by An Liu
16. Laozi 14.
17. Shi Qi (d. 479 B.C.E.) was a knight of Qi who assisted the Duke of Bo in his rebellion against the throne. When the rebellion was put down, he was boiled alive as punishment.
18. The Duke of She (also known as Shen Zhuliang ) was a grandee and vassal of Chu who led the forces that put down the rebellion of the Duke of Bo.
19. It is said that the xiao bird (generally taken to be a type of owl) loves her offspring, but because the mother bird teaches them to be fierce, the nestlings devour her when they mature. See also 1.14. In other words, the Duke of Bo loved wealth, but this love ultimately destroyed him. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1215n.5. This story also occurs in LSCQ 25.4/163/24–28. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 635.
20. D. C. Lau explains: “This refers to a vessel which is said to have been in the temple of Zhou (or Lu). It stands in position when empty but overturns when full. The moral is that humility is a necessary virtue, especially for those in high position” (Tao Te Ching [Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964], 65). For a story that revolves around the same type of vessel, see 12.55.
21. Laozi 9.
22. We follow Yu Dacheng in emending this name from Dong Jianyu (as given in the text but otherwise unknown) to Dong Anyu. See Lau, HNZ, 106n.4. Dong Anyu (d. 496) was a knight who served in the household of Viscount Jian. His prescient counsel drew the suspicion of Earl Zhi, who forced him to commit suicide. Dong Anyu figures in several anecdotes about Viscount Jian in the Lüshi chunqiu and other texts.
23. A version of this story appears in Shuo yuan, chap. 3, “Jian ben” (Establishing the Root); there the text reads “lacquered his skull” rather than “split his skull.” See Lu Yuanjun, Shuoyuan jinzhu jinyi (Taibei: Shangwu, 1967), 100–101. The story of Earl Zhi’s ( or ) rise and fall is very famous, especially as a tale of strategic insight on the part of Viscount Xiang of Zhao. At a certain moment, Earl Zhi could easily have triumphed over Zhao, Hann, and Wei, but his own arrogance and presumption ultimately defeated him. Earl Zhi is a stock figure, and his story is retold many times down through the Han in such texts as the Zhanguoce, Hanfeizi, and Lüshi chunqiu, but the earliest known version appears in the final pages of the Zuozhuan. The greatest fund of “Earl Zhi stories” is likely the Zhanguoce, where he (listed in the index under Chih Po-yao or Earl Yao of Zhi) figures in chaps. 5, 75, 90, 97, 107, 158, 229, 292, 363, 461, 482, and 483 of James I. Crump, trans., Chan-kuo Ts ’e, rev. ed., Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, vol. 77 (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1996).
24. Laozi 28.
25. This line could also be rendered, “And spirits will come to take up their abode.”
26. This anecdote also appears in ZZ 22/60/31–22/61/2.
27. Laozi 10.
28. Supplying bu zhongchao , based on Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1221n.5.
29. A near parallel of this story appears in LSCQ 15.1/80/19–15.1/81/6. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 341–42.
30. Laozi 4.
31. Hui Ang was a native of Song and a knight in the service of King Kang.
32. King Kang of Song (r. 328–286 B.C.E.), the last ruler of the state of Song, was comparable to the tyrant Jie for his avarice and profligacy.
33. That is, they looked for every opportunity to be helpful.
34. This story also appears in LSCQ 15.5/85/13–26. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 357–58.
35. Laozi 73.
36. A similar argument is made in 19.5.
37. This anecdote also appears in LSCQ 15.6/86/20–21; we follow Knoblock and Riegel’s 2000, 360, translations of the term qiong qiong ju xu as “fabulous-big-and-small” and jue as “stumbler.” Apparently, the jue has short forelegs and long hind legs, while the qiong qiong ju xu has long forelegs and short hind legs. The fabulous-big-and-small is said to have trouble with his sense of smell; thus the jue, although a stumbler, is able to use his capacities to help the qiong qiong ju xu and thereby augment those capacities he lacks. See Chen Yiping, Huiji ge jia xueshuo de juzhu: Huainanzi (Beijing: Zhongguo wenlian chuban gongsi, 1997), 559n.5.
38. Laozi 74.
39. Bo Yi , an official of Wey.
40. During the reign of Lord Si of Wey (r. 324–283 B.C.E.), Wey became an effective vassalage of Qin with little territory; thus his rank was reduced from “marquis” to “lord.”
41. That is, in techniques appropriate to the prince of a medium-size state, not to a great king.
42. A jun () is an ancient measure of weight equal to thirty jin (), approximately sixteen pounds.
43. Du He was a native of Zhou who embarked on a career as a wandering persuader and strategist during the Warring States period. He figures in several anecdotes in the Zhanguoce.
44. Lord Zhaowen of Zhou was, according to Gao You, a ruler of East Zhou during the period of decline in which the Zhou royal domain broke into two competing courts, East and West. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1230n.4.
45. See also LSCQ 26.2/167/20–23; and Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 649.
46. Laozi 28.
47. Laozi 39. Lau’s translation reads: “Hence the highest renown is without renown” (Tao Te Ching, 100). Based on the Mawangdui manuscript, Lau’s emendations seem to be erroneous, a conclusion that is further supported by the detailed discussion in Robert Henricks, trans., Lao-tzu: Te-Tao Ching: A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1989), 100. We follow Henricks in our rendering of this line.
48. Another name for Zigong. See chap. 9, n. 9.
49. The main point in this passage, ascribed to Confucius, is that the Superior Man must not arbitrarily follow his own standards of morality but must take into account the customary practices of the populace at hand. Confucius does not approve of the practice of being given a cash reward for ransoming people, but that custom can be reformed only by first using it as the local populace does, not by disregarding it. Confucius expressly states: “When sages initiate undertakings, they are able to shift with prevailing habits to change local customs.” It is precisely their sensitivity to the particular circumstances on the ground or the local nuances of customary practice that enables sages to transform the common people through their virtuous conduct.
50. A version of this story appears in LSCQ 16.6/95/29–16.6/96/2. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000,394. This story is also alluded to in 11.2.
51. Laozi 52. Hanfeizi 21 links a different anecdote to this citation exemplifying the interchangeability of these stories as compact and portable ciphers of intellectual exchange. There the ability to “notice the details” enables the viscount of Ji to foretell impending catastrophe. See HFZ 21/44/5–8.
52. Marquis Wu of Wei (r. 396–371 B.C.E.), the second ruler of the independent state of Wei, expanded his state’s territories through a series of aggressive campaigns. Li Ke (also known as Li Kui [ca. 455–395 B.C.E.]) was a statesman and government reformer who served as prime minister of Wei under Marquis Wen. He is credited with inventing certain techniques of rule, such as using the sale and purchase of state grain reserves to stabilize prices. A text attributed to him once circulated but now exists only as fragments.
53. See 12.23. King Fuchai of the southeastern, non-Sinitic state of Wu was renowned for both his military prowess and his arrogance. In the battle of Gansui (473 B.C.E.), he was surrounded by an army of the neighboring state of Yue and committed suicide. He is mentioned several times in the Huainanzi, most fully in 15.25; see also 11.7 and 18.27. The exchange between Marquis Wu of Wei and Li Ke also appears in LSCQ 19.5./124/16–20. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 494. See also HSWZ 10.23/78/1–4.
54. Laozi 9.
55. LSCQ 19.8/128/10–17. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 507–8. For Ning Qi, see also 9.7, 10.94, 11.6, and 13.16.
56. Laozi 25.
57. Great King Danfu was an ancient ancestor of the Zhou royal house. He was awarded the title Great King posthumously after the Zhou ascended to the throne of the Son of Heaven.
58. The vers
ion of the Danfu story presented here is almost identical to that in ZZ 28/81/23–28. See Mair 1997, 285–86. Abbreviated versions appear in 14.14 and 20.9, and see also LSCQ 21.4/141/11–17; and Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 557–58.
59. Laozi 13.
60. Prince Mou of Zhongshan was a prince of Wei who was enfeoffed at Zhongshan after Wei destroyed that state. A text in four chapters attributed to him is recorded in the “Daoist” section of the Hanshu yiwenzhi.
61. See also ZZ 28/84/7–11; LSCQ 21.4./141/27–29; and Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 558–59.
62. Laozi 55. Presumably the text argues here that one should neither try to extend one’s natural life span nor use the mind to direct the vital energy. One values the preservation of life but not longevity; one relies on emptiness and nothingness, rather than the mind, to direct the vital energy.
63. Laozi 52.
64. For a variant of this story, see LSCQ 17.8/107/18–21; and Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 435.
65. Laozi 54.
66. Bian .
67. Our translation of these challenging lines follows Burton Watson, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 152–53.
68. For the Zhuangzi variant of this parable, see ZZ 13/37/10–13. For the Hanshi waizhuan version of this story, see HSWZ 5.6/35/26–5.6/36/3.
69. Laozi 1.
70. This story also appears in HSWZ 7, 10/51/30–10/52/5.
71. Laozi 36. Hanfeizi 21 explains these lines:
When political purchase is weighty, it constitutes the “deep abyss” of the ruler. To shepherd the people, your political purchase must be weightier than that which rests with the ministers. If it is lost, it cannot be regained. When Duke Jian lost it to Tian Cheng and the Duke of Jin lost it to the six ministers, their states were destroyed and their lives lost. Thus “fish must not be allowed to leave the deep.” Rewards and punishments are the efficacious instruments of state. If they rest with the ruler, he controls the ministers; if they rest with the ministers, they defeat the ruler. If the ruler reveals his rewards [to his ministers], the ministers will disparage them as acts of virtue; if the ruler reveals his punishments [to his ministers], the ministers will exaggerate them as acts of authority. If the ruler exhibits his rewards, the ministers will make use of his political purchase; if the ruler reveals his punishments, the ministers will avail themselves of his authority. (HFZ 21/42/31–21/43/4)
The “Inner Collection of Discourses, Lower Section” (Nei zhu shuo xia ) also comments on these lines in a somewhat similar fashion. See HFZ 31/72/1–4.
72. This line has generated some debate over the years. Lau proposes emending it by supplying the negative bu before cang shu, yielding the reading ,. He follows the near parallel from the “Yu Lao” chapter of Hanfeizi:
Royal Longevity was traveling with a bundle of books on his back when he bumped into Dignified Ascent in Zhou. Dignified Ascent remarked: “Affairs are [what one] does, and [what one does] is born of the times. [Thus] the times have no constant affairs. Books are [what one] says. [What one] says is born of knowledge. Thus one who knows does not hoard books. Why then do you make an exception by carrying books on your back?” Upon hearing this, Royal Longevity made a bonfire of his books and danced with joy. Thus, those who are knowledgeable do not rely upon spoken communication to teach; those who are intelligent do not rely upon hoarded books to learn. Such a principle, our present age has passed by but Royal Longevity returned to it. This is to learn not to learn. Thus it is said: “Learn not to learn and return to what the multitudes pass by.” (HFZ 21/44/18–21)
In his emendation and reading of this passage, Rudolph Wagner argues that Lau is mistaken in following the Hanfeizi text and supplying the negative. He follows the Wenzi, in which no negative appears, and proposes leaving the line as is: .: “Books are the product of speech and since speech is the product of the knowledgeable, those who are knowledgeable hoard books” (Language, Ontology, and Political Philosophy in China [Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007], 35–36).
Finally, Zhang Shuangdi bases his emendations on citations of the Hanfeizi preserved in various encyclopedias. He appears to have dug the deepest into this problem, and accordingly we follow Zhang Shuangdi, who proposes . ,: “Books are the product of speech and speech is the product of the knowledgeable. Those who understand speech do not hoard books” (1997, 2:1249n.2).
73. Books at the time were written on wooden or bamboo strips and so burned readily.
74. Laozi 5.
75. Chief Minister Zipei . According to Yu Dacheng, this figure is Chief Minister Zixia or Yang Gai , who is recorded in the Zuozhuan, Zhao 19, as having served as chief minister to King Zhuang of Chu. See Lau, HNZ, 110n.8.
76. Lau (HNZ 12/110/21) supplied the graphs jingtai here, but it should read Qiangtai based on the several references to this terrace in the following passage.
77. Zuo (left) corresponds to the east and you (right) to the west because the monarch faces south.
78. Wang si ; an alternative reading has wang gui , “forget to return home.”
79. Laozi 3.
80. The ruler wanted Chong’er to go fishing naked so that he could see his joined ribs, a deformity for which he was well known. The story is recounted in 18.18 and mentioned again in 20.37.
81. Xi Fuji was a minister and fief holder in the state of Cao in the seventh century B.C.E. See Zuozhuan, Xi 23; and 11.6 and 18.18.
82. A rather different version of this story appears in HFZ 21.
83. Laozi 22.
84. Literally, “one who marches ahead of the horse and chariot of the king.”
85. Hanfeizi 21 also refers to this story, but in a much abbreviated manner. See HFZ 21/44/10–13.
86. Laozi 78.
87. Ten zhang .
88. Shuxiang was the nickname of Yangshe Xi , a grand officer of the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period who was known for his worthiness and ability. For references to additional anecdotes in which he appears, see Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 798.
89. A variant of this anecdote appears in LSCQ 19.8/128/10–17. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 507–8. See also HSWZ 6.15/48/5–9.
90. Laozi 22.
91. Tianji .
92. Literally, “a ten thousand–li horse.” A version of this story appears in Liezi. See LieZ 8/49/1–11. Bo Le is mentioned twice in Zhuangzi 9 in different contexts. See ZZ 9/23/23 and 9/24/7.
93. Laozi 45.
94. Qu Yijiu was a grandee of Chu who had been exiled to Wei.
95. Laozi 4.
96. A “stage,” she , is a day’s march, equal to thirty or thirty-five li.
97. Laozi 78. A state could be said to exist only as long as its altars of soil and grain remained intact and functioning; thus it was the ruler’s responsibility to protect them at all costs.
98. Duke Jing of Song ruled from 517 to 452 B.C.E.
99. For the lunar lodges (xiu ; here called “stages,” she), see chap. 3 and app. B.
100. Zi Wei , court astronomer of Song, was renowned for his skill at divination. He was granted the surname Zi (that of the ducal house) in reward for his services.
101. Sui . The meaning of Zi Wei’s suggestion and Duke Jing’s response depends on a pun. In the context of this astrological conversation, Zi Wei might be suggesting that the duke shift the blame to the planet Jupiter, called sui xing (year star); Jupiter was regarded as having a powerful influence on the fate of states. But sui means “harvest” as well as “year,” and Duke Jing elects to understand sui here as meaning not sui xing, Jupiter, but “harvest,” which allows him to reply to Zi Wei’s suggestion in suitably moralistic terms.
102. That is, turning toward the ruler, whose throne faces south.
103. A shift of a planet through three lunar lodges in one night is not physically possible; however, it would be possible to emulate such a shift on the cosmograph (shi ), allowing the astrological consequences of the shift to be demonstrated.
104. T
his story also appears in LSCQ 6.4/31/20–6.4/32/4. See Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 165–66.
105. Laozi 78.
106. This citation of Laozi 27 differs from the Wang Bi and Heshanggong recensions. It is shorter than the other versions but carries the same general message. Lau’s translation of Wang Bi’s recension of this passage reads: “Therefore the sage always excels in saving people, and so abandons no one; always excels in saving things, and so abandons nothing. This is called following one’s discernment” (Tao Te Ching, 84).
107. King Xuan of Chu (r. 369–340 B.C.E.) presided over a period of declining power for his state.
108. One qing equals a hundred mu . See app. B.
109. We follow Knoblock and Riegel’s translation of the title zhi gui in LSCQ 20/3.2. Charles O. Hucker renders the title as “Baton Holder,” in A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1985), 1017.
110. The story of Zifa is reminiscent of the story of Jiezhi Tui (Zuozhuan, Xi 24.2), who refused all rewards on the grounds that the achievement was really Heaven’s doing.
111. Laozi 2.
112. See also LSCQ 19.6/126/3–8; and Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 499–500.
113. Laozi 21.
114. Laozi 62. Note the linking of the two Laozi passages here with the graph gu (therefore).
115. Gongyi Xiu , prime minister under Duke Mu of Lu (r. 407–376 B.C.E.), enjoyed a reputation for frugality and incorruptibility.
116. For another account of this story, see HSWZ 3.21/20/27–3.21/21/2.
117. Laozi 7.
118. Laozi 44.
119. See also HSWZ 7.12/52/16–21.
120. Laozi 39.
121. The word gou in this context refers to a kind of double-edged, slightly curved, sicklelike weapon. For an illustration, see Meng Jianmin and Zhang Lin, Awakened: Qin ’s Terra-Cotta Army (Xi’an: Shaanxi Travel & Tourism Press, 2001), 113.
122. Laozi 23.
123. Marquis Hu of Chong was an adviser to King Djou, the tyrannical last ruler of Shang. He appears in 10.59 as “Marquis Chong.”
124. This recalls a proverb of the era: “Although a hat is old, it is certainly placed on the head [i.e., in a position of honor]; although a pair of shoes is new, it is certainly worn on the feet [i.e., in an inferior position]” (quoted from a court debate recounted in Shiji 121/3122–23, in Sarah A. Queen, From Chronicle to Canon [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996], 18).