韩 非 子
Translated by W. K. Liao
BOOK XI
Chapter XXXII
Outer Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Left Series
I. The enlightened sovereign's way of government is like the remark Yu-jo gave Mi Tzŭ. The stupid sovereign, in listening to words, admires their eloquence, and, in observing deeds, reveres their unworldliness. In consequence, it becomes the way of the officials, gentry and commoners, to utter roundabout and high-sounding words and attempt in personal conduct to rise above the worldly fact. The saying is based on T`ien Chiu's reply to the King of Ching. For further illustration, Mo Tzŭ constructed the wooden kite and the Singer Kuei built the war palace. Indeed, drugged wine and useful advice are what wise men and enlightened sovereigns ought to appreciate in particular.
II. If the lord of men, in listening to words, does not take function and utility as objective, dialecticians will present such absurd discussions as the Stories of the Bramble Thorn and the White Horse. If there is no aim and mark concerned, then every archer will become as skilful as Yi. The lord of men inclined towards theories is always like the King of Yen attempting to learn the way to immortality. Those men proficient in argumentation are all like the Chêngs contending for seniority in age. Therefore, words that are too minute to be scrutinized and too ineffable to be carried out are not the need of honour. Thus, for instance, Chi Liang, Hui Shih, Sung Hsing, and Mo Ti, were like the painter of the whip. As their theories, being roundabout, profound, magnificent, and exaggerating, were not practical; Wey Mou and Chan Ho when the former was dealing with the latter, were both like devils and demons inasmuch as their deeds, being frequently unnatural, difficult, stubborn, and angular, were unpractical; and Wu Kuang, Pien Sui, Pao Chiao, Chieh Tzŭ-t`ui, and T`ien Chung, were all like hard gourds. Moreover, Yü Ch`ing impressed the carpenter with reasons, wherefore the house fell to pieces; Fan Chü brought the bow-maker to his wits' end, wherefore the bows broke to pieces. For this reason, to seek for truth one must trust to practical means.
III. Indeed, when two persons work together, they blame each other for losses and hope for gains from each other; when one works for himself, the affair proceeds well. Thus, even father and son sometime blame and scold each other. The employer of workmen, provides them with delicious soup. The saying is based on Duke Wên's declaration of enemies' faults before he opened any attack upon Sung and on Kou-chien's mention of the Ju-huang Tower built by Wu. For further illustration, Duke Huan concealed his anger at Ts`ai and attacked Ch`u. Wu Ch`i wanted his subordinate officer's earliest recovery and so sucked his boil. Moreover, the loose and panegyric poems composed by the early kings as well as the precepts inscribed on bells and tripods are all like the footprint left by the Father Sovereign of Chao on Mountain Fan-wu and the backgammon made by King Chao of Ch`in on the Hua Mountain. However, what the early kings expected was material profit what they employed was physical strength. That Duke Wên quoted the proverb about the shrine-builders was to ascertain his self-excuse. Supposing one listened to the scholars and made glorious and exaggerating quotations from the early kings, might not the whole thing be unsuitable to the present age? Yet conditions as such cannot be reformed! This is just like the man from the Prefecture of Chêng getting a yoke, the man of Wei shooting stringed arrows, the wife of Po Tzŭ purposely making new trousers like old ones, the youngster attending on the elder men drinking. After all, when the early kings' words are of little use, people of the present world think they are very useful; when they are very useful, people of the present world think they are of little use. They cannot always tell which are really very useful and which are not so. The basis of the saying is found in the Sung man's understanding of an ancient book and in the Liang man's reading of an ancient record. Thus, whenever the early kings wrote down any word as the man of Ying did in his letter to the Premier of Yen, most people of posterity revere it in the way the Premier of Yen interpreted the meaning of the word. Indeed, whoever does not suit means of political control to actual state affairs but takes advice solely from the words of the early kings instead, is like the man going home from the shoe market to get the measurements of his feet.
IV. Wherever lies profit, there people go; wherever fame is offered, there officers die. Therefore, if any meritorious service goes beyond the limits of the law and reward is bestowed therefore, then the superior cannot gain any profit from the inferior; if fame goes beyond the limits of the law and honour accompanies it, then officers will strive after their own fame but never will cultivate any fame for the ruler. For this reason, after Chung-chang and Hsü-i had been appointed to office, the people of Chung-mou deserted their fields and farms and those who pursued the literary studies numbered half the population of the fief. Similarly, because Duke P`ing, in spite of the soreness of his calves and the numbness of his legs, dared not leave his seat when Shu Hsiang was having an audience with him, men of Chin who resigned from official posts and yearned after Shu Hsiang occupied one-third of the size of the country. These three personages, when their words were in accordance with the law, were merely subjects loyal to the government, and, when their deeds were suitable to affairs, were simply people obedient to orders. Yet the tributes paid them by both their Rulers were too great. If their words went beyond the limits of the law and their deeds were far from meritorious, then they were people slipping out of the inked string. {In short, they are outlaws.}In that case why should both their Rulers have paid them any tribute at all? If they did, they missed the point of propriety. Moreover, private scholars pursuing studies, when the state is at peace, never exert their physical strength, and, once an emergency comes, never don armour. If revered, they neglect the work of farming and fighting; if not revered, they injure the law of the sovereign. When the state is in security, they are ennobled and celebrated; when the state is in danger, they are as cowardly as Ch`ü Kung. Such being the case, what can the lord of men gain out of the private scholars pursuing studies? Therefore, the enlightened sovereign would take into consideration Li Tz`ŭ's report of the Central Hills State.
V. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "In him, himself inert, the people put no trust." {Bk. IV, vii, 4, Legge's trans.}Of this precept a Grand Tutor persuaded a feudal lord to wear no purple clothes. In illustration of it the cases of Duke Chien of Chêng and Duke Hsiang of Sung can be cited. It charges every ruler with the duty of honouring and esteeming, farming and fighting. Indeed, who distinguishes between high and low, does not hold subordinates responsible for successful outcome, but merely makes himself an example to the inferior, does the same as Duke Ching when he left the carriage and ran on foot, King Chao read the code and fell down asleep, and a certain ruler {As the annotation of this last illustration was lost, the name of this ruler has remained unknown.} covered with his hands his worn-out plain clothes. Kung Ch`iu, not knowing this, said that the ruler was like a basin. The Ruler of Tsou, not knowing this, humiliated himself before doing anything else. The way of the enlightened sovereign is the same as Shu Hsiang distributing bounties and as Marquis Chao granting nobody any request.
VI. If small faith is well accomplished, great faith will naturally be established. Therefore, the enlightened sovereign accumulates faith. If reward and punishment are of no faith, then prohibitions and orders cannot prevail. The basis of the saying is found in Duke Wên's attack on Yüan and in Chi Chêng's rescue of the starvelings. For the same reason, Wu Ch`i waited for his old friend till he came to dine with him; Marquis Wên met the men of Yü at the appointed time before he started hunting. Therefore, the enlightened sovereign would value faith in the way Tsêng Tzŭ killed a pig. The calamity of breaking faith is illustrated by King Li's beating the alarm drum and by Li Kuei`s deceiving the guards of both gates.
So much for the canons.
Section I Annotations to Canon I:
Mi Tzŭ Chien governed San-fu. Once Yu-jo saw him and asked him. "Why have you become so thin?" In reply Mi Tzŭ said: "His Highness, not knowing my inferiority and unworthiness, appointed me Governor of San-fu. The official duties are urgent. My mind is always worried over them. Therefore I have become thin." Thereupon Yu-jo remarked: "In bygone days Shun played the five-stringed guitar and sang the South Wind Poem {It runs:—
The South Wind's genial balm
Gives to my people's sorrows ease;
Its breath amidst the season's calm,
Brings to their wealth a large increase.
(Li Ki, Bk. XVII, sec. ii, i, f., Legge's trans.) }
but All-underHeaven was well governed. Now that San-fu is so tiny and you have worried about governing it, what can be done with All-under-Heaven? Thus, if you have the right craft to rule the country, then even though you remain seated in the hall of the palace and retain the charming complexion of a girl, there will be no harm to political order. But if you have no tact to rule the country, then even though your body becomes exhausted and skinny, still there will not be help to political order."
The King of Ch`u once said to T`ien Chiu: "Mo Tzŭ was a celebrity for learning. What he personally practised is agreeable but his sayings are mostly not eloquent. Why?" In reply T`ien Chiu said: "Formerly when the Earl of Ch`in married his daughter to the prince of Chin, he embellished her dowry by adding seventy beautifully dressed maids to it. Upon their arrival in Chin, the Chins loved the concubines but slighted the princess. This may be said to be good in marrying out the concubines but cannot be said to be good in marrying out the daughter. Once upon a time a man of Ch`u was selling pearls in Chêng. For the pearls he made magnolia boxes, which he perfumed with cassia spice, bound with beads, decorated them with red gems, and filled harmoniously with the kingfisher's feather. In the long run people in Chêng bought the caskets but returned the pearls. This may be said to be good in selling caskets but cannot be said to be good in trading pearls. Now, the itinerants of the present world all speak with the words of eloquent persuasiveness and literary phrasing. In consequence the lord of men reads the literature with exceeding interest but forgets its utility. The teachings of Mo Tzŭ convey the principles of the early kings and theorize the words of the saintly men and thereby propagate ideas among people. If he made his phrasing eloquent, people might, it was feared, harbour the literature but forget the utility, that is to say, he might injure the utility with the literature. That would be doing exactly the same thing as the man of Ch`u trading pearls and the Earl of Ch`in marrying out his daughter. Therefore, the sayings of Mo Tzŭ were mostly not eloquent."
Mo Tzŭ once constructed a wooden kite, which it took him three years to complete. After flying for one day, it broke. His disciples said: "The master's skill is so excellent as to make the wooden kite fly." Mo Tzŭ said: "I am not as skilful as the maker of the cross-bar for yoking the oxen. He uses a piece of wood eight inches or one foot {One Chinese foot is about the same as one English foot but is divided into ten instead of twelve inches.} long and spends less time than one morning while the bar can pull the burden of thirty piculs, {One shih consists of four chün and one chün of thirty chin or catties, and one chin is roughly equivalent to one pound and one-third.} has the strength for going a long way, and lasts for a number of years. Now, in constructing a wooden kite, it took me three years to complete it, which broke after one day's flying." Hearing about this, Hui Tzŭ said, "Mo Tzŭ was exceedingly skilful, considering the construction of the cross-bar skilful and the construction of the wooden kite clumsy."
The King of Sung was at feud with Ch`i. When he was building the war palace, the Singer Kuei led the chorus of the workmen. As a result, the passers-by stopped to see them while the builders never felt tired. Hearing about this, the King summoned Kuei and rewarded him therefor. Thereupon Kuei said, "Thy servant's master Hsieh Chi, sings better than thy servant does." The King, accordingly, summoned Hsieh Chi and ordered him to sing. As a result, the passers-by never stopped while the builders perceived their own weariness. "Now that the passers-by do not know what is going on while the builders perceive their own weariness, he sings not as well as Kuei. What is the reason?" asked the King. In reply Kuei said, "Suppose Your Majesty measure the respective results. Kuei by his singing had only four panel boards done while Hsieh Chi had eight. As regards the solidity of the walls, they can pierce five inches through Kuei's work but only two inches through Hsieh Chi's work."
Indeed, good drugs are bitter to the mouth, but intelligent people are willing to take them because they know the drugs after being taken will cure their diseases. Loyal words are unpleasant to the ears, but the enlightened sovereign listens to them, because he knows they will bring about successful results.
Section II Annotations to Canon II
Once a man of Sung asked permission to engrave a female ape on the edge of a bramble thorn for the King of Yen. According to him, the King must remain purified for three months before he could see it. The King, accordingly, supported him with the emolument of three chariots. {Emoluments were measured by chariots during the Chou Dynasty, one chariot being supported by a locality of six square li.} Thereupon the smith who attended on the King said to him: "Thy servant has heard, `No lord of men can remain purified for ten days without having a drinking feast in the meantime.' Now that the Sung man knows the inability of Your Majesty to remain purified long enough in order to see a useless object, he purposely set three months as the period of purification. As a rule, the instruments of engravers and carvers must always be smaller than their objects. Being a smith himself, thy servant finds no way to make him any instrument for carving. It is an unattainable object. May Your Majesty deliberate on the matter!" Accordingly, the King arrested and questioned the man of Sung, found out his falsehood, and put him to death. The smith again said to the King, "If the state has no weights and measures to regulate things, itinerants would present mostly such absurd discussions as the Bramble Thorn Story."
According to a different source: Once the King of Yen was recruiting skilful artists, when a man of Wei asked permission to engrave a female ape on the edge of a bramble thorn. Delighted, the King of Yen supported him with the emolument of five chariots. Then the King asked "May I, the King, for trial see the ape on the bramble thorn engraved by my honourable guest?" "If the lord of men wants to see it," replied the guest, "he must be absent from his harem and abstain from wine and meat for half a year. Then, when the rain clears up and the sun shines again, he will be able to see the female ape in a dark shady place." In consequence, the King of Yen purposely supported the man of Wei but could not see his female ape. In the meantime a smith famous for making kitchen utensils in Chêng said to the King of Yen: "Thy servant is a carver. Every tiny object to be carved must have a carving knife, and the carving instrument is always larger than the object to be carved. Now that the edge of the bramble thorn is too small even for the tip of an awl, it must be extraordinarily difficult to handle the edge of the bramble thorn. Suppose Your Majesty try to see the awl of the guest. Then either his ability or inability will be known." "Good," the King said, and then asked the man of Wei, "What kind of an instrument does my honour-able guest use in carving the female ape on the bramble thorn?" "An awl," "I want to see it," said the King. "May thy servant go back to his lodging place and get it?" So saying, the guest ran away.
Ni Yüeh was a skilful dialectician among the Sungs. Maintaining the argument that "the white horse is not the horse," {As there is no article in Chinese, in English this can be rendered into several qualitatively and quantitatively different propositions as follows:
— “The white horse is not the horse" — true.
— “A white horse is not a horse"— false.
— "The white horse is not a horse"— false.
— "A white horse is not the horse"— true.
Of the above-stated propositions, the first and the last are true while the second and the third are false because it is self-evident that the number of horses, taken as a whole, is far greater than the number of white horses only. The subject-predicate relationships in these four propositions, therefore, is neither mutual identification nor mutual exclusion, but subjective inclusion. Accordingly, the white horse is not the horse but is a horse, and a white horse is not the horse but is a horse. Ni Yüeh was right if he meant the first or the last proposition; but his opponents could be equally right if they meant the second or the third proposition. He always won because he seemed able to distinguish between the subject-predicate relationship of identification and that of inclusion while his opponents were apparently unable to do the same. Were there Article and Number in Chinese Grammar, no dispute as such could take place.} he overcame the debaters beneath the Grain {refering to the Grain Gate on the city-walls of the capital of Ch`i. Nearby the Gate there was built by King Hsüan a club house for literary men and itinerant scholars from All-under-Heaven. Therefore, anybody invited to lecture and debate in the place was called "A Grain Gate Scholar" and enjoyed practically the same prestige as the F. R. S. of the present age.} Gate of the capital of Ch`i. Once when he rode a white horse and came to a pass, he had to pay the horse-tax for the white horse. Thus, on playing with empty terms, he could triumph over the whole country, but on investigating facts and examining features he could not deceive anybody.
Indeed, suppose you sharpen an arrow, draw the bow, and shoot the arrow, then though you close your eyes and shoot at random, the pointed head of the arrow is bound to hit the tip of an autumn spikelet. However, unless you can hit the same spot again, you cannot be called a skilful archer. For you have no constant aim and mark. Now if the target were five inches in diameter and the arrow were shot from a distance of one hundred steps, then nobody other than Yi and Fêng Mêng could with certainty hit the mark every time. For there would then be a constant aim and mark. Therefore, in the presence of a constant aim and mark the straight hit by Hou Yi and Fêng Mêng at a target five inches in diameter is regarded as skilful; whereas in the absence of a constant aim and mark the wild hit at the tip of an autumn spikelet is regarded as awkward. For the same reason, if the sovereign has no fixed standard and makes responses to any speaker, then the itinerants will talk too much nonsense; whereas if he establishes a fixed standard and holds any speaker to it, then even intelligent men will be afraid of making mistakes and dare not speak at random. Now, the lord of men, in listening to suggestions, does not consider them under a fixed standard but simply approves of their eloquence, does not measure them with their meritorious services but plainly honours their virtuous deeds, and does not take any concern in a constant aim amd mark. This is the reason why the lord of men is always deceived and the itinerants are for ever supported.
Once a traveller taught the King of Yen the way to immortality. The King then sent men to learn it. Before the men sent to learn completed their study, the traveller died. Enraged thereby, the King chastized the students. Thus, the King did not know that he himself had been deceived by the traveller, but censured the students for their tardiness. Indeed, to believe in an unattainable thing and chastize innocent subjects is the calamity of thoughtlessness. Moreover, what a man cares for is nothing other than his own self. If he could not make himself immortal, how could he make the King live for ever?
Once there were men of Chêng contending for seniority in age. One man said, "My age is the same as Yao's." Another man said, "I am as old as the elder brother of the Yellow Emperor." They brought the dispute to the court, but the judge could not make any decision. Finally he ruled that the one who was the last to stop arguing won the case.
Once a traveller, who painted the whip for the Ruler of Chou, spent three years to complete it. When the Ruler saw it, it looked exactly like a plainly varnished whip. Thereby the Ruler of Chou was enraged. Then the painter of the whip said, "Build a wall twenty feet high and a window eight feet long. Place the whip upon it at sunrise and then look at it." The Ruler of Chou, accordingly, looked at the features of the whip in the way he had been instructed and found them all turning into dragons, serpents, birds, beasts, carriages, and horses, and the forms of myriad other things all present. Thereat he was greatly pleased. The work done to this whip certainly was delicate and difficult. Yet its utility was the same as that of any plainly varnished whip.
Once upon a time there was a traveller drawing for the King of Ch`i. "What is the hardest thing to draw?" asked the King. "Dogs and horses are the hardest." "Then what is the easiest?" "Devils and demons are the easiest. Indeed, dogs and horses are what people know and see at dawn and dusk in front of them. To draw them no distortion is permissible. Therefore they are the hardest. On the contrary, devils and demons have no shapes and are not seen in front of anybody, therefore it is easy to draw them."
In Ch`i there was a retired scholar named T`ien Chung. Once a man of Sung named Ch`ü Ku saw him and said: "Ku {In Chinese to speak in the third person is regarded as polite.}has heard about the principle of the respected master not to depend upon people for his food supplies. Now, Ku has a way of planting the gourd, whose fruits are as hard as stones and are solid but not hollow inside. Therefore, he is presenting them to the master." Then Chung said: "Indeed, gourds are valuable because they can serve as vessels. Now that they are solid and not hollow, they cannot serve up anything. If they are as hard as stones, they cannot be split for emptying out. I have no use for these gourds." "If so, Ku will throw them away." Now that T`ien Chun not depending upon people for food supplies was also of no use to the country of people, he was like the hard gourds.
Yü Ch`ing was building a house, and said to the carpenter, "This house will be too high." Then the carpenter said: "This is a new house, its plaster being wet and its beams supporting the eaves still unseasoned. Indeed the wet plaster is heavy and the unseasoned beams are curved. With curved beams supporting wet plaster, the house ought to become low enough." "That will not be so," said Yü Ch`ing. "After a number of days, the plaster will be dry and the beams will be seasoned. When dry, the plaster will be light; when seasoned, the beams will be straight. With straight beams supporting dry plaster, the house will be still higher." Thereby the carpenter gave in and did the building in the way Yü Ch`ing wanted, but the house collapsed.
According to a different source: Yü Ch`ing was going to build a house, when the carpenter said: "The wood is unseasoned and the plaster is wet. Indeed, when unseasoned, the wood is curved; when wet, the plaster is heavy. With curved wood supporting heavy plaster, the house, though it may be completed now, will certainly collapse as time goes on." In response to this Yü Ch`ing said: "When dry, the wood will become straight; when dry the plaster will become light. Suppose the wood and the plaster are really dry now. Then they will become lighter and straighter day by day and will never collapse even after a long period of time." Thereby the carpenter gave in and did the building in the way Yü Ch`ing wanted. In the meantime following the completion, the house actually collapsed.
Fan Chü said: "The bow breaks always towards the end and never at the beginning. To be sure, the bow-maker first draws the bow, leaves it in the stand for thirty days, then puts the string on it, and after one day shoots arrows with it. Thereby he makes it tender at the beginning and tough towards the ending. How can the bow not break? Chü's way of making bows is not the same—namely, to leave the bow in the stand for one day, then put the string on it, and after thirty days shoot arrows with it. Thereby I make it tough at the beginning and tender towards the ending." At his wits' end, the bow-maker made bows in the way Fan Chü wanted. The bows broke to pieces.
The sayings of Fan Chü and Yü Ch`ing are all eloquent in structure and excellent in diction to the realities of things. Yet the lord of men is always delighted at such sayings and never suppresses them. This is the cause of his failure. Indeed, not to seek for the merits in attaining order and strength but to covet the voices in making eloquent speeches and beautiful compositions, is to reject the experts in statecraft and trust to such laymen as would break houses and bows. Therefore, the lord of men in administering state affairs is always not as skilful as the carpenter in building houses and the craftsman in making bows. However, the experts are driven to their wits' end by Fan Chü and Yü Ch`ing. Because of the futility of empty phrases the latter triumph. Because of the immutability of practical things the former are driven at bay. The lord of men makes much of useless eloquent speeches and makes light of immutable propositions. This is the cause of disorder. In the present world there are always men who would imitate Fan Chü and Yü Ch`ing, but the lord of men is uncreasingly delighted with them. This is to revere such types of men as the house- and bow-makers and look at the technical experts as carpenters or craftsmen. As the carpenter and the craftsman could not exert their technical skill, the house collapsed and the bow broke. Likewise, as the experts in statecraft cannot carry out their policy, the state is disorderly and the sovereign is jeopardized.
To be sure, children, when they play together, take soft earth as cooked rice, muddy water as soup, and wood shavings as slices of meat. However, at dusk they would go home for supper because dust rice and mud soup can be played with but cannot be eaten. Indeed, tributes to the legacy of remote antiquity, are appreciative and eloquent but superficial; and admiration of the early kings for their benevolence and righteousness, cannot rectify the course of the state. Therefore, they can be played with but cannot be used as instruments of government, either. Indeed, those who have longed after benevolence and righteousness and become weak and disorderly are the Three Chins. The one who has never longed but has become orderly and strong is Ch`in. However, she has not yet become an empire because her government is not yet perfect.
Section III Annotations to Canon III
If one receives no good care in his childhood from his parents, when he grows up, as a son he shows resentment at them. Though the son grows to be a big and strong man, his provisions for his parents are rather scanty. Then the parents become angry and reprimand him. Now, father and son are the closest relatives. Yet they either reprimand or show resentment at each other simply because they are driven together by force of circumstances and neither can accomplish his self-seeking purpose.
Indeed, in the case of workmen selling their services in sowing seeds and tilling farms, the master would at the expense of his housekeeping give them delicious food and by appropriating cash and cloth make payments for their services. Not that they love the hired workmen, but that, they say, by so doing they can make the workmen till the land deeper and pick the weed more carefully. The hired workmen, by exerting their physical strength, speedily pick the weed and till the land, and, by using their skill, rectify the boundaries between different tracts of ground and the dykes separating different fields. Not that they love their master, but that, they say, by their so doing the soup will be delicious and both cash and cloth will be paid to them. Thus, the master's provisions and the workmen's services supplement each other as if between them there were the compassion of father and son. However, their minds are well disposed to act for each other because they cherish self-seeking motives respectively. Therefore, when men deal with each other in managing affairs and rendering services, if their motive is hope for gain, then even with a native from Yüeh, it will be easy to remain harmonious. If the motive is fear of harm, then even father and son will become estranged and show resentment toward each other. {Bodde's translation of this whole paragraph (Fung, op. cit., p. 327) like those of many other citations from Han Fei Tzŭ involves inaccuracies on many points, and, what is worse, contains omissions.}
Duke Wên attacked Sung but made a declaration beforehand, saying: "I have heard the Ruler of Sung follows no right way of government, insulting seniors and elders, making unfair distribution of alms, and issuing faithless precepts and ordinances. Therefore, I am coming to punish him on behalf of the people."
Yüeh was attacking Wu. The King of Yüeh made a declaration beforehand, saying: "I have heard the King of Wu built the Ju-huang Tower and dug the Deep Spring Pool, wearing out the hundred surnames and wasting the money and resources of the country and thereby exhausting the strength of the people. Therefore, I am coming to punish him on behalf of the people."
A princess of Ts`ai became a concubine of Duke Huan. One day Duke Huan and she went on a boat. She moved the boat at random. Much frightened, Duke Huan stopped her but she kept on doing it. Enraged, he divorced her. Soon he recalled her. But the Ts`ais replied that they had married her out elsewhere. Thereat Duke Huan became very angry and thought of attacking Ts`ai. Uncle Chung, accordingly, admonished him, saying: "Indeed, the trouble due to the play between sleeping partners makes no sufficient cause for attacking their country. Otherwise, the achievement of Hegemony cannot be expected. Please do not take this as a wise plan." Duke Huan would not listen. So Uncle Chung said: "Suppose Your Highness cannot help attacking Ts`ai. Well, for three years Ch`u has not brought thorny reeds {namely, thorny reeds triangular in shape used for filtering wine on ceremonial occasions.} as tribute to the Son of Heaven. Your Highness had better raise an army and attack Ch`u on behalf of the Son of Heaven. After Ch`u is subdued, turn back and raid Ts`ai and say to the world, `when His Highness was attacking Ch`u on behalf of the Son of Heaven, Ts`ai never followed him with reinforcements. Therefore His Highness is destroying it.' This will be righteous in name and profitable in fact. In consequence, Your Highness will have the name of punishing the disobedient on behalf of the Son of Heaven and the fact of taking revenge."
Wu Ch`i commanded Wey's forces in attacking Central Hills. Among his soldiers someone became sick of boils. Therefore, Wu Ch`i knelt down himself and sucked the pus out of the boil. The mother of the wounded soldier was standing by and crying. People then asked her, "The general is so kind to your son. Why should you keep crying?" In reply she said: "Wu Ch`i sucked the pus out of his father's wound and his father later died fighting. Now the son will die fighting, too. I am, therefore, crying."
The Father Sovereign of Chao once ordered masons to use a scaling ladder, thereby climb Mountain Fan-wu, and on the summit engrave a human footprint three feet wide and five feet long, and inscribe it, "The Father Sovereign once strolled here."
King Chao of Ch`in ordered masons to use a scaling ladder, thereby climb the Hua Mountain, on the summit construct a backgammon board with the kernels of pines and cypresses and arrows eight feet long and chess pieces eight inches long, and inscribe on the board, "King Chao once played backgammon with a heavenly god here."
Duke Wên on the way to his homeland reached the Yellow River, where he ordered all bamboo and wooden vessels for food to be thrown into the river, the sheets and mats to be thrown into the river, the men whose hands and feet are thick and chapped and those whose faces and eyes were black or dark to follow from behind. Hearing about this, Uncle {Fan was an epithet of Hu Yen.} Fan wept all night. So Duke Wên asked him, "I have been exiled for twenty years till now when I am barely able to return to my native soil. Hearing about this, Uncle Fan is not delighted but crying all the time. Does it mean that he does not want His Highness to return to his native country?"
In reply Fan said: "The bamboo and wooden vessels have been used for serving food but Your Highness is going to throw them away. The sheets and mats have been used for making beddings but Your Highness is going to give them up. The men whose hands and feet are thick and chapped and faces and eyes are black or dark have rendered meritorious services but Your Highness is going to keep them following from behind. Now thy servant happens to be among the group following from behind. Unable to bear the sadness, I am crying. Moreover, thy servant in order to enable Your Highness to return to his native country committed misrepresentations many times. Of this even thy servant never approves. How much less would Your Highness?" So saying, he repeated bowing and took his leave.
Stopping him from leaving, Duke Wên said: "There is a proverb saying, `Builders of the shire take off their clothes when installing the image in it but wear their black hats straight when commemorating the enshrined spirit.' Now, with me you have recovered the country but you are not going to govern the country with me. This is the same as though you installed the image in the shrine with me but would not commernorate the enshrined spirit with me." So saying, he untied the horse attached to the left of the yoke of his carriage and swore by the River to repeal the order.
Once a man of the Prefecture of Chêng, named Po Tzŭ, asked his wife to make a pair of trousers. "How would you like to have your trousers made this time?" asked the wife. "Like my old trousers," replied the husband. Accordingly the wife tore the new trousers and made them look like the old ones.
Once a man of the Prefecture of Chêng came by a yoke but did not know its name. So he asked somebody else, "What thing is this?" "It is a yoke," was the reply. Suddenly he found a yoke again and asked, "What thing is this?" "It is a yoke," was again the reply. Thereby the man was enraged and said, "You called the former one a yoke and are again calling the present one a yoke. Why so many? Aren't you deceiving me?" So saying, he started quarrelling with the man.
A man of Wei intended to shoot arrows with strings tied to them. When a bird came, he beckoned to the bird with the ball of string. The bird was frightened. He did not shoot.
Once the wife of Po Tzŭ, a man of the Prefecture of Chêng, went to the market, bought turtles, and was bringing them home. Passing by the Ying Water, she thought the turtles were thirsty, let them go drinking, and lost her turtles.
Once upon a time a youngster was attending an elder man drinking wine. But every time the elder took a drink, he would himself drink, {According to the Chinese etiquette a youngster is not supposed to drink at the same time at the same table with elder people.} too.
According to a different source: A man of Lu wanted to learn etiquette. He saw elder people drinking wine and spitting it out whenever unable to finish it. So he followed them in spitting wine out.
According to another different source: A youngster of Sung wanted to learn etiquette. Once at a feast he saw elder people drinking a toast and not leaving a single drop. So he started finishing the whole cup though not drinking a toast.
It is said in an ancient book, "Gird yourself, belt yourself!" A man of Sung, who once ran across this passage, doubled his sash and girdled himself with it accordingly. "Why do you do that?" asked someone else. "The ancient book saying so, so must I do," was the reply.
It is said in an ancient record, and so throughout this annotation. "Already engraved and already carved, it reverts to its naiveté." A man of Liang, who once ran across this passage, would talk about learning in his daily action and quote facts from the writing in illustration of his theory. Everyday he would do the same, till he lost the genuineness of his nature. Thereupon someone else asked him, "Why do you do that?" "The ancient record saying so, so must I do," was the reply.
A man of Ying once wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Yen. He wrote the letter at night. When the light was not bright, he, accordingly, said to the candle-holder, "Raise the candle!" So saying he wrote down by mistake the words, "Raise the candle," although raising candles was not the gist of the letter. However, the Prime Minister of Yen on receiving the letter was glad and said: "To raise the candle means to exalt the bright. To exalt the bright means to elevate the worthy and appoint them to office." Therefore, the Premier of Yen spoke to the King about the policy of appointing the worthy to office, which the King was very glad to carry into effect. In consequence, the state became orderly. As regards the problem of political order, they did attain political order. But it was not the gist of the letter! Thus, scholars of the present world mostly resemble the Premier of Yen in interpreting the meaning of words.
Once a man of Chêng wanted to buy a pair of shoes for himself. He measured his feet first and left measurements on his seat. He arrived at the market-place, but had forgotten to take the measurements along. Though he had already found the shoes for himself, he said, "I have forgotten to take the measurements along. Let me go home to get them here." When he came back again, the market was closed, however. He could not get the shoes after all. "Why didn't you try the shoes with your own feet?" asked people. "I have confidence in the measurements but not in my own feet," was the reply.
Section IV Annotations to Canon IV
Wang Têng, Magistrate of Chung-mou, once in his proposition to Lord Hsiang of Chao said: "Chung-mou has scholars named Chung-chang and Hsü-i, whose personal appearances are very refined and whose learning is very erudite. Why does Your Highness not take them into service?" In reply Lord Hsiang said: "You go to find them. I will appoint them Middle Officials." Thereupon the Premier remonstrated with him, saying, "The post of the Middle Official is an important rank in Chin. Now, appointmentof men of no merit to office is not in accordance with the constitution of Chin. Your Highness has only heard about them but not yet seen them, isn't it so?" "When I took Têng into service," replied the Lord, "I saw him after having heard about him. The men he has recommended I will see after I have heard about them, too. This is the way to use others as my own ears and eyes without cease." Thus, Wang Têng in one day recommended two Middle Officials to interview the Lord, who bestowed upon them fields and residences. In consequence, the people of Chung-mou, who stopped tilling fields and mowing grass, sold their houses and farms, and pursued literary studies, numbered half the population of the fief.
Shu Hsiang sat by Duke P`ing and reported to him on different affairs. Though the calves of Duke P`ing became sore and the legs numb, yet he only turned his muscles around but dared not leave his seat. Hearing about this, everybody in the Chin State said: "Shu Hsiang is a worthy. Duke P`ing respected him so much that during the interview he only turned his muscles around but dared not leave his seat." In consequence, men in the Chin State who resigned from official posts and yearned after Shu Hsiang occupied one-third the size of the country.
A man of Chêng, named Ch`ü Kung, whenever he heard enemies were coming, would fear lest he himself should die at their hands and also fear lest he himself should be captured alive by them.
The Father Sovereign of Chao sent Li Tz`ŭ to inspect Central Hills and see whether or not the country could be attacked. Upon his return Tz`ŭ reported that the country could be attacked and that if His Majesty did not strike early enough, he would lag behind Ch`i and Yen. "Why can the country be attacked?" asked the Father Sovereign. In reply Li Tz`ŭ said: "It is because the Ruler is fond of celebrating retired scholars in rocky caves. For tens of times, he pulled down his carriage-cover and offered seats in his carriage when meeting scholars from destitute village gates or narrow alleys. The times that he paid such courtesies to scholars wearing hemp clothes as if they were his equals, numbers hundreds." "According to your description and estimation," remarked the Father Sovereign, "he is a worthy ruler. Why then can the country be attacked?" "That is not so," replied Tz`ŭ, "because if the Ruler is fond of celebrating retired scholars from rocky caves and employs them in the court, then warriors will neglect their duties at the camps; if the superior esteems learned men, condescends to country scholars, and employs them in the court, then farmers will relax their efforts in the fields. If the warriors neglect their duties at the camps, the army becomes weak: if the farmers relax their efforts in the fields, the state becomes poor. With the army weakened by enemies and the state impoverished at home, no country ever evades destruction. Isn't it then practicable to attack such a country?" "Right." So saying, the Father Sovereign raised an army, attacked Central Hills, and finally destroyed the country.
Section V Annotations to Canon V
Duke Huan of Ch`i was fond of wearing purple clothes, till everybody in the country wore purple clothes, too. At that time, nobody could get one purple thread at the cost of five plain white threads. Worried over this, Duke Huan said to Kuan Chung, "I am fond of wearing purple clothes, but purple clothes are very expensive. The hundred surnames in the country like to wear purple clothes continually. What should I do about that?" "If Your Highness wants to stop them," replied Kuan Chung, "why doesn't he for a time not wear any purple clothes at all, and tell the attendants, `His Highness dislikes the bad odour of purple clothes'." "All right," said the Duke. Thenceforth, whenever any attendant in purple clothes came in, the Duke would say, "Get away a little! I dislike the bad odour of purple clothes." Accordingly, that day no courtier wore purple clothes; next day nobody in the state capital wore purple clothes; and by the third day nobody within the state boundaries wore purple clothes.
According to a different source: The King of Ch`i was fond of wearing purple clothes. So were the people of Ch`i. As a result, in the Ch`i State with the cost of five plain white threads nobody could buy a purple one. Over the expensiveness of purple clothes, the King of Ch`i worried. Thereupon the Grand Tutor said to the King: "It is said in the Book of Poetry, `In him, himself inert, the people put no trust.' Now, if Your Majesty wants the people to wear no purple clothes, let Your Majesty take off purple clothes himself and then go to the court, and, when any officials wearing purple clothes come in, tell him, `Get away farther! I dislike the bad odour!" In consequence, that day no courtier wore purple clothes; in a month nobody in the state capital wore purple clothes; and in a year nobody within the state boundaries wore purple clothes.
Duke Chien of Chêng once said to Tzŭ-ch`an: "Our country is small and pressed between Ching and Chin. Now that the city-walls of the capital are not in good repair and weapons and armour are not well prepared, we cannot provide against eventualities." "Thy servant has already shut the outer foes far off," said Tzŭ-Ch`an, "and already made the inner defences firm. Though the country is small, yet thy servant does not think it is in danger. May Your Highness not worry over it?" Therefore, Duke Chien had no worry in his life.
According to another source: Tzŭ-ch`an was Premier of Chêng. Once Duke Chien said to him: "If drinking wine is no joy, sacrifical vessels are not large, and bells, drums, Yü {a kind of musical instrument consisting of thirty-six reed pipes.} instruments, and sê {a kind of harp or lute.} harps do not sound, I must be responsible therefor. If political affairs are not unified, the state is not stabilized, the hundred surnames do not keep order, and farmers and warriors do not live in peace and harmony, you must similarly be responsible therefor. You have your official duties, I have my own, too. Let each of us attend to his duties." Tzŭ-ch`an withdrew and administered the state affairs for five years, till the country had neither thieves nor robbers, no one would pick up things dropped on the road, peaches and dates hanging over the street were not picked off, and such tiny things as gimlets and knives dropped on the road were promptly returned to their owners within three days. The same continued for three years and the people never suffered starvation.
Duke Hsiang of Sung fought with the Ch`us in the Cho River Gorge. When the Sung forces had already formed in line, the Ch`u troops had not yet finished their lines. Thereupon the Right Minister of War, Kou Ch`iang, ran forward and advised the Duke, saying: "As the Ch`us are numerous and the Sungs are few, let us attack them when they are half crossing the River and not yet in line. They will certainly be defeated." "I have heard," said Duke Hsiang, "the gentleman would not wound the wounded, not capture men having two kinds of hair, {Old people having black and white hairs.} not push people into danger, not drive people to bay, and not beat the drum towards enemies not yet in line. Now, the Ch`u troops have not completed their lines. If we attack them, we act against righteousness. Let them finish crossing the River and complete their lines. Then beat the drum and lead the army." "Your Highness does not love the people of Sung in leaving the confidential supporters in precariousness solely for the sake of righteousness." "If you do not return to your line," said the Duke, "I will enforce the martial law." The Right Minister returned to his line, when the Ch`u troops had already formed in line and established their positions. Then the Duke beat the drum. The Sung forces suffered a crushing defeat. The Duke was wounded in the thigh and died in three days. {With Lu Wên-shao Duke Hsiang died in the year (637 b.c.) following the great humiliation.} This is the calamity of yearning after benevolence and righteousness. Indeed, to expect the lord of men to do everything himself as a good example and the people to obey him and follow his example afterwards is to make the lord of men till the land and thereby acquire his food supplies and bear arms and line up with the soldiers before the people are willing to till and fight. If so, is the sovereign not facing too much danger and are the subjects not enjoying too much security?
Once, when Duke Ching of Ch`i travelled to the Small Sea, a courier rushed from inside the capital to have an audience with him, and said, "Premier Yen Yin is very ill and about to die, and is afraid Your Highness might arrive after his death." Duke Ching quickly rose from his seat, when another courier came. "Quickly prepare the carriage of the good horse, Fan-chieh," said Duke Ching, "and order Coachman Han Ch`ü to drive it." After setting out a few hundred steps, he thought the coachman was not fast enough, took the reins away from his hands, and drove the carriage in his place. After another few hundred steps, he thought the horse would not go farther, and alighted from the carriage, and ran on foot. Thus, in spite of the speed of Fan-chieh and the skill of Coachman Han Ch`ü Duke Ching thought it the best to get off the carriage and run on foot.
King Chao of Wey wanted to have a hand in the official routine and said to the Lord of Mêng-ch`ang, "I, the King, want to have a hand in the official routine." "If Your Majesty wants to go through the official routine," said the Lord, "why does he not for trial learn and read the legal code?" King Chao, accordingly, started reading the code. After reading ten and some bamboo slips, {Before the invention of paper bamboo slips were used as pages of books.} he fell asleep. "I am unable to read this code," said the King. After all, if the ruler does not hold the august position and supreme handles firmly in hand but wants to perform the duties which the ministers ought to perform, is it not reasonable that he falls asleep in so doing?
Confucius said: "The ruler of men is like the basin, the people like water. If the basin is square, the water is square; if the basin is round, the water is round."
The ruler of Tsou was fond of wearing long fringes. So were all his attendants. In consequence, fringes became very expensive. Worried over this, he asked the attendants about it. In reply they said: "As Your Highness is fond of wearing them, most of the hundred surnames wear them too. Therefore, they are expensive!" Accordingly, the Ruler cut off his fringes himself and went out. As a result, nobody in the country would wear long fringes any more. Thus, the Ruler, unable to issue orders to regulate the style of the clothing of the hundred surnames and thereby prohibit them from wearing long fringes, cut off his own fringes and went out to show his example to the people. In this way he exercised his authority over the people through self-humiliation.
Shu Hsiang in distributing emoluments bestowed more for the more meritorious and less for the less meritorious.
Marquis Chao of Han once said to Shên Tzŭ, "Laws and rules are not easy to enforce." "The law is such a principle," said Shên Tzŭ, "that men of merit are given rewards and able personages are taken into office. Now, Your Highness establishes laws and rules but grants the attendants' requests. This is the cause of the difficulty in enforcing laws and rules." "From now onward," said Marquis Chao, "I know how to enforce laws, and will not grant anybody any request." One day Shên Tzŭ begged the Marquis to appoint his elder cousin to an official post. In regard to his request, Marquis Chao said: "This is not what I learned from you. If I grant you such a request, I contradict your teaching. I had better not allow your request." {With Ku Kuang-ts`ê there are histuses below this.} Thereupon Shên Tzŭ withdrew to his residence and apologized for his fault.
Section VI Annotations to Canon VI
Duke Wên of Chin attacked Yüan. As he packed ten days' food supplies, he set the time limit at ten days to his High Officers. When ten days had elapsed, he arrived at Yüan, but in ten days Yüan did not fall. Therefore, he ordered them to cease hostilities and leave for home. Meanwhile, some men coming out from the Yüan capital said: "In three more days Yüan will fall." All the ministers and attendants also remonstrated with him, saying: "The food of Yüan is running low and her strength is exhausted. May Your Highness wait longer!" In response the Duke said: "I set the time limit to my men at ten days for the expedition. If I do not leave, I will violate faith with my men. Taking Yüan and thereby breaking faith, I can not bear." So saying, he stopped the campaign and left. Hearing about this, the Yüans said: "Such a faithful ruler they have! How can we refuse to turn to him?" So saying, they surrendered themselves to the Duke. The Weis, hearing about the same, said: "Such a faithful ruler they have! How can we refuse to obey him?" So saying, they surrendered, too. Confucius heard about this and recorded: "That Duke Wên attacked Yüan at the beginning but even won the submission of Wei in the end, was because of his faithfulness."
Duke Wên asked Chi Chêng how to rescue the starvelings? "By keeping faith," was the reply. "What shall I keep of faith?" asked the Duke. "Keep titles of faith, keep affairs of faith, and keep righteousness of faith! If you keep titles of faith, all officials will attend to their respective duties; the good and the bad will not override each other; and every kind of work will not be neglected. If you keep affairs of faith, you will not miss the times of heaven and the hundred surnames will not make mistakes in farming. If you keep righteousness of faith, the near and dear will be encouraged thereby and become diligent while the distant will turn to you for government."
Once Wu Ch`i went out, met an old friend, and invited him to dinner. "All right. When I come back, I shall dine with you," said the old friend. "I shall wait for you to come," said Wu Tzŭ, and "and then eat". The old friend did not come when evening arrived. Wu Ch`i did not eat all evening and waited. Next day he sent men out to invite his friend. When the friend came, he then dined with him.
Marquis Wên of Wey once made an appointment with the Yüs to go hunting. On the following day the weather happened to be very windy. The attendants stopped Marquis Wên, but he would not listen. "Nobody should break faith," said the Marquis, "because it is very windy. I will not break faith!" Finally he drove the carriage himself, went to the hunting ground against the winds, and told the Yüs to stop the hunting.
One day the wife of Tsêng Tzŭ went to the market. His son went along with her and kept crying. "You go home," said the mother, "and when Mother comes home from shopping, Mother will kill a pig for you." When she came home from the market, Tsêng Tzŭ wanted to catch a pig and kill it. His wife stopped him and said, "That was just a joke with the child." "Be sure," said Tsêng Tzŭ, "children are not supposed to be joked with. They do not possess any inborn ideas. They depend upon their parents for learning, and listen to their parents' teachings. Now, if you deceive him, it means you teach him the way of deception. If the mother deceives her son, the son will have no faith in his mother. This is not the way to give teaching to children." At last they killed a pig and cooked the pork for their son.
King Li of Ch`u had an alarm drum. By beating the drum he gave the hundred surnames warnings. One day he took wine and was very drunk and beat the drum. The people were frightened very much. Thereupon the King sent men to stop their fright and said to them, "I was then drunk and playing with the attendants when I struck the drum." The people all gave up the fright. In the course of several months, there was a real alarm. The drum was beaten but the people made no move. Therefore, the King changed his orders and made the signal clear and of faith, so that the people began to have faith in him.
Li K`uei warned the guards of the right and left gates of the camp and said: "Be prudent and alert! The enemies might come at dawn or at dusk to attack you." He repeated the same over and over again. Yet the enemies never came. Both groups of guards became tired and neglected their duties and had no faith in Li K`uei. In the course of several months the Ch`ins came to raid them and almost put the whole army to rout. This is the calamity of being faithless.
According to a different source: Li K`uei fought with the Ch`ins and said to the guards of the left gates, "Scale the walls quickly! The guards of the right gate have already gone up." Then he drove to the other flank and said to the guards of the right gate, "The left have already gone up." The left and right guards, accordingly, struggled with each other to scale the walls. In the following year, when they fought with the Ch`ins, the Ch`ins raided them and almost routed the whole army. This was a calamity of being faithless.
Once there were litigants. Tzŭ-ch`an separated them and never allowed them to speak to each other. Then he inverted their words and told each other's argument and thereby found the vital facts involved in the case.
Duke Ssŭ of Wei once sent men out to go through the pass. There the officers made them serious troubles, wherefore they bribed the officers with gold. The officers, accordingly, released them. Later, Duke Ssŭ said to the officers: "At a certain time there came certain travellers to go through the pass. Since they gave you gold, you sent them away." Thereby the officers were frightened very much and thought Duke Ssŭ was clear-minded. {The last two annotations, not mentioned in the canon, are practically the same as the last two in Work XXX.}
(All Chinese characters in the notes are blank in the source text and, so, those notes containing such blanks have been either deleted or re-worded in the posting here. -- The New Legalist editor.)
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