The Huainanzi

by An Liu

[Moving] south of the Yangzi or north of the Yellow River cannot change its position.

  Speeding across one thousand li cannot alter its location.

  Choosing and rejecting, rites and customs are comparable to a home.

  The house to the east calls it “the west house”;

  the house to the west calls it “the east house.”

  Even if Gao Yao ordered it for them, he could not fix its location.84

  Thus,

  choosing and rejecting are equal;

  blame and praise are rooted in custom.

  Intentions and conduct are matched;

  failure and success reside in the [circumstances of] the time.

  Tang and Wu’s accrual of conduct and accumulation of goodness can be matched. Their meeting Jie and Djou was a bequest of Heaven. Now if you have the intention of Tang or Wu yet lack the timely [circumstances] of [encountering] Jie and Djou and want to complete the task of a hegemon or king, you will not get close to it.

  In the past, King Wu raised the spear and grasped the battle-axe in conquering Yin.

  He held the jade tablet and leaned on the wooden cane in attending court. When King Wu died, the people of Yin revolted. The Duke of Zhou moved into the Eastern Palace and mounted the royal chariot. Assuming the position of the Son of Heaven [and] with his back to the screen, he convened the Lords of the Land. He exiled Cai Shu, executed Guan Shu,85 conquered Yin, and punished the Shang. Sacrificing to King Wen, after seven years he gave over the government to King Cheng. Now that King Wu was first martial and then civil is not that his intentions had altered; it was that he responded to the times. That the Duke of Zhou exiled his older brother and executed his second brother was not that he was not humane; it was that he was rectifying chaos. Thus when one’s affairs comprehend the age, one’s merit will be complete; when one’s tasks accord with the times, one’s name will be established. [11/102/15–22]

  In the past, Duke Huan of Qi convened the Lords of the Land with ceremonial chariots; withdrawing, he punished his state with the battle-axe.

  Duke Wen of Jin convened the Lords of the Land with war chariots; withdrawing, he managed his kingdom with Ritual and Rightness.

  Duke Huan was soft at first and hard later.

  Duke Wen was hard at first and soft later;

  yet in their orders being carried out throughout the world, their authority controlling the Lords of the Land, they were the same. They had investigated the alterations of the strategic situation.

  The ruler of Lu wanted to make Yan He86 his prime minister, yet [Yan He] was unwilling. [The duke] sent someone with silk as an advance [gift], but [Yan He] cut a hole in his wall and absconded, [later] becoming a renowned warrior in the world. If he had met with Shang Yang or Shen Buhai, the death penalty would have extended to the third [degree of relatedness] of his family, not to mention his own person!87 The age often singles out people of antiquity and looks up to their conduct. All ages have those who are the same, yet their nobility is not known. It is not because their talent was inferior; it is because the times were not right.

  For crossing the Yangzi or the Yellow River, six [horses like] Qiji or four Northern Di stallions do not match the convenience of a hollow log. The dynamic of the location makes it so. For this reason, a person who establishes his merit is relaxed about his conduct yet meticulous about the time. The common people of the current age

  take completed merit as worthiness,

  triumph over adversity as intelligence,

  encountering difficulty as foolishness,

  and dying for duty as stubbornness.

  I regard each as having reached one’s limit, that is all. [11/102/24–11/103/2]

  Prince Bi Gan was not unaware of [the strategy of] disheveling his hair and feigning madness to avoid [injury to] his person.88 However, he took joy in [maintaining] upright conduct and utmost loyalty in dying for his duty; thus he would not do it.

  Bo Yi and Shu Qi89 were not unable to accept a salary and hold office to extend their merit. However, they took joy in departing from the age and acting loftily in transcending the multitude; thus they would not serve.

  Xu You and Shan Juan were not incapable of grasping the world, pacifying the realm in making the people virtuous. However, they were ashamed to allow things to pollute their harmony; thus they would not accept it.

  Yu Rang and Yao Li90 were not unaware of enjoying one’s home, resting content with one’s wife and children in living easily. However, they took joy in extending their sincerity and fulfilling obligation in dying for their ruler; thus they would not refrain.

  Now,

  if we follow Jizi in viewing Bi Gan, he was foolish.

  If we follow Bi Gan in viewing Jizi, he was base.

  If we follow Guan [Zhong] and Yan [Ying] in viewing Bo Yi and Shu Qi, they were stubborn.

  If we follow Bo Yi and Shu Qi in viewing Guan and Yan, they were greedy.

  Their choosing and rejecting negated each other; their wants and desires were mutually opposed; yet each took joy in his affairs. Who can be employed [to judge] which was correct?

  Zengzi said: “When you strike [the side of] a boat in the water,

  the birds hear it and fly high;

  the fish hear it and plunge deep.”91

  Where each tends is different, yet each attains what is suitable to it.

  Huizi92 crossed the Mengzhu [Marsh] with a retinue of one hundred chariots. Zhuangzi saw him and threw away his leftover fish.93

  The pelican drinks several dou of water, yet it is not enough.

  If the cicada gets so much as a mouthful of mist, it is full.94

  Earl Zhi had all three Jin [states], and his desires were not sated;

  Lin Lei’s95 and Rong Qiji’s clothes were ragged and tattered, but their thoughts were unperturbed.

  Viewing it from this [perspective], each of their predilections and conduct was different, how could they refute one another?

  One who highly values life will not harm himself for profit;

  one who establishes discipline will not negligently avoid difficulty when faced with it;

  one who lusts for emolument will not consider his person in the face of profit;

  and one who loves reputation will not [accept] gain in neglect of Rightness.

  These standards set against one another are like ice and charcoal, angle rule and marking cord;96 when will they ever accord? If you take the sage as a standard, then he comprehensively covers and completely contains them, so there never can be a “right” and a “wrong.”

  The flying bird favors the nest;

  the fox favors the burrow.

  Nesters attain a perch when the nest is complete;

  burrowers attain a rest when the burrow is made.

  Choosing and rejecting, conduct and Rightness are also the perch and rest of human beings. [When] each takes joy in what makes him secure [and] arrives at his destination, [then] he is called a “complete person.” Thus the standard of the Way combines them and puts them on a par. [11/103/4–17]

  11.19

  In the Way of the ordered state,

  superiors do not give harsh orders;

  officials do not confuse the government;

  scholars do not falsify their conduct;

  artisans do not make licentious use of their skill.

  Its affairs are regular and untroubled;

  its implements are complete and unornamented.

  A chaotic age is not like this.

  Those who partake in conduct vie to outdo one another in loftiness;

  those who partake in Ritual take pride in [surpassing] one another in artifice.

  Chariots are excessively carved;

  implements are exhaustively engraved.

  Those who seek goods vie for those that are hard to obtain as treasures.

  Those who value writing fix complexity and distortions as [signs of] intelligence.

  They compete to create false disputations. Accumulating for a long while with
out cease, these are of no aid to order. Craftsmen make exotic implements. Complete only after a year has passed, these do not increase utility.

  Thus the laws of the Divine Farmer said:

  “If a man is able-bodied97 and does not farm, someone in the world will be hungry as a result.

  If a woman does not weave over the course of a year, someone in the world will be cold as a result.”

  Thus each man farming for himself

  and each wife personally spinning

  was made the priority of the world. In guiding the people,

  he did not value goods that were hard to obtain;

  he did not take useless objects as implements.

  For this reason,

  those who did not exert strength in farming did not have the means to nourish life;

  those who did not exert effort in weaving did not have the means to cover their bodies.

  Surplus or dearth came back to each person individually.

  Clothing and food were plentiful;

  wickedness and deviance did not appear.

  [People were] secure, happy, and without incident, and the world was at peace.

  Thus Confucius and Zeng Can had nowhere to practice their goodness,

  Meng Ben and Cheng Jing98 had nowhere to effect their might. [11/103/19–26]

  11.20

  In the customs of a declining age, people employ their understanding and skill to [create] the fake and the false; they ornament every kind of useless [thing].

  They value goods from distant places,

  treasure materials that are hard to obtain,

  and do not accumulate the instruments for nurturing life.

  They dilute what is concentrated in the world;

  they fragment what is uncarved in the world;

  they corral and subjugate horses and oxen as sacrificial beasts. They fool the myriad people, turning the pure into the sullied. Nature and destiny fly away; all is chaotic and confused. Sincerity and trust are thrown into turmoil; people lose their genuine dispositions and nature.

  With this there appears

  kingfisher feathers, rhino [horn] and ivory, embroidery and elegant patterns to confuse their eyes;

  grass-fed and grain-fed [animals]; the aromas of Jing and Wu to tempt their mouths;

  [the sound of] bells, drums, pipes and flutes, strings, bamboo, metal, and stone to seduce their ears;

  choosing and rejecting, conduct and Rightness, Ritual and discipline, criticism and argumentation to bind their minds.

  At this point, the common people are turbulent and confused; all day they chase after profit. They are vexed and shallow. The laws and Rightness negate each other; conduct and profit oppose each other. Even ten Guan Zhongs could not bring [this situation] to order. [11/103/28–11/104/4]

  Moreover, the rich have

  carriages draped with red silk and embroidery;

  and horses ornamented with plumes and ivory.

  Their tents and seat cushions,

  silken clothes and belts,

  have interweaving [patterns of] green and yellow;

  they cannot be pictured.

  In the summer the poor wear hemp clothes belted with rope; they gulp beans and drink water to fill their bellies and to repel the heat. In the winter their wools and furs are torn and tattered; their short hemp coats do not cover their frames; and they blow into the stove’s mouth. Thus, while in being registered as commoners in the household registers, they are no different, the [actual] difference between the rich and the poor cannot even compare with that between the ruler and a slave or a captive.

  Those who employ strange arts and practice deviant ways have enough to last a generation.

  Those who maintain rectitude, follow order, and do not acquire negligently cannot avoid the calamity of hunger and cold.

  Yet we want the people to discard the branches and return to the root. This is like opening up a spring and stopping its flow. Moreover,

  carving, polishing, cutting and engraving are what harm the tasks of farmers.

  Embroidering cloth and patterning belts are what impair the work of women.

  When the task of farmers is abandoned

  and women’s work is injured,

  this is the root of hunger and the source of cold. One who can avoid committing crime and facing punishment when both hunger and cold arrive has never been known. [11/104/6–13]

  11.21

  Humaneness and depravity reside in timeliness, not in conduct;

  profit and harm reside in fate, not in intelligence.

  Among the soldiers of a defeated army brave warriors will flee; the commander cannot stop them.

  Within the ranks of a victorious army, cowards will march to their deaths; the fearful cannot run away.

  Thus when the Yangzi and the Yellow River overflow, the fathers and sons, elder and younger brothers, of a single village will abandon one another and flee. They will fight to mount high mounds or to climb high hills. Those who are fleet of foot will get there first; they cannot look after one another. When the age is happy and wills are set on peace, if they see the people of a neighboring kingdom drown, they still will grieve for them, how much more so for their own family and kin!

  Thus,

  when one’s person is secure [and] kindness reaches to the neighboring kingdom, one will exert oneself to the utmost.

  When one’s person is endangered, then one forgets one’s family and kin, [and] Humaneness offers no solution.

  One who is swimming cannot save [another] from drowning; his hand and feet are occupied.

  One who is burning cannot save [another] from the flames; his body is in pain.

  If the people have surplus, they will yield;

  if they lack enough, they will fight.

  When they yield, then Ritual and Rightness are generated;

  if they fight, then tyranny and chaos will result.

  If you knock on someone’s door and ask for water or fire, none will fail to give it, because they have enough to lend.

  In forests no one sells firewood;

  on lakes no one sells fish;

  Because there is a surplus. Thus,

  when things are plentiful, desires are reduced,

  when demands are fulfilled, fighting ceases.

  During the time of the king of Qin [i.e., Qin Shihuangdi], some people cooked their own children because material benefits were insufficient.

  When the Liu clan took control of the government, widows took in orphans because there was surplus wealth.

  Thus,

  when the age is ordered, petty people will maintain rectitude; they cannot be enticed by profit.

  When the age is in chaos, gentlemen will commit wickedness; the law cannot restrain them. [11/104/15–24]

  Translated by Andrew Meyer

  1. This line echoes the famous opening lines of the Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean).

  2. Like 8.3, which this passage closely resembles, these lines paraphrase Laozi 38.

  3. Taking dalu as equivalent to dalu ; commentators describe this as a royal chariot.

  4. A banner with two intertwining dragons, a symbol of the Son of Heaven. See Zhou li 6.3/80/5.

  5. Wallacker 1962, 30nn.30, 31. For similar metamorphoses, see 4.11 and 5.3.

  6. Grand Duke Wang (Taigong Wang ) is said to have been the military commander of the Zhou army at the battle that resulted in the overthrow of the Shang dynasty. His Jiang clan ruled Qi until overthrown by the Tian.

  7. The Tian was a clan of Qi vassals who overthrew the ruling Jiang house and established themselves as “dukes” (subsequently “kings”) of Qi.

  8. Following Sun Yirang’s reading of yan as yi (11/94/14). The quotation is from Changes, hexagram 2, Kun .

  9. These two phrases allude to traditional stories about the tyrant Djou, the evil last ruler of the Shang dynasty. Djou was supposed to have had a drinking party so excessive that at the end a mountain was made from the dregs of the wine consumed. He i
s also said to have invented the pao luo, a metal beam kept white hot by coals across which one condemned to torture was forced to walk. According to the Huainanzi, each of these monstrosities had incipient beginnings, the former in the frivolous use of ivory chopsticks at Djou’s court (the first sign of his predilection for luxury), and the latter in the accidental burning of someone by a hot ladle (the initial inspiration for the pao luo torture). The “roasting beam” is also mentioned in 2.14, 10.89, 12.35, 15.2, and 21.4.

  10. This story is told in 12.12.

  11. These all are types of ancient music. Xian chi , “Pool of [Shaman] Xian,” is also the name of a constellation. See 3.4, 3.19, 3.25, and 4.16; and Major 1993, 199.

  12. The character here implies both le (joy) and yue (music).

  13. Lau, HNZ, 94n.12; Wallacker 1962, 55n.54.

  14. See 11/94/29. The li is said to be a snake with supernatural qualities. See Wallacker 1962, 55n.55. Some editions read “spirit snake” instead of “black snake.” See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1125n.10.

  15. Reading chang as di . The quotation is from Laozi 3.

  16. Xie , according to tradition, was the ancestor of the Shang royal house. He is mentioned in the “Canon of Shun” of the Documents.

  17. Laozi 80.

  18. The xiang and diti were interpreters employed to facilitate interactions between the Chinese Central States and their “barbarian” neighbors. See the similar phrasing that appears in the Lüshi chunqiu: “[All states] that do not use the xiang and di interpreters” (LSCQ 17.6/105/16). Their exact functions are unknown. See Chen Qiyou , Lüshi chunqiu jiaoshi , 2 vols. (Shanghai: Xuelin chubanshe, 1984), 2:1108, 1112n.7; Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1134n.8; and 20.8.

  19. Longxi was a commandery in the northwestern territory of the Han Empire (in what is today Gansu Province). “Swimming in Longxi” evidently was or became a recognizable trope for a dangerous or foolhardy activity, but if there was an antecedent text that helps explain why, it has been lost. Ying Ju (d. 252) evokes it in his “Letter to Cousins Junmiao and Junwei” (Wen xuan 42:1918–22). Li Shan’s (d. 689) commentary to the Wen xuan cites this Huainanzi passage by way of explanation, thus by the Tang period, whatever source text (if any) to which the Huainanzi is alluding must have been lost.

  20. This reproduces part of a dialogue found in Zhuangzi 21 (21/57/16–18). See the translation of the Zhuangzi parallel in Burton Watson, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 224. As Watson notes, the meaning here is not completely transparent in either the Zhuangzi parallel or the Huainanzi context. The sense seems to be that true personal advancement depends on “forgetting” the constituents of individual identity. Thus Confucius teaches best when he forgets Yan Hui, and Hui studies best when he forgets Confucius. What “persists” in the wake of such forgetting is pristine nature, which is merged with the Way.