by An Liu
Now if things first have what is natural to them, afterward human affairs can be governed.
Thus,
a fine carpenter cannot carve metal,
and a skillful blacksmith cannot melt wood.
The propensity of metal is that it cannot be carved,
and the nature of wood is that it cannot be melted.
You can
mold clay into a vessel,
gouge out wood and make a boat,
forge iron and make a blade,
cast metal and make a bell.
By following their [inherent] possibilities,
you can
drive a horse and lead an ox,
use a rooster to announce night’s end,
and tell a dog to guard the gate—
because it follows their natures.
People have a nature that is fond of sex, so there is the ceremony of marriage.
They have a nature that [requires] food and drink, so there is the suitability of a great banquet.
They have a nature that delights in music, so there are the sounds of bells, drums, pipes, and strings.
They have a nature to grieve and be melancholy, so there are the customs of wearing mourning clothes, crying, and jumping about [at funerals].
Therefore, the institutions and laws of the former kings followed what the people liked but [also] established controls and civilizing [restrictions] for them.
Following along with people’s fondness for sex, they set up the rites of marriage so men and women could be [properly] separated.
Following along with their delight in music, they rectified the sounds of the “Ya” and “Song”24 so that habits and customs would not be unrestrained.
Following along with their preference to live as families and find joy in their wives and children, they taught filial piety25 so that fathers and sons would be affectionate.
Following along with their delight in friendship, they taught brotherly love so that older and younger would be in proper standing with each other.
Only after this did they
use court ceremonies to clarify high rank and low
and use rural libations26 and archery contests to clarify adulthood and youth.
In season, [the youths] held exercises to practice using weapons or entered school according to their station to learn to cultivate the arts of human relations.
These all are cases in which people already possessed [qualities] by nature, which sages fashioned and completed. [20/212/7–19]
Thus if the nature is not there, it is not possible to educate or train [a person]. If the nature is there but has not been nurtured, he cannot follow the Way.
It is the nature of the silkworm to make silk, but unless you have a skilled female worker to boil the cocoon in hot water and draw its filaments, there can be no silk.
An egg transforms into a chick, but unless you have a mother hen to sit on and warm the egg and brood it for several days, it cannot produce a chick.
Human nature is endowed with Humaneness and Rightness, but unless you have a sage to institute laws and standards to teach and guide them, people will not be able to find the correct path.
Thus the teaching of the former kings was
to follow what people delight in so as to encourage goodness and
to follow what people hate so as to prohibit wickedness. Thus,
punishments and penalties were not used, but awe-inspiring conduct seemed to flow forth [everywhere].
Policies and ordinances were limited, but their transforming brilliance [pervaded] as if they were spiritlike.
Thus if you follow nature, the whole world will come along with you. If you go against nature, even if you were to publish the laws, it would be of no use. [20/212/21–25]
20.11
In former times, when the Five Thearchs and the Three Kings established their policies and instituted their teachings, they inevitably used the [procedures of] threes and fives.27 What are the [procedures of] threes and fives?
Looking upward, they selected images from Heaven;
looking downward, they selected standards from Earth.
In the middle, they selected models from people.
Thereupon they established the Mingtang audiences and carried out the Mingtang edicts.
[Looking upward, they]
regulated the qi of yin and yang
and harmonized the nodes28 of the four seasons,
[thereby] avoiding the calamities of illness and fever.
Looking downward, they observed Earth’s patterns in order to devise standards and measures. They investigated the suitability of mountains and plains, rivers and water-meadows, rich and poor land, and high and low areas, setting tasks to generate wealth [and] to eradicate the disasters of hunger and cold. In the middle, they investigated human virtues to devise rites and music and implement the Way of Humaneness and Rightness in order to govern human relations and eradicate the calamities of violence and disorder.
Thereupon they clarified and outlined the [respective] natures of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth in order to establish the affection [that should prevail] between fathers and sons so as to perfect the family. They distinguished the high and low sounds of the five tones and the numerology of the mutual production of the six double pitch-pipe notes29 in order to establish the Rightness [that should prevail between] rulers and minister so as to perfect the state. They studied the successive order of the four seasons in order to establish the propriety [that should prevail between] elders and the young so as to perfect bureaucratic rank. This all is called “threes.”
To regulate the Rightness of ruler and ministers, the affection of fathers and sons, the distinction of husbands and wives, the precedence of elder and younger, the intimacy of friends—this is called “fives.”
Thereupon [sage-kings]
parceled out the land and made provinces for them [i.e., the people],
divided up official duties and governed them,
built walled cities and [made] residences for them,
partitioned neighborhoods and differentiated them,
divided up wealth and clothed and fed them,
set up academies and taught and instructed them,
woke them up early and rested them late, to employ and exert them.
These are the cords and netting of government. That being so, if they obtain the right people they will succeed; if they fail to obtain them, they will lose.
Thus when [the sage] Yao ruled the world, his governance and instruction were fair, and his Moral Potency was saturating and enriching. He was on the throne for seventy years and then sought a successor to rule the world. He sent orders to [all within] the four [sacred] mountains to recommend those who were low ranking but promising. [All within] the four [sacred] mountains selected Shun and introduced him to Yao. Yao married his two daughters to Shun to see how he would [manage] his inner [household]. Then he put him in charge of a hundred officials to see how he would manage external [affairs]. [Once] when Shun went into a thick forest, there were fierce winds with thunder and rain, but Shun did not lose his way. Then Yao entrusted his nine sons to Shun, gave him the Zhaohua jade, and turned over the world to him. He considered that even though there were laws and regulations, [Dan] Zhu30 was not capable of being his successor. [20/212/27–20/213/10]
20.12
Now there are no things that
only grow and never diminish,
only succeed and never fail.
Only sages can
flourish and not decline and
be full and not insufficient.
When the Divine Farmer first made a qin [stringed instrument], it was in order to make people return to their spirits, suppress lewdness, and revert to their Heavenly Heart. By the age of decline, [their excesses] flowed, and they did not revert [to their Heavenly Heart]. People became lewd and [too] fond of sex, so that the state perished.
When Kui31 first made music, he harmonized the six doubl
e pitch pipes and tuned the pentatonic notes in order to conduct the eight winds [from all directions]. By the age of decline, [people indulged in] drunkenness and lewdness. No one paid attention to government, so that the state was wiped out.
When Cang Jie first created writing, it was to admonish and govern all the officials and bring order to the myriad affairs. Foolish people took advantage of writing to not forget things, and the wise took advantage of it to record the affairs [of state]. By the age of decline, the wicked used it to inscribe falsehoods in order to free those who deserved punishment and in order to execute those who were not guilty.
When Tang first built hunting parks, it was so he might furnish himself with rare viands to sacrifice in the ancestral temple, as well as to drill his officers and nobles in practicing archery and charioteering so as to guard against the unexpected [i.e., invasions]. By the age of decline, people careened about [in chariots] chasing [game] and shooting arrows, wasting the common people’s time and exhausting their energy.
When Yao elevated Yu, Xie, Lord Millet, and Gao Yao,
government and education became equitable;
wickedness and villainy abated;
punishments and lawsuits ceased;
and clothing and food sufficed.
Worthies exerted themselves to do good, and the untalented embraced their Moral Potency. When [theage] came to an end, [officials] formed factions and cabals. Each[supported] only his own kind. They abandoned the common good and chased after personal gain. [People] outside [the court] and within [the palace] promoted one another. Wicked people occupied the court, and worthies went to live in seclusion. [20/213/12–20]32
The Way of Heaven and Earth [is such that]
when [things reach an extreme], then there is a reversal.33
When [something becomes] full, then there is an emptying.
The five colors, however bright, in time will fade. Flourishing trees and abundant grasses in time will decay. Things have [both] abundance and extinction; they cannot always stay the same.
Thus sages,
when affairs reach their limits, modify actions;
when laws grow corrupt, modify regulations.
It is not as if it gives them joy to alter ancient [practices] or to change constant rules, but [they do it] to save [their state] from defeat and ward off decline. They do away with lewdness and put a stop to wrongdoing in order to synchronize with the qi of Heaven and Earth and comply with what is appropriate for the ten thousand things. [20/213/22–25]
20.13
The sage
covers like Heaven, upholds like Earth,
illuminates like the sun and moon,
harmonizes like yin and yang,
transforms like the four seasons,
[treats] the myriad things all differently,
is without precedent or novelty,
is without stranger or kin.
Thus [the sage] takes Heaven as his model.
Heaven does not have [only] a single season;
Earth does not have [only] a single benefit;
humankind does not have [only] a single affair.
Therefore,
various undertakings cannot but have multiple origins;
hurried steps cannot but take different directions.
The Five Phases are of different qi, but all are harmonious.
The Six Arts are of different categories, but all are connected.
Warmth and kindness, gentleness and goodness, are the influences of the Odes;
purity and grandeur, nobility and generosity, are the teachings of the Documents;
clarity and brilliance, perception and penetration, are the norms of the Changes;
deference and self-control, respect and humility, are the behaviors of the Rites;
broad-mindedness and magnanimity, simplicity and easiness, are the transforming [qualities] of the Music;34
reprimands and critiques, blame and appraisal, are the polishing cloths of the Spring and Autumn [Annals].
Thus [if relied on exclusively],
the shortcoming of the Changes is superstition;
the shortcoming of the Music is lewdness;
the shortcoming of the Odes is foolishness;
the shortcoming of the Documents is rigidity,
the shortcoming of the Rites is stubbornness, and
the shortcoming of the Spring and Autumn is censoriousness.35
The sage uses [all] six in conjunction and both prizes and institutes them.
If [the sage] loses their root, there will be disorder;
if he acquires their root, there will be order.
The beauty [of these classics] lies in harmony;
their shortcomings lie in expediency.
Water, fire, metal, wood, earth, and grain differ as things, but all are used.
The compass, the square, the weight, the balance beam, the level, and the marking cord differ in shape, but all are applied.
Cinnabar, verdigris, glue, and lac36 are not identical, but all are used.
Everything has something for which it is appropriate; each thing is suitable for something.
Wheels are round; carriage boxes are square;
their shafts are parallel; their axles are crosswise—
their propensities function to make them convenient.
The horses at the side of a team want to gallop;
the ones in the middle want to walk.37
The sash can never be new enough;
the belt hook can never be old enough;
if each is properly placed, they are suitable. [20/214/1–10]
[The poem] “Guan ju”38 originated from [the cry of] a bird. The Superior Man praises it because it advocates that the female and the male should not leave their nest.
[The poem] “Lu ming”39 originated from [the cry of] an animal. The Superior Man exalts it because it describes how deer, having found food, call to one another [to share it].
At the battle of Hong, [Song’s] army was defeated and its prince captured. The Spring and Autumn Annals exalts him because he did not attack the enemy before they had set up their formations.
Bo Yi of Song sat in the fire [of a burning palace] and died. The Spring and Autumn Annals exalts her because she would not leave if it meant violating propriety.
For perfecting endeavors and establishing affairs, how can these examples be considered excessive? [Each] points in a single direction and discusses it, but you can derive a general outline from them. [20/214/10–13]
20.14
Wang Qiao and Chi Song
removed themselves from the milieu of polluting filth
and left the dust of the world behind.
They
inhaled the harmony of yin and yang,
imbibed the essence of Heaven and Earth,
breathing out and expelling the stale,
breathing in and inhaling the new.
Dancing in the void they lightly rose up,
riding on clouds and floating on fog.
You could say they nurtured their natures, but you could not call them filial sons.
The Duke of Zhou executed Guan Shu and Cai Shu40 to bring peace to the country and end their rebellion. You could call him a loyal minister, but you could not call him a good brother.
Tang banished [the tyrant] Jie and King Wu of Zhou executed [the tyrant] Djou so as to rid the world of cruelty and do away with evil. You could call them kind rulers, but you could not call them loyal officials.
Yue Yang41 attacked the state of Zhongshan but could not enter it. The rulers of Zhongshan boiled Yue’s son, but Yue Yang ate [the soup] to demonstrate his awesomeness. You could call him a fine general, but you could not call him a loving father.
Thus,
if [the sage] can do [something], he does it;
if he cannot do it, he does not do it.
If he cannot do it, he does not do it;
[but] if he can do it, he does it.42 [20/214/15–20]
Shun an
d Xu You differed in their actions, but both were sages.
Yi Yin and Bo Yi differed in their Ways, but both were Humane.
Jizi and Bi Gan differed in their inclinations, but both were worthies.
Thus when using troops,
some are light,
some are heavy,43
some are greedy,
some are honest.
These four are opposites, yet none can be dispensed with.
Light troops want to advance;
heavy troops want to halt.
Greedy troops want to acquire;
honest troops do not take advantage of what is not theirs.
Thus,
courageous [troops]44 can be ordered to attack but cannot be ordered just to hold a position.
Heavy [troops] can be ordered to hold a position but cannot be ordered to press an attack.
Greedy [troops] can be ordered to advance and seize [a position] but cannot be ordered to defend their post.
Honest [troops] can be ordered to defend their post but cannot be ordered to advance and seize [a position].
Trustworthy [troops] can be ordered to hold fast to their duties but cannot be ordered to respond to alterations.45
These four kinds are opposites. Sages use them all, depending on which is best in [a given] situation. Now,
Heaven and Earth do not embrace just one thing;
yin and yang do not give birth to just one kind.
The sea does not reject rivers and floodwaters and so becomes great.
A mountain does not reject dirt and stones and so becomes high.
If you hold on to one corner but lose the myriad things;
if you select one thing but reject everything else;
then what you gain is little, and what you can control is shallow. [20/214/22– 20/215/2]
20.15
The Way of a person who governs a great state cannot be small;
the regulations of a person whose realm is broad cannot be narrow.
The concerns of a person in a high position cannot be troublesome;
the teachings of a person whose people are numerous cannot be vexatious.
Now,
when matters are trifling, it is difficult to control them;
when laws are complex, it is difficult to implement them;
when demands are numerous, it is difficult to satisfy them.
If you measure something by inches, by the time you reach a fathom46 there is bound to be a discrepancy.