The Huainanzi

by An Liu

  give free rein to their desires and indulge their feelings.

  and wish to misappropriate what they lack,

  will be obstructed from the Great Way.

  Now,

  madmen have no anxiety,

  and sages, too, have no anxiety.

  Sages have no anxiety

  because they harmonize by means of Potency,

  whereas madmen have no anxiety

  because they do not know [the difference between] bad and good fortune.

  Thus,

  the non-action of those who fully comprehend [the Way]

  and the non-action of those who are obstructed from [the Way]

  are alike with regard to their non-action

  but differ with regard to the means by which they are non-active.

  Thus, on their behalf, what can be heeded has been brought to the surface, declared, circulated, and explained, thereby inspiring scholars to diligently appropriate [these principles] for themselves. [21/226/9–13]

  “The Exalted Lineage”

  traverses the eight end points,

  extends to the highest heights,

  illuminates the three luminaries above,

  and harmonizes water and earth below.

  It aligns the Way of past and present,

  orders the hierarchy of human relationships and patterns,

  summarizes the tenets of the myriad regions,

  and returns them home to a single root,

  thereby

  knotting the net of the Way of Governance

  and weaving the web of the affairs of the True King.20

  [It] then

  traces to the source the techniques of the mind,

  sets in order instinct and nature,

  and thereby

  provides a lodging place for the numen of Clarity and Equanimity.

  It clarifies and purifies the quintessence of spirit illumination,

  thereby enfolding and cleaving to the harmony of Heaven.

  It provides the means to observe how the Five Thearchs and the Three Kings

  embraced the heavenly qi,

  cherished the Heavenly Heart,

  and grasped centrality and savored harmony.

  Their Moral Potency having taken shape within [them],

  it then cohered Heaven and Earth,

  issued forth and aroused yin and yang,

  ordered the four seasons,

  rectified the changeable directions,

  calmed things with its tranquillity,

  and extended them with its efficaciousness.

  [Their Moral Potency] then thereby

  fired and smelted the myriad things,21

  buoyed up and transformed the innumerable life forms,

  singing forth, they harmonized,

  moving about, they followed along,

  so that all things within the Four Seas with a single mind unanimously offered their allegiance.

  Thus,

  lucky stars appeared,

  auspicious winds arrived,

  the Yellow Dragon descended,

  phoenix nests lined the trees,

  and the qilin tarried in the open fields.

  Had Moral Potency not taken shape within [them],

  yet their laws and tributes were implemented,

  and their regulations and measures were employed exclusively,

  then the spirits and divinities would not have responded to them;

  good fortune and blessings would not have returned home to them;

  all things within the Four Seas would not have submitted to them;

  and subjects would not have been transformed by them.

  Thus,

  Moral Potency that takes shape within

  is the great foundation of governance.

  This is [the message of] “The Exalted Lineage” of the Profoundly Illustrious.22 [21/226/15–21]

  21.3

  In all, these interconnected writings are the means to focus on the Way and remove obstructions, enabling succeeding generations to know what is appropriate to uphold or abandon and what is suitable to endorse or reject.

  Externally, when they interact with things, they will not be bewildered;

  internally, they will possess the means to lodge their spirit and nourish their qi.

  They will take ease in and merge with utmost harmony, delighting themselves in what they have received from Heaven and Earth.

  Therefore,

  Had we discussed the Way [“Originating in the Way”]23 and not illuminated ends and beginnings [“Activating the Genuine”],

  you would not know the models to follow.

  Had we discussed ends and beginnings and not illuminated Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons [“Celestial Patterns,” “Terrestrial Forms,” and “Seasonal Rules,” respectively],

  you would not know the taboos to avoid.

  Had we discussed Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons and not introduced examples and elucidated categories,

  you would not recognize the subtleties of the Quintessential qi [“Surveying Obscurities”].

  Had we discussed the Utmost Essence and not traced to its source the spiritlike qi of human beings,

  you would not know the mechanism by which to nourish your vitality [“Quintessential Spirit”].

  Had we traced to their source the genuine dispositions of human beings and not discussed the Potency of the great sages,

  you would not know the [human] shortcomings associated with the Five Phases [“The Basic Warp”].

  Had we discussed the Way of the [Five] Thearchs and not discussed the affairs of the ruler,

  you would not know the proper order distinguishing the small from the great [“The Ruler’s Techniques”].

  Had we discussed the affairs of the ruler and not provided precepts and illustrations,

  you would not know the times for taking action or remaining still [“Profound Precepts”].

  Had we discussed precepts and illustrations and not discussed alterations in customs,

  you would not know how to coordinate and equate their main tenets. [“Integrating Customs”].

  Had we discussed alterations in customs and not discussed past events,

  you would not know the responses of the Way and its Potency [“Responses of the Way”].

  To know the Way and its Potency but not know the perversions of the age,

  you would lack the means to accommodate yourself to the myriad aspects of the world [“Boundless Discourses”].

  To know “Boundless Discourses” but not know “Sayings Explained,”

  you would lack the means to take your ease.

  To comprehend writings and compositions but not know the tenets of military affairs,

  you would lack the means to respond to [enemy] troops [“An Overview of the Military”].

  To know grand overviews but not know analogies and illustrations,

  you would lack the means to clarify affairs by elaboration [“A Mountain of Persuasions” and “A Forest of Persuasions”].

  To know the Public Way but not know interpersonal relations,

  you would lack the means to respond to ill and good fortune [“Among Others”].

  To know interpersonal relations but not know “Cultivating Effort,”

  you would lack the means to inspire scholars to exert their utmost strength.

  Should you desire

  to forcibly abridge this composition

  by observing and summarizing only its essentials

  without traveling its winding paths and entering its subtle domains, this will not suffice to exhaust the meanings of the Way and its Potency.

  Therefore, we composed [these] writings in twenty chapters. Thereby

  the patterns of Heaven and Earth are thoroughly examined;

  the affairs of the human realm are comprehensively engaged;

  and the Way of [the Five] Thearchs and [Three] Kings is fully described.

  Their discussions are

 
sometimes detailed and sometimes general,

  sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious.

  The tenets advanced in each chapter are different,

  and each has a reason for being expressed.

  Now, if we spoke exclusively of the Way, there would be nothing that is not contained in it. Nevertheless, only sages are capable of grasping its root and thereby knowing its branches. At this time, scholars lack the capabilities of sages, and if we do not provide them with detailed explanations,

  then to the end of their days they will flounder in the midst of darkness and obscurity

  without knowing the great awakening brought about by these writings’ luminous and brilliant techniques. [21/226/23–21/227/4]

  Now, the “Qian” and “Kun” [trigrams] of the Changes suffice to comprehend the Way and disclose its meanings. With the eight trigrams you can understand the inauspicious and auspicious and know bad and good fortune. Nevertheless, Fu Xi made them into the sixty-four permutations24 [i.e., hexagrams], and the house of Zhou added six line-texts to each of the hexagrams, and these are the means to

  trace to the source and fathom the Way of Purity and Clarity

  and grasp and follow the Ancestor of the myriad things.

  The number of the five notes does not exceed gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. Nevertheless, you cannot play them all on the [unstopped] five strings of a qin. You must control and harmonize the fine and thick strings, and only then can you produce a melody.

  Now, if you draw only the head of a dragon, those observing it will not be able to identify what animal it is. But if you add the body, there will be no confusion as to the animal’s identity.

  Now,

  if our references to the “Way” were numerous,

  [but] if our references to “things” were few;

  if our references to “techniques” were extensive,

  [but] if our references to “affairs” were superficial,

  and we extended this [throughout] our discussions,

  we would be left speechless.

  Anyone who intended to study this

  and who firmly wished to build on it, would [also] find himself with nothing to say. [21/227/6–11]

  Now,

  discussions about the Way are surpassingly profound;

  therefore, we have written many compositions on it [i.e., the Way] to reveal its true qualities.

  The myriad things are surpassingly numerous;

  therefore we have broadly offered explanations of them to communicate their significance.

  Though these compositions may be

  winding and endless,

  complicated and slow going,

  intertwined and numerous,

  and distant and dawdling,

  in order to distill and purify their utmost meaning and ensure that they are neither opaque nor impenetrable, we have retained them and not discarded them.

  Now, although the debris and putrid carcasses floating in the Yangzi and Yellow rivers cannot be surpassed in number, nevertheless those who offer sacrifices draw water from them. [This is because] the rivers are so large.

  Although a cup of wine may be sweet, if a fly is immersed in it, even commoners will not drink it. [This is because] the cup is so small.

  If you sincerely comprehend the discussions in these twenty chapters, you will thereby

  observe their general patterns and grasp their essentials,

  penetrate the Nine Fields,

  pass through the Ten Gates,

  externalize Heaven and Earth,

  and extend beyond the mountains and rivers.

  Wandering and ambling through the span of a single age,

  governing and fashioning the forms of the Myriad Things,

  surely this is an excellent journey! This being the case,

  you will clasp the sun and the moon without being burned,

  and you will anoint the myriad things without drying up.

  How ample! How lucid!

  It is enough to read this [alone]!

  How far-reaching and vast! How boundless!

  Here you may wander! [21/227/13–18]

  21.4

  In the age of King Wen,

  [the Shang tyrant] Djou became the Son of Heaven.

  Taxes and levies had no measures,

  and executions and killings had no end.

  [Djou] indulged himself in sensual pleasures

  and drowned himself in intoxicating liquors.

  Inside his palace compound, he constructed a public market

  and created the punishment of the roasting beam.

  [He] dismembered one who remonstrated with him25

  and cut out the fetus from a pregnant woman.

  The world shared the same mind in condemning him.

  King Wen, however, with the accumulated goodness of four generations, cultivated Moral Potency and practiced Rightness as he dwelled in the region of Qizhou. Though his territory was no more than one hundred li square, two-thirds26 of the world gave allegiance to him. King Wen hoped that by means of humility and softness, he would restrain the powerful and violent and thereby rid the world of brutality and cleanse it of tyranny and plundering to establish the Kingly Way. Thus, the Strategies of the Grand Duke27 were born. [21/227/20–23]

  When King Wen’s work was left unfinished,

  King Wu continued his efforts.

  Employing the strategies of the Grand Duke,

  he mobilized a small contingent of troops28

  and personally donned battle armor and helmet

  to chastise the impious and punish the unjust. He vanquished the enemy troops at Muye29 and thereby ascended to the position of Son of Heaven. At that time,

  the world was not yet settled,

  and the lands within the seas were not yet calmed.

  Yet King Wu hoped that by illuminating the exceptional Moral Potency of King Wen, he might inspire the Yi and Di [tribes]30 each to come and pay tribute with their respective riches. Since those from the most distant lands had not yet arrived, King Wu decreed three years of mourning and entombed King Wen in a state chamber where his remains awaited those from these distant regions.

  King Wu was on the throne for three years and then expired. His son King Cheng was still in his infancy [when his father died], and he was not yet able to attend to the affairs [of governance]. Cai Shu and Guan Shu31 backed Prince Lufu [heir of the tyrant Djou], and they wanted to foment a rebellion. The Duke of Zhou,32 however, continued the efforts of King Wen. He preserved the governance of the Son of Heaven by aiding and supporting the Zhou household and assisting King Cheng.

  Fearing that if the path of war were not quelled,

  then ministers and subjects might imperil the sovereign,

  he consequently

  retired his war horses to Mount Hua,

  pastured his war oxen in Peach Grove,

  destroyed his war drums and snapped his war drumsticks,33

  and taking up the tablet of a minister, he held forth in audience,

  thereby placating and settling the royal household

  and calming and comforting the Lords of the Land.

  When King Cheng came of age and could attend to the affairs of governance, the Duke of Zhou was enfeoffed in [the state of] Lu where he modified the prevailing habits and changed the local customs.

  Confucius

  cultivated the Way of [Kings] Cheng and Kang,

  and transmitted the teachings of the Duke of Zhou,

  thereby

  instructing his seventy disciples

  and inspiring them to don the robes and caps [of officialdom]

  and administer the documents and records. Thus, the learning of the Confucians was born. [21/227/25–21/228/2]

  Master Mo

  studied the work of the Confucians34

  and received the techniques of Confucius.

  [However,] he regarded

  their rituals to be worrisome and inappropriate,

  their lavish fune
rals to be wasteful of resources, impoverishing the people,

  while their lengthy mourning periods harmed life and impeded undertakings.

  Thus, Master Mo rejected the Way of the Zhou dynasty and used the regulations of the Xia dynasty.35

  In the age of Yu,36 when the world was engulfed by a great flood, Yu personally

  took up basket and spade, and putting [the interests of] the people first, he

  dredged the Yellow River and channeled its nine tributaries;

  bored out the Yangzi River and opened up its nine channels;

  scooped out the five lakes and settled [the boundaries of] the Eastern Sea.

  At that time,

  since the burning heat was unrelenting,

  and since the inundating dampness was unabsorbed,

  those who died in the highlands were buried in the highlands;

  [whereas] those who died in the marshes were buried in the marshes.37

  Thus, economizing expenditures, frugal burials, and brief mourning periods were born. [21/228/4–7]

  In the age of Duke Huan of Qi,38

  the Son of Heaven was debased and weak;

  the Lords of the Land were violent and aggressive.

  The Southern Yi and Northern Di [tribes]

  in succession invaded the Central States,

  and the continuity of the Central States hung by a thread.

  The territory of the Qi kingdom was

  sustained by the sea to the east

  and barricaded by the Yellow River to the north.

  Though its territory was narrow and its cultivated fields were sparse,

  the people were very intelligent and resourceful.

  Duke Huan was

  vexed by the calamities of the Central States

  and embittered by the rebellions of the Yi and Di [tribes].

  He hoped that by preserving those whose kingdoms had perished and by continuing those whose bloodlines had been cut off,

  the prestige of the Son of Heaven would be restored,

  and the efforts of Kings Wen and Wu would be expanded.

  Thus the writings of Master Guan39 were born. [21/228/9–11]

  Duke Jing of Qi40

  enjoyed music and sex while inside his palace

  and enjoyed dogs and horses while outside his palace.

  When hunting and shooting, he would forget to return home.

  When enjoying sex, he did so indiscriminately.

  He built a terrace with a magnificent bedroom

  and cast a grand bell.

  When it was struck in the audience hall,