The Huainanzi
Page 51
“There are no weapons more fearsome than the human will. The Moye sword is inferior to it.
There are no assailants greater than Yin and Yang. The drum and drumstick are smaller than them.” [10/85/18–20]
10.36
When sages practice goodness, it is not to seek fame, yet fame follows. They do not expect fame to be accompanied by profit, yet profit comes to them.
Thus people’s anxiety and happiness are not the result of following a deliberate path. The path takes them there, and the feelings emerge. Thus the very highest [sages] do not [concern themselves with] outward appearances. Thus they are as if
rubbing their eyes when smarting,
grabbing a support when stumbling. [10/85/22–23]
10.37
The sage’s conduct of government is silent and does not make a display of worthiness. Only after [his reign] has come to an end do you know that it can be [considered] great.
It is like the movement of the sun: [even the great horse] Qiji cannot compete with how far it goes. [10/85/23–24]
10.38
When we seek something at night, we are as blind as a music master. But when the eastern sky opens, how bright it is!
When you act with a view toward gain, loss follows.
Thus the Changes says,
“Stripping them away, they are not successively exhausted,
Thus they are received again in returning.”50 [10/85/24–26]
10.39
Amassing the thin makes the thick.
Amassing the low makes the high.
Thus
every day the Superior Man works diligently and thereby attains glory.
Every day the petty man works shoddily and thereby reaps ignominy.
But [the increments of] diminution and increase [are such that] even Li Zhu could not clearly discern them. [10/86/1–2]
10.40
King Wen
listened for what was good as if he could not attain it
and dwelt on what was not good as if it were an unlucky portent.
It was not that the days were insufficient. His anxious concern [within himself] compelled him to do so.
Thus the Odes says,
“Though Zhou is an old country,
its mandate is new.”51 [10/86/2–3]
10.41
If you cherish feelings and embrace inherent qualities,
Heaven cannot kill you;
Earth cannot bury you.
Your voice will resound throughout the space between Heaven and Earth, [and] your brightness will match the sun and moon. This is because you take joy in it. [10/86/3–4]
10.42
If you turn to goodness, even if you err, you will not be censured.
If you do not turn to goodness, even if you are loyal, you will invite calamity.
Thus
being censorious toward others is not so good as being censorious toward yourself.
Seeking it [i.e., goodness] in others is not so good as seeking it in yourself.52 [10/86/4–5]
10.43
Sounds sound themselves.
Appearances display themselves.
Names announce themselves.
People53 find their appropriate functions themselves.
There is nothing that is not intrinsic.54
The spear is wielded to pierce.
The sword is wielded to stab.
That things announce themselves is apparent. What cause do they have to resent others?
Thus,
Guanzi’s patterned brocade was ugly, but he ascended the ancestral temple.
Zichan’s55 dyed silk was beautiful, but he gained no respect.56 [10/86/7–8]
10.44
Empty yet able to be filled,
insipid yet acquiring flavor,
wearing coarse garments but embracing a jade [scepter].57
Thus,
when of two minds, you cannot obtain [the allegiance of even] one person;
when of one mind, you can obtain [the allegiance of] a hundred.58 [10/86/9–10]
10.45
If a boy plants an orchid, it will be beautiful but will not be fragrant.
If a stepson is fed, he will grow fat but will not flourish.
[This is because] feelings are not mutually shared in the intercourse between them.59 [10/86/12]
10.46
Life is [a dwelling] that you borrow;
death is [a home] to which you return.
Thus,
Hong Yan,60 upright and humane, stood up and died.
Prince Lü61 bared his chest to receive the knife.
They would not let what was [temporarily] entrusted to them harm that to which they would return.
Thus,
When the age is well governed, you use Rightness to protect yourself.
When times are disordered, you use yourself to protect Rightness.62
The day that you die [marks] the end of your actions. Therefore, the Superior Man is careful every single time he uses his person. [10/86/12–14]
10.47
Those who lack bravery are not initially fainthearted, but when difficulties arise, they lose their self-control.
Those who are greedy and covetous are not initially lustful, but when they see profit they forget the harm involved.
When the Duke of Yu saw the jade bi of Chuiji, he did not know that the calamity of Guo would befall him.63 Thus [only] the most advanced human beings cannot be repressed or diverted. [10/86/16–17]
10.48
People’s desire for glory is for their own sake. What good is that to others? [But] when sages act to implement Rightness, their anxious concern emanates from within. What benefit is it to them personally?
Thus
emperors and kings have been numerous, but the Three Kings alone are praised.
The poor and lowly have been numerous, but Bo Yi64 alone is esteemed.
Does being wealthy make you a sage? Then sages would be numerous.
Does being poor make you humane? Then the humane would be numerous.
Why, then, are sages and humane people so rare? Oh, what a joy is an independent and focused resolve! [10/86/19–21]
10.49
As each day rolls by hastily and the days renew themselves, you forget that old age will come upon you.
From your young and tender years,
to your becoming gray and old,
[the years] inevitably pile up in this way. If you do not deceive yourself, you will not deceive others.
It is like crossing a bridge [made from] a single [log]. Just because there is no one else present does not mean you do not struggle [to maintain] your countenance. Thus it is easy to get people to trust you, but difficult to trust yourself should you cloak yourself in [deceptive] clothing. [10/86/21–24]
10.50
When feelings precede actions, no action is unsuccessful. When nothing is unsuccessful, there is no vexation. Released from vexation, you become content.
Thus,
the comportment of Tang [Yao] and Yu [Shun] was such that it did not violate their feelings. They pleased themselves, and the world was well ordered.
[The tyrants] Jie and Djou were not intentionally thuggish. They pleased themselves, and the many concerns [of government] were laid waste.
When their likes and dislikes are critiqued, order and disorder are distinguished. [10/86/24–10/87/2]
10.51
The actions of the sage
are not joined with anything
and are not separated from anything.
By analogy, it is like a drum.
There is no instrument that is in tune with it,
and no instrument that cannot be accompanied by it. [10/87/4]
10.52
With instruments of silk (strings) and bamboo or metal and stone, their size and length have gradations.65 They make different sounds, but they harmonize.
With ruler and official or superior and subordinate, their offices and functions have grades.
They perform different tasks but act in unison.
Now
the weaver daily advances
while the tiller daily retreats.
Their tasks move in opposite directions, but in accomplishment they are one. [10/87/4–6]
10.53
Shen Xi heard a beggar’s song and was saddened. When he went out to see who it was, it was his mother.66 At the battle of Ailing, [King] Fuchai of Wu67 said, “The Yi raise their voices. Such is the multitude of Wu!”68 What was the same was that there were voices, but the beliefs derived from them were different; they were inherent in the [respective] feelings [of the singers].69
Thus,
if the heart is sad, the song is not joyful.
If the heart is joyful, the wailing is not sorrowful.
After the three years of mourning were over, Minzi Jian picked up his qin and played. The Master said, “His playing was correct, but it sounded wrong.”70 [10/87/6–8]
10.54
Culture is the means by which we connect to things.
Feelings bind inwardly,
but desires manifest themselves externally.
If you use culture to obliterate feelings, feelings will be lost.
If you use feelings to obliterate culture, culture will be lost.
When the guiding patterns of culture and feelings interpenetrate, the phoenix and the qilin will roam extensively. That is to say, the embrace of your Utmost Potency will be far-reaching. [10/87/8–11]
10.55
Shu Ziyang71 said to his son, “A good workman immerses himself in his square and his chisel.” Between the square and the chisel, there certainly is nothing than cannot be brought to completion.
What sage-kings used to control the people,
what Zaofu used to control horses,
what Physician Luo72 used to control illnesses:
they all took what they needed from the same basic material. [10/87/11–13]
10.56
The ruler wills it.
The people fulfill it.
This is because of his inner sincerity.
Before saying a word, he is trusted;
without being summoned, they come.
Something precedes it. [10/87/15]
10.57
Those who are worried about others not knowing them do not know themselves.
Arrogance and pride are born from inadequacy.
Flamboyance and deceit are born from arrogance.
People who have inner sincerity are joyful and unworried.
It is like
the owl loving to hoot
or the bear loving to pace—
Where is there anyone who should be arrogant? [10/87/15–17]
10.58
In spring the maid grieves.
In autumn the warrior mourns.
They know that things will transform.73
With howling or weeping, sighing and grieving, we recognize sounds that are [genuinely] actuated.
With bearing and visage, rouge and tint, and with bending and stretching, standing and crouching, we recognize feelings that are feigned.
Thus the sage trembles at [what he keeps] within himself and so attains the highest ultimate. [10/87/19–21]
10.59
When a meritorious reputation follows success, that is Heaven’s doing;
when compliant principles meet with acceptance, that is humankind’s doing.
Grand Duke Wang and Duke Dan of Zhou were not created by Heaven for [the benefit of] King Wu.
Marquis Chong and Wulai74 were not engendered by Heaven for [the benefit of the tyrant] Djou.
As with the era, so with the men. [10/87/23–24]
10.60
Education is rooted in the Superior Man, [but] the petty man is enriched by it.
Profit is rooted in the petty man, [but] the Superior Man fattens on its results.
Formerly, in the time of Donghu Jizi,75 people did not take goods that were left on the road. Hoes and plows and leftover grain were stored at the head [of the fields], enabling the Superior Man and the petty man each to obtain his appropriate [share].76
Thus, “when the One Man77 encounters good fortune, the many people depend on it.”78 [10/87/26–27]
10.61
Those in the highest position esteem their left side. Thus subordinates say to superiors, “I am on your left.” Such is the artful speech of a minister.
Those who are below esteem their right side. Thus superiors say to subordinates, “I am on your right.” Such is the condescension of the ruler.79
Thus,
if the superior moves to the left, he loses what makes him respected.
If the minister shifts to the right, he loses what makes him esteemed. [10/87/29–30]
10.62
Small instances of haste harm the Way;
false pretenses disrupt the proper order.
When Zichan drafted his writings, lawsuits proliferated, [even though] there was no depraved [intent].80 If you lose touch with your feelings, your words will be obstructed. [10/88/1–2]
10.63
The way of perfecting a country is that
tradesmen should have no false dealings;
farmers should have no wasted labor;
scholars should take no clandestine actions;
officials should make no evasion of the laws.
It is analogous to someone setting out nets. When he pulls on the guide rope, the myriad eyes open. [10/88/4–5]
10.64
Shun and Yu did not accept the Mandate of Heaven the second time [it was offered].81 What Yao and Shun transmitted82 was great, but it first took shape in something small.
“He tested [Shun] with the royal wives,
extended it to the brothers as well.
When he abdicated clan and state,”83
the whole world followed his example.
Thus,
with weapons, one uses what is great to understand what is small;
with humankind, one uses what is small to understand what is great. [10/88/5–7]
10.65
The Way of the Superior Man is
close but cannot be attained,
low but cannot be ascended,
contains nothing inside it, but cannot be filled. It is
enduring yet brilliant,
far-reaching yet illustrious.
To understand this and so follow the Way is something that cannot be sought in others but only attained from the self. If you abandon the search within yourself and seek it in others, you will have strayed far from it. [10/88/9–10]
10.66
The Superior Man has ample joy but insufficient reputation.
The petty man has insufficient joy but ample reputation.
When one looks at the difference between being ample and being insufficient, they are clearly very far apart. To hold something [noxious] in your mouth and not spit it out, or to have something in your feelings and not let it blossom forth—these are things that have never been heard of. [10/88/12–13]
10.67
The Superior Man ponders Rightness and does not anticipate profit.
The petty man craves profit and does not regard Rightness.
The Master said, “Both weeping said, ‘Oh! What to do? You took advantage of me!’
Their sorrow was the same, but the reasons for it were different.”
Thus sorrow and joy penetrate deeply into people’s feelings.84 [10/88/13–15]
10.68
If digging ditches and damming ponds is not done properly, it will overwork and distress the people. If each [project planner] follows his own desire, disorder will result. The feelings [behind their actions] are the same, but the way [each] applies [those feelings] to people is different.85
Thus
Tang [Yao] and Yu [Shun] strove daily, thereby leading to their kingships.
Jie and Djou erred daily, thereby leading to their deaths,
without knowing that later ages would condemn them. [10/88/
17–19]
10.69
Human feelings are such that
people are joyful when they avoid what brings them suffering
and sorrowful when they lose what brings them joy.
Thus,
knowing the joy of life,
you will necessarily know the sorrow of death. [10/88/21]
10.70
If you have Rightness, you cannot be deceived by profit.
If you have courage, you cannot be intimidated by fear.
Similarly those who are starving and thirsty cannot be deceived with an empty bowl.
When people multiply desires, they decrease Rightness.
[When people] multiply anxieties, they injure knowledge,
[When people] multiply fears, they injure courage. [10/88/23–24]
10.71
Rudeness is born of the petty man.
[Even] the [“barbarian”] Man and Yi can [behave like] that.
Goodness is born of the Superior Man.
Radiantly it rivals the brilliance of the sun and moon. No one in the world can restrain or repress it.
Thus,
a well-governed state rejoices in the means by which it is preserved;
a perishing state rejoices in the means by which it is lost. [10/88/26–27]
10.72
If metal86 and tin are not melted, they cannot be poured into the mold.
If the ruler’s anxious concern is not sincere, he cannot serve as a model for the people.
If his anxious concern is not grounded in the people, the ruler will cut his ties to them.
If the ruler returns to the root, his ties to the people will be firm. [10/88/29–30]
10.73
The Utmost Potency [is attained when]
small matters are completed
and great matters are initiated.
Duke Huan of Qi initiated [great matters] but was not attentive to details.