into separate classes; so were they constituted and left to their natural tendencies*. Therefore in the 1 Compare the same language in the previous Book, par. 3. But the weaver’s or agriculturist’s art has no more title to be called primitive than the potter’s or carpenter's. 5 A difficult expression; but the translation, probably, gives its lees ee eS Ee : meee aces 278 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK, IX. age of perfect virtue men walked along with slow and grave step, and with their looks steadily directed forwards. At that time, on the hills there were no foot-paths, nor excavated passages; on the lakes there were no boats nor dams; all creatures lived in companies ; and the places of their settlement were made close to one another. Birds and beasts multiplied to flocks and herds ; the grass and trees grew luxuriant and long. In this condition the birds and beasts might be led about without feeling the constraint ; the nest of the magpie might be climbed to, and peeped into. Yes, in the age of perfect virtue, men lived in common with birds and beasts, and were on terms of equality with all creatures, as forming one family ;—how could they know among themselves the distinctions of superior men and small men? Equally without knowledge, they did not leave (the path of) their natural virtue; equally free from desires, they were in the state of pure simplicity. In that state of pure simplicity, the nature of the people was what it ought to be. But when the sagely men appeared, limping and wheeling about in (the exercise of) benevolence, pressing along and standing on tiptoe in the doing of righteousness, then men universally began to be perplexed. (Those sages also) went to excess in their performances of music, and in their gesticulations in the practice of ceremonies, and then men began to be separated from one another. If the raw materials true significance. ‘Heaven’ here is synonymous with ‘the T4o;’ but its use shows how readily the minds, even of Lao and Awang, had recourse to the earliest term by which the Chinese fathers had expressed their recognition of a Supreme and Controlling Power and Government, - oct es eee PT, II, SECT. 1. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 279
21. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 279 had not been cut and hacked, who could have made a sacrificial vase from them? If the natural jade had not been broken and injured, who could have made the handles for the libation-cups from it? If the attributes of the TA4o had not been disallowed, how should they have preferred benevolence and righteousness? If the instincts of the nature had not been departed from, how should ceremonies and music have come into use? If the five colours had not been confused, how should the ornamental figures have been formed? If the five notes had not been confused, how should they have supplemented them by the musical accords? The cutting and hacking of the raw materials to form vessels was the crime of the skilful workman ; the injury done to the characteristics of the T4o in order to the practice of benevolence and righteousness was the error of the sagely men. 3. Horses, when living in the open country, eat the grass, and drink water; when pleased, they intertwine their necks and rub one another; when enraged, they turn back to back and kick one another ;—this is all that they know to do. But if we put the yoke on their necks, with the moonlike frontlet displayed on all their foreheads, then they know to look slily askance, to curve their necks, to rush viciously, trying to get the bit out of their mouths, and to filch the reins (from their driver) ;— this knowledge of the horse and its ability thus to act the part of a thief is the crime of Po-ldo. In the time of (the Ti) Ho-hsii?, the people occupied 1 An ancient sovereign ; but nothing more definite can be said about him. Most of the critics identify him with Shan-nang, the 280 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IX. their dwellings without knowing what they were doing, and walked out without knowing where they were going. They filled their mouths with food and were glad; they slapped their stomachs to express their satisfaction. This was all the ability which they possessed. But when the sagely men appeared, with their bendings and stoppings in ceremonies and music to adjust the persons of all, and hanging up their benevolence and righteousness to excite the endeavours of all to reach them, in order to comfort their minds, then the people began to stump and limp about in their love of knowledge, and strove with one another in their pursuit of gain, so that there was no stopping them :—this was the error of those sagely men. Father of Husbandry, who occupies the place in chronological tables after Ffi-hsi, between him and Hwang-Ti. In the Tables of the Dynastic Histories, published in 1817, he is placed seventh in the list of fifteen reigns, which are placed without any specification of their length between Ff-hst and Shan-nang. The name is written as iy § and Fil F. PT. IL, SECT. 11, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 281 BOOK X. Part II. Section III. Khi Khieh, or ‘Cutting open Satchels.’
3The name is written as iy § and Fil F. PT. IL, SECT. 11, THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 281 BOOK X. Part II. Section III. Khi Khieh, or ‘Cutting open Satchels.’ 1. In taking precautions against thieves who cut open satchels, search bags, and break open boxes, people are sure to cord and fasten them well, and to employ strong bonds and clasps; and in this they are ordinarily said to show their wisdom. Whena great thief comes, however, he shoulders the box, lifts up the satchel, carries off the bag, and runs away with them, afraid only that the cords, bonds, and clasps may not be secure; and in this case what was called the wisdom (of the owners) proves to be nothing but a collecting of the things for the great thief. Let me try and set this matter forth, Do not. those who are vulgarly called wise prove to be collectors for the great thieves? And do not those who are called sages prove to be but guardians in the interest of the great thieves ? How do I know that the case is so? Formerly, in the state of K/i, the neighbouring towns could see one another; their cocks and dogs never ceased to answer the crowing and barking of other cocks and dogs (between them). The nets were set (in the water and on the land); and the ploughs and hoes were employed over more than a space of two thousand li square. All within its four boundaries, the 1 See pp. 141, 142. oe 282 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. X. establishment of the ancestral temples and of the altars of the land and grain, and the ordering of the hamlets and houses, and of every corner in the districts, large, medium, and small, were in all particulars according to the rules of the sages’. So it was; but yet one morning, Thien AAang-3ze? killed the ruler of A‘4t, and stole his state. And was it only the state that he stole? Along with it he stole also the regulations of the sages and wise men (observed in it), And so, though he got the name of being a thief and a robber, yet he himself continued to live as securely as Yao and Shun had done. Small states did not dare to find fault with him; great states did not dare to take him off; for twelve generations (his descendants) have possessed the state of AA#i*, Thus do we not have a case in which not only did (the party) steal the state of K/i, 1 The meaning is plain; but to introduce the various geographical terms would make the translation cumbrous. The concluding HH is perplexing.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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