by An Liu
If you weigh things by the zhu,47 by the time you reach a dan there is sure to be an error.
If you weigh by the dan and measure by the fathom, it is fast and there will be fewer mistakes. If you inspect by the strand and count by the grains, it is troublesome and there will be no accuracy. Thus,
if you stay on the main track, it is easy to seem wise;
if you get tangled up in tortuous debates, it is hard to seem intelligent.
Thus,
what contributes nothing to government but merely contributes to troublesome detail, the sage will not do.
What contributes nothing to usefulness but merely contributes to expense, the wise refrains from implementing.
Thus,
tasks can never be too specific;
affairs can never be too frugal;
demands can never be too few.
When tasks are specific, they are easy to accomplish;
when affairs are frugal, they are easy to control;
when demands are few, they are easy to satisfy.
If everyone considers them easy, then using them to employ others is easy indeed!
Confucius said,
“Petty disputes destroy discourse;
petty advantage destroys Rightness;
petty Rightness destroys the Way.
If the Way [itself] is petty, then it cannot prevail. If it prevails, it is necessarily simple.” [20/215/4–10]
20.16
Rivers, because they twist and turn like a snake, can be far-reaching;
mountains, because they rise in stages, can be high;
yin and yang, because they do not act purposefully, can be harmonious;
the Way, because it floats aimlessly, can transform.
Now if you
understand [only] one matter,
investigate [only] one proposition,
or master [only] one skill,
you will be able to give a partial explanation, but you will not be able to give a comprehensive response.
If you [can]
arrange the knotweed and smartweed [spices] in rows,
provide the bian and ou [vessels] with trays,48
weigh firewood to kindle a fire,
measure out grain and steam it,
you can manage small [matters], but you will not yet be able to manage large ones.
If you,
in circling, match the compass;
in squaring, match the [carpenter’s] square;
in moving, become bestial;
in stillness, become refined;
you can enjoy dancing, but you cannot yet maneuver an army.
If you
clean the bowls and eat,
wash the goblets and drink,
clean your hands and offer food,
you can nourish the few but not feed the multitudes.
In sacrifices,
the one who slaughters and cooks and skins the dog and roasts the pig, adjusting the five flavors, is the slaughterer.
The one who sets out the vessels of rice and millet, goblets for wine and plates for meat, the bowls of fruit and sweetmeats, is the invoker.49
The one who is uniformly brilliant and splendidly attired, the one who is deeply silent and does not speak, the one on whom the spirits depend, is the impersonator of the dead.50
Even if the slaughterer or the invoker is incompetent, the impersonator of the dead does not step over the beakers and meat stands to replace him.51
Thus,
in stringing the se, the shorter strings are tight and the longer strings are loose.52
In attending to affairs, the lowly toil and the noble remain idle.
When Shun was the Son of Heaven, he plucked the five-stringed qin and chanted the poems of the “Southern Airs,”53 and thereby governed the world.
Before the Duke of Zhou had gathered provisions or taken the bells and drums from their suspension cords, the four Yi tribes submitted.54
Zheng of Zhao [Qin Shihuangdi] by day decided lawsuits and by night arranged documents. Law clerks covered and connected the prefectures and counties to investigate and spy, overturning plots and detaining miscreants. He
fortified the five peaks to defend against the Yue [people]
and built the Great Wall to protect against the Hu [tribes].
But
wickedness and lewdness arose,
and robbers and bandits dwelt together in hordes.
The more trouble [he took with] matters, the greater the disorder became. Thus the law is an instrument of government, but it is not [the end] for which one governs. It is as with bows and arrows: they are tools for hitting the bull’s-eye, but they are not the reason one hits the bull’s-eye. [20/215/12–23]
20.17
The Yellow Emperor said,
“Broad and infinite,
[I] follow Heaven’s Way,
and my qi is identical with the Origin.”55
Thus,
those who identify their qi [with the Origin] are emperors;
those who identify their Rightness [with the Origin] are kings;
those who identify their strength [with the Origin] are hegemons,
those who lack even one of these attributes are lost.
Thus when a ruler has a firm intention of attacking [another state],
village dogs bark in packs,
roosters crow at night,
weapons in the storehouse stir,
and the war horses are alarmed.
If now the anger dissipates and the troops are demobilized,
the elderly sleep sweetly in their homes;
the lanes are devoid of [disgruntled] crowds;
and no calamity arises.
Such things are not responses to the law but are stirrings of the Quintessential qi.
Thus if you
do not speak, yet you are trustworthy,
do not act, yet you are Humane,
do not feel anger, yet you are awe-inspiring,
this is a case of your Heavenly Heart having moved and transformed [others].
If you
act and you are Humane,
speak and you are trustworthy,
feel angry and you are awe-inspiring,
this is a case of your Quintessential Sincerity having moved [others].
If you
act but you are not Humane,
speak but you are not trustworthy,
feel angry but you are not awe-inspiring,
this is a case of something external having caused it.
Thus,
If you rule by having the Way, although the laws be few, they will be enough to transform [the people];
if you act without the Way, though the laws be many, they will be [only] enough to cause disorder. [20/215/25–20/216/3]
20.18
In governing the self,
it is best to nurture the spirit.
The next best is to nurture the body.
In governing the state,
it is best to nurture transformation.
The next best is to correct the laws.
A clear spirit and a balanced will,
the hundred joints all in good order,
constitute the root of nurturing vitality.
To fatten the muscles and skin,
to fill the bowel and belly,
to satiate the lusts and desires,
constitute the branches of nurturing vitality.
If the people
yield to one another and compete to dwell humbly;
delegate benefit and compete to receive scantily,
work at tasks and compete to follow arduously,
daily transformed by their superiors and moved to goodness without realizing the means by which they came to be so, this is the root of government.
With beneficial rewards to encourage goodness
and fearful punishments to prevent misdeeds,
laws and ordinances corrected above
and the common people submitting b
elow:
these are the branches of government.
Earlier generations nurtured the root, but later generations served the branches. This is why Great Peace does not arise. Now a ruler who desires to govern well does not appear in every age, and a minister who can accompany a ruler in initiating good government does not appear once in ten thousand [officials]. To rely on a minister who does not appear once in ten thousand to seek out a ruler who does not appear in every age is the reason why they do not meet once in ten thousand years! [20/216/5–10]
20.19
The nature of water
is to be saturating and clear.
In valleys where it is stagnant
and gives birth to green algae,
[that results from] not controlling it [according to] its nature. If you make channels where it flows and deepen the flow or build up where it [threatens to] flood through and raise [its level], you will enable it to move in compliance with its natural propensity, moving along and flowing onward. Though carrion and rotten bones flow and mix with the water, they cannot pollute it. The nature [of water] is not different; it is just a matter of whether it can flow through [a channel] or not flow through.
Customs and habits are like this. If [the ruler’s] sincerity
floods through to goodness of will,
builds embankments against depravity of heart,
opens up the road to goodness
and blocks the path to wickedness,
then likewise [sincerity] emerges into a single Way, [so that] the people’s nature can become good and customs and habits can be beautified. [20/216/12–15]
20.20
The reason why we respect Bian Que is not because he could prescribe medicines in accordance with the illnesses but because he could lay a hand on the breath and feel the pulse of the blood and understand from where illness derives.
The reason why we respect sages is not because they set punishments in accordance with the nature of the crime but because they know from where disorder arises.
If you do not cultivate [the people’s] customs and habits yet give them free rein to fall into excess and depravity, and then you pursue them with punishments and restrain them with laws, though you maim and plunder [everyone in] the world, you will not be able to stop them.
Yu arose, Xia reigned;
Jie arose, Xia was lost.
Tang arose, Yin reigned;
Djou arose, Yin was lost.
It was not that laws and measures did not exist. [Rather], the cord and netting of [good order] were not extended, and so customs and habits deteriorated. [20/216/17–21]
20.21
The laws of the Three Dynasties are not lost. If an age is not well governed, it is because [rulers] lack the wisdom of the Three Dynasties.
The six double pitch pipes all exist. If no one hears them, it is because they lack the ear of Music Master Kuang.
Thus
though laws exist, they must await a sage and only then can there be good government.
Though pitch pipes are complete, they must await an ear and only then can they be heard.
Thus,
the reason why a state survives is not because it has laws but because it has worthies.
The reason why a state perishes is not because it has no laws but because it has no sages.
Duke Xian of Jin wanted to attack Yu, but Gong Zhiqi56 was there. Because of this, Duke Xian could not sleep at night and found his food tasteless, yet he still dared not send in his soldiers. He made gifts of precious jades and fine horses. Gong Zhiqi remonstrated [with the ruler of Yu] but was not heeded. When his words were not put into practice, Gong Zhiqi crossed the border and left the state. Xun Xi attacked, and his soldiers, without bloodying their blades, seized the treasures and led the horses back to Jin. Thus
preserving a state does not depend on whether the moats and walls are firm and strong;
the success of an attack does not depend on a vehicle with a battering ram that can break down walls.
Rather, it is a matter of having a worthy or losing him.
Thus,
Zang Wuzhong57 used his wisdom to preserve Lu, and no one in the world could cause it to fall.
Qu Boyu used his Humaneness to keep Wey intact, and no one in the world could threaten it.
The Changes says,
“Luxuriant is the mansion,
impoverished the family.
Peer through the gate:
The solitude of no one there.”58
“No one there” does not refer to the multitudes of the common people. It means that there is no sage to govern the inherent patterns of things. [20/216/23–20/217/2]
20.22
If the people have no honesty and shame, they cannot be governed well.
If they do not cultivate Propriety and Rightness, honesty and shame will not be established.
If the people do not know Propriety and Rightness, the laws cannot rectify [them].
If they do not esteem the good and reject the wicked, they cannot incline toward Propriety and Rightness.
Without laws, you cannot create good government,
and without knowing Propriety and Rightness, you cannot implement laws.
The laws can execute the unfilial, but they cannot inspire people to achieve the conduct of Confucius and Zengzi.
The laws can punish robbers, but they cannot inspire people to achieve the honesty of Bo Yi.
Confucius’s disciples numbered seventy, and they supported three thousand followers. All were filial when inside their households and brotherly when outside their households. Their speech was refined and elegant, and their conduct was ceremonious and exemplary. This was accomplished through education.
Those who served Mozi numbered one hundred and eighty. He could send them all to walk through fire and tread on blades, face death, and not turn their heels [to flee]. This was brought about by [the process of] transformation.
Now,
to slice through muscle and flesh
and puncture skin and hide,
making wounds so that blood flows, is extremely difficult [to bear]. But the people of Yue do it to seek glory.59
When a sage king is in power, he
clarifies likes and dislikes to instruct the people;
sets out criticism and praise to guide the people;
admires the worthy and promotes them;
derides the unworthy and demotes them.
He does not suffer the hardship of being wounded and bleeding yet enjoys a lofty reputation that is respected and manifest [through the ages]. Who among the people would not follow him? [20/217/4–11]
20.23
In ancient times,
laws were established, but they were not violated;
punishments were elaborated, but they were not used.
It is not the case that they could punish but did not punish.
The hundred kinds of artisans adhered to the seasons, and their many achievements were, without exception, brilliant. Propriety and Rightness were cultivated, and the worthy and the virtuous were employed. Thus they promoted
the loftiest in the world to become the Three Dukes,60
the loftiest in the state to become the Nine Ministers,61
the loftiest in the counties to become the twenty-seven grandees,
and the loftiest in the prefectures to become the eighty-one functionaries.
Those whose knowledge surpassed ten thousand men were called “talented”;
those whose knowledge surpassed a thousand men were called “eminent”;
those whose knowledge surpassed a hundred men were called “brave”;
those whose knowledge surpassed ten men were called “prominent.”
Those who
understood the Way of Heaven,
investigated the patterns of Earth,
penetrated human feelings,
whose greatness sufficed to accommodate the multitudes,
whose Moral Potency sufficed to embrac
e the distant,
whose trustworthiness sufficed to unify heterogeneity,
and whose knowledge sufficed to understand alteration
were the “talented” among men.
Those whose
Moral Potency sufficed to transform [the people] through education,
conduct sufficed to accord with Rightness,
Humaneness sufficed to win the multitudes,
and brilliance sufficed to illuminate those below
were the “eminent” among men.
Those whose
conduct sufficed to be ceremonious and exemplary,
knowledge sufficed to resolve deceptive resemblances,
honesty enabled them to distribute resources,
trustworthiness enabled them to inspire [others] to honor their commitments,
accomplished deeds could be emulated,
and spoken words could be used for guidance
were the “brave “among men.
Those who
held to their duties and did not abandon them,
dwelled in Rightness and were not partisan,
encountered hardships and did not illicitly avoid them,
and perceived advantages and did not illicitly gain from them
were the “prominent” among men.
The “talented,” “eminent,” “brave,” and “prominent” each in accordance with their degree of ability occupied their official position and attained what was appropriate to each.
From the root flowing to the branches, using the heavy to control the light,
when the ruler called, the people harmonized;
when the ruler moved, the lowly followed.
Within the Four Seas, all submitted with a single mind, turning their backs on greed and avarice and turning toward Humaneness and Rightness. In transforming the people, they resembled the wind stirring the grasses and trees, leaving nothing unaffected.62 [20/217/13–22]
20.24
Now,
if the foolish educate the wise
and the unworthy lead the worthy,
even if punishments and penalties are made harsher, the people will not follow them.
The small cannot prevail over the great;
the weak cannot dominate the strong.
Thus, the sagely ruler promotes the worthy in order to establish merit, [while] the unworthy ruler promotes those whose views are the same as his own.
King Wen promoted Grand Duke Wang63 and Duke Shi of Zhao and became king.
Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong and Xi Peng64 and became hegemon.