The Huainanzi
Page 88
On account of loyalty, Bi Gan lost his life. [But] being executed is not necessarily due to loyalty.
Thus,
one who is cold shivers;
one who is afraid also shivers.
They are the same in name but differ in substance.
16.110
The Moonglow Pearl came from a cricket oyster.
The great jade tablet of Zhou came from a dirty stone.
The divine tortoise of Dazai came from a city moat.
16.111
The ruler of [a state of] ten thousand chariots wears a hat not worth more than a pennyweight to ride a chariot worth a hundred pieces of gold.
The skin of an ox made into a drum directs the multitudes of the Three Armies.
16.112
Someone who wants to learn songs and ballads must begin with the zhi and yu [tunings] and the yue and feng [classical airs].
Someone who desires beauty and harmony must first start with the [classical compositions] “Yang’a” and “Cailing.”65
In both cases he must study what he does not wish to study in order to get to what he does wish to study.
16.113
To attract cicadas, you try to make your fire bright;
to catch fish, you try to make your bait fragrant.
By making your fire bright, you thereby attract and catch them;
by making your bait fragrant, you thereby lure and profit from them.
If you want to get fish, you must [first] channel water;
if you want to get birds, you must [first] plant trees.
Where water collects, fish abound;
where trees flourish, birds flock.
If you enjoy bow hunting, you start by equipping yourself with bowstrings and arrow shafts;
if you enjoy fishing, you start by equipping yourself with fine-mesh and large-mesh nets.
It is not possible to secure any advantage without having the right equipment.
16.114
When you give someone a horse but [first] take off the harness,
when you give someone a chariot but [first] detach the yoke rings,
what you have kept is [worth] little,
and what you have given away is [worth] a lot.
Thus the peasants have a saying: “If you boil beef without salt, you defeat the purpose.”
16.115
[Tyrant] Jie had some accomplishments.
[The sage] Yao had some departures from the Way.
[The ugly] Mo Mu66 had some beautiful points.
[The great beauty] Xi Shi had some ugly points.
Thus
among the laws of a perished state, there are some that may be followed;
among the customs of a well-governed state, there are some that may be rejected.
16.116
The round and sharp-pointed [ritual] jades,67 placed amid filth and mud, would not be rejected even by a fastidious person.
A worn-out fish trap or rice steamer, placed on felt cushions, would not be taken even by a greedy person.
That in which beauty is present, even if soiled, cannot be disparaged by the ages;
that in which ugliness is present, even if elevated, cannot be valued by the ages.
16.117
If with spring you lend and with fall you tax, the people will be pleased.
If with spring you tax and with fall you lend, the people will be resentful.
The gains and losses are the same, but the happiness and anger are distinct; the seasons make the difference.
16.118
If you “indulge” a fish, you do not catch him but let him dive in the deep;
if you “reward” a monkey, you do not carry him away but let him swing from the trees.
You let them pursue what brings them benefit, that is all.
16.119
Sable fur that is mottled
cannot compare with
fox fur that is uniform.
Thus, people detest nothing more than someone whose conduct is not consistent.
16.120
One who judges horses may miss a [fine] horse, but the fineness of the horse is still there during the judging.
16.121
Now someone sets a fire;
some add fuel to make it burn;
others pour on water to extinguish it.
Before either has had any effect,
the resentment [that follows the one]
and the gratitude [that follows the other]
are already far apart.
16.122
A man from Ying [in Chu] was buying a beam for a house and sought a timber three hand spans in diameter. Someone gave him the axle of a cart. Kneeling down to measure it, he discovered that although it was thick enough, it was not long enough.
16.123
Qu Boyu used Potency to transform;
Gongsun Yang used slicing to punish.
Their goal was the same.
When a sick person is lying on his mat,
what a physician uses are needles and stones;
what a shaman uses are [sacrificial] grain and rushes;
their objectives are compatible.
16.124
The fox-head [plant] cures a rat bite;
the rooster-head [plant] cures a tumor;68
powdered mosquitoes clot blood;
pecked wood cures a toothache.
These are example of things that are extended within like categories.
To use grease to kill a tortoise,
feathered darts to shoot a hedgehog,
ash from rotted wood to breed flies,
[and the fact] that if exposed to the sight of crabs, lacquer will not dry69—
These [are examples of] things that cannot be extended within like categories.
What can be extended or not extended [within categories] resembles what “is not” but [really] is; or what “is” but [really] is not. Who can comprehend their subtleties?
16.125
There are no pure white foxes in the world, and yet there is pure white fox fur; it is put together from many pieces of white fur. A person who loves to study resembles the king of Qi when he ate chicken. He had to eat several tens of chicken feet before he was satisfied.
16.126
A knife is handy for cutting hair, but when it comes to felling a large tree, without an ax you won’t [be able to] cut it down. Thus among cutting implements, there certainly are ones that are appropriate and others that are not.
16.127
If you look at only a square inch of an ox, you will not know that it is bigger than a sheep. But take an overall look at both their bodies, and you will know that the difference between the two is very great.
16.128
If a pregnant woman sees a rabbit, the child will be born with a cleft palate.
If she sees a deer, the baby will have four eyes.
16.129
If a little horse has big eyes, it cannot be called a big horse.
If a big horse has a blind eye, it can be called a blind horse.70
There are things that seem to be so and things that seem not to be so.
Thus,
cut off your finger and you might die;
cut off your arm and you might live.
Categories of like things cannot necessarily be extended.
16.130
If you [want to] sharpen a sword, you must have a soft whetstone.
If you [want to] strike bells and chimestones, you must have a damp wooden mallet.
For the hub of a wheel to be strong, the spokes must be weak.
Two hard things cannot harmonize with each other,
two strong things cannot submit to each other.
Thus [soft] wutong wood can cut horn, and horsehair can cut jade.
16.131
A matchmaker doesn’t [make a point of] studying deception, but when she does her work, it gives rise to untrustworthiness.
A man of upstanding bravery doesn’t [make a point of] study
ing battle, but he bravely takes his stand and gives rise to indomitableness.
Thus,
the Superior Man does not enter a jail because it might harm his kindness;
he does not enter a market because it might harm his purity.
The accumulated [effect of things] cannot be overlooked.
16.132
When [people] walk, they do not use their hands, but if [a person’s] hands are tied, he cannot walk swiftly.
When [birds] fly, they do not use their tails, but if [a bird’s] tail is bent, it cannot fly very far.
In what is used we use what is not used.
Thus,
what is used for seeing does not itself see;
what is used to beat a drum does not itself make a sound.
16.133
By tasting one piece of meat, you can know the flavor of a potful.
By suspending feathers and charcoal [in a balance beam],71 you can know the humidity of the air.
One uses the small to illuminate the large.
By seeing one leaf fall, you can know that the year will soon end;
By noticing ice in a jug, you can know the temperature throughout the world.
One uses the near to assess the far.
16.134
If three people [walk] shoulder to shoulder, they cannot go out the door;
if two people follow each other, they can go anywhere in the world.
16.135
Treading the ground makes footprints [which remain behind];
walking in bright sunlight makes shadows [which do not].
These are easy [to observe] but difficult [to explain].
16.136
When King Zhuang [of Chu] executed [his minister] Li Shi,72 Sunshu Ao mended his [official] cap and laundered his robe.73
Duke Wen [of Jin] discarded his [worn-out] rush mats and [relegated] to the rear those [soldiers] whose faces were blackened [with hardship and age]. Maternal Uncle Fan [therefore] declined to return with him.74
When the mulberry leaves fall, the elderly lament.
16.137
Ordinary cooking pots are used daily but are not of substantial value.
The Zhou royal ding are not used for cooking but cannot be considered valueless.
There certainly are things whose usefulness consists of not being used.
If land is flat, water will not flow;
if the weights are equal, the balance beam will not tilt.
Excessiveness in anything will necessarily provoke a response. Thus there certainly are things that find great use in not being used.
16.138
To undress and then to wash is possible.
To wash and then to undress is not possible.
To sacrifice and then to feast is possible.
To feast and then to sacrifice is not possible.
In the sequence of things, in each case there is [a way] that is proper.
16.139
On the day of a sacrifice, to call someone a son of a bitch;
on one’s wedding night, to mention funeral clothing;
on the day of a wine party, to talk of raising a funeral altar
[is] to cross the Yangzi or the Yellow River and speak of the waves of the marquis of Yang.75
16.140
Someone said, “If one knew that on a certain day there would be a great amnesty, many people would be killed [beforehand].”
Someone else said, “If one knew that on a certain day there would be a great amnesty, many people would stay alive [as a result of it].”
In looking at the amnesty, they were alike, but in considering it beneficial or harmful, they differed.
Thus,
sometimes you blow on a fire and it burns more brightly;
sometimes you blow on a fire and it goes out.
The reason you blow on it differs.
16.141
If someone cooked a cow and feasted his village but then cursed his landlord’s mother,76 not only would his kindness not be repaid, but he would put his life in danger.
16.142
King Wen [of Chu] had a sunken chest.
Bao Shen77 was a hunchback.
Together they brought good government to Chu.
Pi Chen78 became wise when he left the capital; he thereby brought about the success of Zichan’s affairs.79
16.143
A dwarf asked a tall man about heaven. The tall man said, “I don’t know.” The dwarf replied, “Even if you don’t know, you’re still closer than I am.”
Thus whenever you ask about affairs, you must ask someone close to them.
16.144
“Robbers make it hard to get there,” said the lame man to the blind man. The blind man carried [the lame one] and went on his way; they both arrived alive. [This was because] each used his own ability.
To force a mute person to speak or a lame person to walk [would be] to lose [the use of] their actual abilities.
16.145
A man from Ying was going to sell his mother. He said to a [prospective] buyer, “This mother is old. Please feed her well and don’t let [her life] be bitter.” This is to carry out a large offense against Rightness while hoping to perform a small act of Rightness.
16.146
The movement of armored bugs [e.g., mollusks, turtles] facilitates rigidity;
the movement of asexual bugs [e.g., bees and wasps] facilitates poisonous stinging.
The movement of black and brown bears facilitates seizing and grasping;
the movement of rhinos and oxen facilitates butting and goring.
No animals abandon their strong points to use their shortcomings.
16.147
Governing a country is like hoeing a field. One gets rid of harmful plants, that is all.
When one washes, some hairs fall out, but we don’t stop [washing] merely for that reason. What one loses is little and what one gains is much.
16.148
A whetstone is not sharp, but it can sharpen metal.
A bow maker’s frame is not straight, but it can straighten a bow.
Thus there definitely are things
that [although] not straight can make things straight;
that [although] not sharp can make things sharp.
16.149
With strength we value agility;
with knowledge we value acumen.
16.150
When the results are the same, speed is considered superior;
when the triumph is equal, sluggishness is considered inferior.
The reason we value [the great sword] Moye is because it responds to things by cutting sharply and cleanly.
But a doorsill may break suddenly from the constant vibrations of ox carts.
16.151
Although Confucius encountered difficulties in [the borderlands of] Chen and Cai, [for that reason] to abandon the six arts80 would be foolhardy.
Although doctors sometimes are unable to cure their own illnesses, [for that reason] not to use medicine when one falls ill would be rash.
Translated by Sarah A. Queen and John S. Major
1. In Han belief, living humans had two souls: the po , a substantive, earthy, corporeal soul associated with yin, which was buried with the body after death and consumed funerary offerings; and the hun , an ethereal soul associated with yang, which left the body at the time of death. See also 7.6 and 9.2; and chap. 9, n. 2.
2. See 1.6 and 6.1. Here Zhan He is called Zhan Gong; gong must be understood here not as “duke” but as an honorific term for a respected older man.
3. Shen Xi was a man variously said to have been from Zhou or Chu. Having lost his mother when he was young, he was once strangely moved by the song of an old beggar woman. On closer inspection, she turned out to be his long-lost mother. His story is recorded in Lüshi chunqiu 9.5.
4. Hu Ba appears in Xunzi 1. According to Gao You, he was a man of Chu. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1632n.7.
5. Following Lau’s (HNZ, 154n.1) identificat
ion of yin-yu as xun .
6. Bo Ya (also known as ) was a master musician who famously broke his instrument when Zhongzi Qi, the person who most appreciated his music, died. See Lüshi chunqiu 14.2. The story of his effect on horses is recorded in Xunzi 1.
7. Jie Zitui (also known as Jie Zhitui ) was a knight of Jin who accompanied Duke Wen of Jin during his long years in exile but who alone among the duke’s retinue was not rewarded on the latter’s accession to the ducal throne. Many versions of Jiezi Tui’s legend appear in various texts. He is said to have gone as far as cutting off some of his own flesh to feed Duke Wen when provisions had run low and the group was starving. Gao You relates a version of Jie Zitui’s legend (alluded to here in the Huainanzi) in which Jie sang a song comparing himself to a snake that had nurtured and been abandoned by a dragon (i.e., Duke Wen), moving the duke to tears of regret. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1634n.9. Shiji 39 records an alternative version of this story in which Jie writes a snake/dragon poem on the gates of the ducal palace.
8. We omit the next three characters (zhi shen zhe ) as being a stray fragment that does not belong here.
9. That is, the nose and the ears (like wind instruments) rely on both their physical structure and their empty passages to function.
10. King Yuan of Song poses a historiographic puzzle. This name appears in many Warring States and Han texts, but reconstructed chronologies of the period do not seem to accommodate his historicity. Only one Song ruler for whom a clear record exists took the title of king: King Kang of Song (r. 329–286 B.C.E.), the last ruler of Song before its destruction. There was a Duke Yuan of Song (r. 531–517 B.C.E.), but he lived too early to fit plausibly into many of the contexts in which “King Yuan” is evoked in later texts. Qian Mu believes that “King Yuan” may have been a crown prince of Song, son of King Kang, who briefly held the throne during the crisis surrounding the state’s collapse (Xian Qin zhuzi xinian , 2nd ed. [Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1956; repr., Taipei: Dongda, 1990], 402–4). Zhuangzi 26 reports that Lord Yuan (in this case, most likely Duke Yuan) encountered a dream tortoise claiming to be an emissary of the god of the Yangzi on his way to the god of the Yellow River that had been caught in a fisherman’s basket. The ruler summoned the fisherman, retrieved the turtle, and killed it so as to use its shell for prognostication.