Bao Pu Zi Wai Pian (抱朴子外篇) · Volume 11

抱朴子曰：理盡者不可責有餘，一至者不可求兼濟。故洪濤之末，不能蕩浮萍；沖風之後，不能颺輕塵；勁弩之餘力，不能洞霧縠；西頹之落暉，不能照山東。

Baopuzi said: A principle spent cannot be charged with surplus; a single aim cannot be asked to compass all. So the tail of a great billow cannot toss the duckweed; the wake of a whirlwind cannot raise light dust; the spent force of a stout crossbow cannot pierce misty gauze; the falling light of the sinking sun cannot shine east of the mountains.

抱朴子曰：懸象雖薄蝕，不可以比螢燭之貞耀；黃河雖混渾，不可以方沼沚之清澄。山雖崩，猶峻於丘垤；虎雖瘠，猶猛於豺狼。

Baopuzi said: The hung images, though eclipsed and waning, cannot be matched by the firefly's faithful gleam; the Yellow River, though turbid and mixed, cannot be matched by the pool's clear stillness. A mountain, though fallen, still towers over mounds; a tiger, though gaunt, is still fiercer than jackals and wolves.

抱朴子曰：神農不九疾，則四經之道不垂；大禹不胼胝，則玄珪之慶不集。故久憂為厚樂之本，暫勞為永逸之始。

Baopuzi said: Had Shennong not passed through nine bouts of sickness, the way of the four canons would not have come down; had Great Yu not worn calluses on his hands, the felicity of the dark scepter would not have gathered. So long sorrow is the root of thick joy; brief toil is the beginning of lasting ease.

抱朴子曰：金鉤桂餌雖珍，而不能制九淵之沈鱗；顯寵豐祿雖貴，而不能致無慾之幽人。故呂梁有鵠立之夫，河湄繁伐檀之民。玉帛徒集於子陵之巷，蒲輪虛反於徐生之門。

Baopuzi said: A golden hook with cassia bait may be precious, yet it cannot master the sunken fish in the ninefold deep; illustrious favor and rich emolument may be noble, yet they cannot summon the hidden man who has no desires. So at Lüliang there are men standing tall as swans, and on the riverbanks many folk cutting sandalwood. Jade and silk gathered in vain in Ziling's lane; the rush-wheeled carriage returned empty from Master Xu's gate.

抱朴子曰：觀聽殊好，愛憎難同。鳥睹西施而驚逝，魚鱉聞九韶而深沈。故兗藻之粲煥，不能悅裸鄉之目；辨菱之清音，不能快楚隸之耳。古公之仁，不能喻欲地之狄；端木之辯，不能釋繫馬之庸。

Baopuzi said: What sight and hearing delight in differ; love and hate are hard to make the same. Birds were startled and fled at the sight of Xishi; fish and turtles sank deep at hearing the Nine Shao. So the splendor of embroidered ornaments cannot delight the eyes of the land of the naked; the limpid grace of water-chestnut songs cannot gladden the ears of Chu menials. Gugong's benevolence could not make the Di who coveted his land understand; Duanmu's eloquence could not unbind the menial who tied up the horse.

抱朴子曰：般旋之儀，見憎於裸踞之鄉；繩墨之匠，獲忌於曲木之肆。貪婪饕餮者，疾素絲之皎潔；比周實繁者，讎高操之孤立。猶賈豎之惡同利，醜女之害國色。

Baopuzi said: The bearing that circles in ceremony is hated in the land that squats bare; the carpenter of the inked line is resented in the shop of bent wood. Men greedy and gluttonous loathe the bright purity of plain silk; cliques that crowd together make an enemy of lofty conduct standing alone. It is like the petty merchant hating one who shares his profit, or the ugly woman injuring the nation's fairest.

抱朴子曰：君子之升騰也，則推賢而散祿；庸人之得志也，則矜貴而忽士。施惠隆於佞幸，用財出乎小惠。不與智者aw其安，而望有危而見救；不與奇士同其歡，而欲有戚之見恤；猶災火張天，方請雨於名山；洪水凌空，而伐舟於東閭；不亦晚乎

Baopuzi said: When the noble man ascends, he promotes the worthy and shares out his emolument; when the small man gets his way, he is puffed with rank and neglects the officers. His favors weigh heaviest on sycophants and favorites; his spending goes out in petty kindnesses. He will not share his ease with the wise, yet hopes in danger to be rescued; he will not share his joy with extraordinary men, yet wishes in grief to be comforted. It is like waiting until the fires of calamity spread across the sky before begging rain on the famous mountains; like waiting until the flood hangs overhead before going to Donglü to hew a boat—is that not too late?

或曰：“乾坤方圓，非規定之功，三辰摛景，非瑩磨之力；春華粲煥，非漸染之辨；茝蕙芬馥，非容氣所假。知夫至真，貴乎天然也。義以罕覿為異，辭以不常為美，而歷觀古今屬文之家，鮮能挺逸麗於毫端，多斟酌於前言。何也”

Someone said: 'The square and round of heaven and earth are not the work of compass and square; the sun, moon, and stars spread their light without the labor of polishing; spring flowers are resplendent without colors gradually dyed in; angelica and orchids are fragrant without borrowed breath. From this one knows that the truest things are prized for being natural. In principle the rare is held strange; in wording the uncommon is held beautiful. Yet surveying writers old and new, few can make unencumbered beauty stand at the brush's tip—most merely sip and weigh the words of men before them. Why is that?'

抱朴子曰：“清音貴於雅韻克諧，著作珍乎判微析理。故八音形器異而鍾律同，黼黻文物殊而五色均。徒閒澀有主賓，妍媸有步驟。是則總章無常曲，大庖無定味。夫梓豫山積，非班匠不能成機巧；眾書無限，非英才不能收膏腴。何必尋木千里，乃構大廈；鬼神之言，乃著篇章乎！”

Baopuzi said: 'Clear notes are prized when their measured rhymes can harmonize; works are treasured when they can dissect the subtle and analyze right principle. So the eight sounds' instruments differ in shape yet the bells and pitchpipes are the same; the axe-patterned ornaments differ in figure yet the five colors are evened. It is only that raw and ripe have host and guest, fair and foul their paces. Speaking thus, the Zongzhang hall has no fixed melody; the grand kitchen has no fixed savor. Catalpa and camphor may be heaped like mountains, but without a craftsman like Gongshu Ban nothing artful is made; books may be without number, but without outstanding talent their richness cannot be gathered. Why must timber be sought a thousand li away to frame a great hall? Why must it be the speech of spirits to make a written piece?'

抱朴子曰：夫才有清濁，思有修短，雖並屬文，叄差萬品，或浩漾而不淵渾，或事情而辭鈍，違物理而文工，蓋偏長之一致，非兼通之才也。暗於自料，強欲兼之，違才易務，故不免嗤也。

Baopuzi said: Talent runs clear or muddy; thought runs long or short. Though all alike compose, the kinds differ ten-thousandfold: some are billowing yet not deep; some have substance in matter but dullness in words; some offend the order of things while the writing is clever. These are all partial strengths, not comprehensive talent. Being dim at measuring themselves, they insist on possessing all, and abandoning their own gift, turn to other tasks—so they cannot escape being laughed at.

抱朴子曰：五味舛而並甘，眾色乖而皆麗。近人之情，愛同憎異，貴乎合己，賤於殊途。夫文章之體，尤難詳賞，苟以入耳為佳，適心為快，鮮知忘味之九成，雅頌之風流也。所謂考鹽梅之鹹酸，不知大羹之不致，明飄搖之細巧，蔽於沈深之弘邃也。其英異宏逸者，則網羅乎玄黃之表；其拘束齷齪者，則羈紲於籠罩之內。振翅有利鈍，則翔集有高卑；騁跡有遲迅，則進趨有遠近。駑銳(疑下有脫文)不可膠柱調也。文貴豐贍，何必稱善如一口乎！不能拯風俗之流遁，世途之凌夷，通疑者之路，賑貧者之乏，何異春華不為餚糧之用，茝蕙不救冰寒之急。古詩刺過失，故有益而貴；今詩純虛譽，故有損而賤也。

Baopuzi said: The five flavors may clash yet all are sweet; the many colors may differ yet all are lovely. The nature of recent men is to love the same and hate the different, to prize what agrees with them and scorn what goes by another road. The forms of letters are hardest of all to savor in detail. If pleasing the ear makes a piece good and fitting the heart makes it fine, then few will know the Shao music of nine parts that makes men forget taste, or the grace of the Ya and Song. This is called weighing the salt and sour of the seasonings while never knowing that the grand broth blends no flavors; discerning the whirling fine points while blind to the deep and vast. The outstanding and grandly untrammeled are cast into the net beyond dark and yellow; the cramped and petty are shackled inside the cage. With wings sharp or dull, flight and perch are high or low; with strides slow or swift, approach is near or far. The jade and the nag cannot be treated by gluing the pegs and strumming the se. Letters prize richness—why must all excellence come from one mouth? If they cannot rescue manners gone adrift or mend the declension of the age, open the road for the doubting, and relieve the wants of the poor—how does that differ from spring flowers that cannot serve as meat and grain, or angelica and orchids that cannot answer the urgency of ice and cold? The old poems satirized faults, so they were profitable and prized; today's poems are pure empty praise, so they are harmful and cheap.

抱朴子曰：屬筆之家，亦各有病，其深者則患乎譬煩言冗，申誡廣喻，欲棄而惜，不覺成煩也。其淺者則患乎妍而無據，證援不給，皮膚鮮澤而骨鯁迥弱也。繁華日韋曄，則並七曜以高麗；沈微淪妙，則儕玄淵之無測。人事靡細而不浹，王道無微而不憊，故能身賤而言貴，千載彌彰焉。

Baopuzi said: Those who wield the brush each have their faults. The deep ones suffer from too many metaphors, too many words, warnings too wide, comparisons too many—wanting to drop things yet loath to, they become overgrown before they know it. The shallow ones suffer from prettiness without ground and citations too few—a skin bright and moist with a frame of bone too weak. In flowery brilliance and glitter they vie in loftiness with the seven luminaries; in sinking subtlety and drowned wonder they equal the dark abyss's unfathomable. In human affairs there is nothing so small it is not soaked through; in the kingly way nothing so fine it is not complete. Therefore though their persons were lowly, their words are prized, shining brighter over a thousand years.

抱朴子曰：玄寂虛靜者，神明之本也；陰陽柔剛者，二儀之本也；巍峨巖岫者，山嶽之本也；德行文學者，君子之本也。莫或無本而能立焉。是以欲致其高，必豐其基，欲茂其末，必深其根。鄉黨之友不洽，而勤遠方之求，蒞官之稱不著，而索不次之顯。是以雖佻虛譽，猶狂華幹霜以吐曜，不崇朝而零瘁矣。雖竊大寶於不料，冒惟塵以負乘，猶鮮介附騰波以高凌，顧眄已枯株於危陸矣。聖賢孜孜，勉之若彼，淺近口止喬口止喬，忽之如此。積習則忘鮑肆之臭，裸鄉不覺呈形之醜，自非遁世而無悶，齊物於通塞者，安能棄近易而尋迂闊哉！將救斯弊，其術無他，徒擢民於巖岫，任才而不計也。

Baopuzi said: Dark stillness and empty quiet are the root of spirit-light; yin and yang, soft and hard, are the root of the two forms; towering crags and caves are the root of mountains; virtuous conduct and letters are the root of the noble man. Nothing stands without a root. So to reach the high one must thicken the base; to make the branches flourish one must deepen the root. The friends of village and ward are not in accord, yet one labors at seeking afar; the name for office is not distinguished, yet one seeks promotion out of turn. So even if one snatches empty fame on the sly, it is like a reckless flower flaunting its light into the frost—withered and wan before one morning is past. Even if one steals a great treasure where none could guess and, braving the dust, bears what it cannot carry, it is like a live shellfish riding the rising wave to towering height—in a blink already a withered stump on the perilous shore. The sages and worthies toiled on, urging themselves like so; shallow men swagger, neglectful like so. Long habit makes one forget the stench of the fish-market; the land of the naked feels no shame at bared bodies. Unless one is the sort who hides from the world unbothered and makes success and failure one—who could cast aside the near and easy to seek the remote and far-fetched! To rescue this fault there is no other method: promote the common folk out of the crags and caves, and employ talent without weighing the rest.

抱朴子曰：客嘲餘云：“先生載營抱一，韜景靈淵，背俗獨住，邈爾蕭然。計決而猶豫，不棲於心術；分定而世累，無系於胸間。伯陽以道德為首，莊周以逍遙冠篇，用能標峻格於九霄，宣芳烈於罔極也。今先生高尚勿用，身不服事，而著君道臣節之書；不交於世，而作譏俗救生之論；甚愛骨幹毛，而綴用兵戰守之法；不營進趨，而有審舉窮達之篇；蒙竊惑焉。”

Baopuzi said: A guest mocked me, saying: 'You, sir, carry the soul and embrace the One; you store your light and shadow in the spirit abyss; with your back to the drifting vulgar you dwell alone, remote and still. Your plans are settled, so indecision does not roost in your heart; your lot is fixed, so the world's burdens are not tied to your breast. Boyang led his book with the Way and its Virtue; Zhuang Zhou crowned his whole book with Free Roaming—thus they could hoist their lofty stature to the ninefold sky and spread their fragrance without end. Now you are lofty but not employed; your person serves no one, yet you write books on the way of the lord and the duty of ministers; you do not traffic with the world's customs, yet you compose essays decrying custom and saving life; you much cherish your bones, frame, and hair, yet you string together the methods of arms, battle, and defense; you do not manage your own advancement, yet you have chapters on examining promotion and on failure and success—I am privately much perplexed.'

抱朴子曰：“君臣之大，次於天地，思樂有道，出處一情，隱顯任時，言亦何系。大人君子，與事變通。老子無為者也，鬼谷終隱者也，而著其書，鹹論世務。何必身居其位，然後乃言其事乎夫器非瓊瑤，楚和不泣，質非潛虯，風雲不集。餘才短德薄，幹不適治，出處同歸，行止一致，豈必達官，乃可議政事君，否則不可論治亂乎常恨莊生言行自伐，桎梏世業，身居漆園而多誕談，好畫鬼魅，憎圖狗馬，狹細忠貞，貶毀仁義。可謂雕虎畫龍，難以徵風雲；空板億萬，不能救無錢。孺子之竹馬，不免於腳剝；士柈之盈案，無益於腹虛也。”

Baopuzi said: 'The great bond of ruler and minister is next only to heaven and earth. To yearn for the Way: serving and hiding are the same heart; retiring or appearing follows the times—why should speech be a burden? Great men and noble men adapt to changing things. Laozi was a man of non-doing; the Master of Ghost Valley was one who hid to the end—yet they wrote their books, and all spoke of the world's affairs. Why must one sit in that seat before one may speak of those matters? If the vessel were not fine jade, the Bian He of Chu would not have wept; if the substance were not a hidden dragon, wind and cloud would not gather. My talent is short and my virtue thin; my ability is not suited to ordering the age. Serving and hiding come home the same; moving and resting agree—must I be a high official before I may discuss government and serve the lord, and otherwise may not speak of order and disorder? I have always resented Zhuangzi for the way his words and deeds cut each other down: treating the world's work as fetters, dwelling in the Lacquer Garden while making much wild talk, liking to paint ghosts and hating to paint dogs and horses, pettily slighting a small man's loyalty and truth, denigrating humaneness and rightness. It can be called carving tigers and painting dragons that wind and cloud cannot attest; writing hundreds of millions on an empty board that cannot rescue the moneyless. Children's bamboo horses cannot spare the feet from wearing; a table heaped with earthen dishes is no help to the empty belly.'

或人又曰：“然吾子所著，彈斷風俗，言苦辭直，吾恐適足取憎在位，招擯於時，非所以揚聲發譽，見貴之道也。”

Someone else said: 'But what you have written impeaches and judges the world's customs; the words are bitter and the phrasing blunt. I fear it is just enough to win the hatred of those in office and invite rejection by the age—it is no road for spreading fame and winning regard.'

抱朴子曰：“夫制器者珍於周急，而不以辨飾外形為善；立言者貴於助教，而不以偶俗集譽為高。若徒阿順諂諛，虛美隱惡，豈所匡失弼違，醒迷補過者乎慮寡和而廢白雪之音，嫌難售而賤連城之價，餘無取焉。非不能屬華豔以取悅，非不知抗直言之多吝，然不忍違情曲筆，錯濫真偽，欲令心口相契，顧不愧景，冀知音之在後也。否泰有命，通塞聽天，何必書行言用，榮及當年乎夫君子之開口動筆，必戒悟蔽，式整雷同之傾邪，磋礱流遁之暗穢，而著書者徒飾弄華藻，張磔迂闊，屬難驗無益之辭，治靡麗虛言之美，有似堅白厲修之書，公孫刑名之論，雖曠籠天地之外，微入無間之內，立解連環，離同合異，鳥影不動，雞卵有足，犬可為羊，大龜長蛇之言，適足示巧表奇以誑俗，何異乎畫敖倉以救飢，仰天漢以解渴。說崑山之多玉，不能賑原憲之貧；觀藥藏之簿領，不能治危急之疾；墨子刻木雞以厲天，不如三寸之車金害；管青鑄騏驥於金象，不如駑馬之周用。言高秋天而不可施者，丘不與易也。”

Baopuzi said: 'The maker of vessels prizes what can rescue an emergency, and does not count adornment of outward shape a merit; the one who sets down words prizes what helps the teaching, and does not count pleasing the world and gathering praise a height. If it is only compliant flattery, empty praise and hidden faults—where is the method of righting errors, assisting against failings, waking the deluded, and mending mistakes? Fearing too few will sing along, to abandon the melody of White Snow; disdaining hard sale, to slight a jade worth cities—this I do not take as my model. It is not that I cannot string together florid beauties to please; it is not that I do not know straight talk invites much hate. But I cannot bear to bend the brush against the truth and scramble false and real. I want heart and mouth to tally, to look back at my shadow unashamed, hoping for a knower of the sound in later days. Failure and fortune are fated; smooth or blocked, I leave to heaven—why must my book be circulated and my words used for glory to come in my own years? When the noble man opens his mouth and moves his brush, he is sure to warn men into waking and strip away the film, to order the leaning wrongness of the echo-chamber, to scour the dark filth of drifting ruin. But those who write books only toy with florid sprays, spread out far-fetched schemes, string together phrases unverifiable and useless, and groom the beauty of ornate empty talk—like the books of the hard-and-white school and the whetted and sharp, like Gongsun Long's disquisitions on punishment and name: even though they vaguely stretch beyond heaven and earth and slip finely into the seamless, at once undoing the linked rings, parting the same and joining the different, saying a bird's shadow does not move, a chicken's egg has feet, a dog can be a sheep, a great tortoise is longer than a snake—such talk just suffices to show cleverness and display novelty to delude the world; how does it differ from painting the granary at Ao to rescue the hungry, or gazing up at the Milky Way to cure thirst? To say Kunlun has much jade cannot relieve Yuan Xian's poverty; to read the drugstore's ledger cannot cure a critical illness. Mozi carving a wooden kite to soar to heaven is not worth a three-inch linchpin; Guan Qing casting a unicorn of gold and ivory is not worth a nag that serves every day. Words spoken higher than autumn's sky that cannot be used—even Confucius would not trade for them.'

抱朴子曰：餘雅謂王仲任作《論衡》八十餘篇，為冠倫大才。

Baopuzi said: I have always held that Wang Zhongren, who wrote the Lunheng in eighty-odd chapters, was a great talent towering above his peers.

有同門魯生難餘曰：“夫瓊瑤以寡為奇，磧礫以多為賤，故庖犧卦不盈十而彌綸二儀，老氏言不滿萬而道德備舉。王充著書，兼箱累帙，而乍出乍入，或儒或墨，屬詞比義，又不盡美，所謂陂原之蒿莠，未若步武之黍稷也。”

A fellow student named Lu challenged me, saying: 'Fine jade is prized for being rare; gravel is cheap for being common. So Fuxi's trigrams, fewer than ten, enfold the two powers; Laozi's words, fewer than ten thousand, set out the Way and its Virtue complete. Wang Chong wrote books till the cases were piled with scrolls, yet they dart in and out, now Ru, now Mo; the matching of words and comparing of sense is not wholly fine—what is called artemisia and weeds on a sloping plain, not worth the millet between your feet.'

抱朴子答曰：“且夫作者之謂聖，述者之謂賢，徒見述作之品，未聞多少之限也。吾子所謂竄巢穴之沈昧，不知八紘之無外；守燈燭之宵曜，不識三光之晃朗；遊潢洿之淺狹，水覺南溟之浩汗；滯丘垤之位埤，不寤嵩岱之峻極也。兩儀所以稱大者，以其函括八荒，緬邈無表也；山海所以為富者，以其包籠曠闊，含受雜錯也。若如雅論，貴少賤多，則穹隆無取乎宏燾，而旁泊不貴於厚載也。夫跡水之中，無吞舟之鱗；寸枝之上，無垂天之翼；蟻垤之巔，無扶桑之林；潢潦之源，無襄陵之流。巨鰲首冠瀛洲，飛波凌乎方丈；洪桃盤於度陵，建木竦於都廣；沈鯤橫於天池，雲鵬戾乎玄象。且夫雷霆之駭，不能細其響；黃河之激，不能局其流；騏騄追風，不能近其跡；鴻鵠奮翅，不能卑其飛。雲厚者雨必猛，弓勁者箭必遠。王生學博才大，又安省乎！

Baopuzi replied: 'Now an originator is called sage and a continuer worthy; I have seen grades of making and transmitting, but never heard of a quota of more or less. What you say is one crouching in the dimness of a nest, not knowing the eight cords have no outer edge; keeping the light of a lamp at night, not knowing the brightness of the three luminaries; swimming in shallow narrow puddles, never aware of the Southern Sea's vastness; stuck at the low station of an ant-hill, never waking to the towering height of Song and Dai. The reason the two powers are called great is that they enfold the eight wilds, boundless without an outside; the reason mountains and seas are rich is that they hold the vast, taking in the mixed and many. If, as your fine theory says, little is prized and much despised, then the vaulting sky could not model its grand covering, and the earth's broad resting would not be prized for thick bearing. In water where a foot sinks no deeper there is no boat-swallowing fish; on an inch-long branch there are no heaven-hanging wings; on an anthill's crest there is no Fusang forest; at a puddle's source there is no hill-flooding torrent. The giant turtle bears Yingzhou on its head; flying waves leap over Fangzhang; the great peach crouches coiled at Dushuo; the Jianmu tree stands towering at Duguang; the sunken kun lies across the heavenly pool; the cloud-peng reaches the dark forms. Besides—though thunder frightens men you cannot make its sound smaller; though the Yellow River churns you cannot confine its stream; the wind-chasing qilin cannot have its stride made shorter; the high-hung swan cannot have its flight made lower. Thick clouds make fierce rain; a strong bow makes far-reaching arrows. Master Wang's learning is broad and his talent great—how could they be trimmed down!'

“吾子云；‘玉以少貴，石以多賤。’夫玄圃之下，荊華之顛，九員之澤，折方之淵，琳琅積而成山，夜光煥而灼天，顧不善也。又引庖犧氏著作不多，若周公既繇大易，加之以禮樂，仲尼作《春秋》，而重之以十篇。過於庖犧，多於老氏，皆當貶也。言少則至理不備，辭寡既庶事不暢。是以必須篇累卷積，而綱領舉也。羲和升光以啟旦，望舒曜景以灼夜，五材並生而異用，百藥雜秀而殊治，四時會而歲功成，五色聚而錦繡麗，八音諧而簫韶美，群言合而道藝辨。積猗頓之材，而用之甚少，是何異於原憲也懷無銓之量，而著述約陋，亦何加別於瑣碌也音為知者珍，書為識者傳，瞽曠之調鍾，未必求解於同世；格言高文，豈患莫賞而減之哉！且夫江海之穢物，不可勝計，而不損其深也；五嶽之曲木，不可訾量，而無虧其峻也。夏後之璜，雖有分毫之瑕，暉曜符彩，足相補也。數千萬言，雖有不豔之辭，事義高遠，足相掩也。故曰：四瀆之濁，不方甕水之清；巨象之瘦，不同羔羊之肥矣。

(Baopuzi continued:) 'You say jade is prized for being rare and stone despised for being common. Beneath the Hanging Gardens, on the crests of Jingshan and Huashan, in the marsh of Jiuyuan, in the abyss of Zhefang, the fine gems are piled mountain-high, night-glowing light blazing to heaven—is that not fine? You also cite Fuxi writing little, yet the Duke of Zhou expanded and worked out the great Changes and added ritual and music; Confucius made the Spring and Autumn and added the Ten Wings. More than Fuxi, more than Laozi—by your account all should be degraded. Words too few leave utmost principle incomplete; phrasing too sparse leaves the many affairs unexpressed. Therefore the chapters must be heaped and the scrolls piled before the guiding rope can be raised. Xihe lifts light to open the morning; Wangshu casts radiance to brighten the night; the five materials are born together and their uses differ; the hundred drugs bloom mixed and their cures differ; the four seasons join and the year's work is done; the five colors gather and the brocade is fine; the eight sounds accord and the Xiao-Shao is lovely; many words converge and the Way and its arts are made plain. To hoard Yidun's wealth yet use little of it—how does that differ from Yuan Xian? To hold a measure that cannot be weighed yet write with paltry meanness—what does that add over trifling men? Sounds are prized by the knowing ear; books are passed on by those who recognize. Blind Kuang tuning his bells did not necessarily seek understanding in his own day; fine maxims and lofty writing need not be trimmed for fear none will treasure them. Besides, the filth of river and sea is beyond counting, yet takes nothing from their depth; the crooked trees of the Five Marchmounts are beyond measure, yet take nothing from their height. The Xia sovereign's jade pendant, though it have a hairline flaw, has sheen and grace enough to make it up. Thousands of thousands of words, though some phrasing be dull, have sense so high and far as to cover it. Therefore it is said: the turbidity of the four great rivers is not measured against a jar of clear water; the leanness of a great elephant is unlike the fatness of a lamb.'

“子又譏云：‘乍入乍出，或儒或墨。’夫發口為言，著紙為書。書者所以代言，言者所以書事。若用筆不宜雜載，是論議當常守一物。昔諸侯訪政，弟子問仁，仲尼答之，人人異辭。蓋因事托規，隨時所急，譬猶治病之方千百，而針炙之處無常，卻寒以溫，除熱以冷，期於救死存身而已。豈可詣者逐一道如齊楚，而不改路乎陶朱白圭之財不一物者，豐也；雲夢孟諸所生萬殊者，曠也。故《淮南鴻烈》，始於《原道》《俶真》，而亦有《兵略》《主術》，莊周之書，以死生為一，亦有畏犧慕龜請粟救飢。若以所言不純而棄其文，是治珠翳而剜眼，療溼痺而刖足，患荑莠而刈谷，憎枯枝而伐樹也。

(Baopuzi continued:) 'You also mock that they dart in and out, now Ru, now Mo. What issues from the mouth is speech; what touches paper is writing. Writing substitutes for speech; speech writes out things. If the brush should not carry things mixed, then discussion should forever keep to one single thing. In the old days the feudal lords asked about government and the disciples asked about humaneness, and Confucius answered each with different words. That was lodging the rule in the matter, suiting the urgency of the time—like prescriptions for curing illness numbered by the hundred and thousand, and the points for needle and moxa having no fixed rule: to drive out cold, warmth; to expel heat, cold—only hoping to rescue from death and keep the body alive. How could one make all who come walk one road, as if going to Qi or to Chu, without changing course? The wealth of Zhu Gong and Bai Gui was not one kind of thing—because of abundance; what Yunmeng and Mengzhu produced was ten thousand kinds—because of breadth. So the Huainan Honglie begins with the Yuandao and the Chuzhen, yet also has the Binglüe and the Zhushu; Zhuangzi's book makes death and life one, yet also has dreading the sacrificial ox, envying the tortoise, begging grain to relieve hunger. If because the words are not pure you discard the writing, that is gouging out the eye to cure a film over it, lopping off the feet to cure damp numbness, cutting the grain for fear of weeds, felling the tree for hatred of dead branches.'

抱朴子曰：百家之言，雖不皆清翰銳藻，弘麗汪濊，然悉才士所寄，心一夫澄思也。正經為道義之淵海，子書為增深之川流。仰而比之，則景星之佐三辰；俯而方之，則林薄之裨嵩嶽。而學者專守一業，遊井忽海，遂掇躓於泥濘之中，而沈滯乎不移之困。子書披引玄曠，眇邈泓窈，總不測之源，揚無遺之流，變化不繫於規矩之方圓，旁通不淪於違正之邪徑，風格高嚴，重仞難盡。是偏嗜酸甜者，莫能賞其味也；用思有限者，不得辯其神也。先民嘆息於才難，故百世為隨踵，不以璞不生板桐之嶺，而捐曜夜之寶；不以書不出周孔之門，而廢助教之言。猶彼操水者，器雖異而救火同焉；譬若針灸者，術雖殊而攻疾均焉。狹見之徒，區區執一，去博辭精，思而不識，合錙銖而以齊重於山陵，聚百千可以致數億兆，惑詩賦瑣碎之文，而忽子論深美之言，真偽顛倒，玉石混淆，同廣樂於桑間，均龍章於素質，可悲可慨，豈一條哉！

Baopuzi said: The sayings of the hundred schools, though not all clear plumes and sharp sprays, grand, lovely, and vast, are all the fruit of gifted men lodging their hearts and minds in concentrated thought. The straight classics are the abyssal sea of the Way and rightness; the masters' books are the rivers that deepen it. Looking up for a likeness, they are like the auspicious star assisting the three lights; looking down for a figure, like grove and thicket adding to Mount Song. But the scholar exclusively guards one trade; swimming in a well he overlooks the sea, then stumbles in the mud, stuck fast in a plight he cannot leave. The masters' books open out the dark and far, fathomless and dim, gathering the source none can measure and stirring the stream that leaves nothing out—changing without being bound to compass and square, reaching sidelong without sinking into roads that stray from the right; their manner lofty and stern, hard to fathom past a hundred fathoms. This is because those partial to sweet and sour cannot savor their taste, and those whose thought is bounded cannot discern their spirit. The men of old sighed that talent is hard to find—one such in a hundred generations, scarce as heel set to heel. One does not, because the unworked jade is not born on Bantong's ridge, throw away the night-glowing gem; nor, because a book does not come from the gate of Zhou and Kong, discard speech that aids the teaching. It is like water-carriers: the vessels differ yet all fight fire; like the men of needle and moxa: the arts differ yet all attack disease. Men of narrow view cling stubbornly to one strand; from the broad and the finely worded they think but do not know. Put tiny weights together and they balance a mountain; pile up hundreds and thousands and they reach hundreds of millions. Yet they are deluded by the trifling texts of poems and rhapsodies and overlook the deep and lovely words of the masters' discourses—false and true upside down, jade and stone confounded, equating grand music with Sangjian, leveling the dragon's pattern to plain stuff. Pitiful and grievous—how could it be only this one thing!

或曰：“德行者，本也；文章者，末也。故四科之序，文不居上。然則著紙者，糟粕之餘事；可傳者，祭畢之芻狗。卑高之格，是可譏矣。”

Someone said: 'Virtuous conduct is the root; literary writing is the branch. So in the ranking of the four disciplines, letters do not stand first. Then what touches paper is the leftover business of dregs; what can be handed down is the straw dog after the sacrifice. The grading of low and high—this surely may be mocked.'

抱朴子答曰：“荃可棄而魚未獲，則不得無荃；文可廢而道未行，則不得無文。若夫翰跡韻略之廣逼，屬辭比義之妍媸，源流至到之修短，韞藉汲引之深淺，其懸絕也，雖天外毫內，不足以喻其遼邈，雖三光熠耀，不足以方其鉅細。龍淵鉛鋌，未足以譬其銳鈍；鴻羽積金，未足以方其輕重。而俗士唯見能染毫畫紙，便概以一例，斯伯氏所以永思鍾子，郢人所以格斤不運也。夫斫削者比肩，而班狄擅絕手之名；援琴者至多，而夔襄專清聲之稱。廄馬千駟，而騏騮有邈群之價；美人萬計，而威施有超世之色者，蓋遠過眾也。且文章之與德行，猶十尺之與一丈，謂之餘事，未之聞也。八卦生乎鷹隼之飛，六甲出於靈龜之負，文之所在，雖且貴(疑有脫文)本不必便疏，末不必皆薄，譬錦繡之因素地，珠玉之託蟲奉石，雲雨生於膚寸，江河始於咫尺，理誠若茲，則雅論病矣。”

Baopuzi replied: "The fish-trap may be discarded only once the fish has been caught; until then one cannot do without the trap. Writing may be set aside only once the Way has been put into practice; until then one cannot do without writing. As for the breadth or narrowness of a writer's brushwork and rhyme, the beauty or ugliness of his diction and analogies, the length or shortness of the reach of his sources, the depth or shallowness of his allusiveness and power to draw others in, the gulf between them is so vast that even the distance between the edge of the sky and the tip of a hair is not remote enough to illustrate it, and even the brilliance of the sun, moon and stars is not enough to compare with the difference in scale. The sword Longyuan and a blunt blade of lead (a lead-made blade, set against Longyuan to mean a dull and inferior weapon; it is not an elixir ingredient) are not enough to illustrate sharp and dull; a goose feather and a heap of gold are not enough to compare in light and heavy. Yet common scholars see only that one can dip a brush and mark paper, and lump everything together. This is why Boya mourned forever for Zhong Ziqi, and why the man of Ying put down his axe and never again swung it. Carpenters stand shoulder to shoulder, yet Ban and Di alone held the fame of matchless hands; those who take up the zither are very many, yet Kui and Xiang alone were praised for pure sound. Among a thousand teams of stable horses, the finest steeds command a price beyond the herd; among ten thousand beauties, Wei and Shi had a loveliness beyond the world, because they far surpassed the crowd. Moreover, literary writing and virtue are like ten feet and one zhang; to call writing a mere leftover pursuit is something I have never heard. The Eight Trigrams were born from the flight of the hawk, and the Six Jia came from what the spirit tortoise bore on its back. Wherever writing is present, even if it is for the moment held precious (the base text seems to have a missing passage here), the root need not be neglected nor the branch be thin: it is like brocade resting on a plain ground, or pearls and jade lodged in a fist of rock (the base text reads a variant character, which should be read as 'fist-sized stone'); clouds and rain are born from an inch of vapor, and great rivers begin from a foot-wide spring. If the principle is truly so, then your elegant argument is flawed."

又曰：“應龍徐舉，顧眄而凌雲；汗血緩步，呼吸而千里。故螻蟻怪其無階而高致，駑蹇驚過己之不漸也。若夫馳驟詩論之中，周旋一經之內，以常情覽巨異，以褊量測無涯，始自髫齔，詣於振素，不能得也。又世俗率貴古昔而賤當今，敬所聞而黷所見。同時雖有追風絕景之駿，猶謂不及伯樂之所御也。雖有宵良兼城之璞，猶謂不及楚和之所泣也。雖有斷馬指雕之劍，猶謂不及歐冶之所鑄也。雖有生枯起朽之藥，猶謂不及和鵲之所合也。雖有冠群獨行之士，猶謂不及於古人也。”

Baopuzi went on: "When the winged dragon rises slowly, a single glance and it climbs the clouds; when the blood-sweating horse paces gently, a single breath and it covers a thousand li. So mole crickets and ants are astonished that it reaches the heights without any steps, and worn-out nags marvel that it surpasses them without advancing gradually. As for those who gallop within the discussion of poetry and circle within a single classic, measuring great differences by ordinary feeling and measuring the boundless with a narrow gauge, from childhood to white hair they could not grasp it. Moreover, the world mostly prizes the ancient and despises the present, reveres what it has heard and slights what it has seen. Even if a contemporary has a steed that outruns the wind and outstrips its own shadow, people still say it is not the equal of those Bo Le drove; even if there is a raw jade with the luminous gleam of night and a price worth a whole city (the base text has a variant reading here; 'night' refers to night-shining, and 'worth a city' means priceless), they still say it is not the equal of the one for which the man of Chu named He wept; even if there is a sword that can cut a horse and point at an eagle, they still say it is not the equal of those Ou Ye forged; even if there is a medicine that makes the withered live and raises the rotten, they still say it is not the equal of what Yi He and Bian Que compounded; even if there is a gentleman who walks alone above the crowd, they still say he is not the equal of the men of old."

抱朴子曰：嵇生以太原郭林宗，竟不恭三公之命，學無不涉，名重於往代，加之以知人，知人則哲，蓋亞聖之器也。及在衰世，棲棲惶惶，席不暇溫，志在乎匡斷行道，與仲尼相似。

Baopuzi said: Master Ji held that Guo Linzong of Taiyuan never accepted appointment as one of the Three Excellencies, yet there was no field of learning he had not ranged over, and his fame was weightier than that of previous ages; moreover he could judge men, and to judge men is to be wise, so that he was probably of the caliber of a lesser sage. In a declining age he hurried about restlessly, never sitting long enough to warm his mat, with his ambition set on setting the times right and carrying out the great Way (the base text has a variant reading here, which should be read as 'setting the times right'), much like Zhongni.

餘答曰：“夫智與不智，存於一言，樞機之玷，亂乎白圭，愚謂亞聖之評，未易以輕有許也。夫所謂亞聖者，必具體而微，命世絕倫，與彼周孔其間無所復容之謂也。若人者亦何足登斯格哉！林宗拔萃翹特，鑑識朗徹，方之常人所議，固多引之上及，實復未足也。此人有機辯風姿，又巧自抗遇而善用，且好事者為之羽翼，延其聲譽於四方，故能挾之見推慕於亂世，而為過聽不核實者所推策，及其片言所褒，則重於千金，遊涉所經，則賢愚波盪，謂龍鳳之集，奇瑞之出也。吐聲則餘音見法，移足則遺蹟見擬，可謂善擊建鼓而揭日月者耳，非真隱也。蓋欲立朝則世已大亂，欲潛伏則悶而不堪，或躍則畏禍害，確爾則非所安。彰徨不守，載肥載月瞿，而世人逐其華而莫研其實，玩其形而不究其神，故遭雨巾壞，猶復見效，不覺其短，皆是類也。俗民追聲，一至於是。故其雖有缺隙，莫之敢指也。夫林宗學涉知人，非無分也。然而未能避過實之名，而暗於自料也。或勸之以出仕進者，林宗對曰：‘吾晝察人事，夜看乾象，天之所廢，不可支也。方今運在明夷之爻，值勿用之位，蓋盤桓潛居之時，非在天利見之會也。

I replied: "Whether one is wise or unwise lies in a single remark; a flaw in the pivot of speech is worse than a blemish on a white jade tablet. I believe that the verdict 'lesser sage' is not easily granted. A so-called lesser sage must be one who has all the parts in small, whose fame spans the age without peer, and between whom and the Duke of Zhou and Confucius there is no room left for anyone else. How could someone like Linzong qualify for that rank! Linzong stood out from the crowd, and his discernment was clear and penetrating; compared with what ordinary people say of him, he is indeed often praised above his measure, yet in reality still falls short. He had a quick tongue and a striking bearing, and was also skilled at making use of how he met and resisted others; besides, busybodies served as his wings and spread his reputation in every direction, so he was able to rely on this and be pushed forward in a chaotic age by men who, misled, never checked the facts. Once he praised a man in a single phrase, that man was worth more than a thousand in gold; wherever he traveled, the wise and the foolish alike surged like waves, saying that dragons and phoenixes had gathered and that rare auspicious omens had appeared. When he uttered a sound, his lingering tones were imitated; when he moved his feet, his footprints were copied. He may be called one who is good at beating the great drum and raising the sun and moon on a banner, not a true recluse. Probably he wished to take office but the age was already in great disorder; wished to hide but was too restless; wished to leap up but feared calamity; and holding still was not something he could settle into. He wandered undecided and could not keep to anything (the base text has a variant reading here), growing now plump, now thin (the base text has a variant reading here, which stands for 'thin'), and the world chased his glitter without examining his substance, played with his form without probing his spirit. So when his headcloth was spoiled by rain, people still imitated it without feeling it was a defect, and everything was of this sort. Common folk chasing after fame went as far as this. For this reason, though he had flaws, no one dared point them out. Linzong's learning extended to judging men, and it was not without measure. But he failed to avoid a reputation that exceeded the reality, and he was dim in assessing himself. When someone urged him to take office and advance, Linzong answered: 'By day I observe human affairs, by night I watch the heavens; what Heaven means to discard cannot be propped up. Now the times are at the line of Ming Yi, the position of Do Not Act, a time to linger and live in seclusion, not an occasion for 'seeing the great man in the heavens.'

雖有原陸，猶恐滄海橫流。吾其魚也，況可冒沖風而乘奔波乎！未若巖岫頤神，娛心彭老，優哉遊哉，聊以卒歲。’按林宗之言，其知漢之不可救，非其才之所辦審矣。法當仰隮商洛，俯泛五湖，追巢父於峻嶺，尋漁父於滄浪，若不能結蹤山客，離群獨往，則當掩景淵洿，韜鱗括囊，而乃自西徂東，席不暇溫，欲慕孔墨棲棲之事。聖者憂世，周流四方，猶為退士，所見譏彈。林宗才非應期，器不絕倫，出不能安上治民，移風易俗，入不能揮毫屬筆，祖述六藝，行自炫耀，亦既過差，收名赫赫，受饒頗多。然卒進無補於治亂，退無跡於竹帛。觀傾視汨，冰泮草靡，未有異庸人也。無故沈浮於波濤之間，倒屣於埃塵之中，遨集京邑，交關貴遊，輪刓篋弊，匪遑啟處，遂使聲譽翕熠，秦胡景附，巷結朱輪之軌，堂列赤紱之客，軺車盈街，載奏連車，誠為遊俠之徒，未合逸隱之科也。有道之世而臻此者，猶不得復廁高潔之條貫焉，為秘丘之俊民，而修茲在於危亂之運，奚足多哉！孰不謂之暗於天人之否泰，蔽於自量之優劣乎！空背恬默之途，竟無有為之益，不值禍敗，蓋其幸耳。以此為憂世念國，希擬素王，有似蹇足之尋龍騏，斥鴳之逐鴻鵠，焦冥之方雲鵬，鼷鼬之比巨象也。

'Even with men like Yuan and Lu, one would still fear the sea overflowing. I will become a fish, so how could I brave the gale and ride the surging waves! Better to nourish my spirit among the cliffs and caves, and let my heart take pleasure in Peng and Lao, free and at ease, simply living out this year.' Judging by Linzong's words, he knew that the Han could not be saved and that it was beyond his talent to manage; this is certain. By principle he should have climbed up to Shang and Luo, or floated on the Five Lakes, followed Chaofu on the high ridges or sought the Fisherman by the Canglang; and if he could not vanish among mountain guests and go off alone from the herd, he should have hidden his light and shadow in the depths, sheathed his scales and tied up his sack. Yet he went from west to east, never warming his seat, longing for the restless wandering of Confucius and Mozi. When sages grieved for the world and traveled everywhere, they were still mocked by retired scholars. Linzong's talent was not suited to the moment, his capacity was not without peer; going out he could not secure the ruler and govern the people or change customs, coming back he could not wield the brush and compose to hand down the Six Arts; his conduct was self-flaunting, already excessive, and he reaped dazzling fame and received great benefit. Yet in the end, advancing he did nothing to remedy order or disorder, and withdrawing he left no trace on bamboo or silk. He watched the collapse and sinking, as ice melts and grass bends, no different from a common man. For no reason he bobbed up and down amid the waves and ran about in the dust with his shoes on backwards, roaming and gathering in the capital, mixing with the high and noble, till his cart wheels wore out and his trunks fell apart, with no leisure to settle; thereby he made his reputation blaze, and Qin and Hu people clung to him like shadows. Vermilion wheel tracks were lined up in the lanes, and guests in red sashes were ranged in his hall; light carriages filled the streets and carts bearing memorials followed one another. He was in truth a knight-errant sort, not fit for the category of hidden recluse. In an age with the Way, doing this would not merit a place among the pure and lofty; as a talent of the secluded hills, to cultivate this in a time of danger and chaos, what is there to praise! Who would not say he was dim about Heaven's and man's closure and ease, and blind to the measure of his own strengths and weaknesses! He vainly carried the road of quiet silence yet in the end had no beneficial deed; that he met no calamity was probably just his luck. To take this as grieving for the world and caring for the state, and to hope to be compared with the uncrowned king, is like a lame man seeking a dragon steed, a quail chasing a swan, a tiny wren measuring itself against the great roc, or a weasel against a huge elephant.

“然則林宗可謂有耀俗之才，無固守之質，見無不了，庶幾大用，符辨外發，精神內虛，不勝煩躁，言行相伐，口稱靜退，心希榮利，未得□玄圃之棲禽，九淵之潛靈也。自炫自媒，士女之醜事也。知其不可而尤效尤師，亞聖之器，其安在乎雖雲知人，知人之明，乃唐虞之所難，尼父之所病。夫以前並日月，原始見終，且猶有失，不能常中，況於林宗螢燭之明，得失半解，已為不少矣。然則名稱重於當世，美談盛於既沒，故其所得者，則世共傳聞，而所失者，則莫之有識爾。雖頗甄無名之士於草萊，指未剖之璞於丘園，然未能進忠烈於朝廷，立御每於疆場，解亡徵於倒懸，折逆謀之競逐。若鮑子之推管生，平仲之達穰苴，林宗名振於朝廷，敬於一時，三九肉食，莫不欽重，力足以拔才，言足以起滯，而但養疾京輦，招合賓客，無所進致，以匡危蔽，徒能知人，不肯薦舉，何異知沃壤之任良田，議直木之中梁柱，而終不墾之以播嘉穀，伐之以構梁棟，奚解於不粒，何救於露居哉！其距貢舉者，誠高操也，其走不休者，亦其疾也。”

(I continued:) "Then it may be said that Linzong had talent that lit up common custom but no solid core to hold to. Nothing he saw was unclear, and he might nearly have been of great use; his ornament and eloquence flowed outward, yet his spirit within was empty, and he could not bear agitation. His words and conduct attacked each other: his mouth spoke of quiet withdrawal while his heart sought glory and gain, so he could not compare with the bird that roosts in Xuanpu or the spirit that lies hidden in the nine-fold deep (the base text has a missing character after 'not obtained'). To advertise oneself and to be one's own matchmaker is a shame for a gentleman or a lady. To know it cannot be done and still imitate what should serve as a warning, where is the capacity of a lesser sage? Though he was said to know men, such clear judgment of men was something that even Tang and Yu found hard and Father Ni found troubling. The earlier sages, whose brightness was equal to the sun and moon and who saw the end from the beginning, still erred and could not always be right; how much more Linzong, with the light of a firefly or candle, whose hits and misses were half and half, which is already not few. So his name was weighty in his own time and his fine tales grew greater after he was gone; what he got right was commonly heard, while what he got wrong no one recognized. Although he was quite able to pick unknown men from the weeds and point out uncut jade among the hills and gardens, he could not advance the loyal and fierce into court, or establish defenders against insult on the frontier (the base text has a variant reading here, a miscopy of the character for 'insult'), or loosen the doomed from their hanging by their feet, or break the contest of rebellious schemes. Like Bao Shu recommending Master Guan, or Yan Pingzhong raising Rangju to eminence: Linzong's name shook the court and he was respected by his age, and none of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers who ate meat failed to hold him in awe; his strength sufficed to raise talent and his words sufficed to lift the stalled, yet he merely nursed his illness in the capital and gathered guests, and brought forward no one to set right the danger. He only knew men and was unwilling to recommend them, which differs not at all from knowing that rich soil suits fine fields and discussing straight timber for beams and pillars, yet never clearing it to sow good grain nor felling it to build rafters; what does it relieve of the lack of grain, what does it save from sleeping in the open! His refusal of nominations was truly lofty conduct; his running about without rest was his fault too."

嵇生又曰：“林宗存為一世之所式，沒則遺芳永播。碩儒俊士，未或指點，而吾生獨評其短，無乃見嗤於將來乎！”抱朴子曰：“曷為其然哉苟吾言之允者，當付之於後，後之識者，何恤於寡和乎且前賢多亦譏之，獨皇生褒過耳。故太傅諸葛無遜亦曰：‘林宗隱不修遁，出不益時，實欲揚名養譽而已。街談巷議以為辯，訕上謗政以為高，時俗貴之，歙然猶郭解原涉，見趨於曩時也。後進慕聲者，未能考之於聖王之典，論之於先賢之行，徒惑華名，鹹競準的，學之者如不及，談之者則盈耳，中人猶不覺，童蒙安能知’故零陵太守殷府君伯緒，高才篤論之士也，亦曰：‘林宗入交將相，出遊方國，崇私議以動眾，關譭譽於朝廷。其所善則風騰雨驟，改價易姿；其所惡則摧頓陸沈，士人不齒。□其名賢，遭亂隱遁，含光匿景，未為遠矣。君子行道，以匡君也，以正俗也，於時君不可匡，俗不可正，林宗周旋，清談閭閻，無救於世道之陵遲，無解於夭民之憔悴也。’又故中書郎周生恭遠，英偉名儒也，亦曰：‘夫遇治而贊之，則謂之樂道；遭亂而救之，則謂之憂道；亂不可救而避之，則謂之守道。虞舜樂道者也，仲尼憂道者也，微子守道者也。漢世將傾，世務交遊，林宗法當慨然虛心，要同契君子，共矯而正之，而身棲棲為之雄伯，非救世之宜也。於時雖諸黃門，六畜自寓耳。其陳蕃竇武之徒，雖鼎司牧伯，皆貴重林宗，信其言論，臧否取定，於匡危易俗，不亦可冀乎而林宗既不能薦有為之士，立毫毛之益，而逋逃不仕者，則方之巢許；廢職待客者，則比之周公；養徒避役者，則擬之仲尼；棄親依豪者，則同之遊夏。是以世眩名實，而大亂滋甚也。若謂林宗不知，則無以稱聰明；若謂知之而不改，則無以言憂道。昔四豪似周公而不能為周公，今林宗似仲尼而不得為仲尼也。

Master Ji said again: "In life Linzong was a model for an age, and in death his fragrance spreads forever. Great scholars and fine gentlemen never pointed out any flaw, and you alone criticize his shortcomings; I fear you will be laughed at by later generations!" Baopuzi said: "Why so? If my words are just, they should be left to later people, and those who recognize them afterward need not worry that few will echo them. Moreover many earlier worthies also mocked him; only Master Huangfu praised him excessively. Hence the Grand Tutor Zhuge Wuxun also said: 'Linzong lived in seclusion without cultivating withdrawal, and took office without benefiting his time; in truth he only wanted to spread his name and nourish his reputation. He took street gossip for eloquence and slander of superiors and government for loftiness. The age esteemed him, flocking to him like Guo Jie and Yuan She, who were once followed by crowds. Later men who admired fame could not test him by the codes of the sage kings or weigh him by the conduct of earlier worthies; they were merely dazzled by his glittering name and all vied to take him as the standard, afraid they would not learn enough of him, and talk of him filled the ear. Even middling men did not notice, so how could children know?' So too the Prefect of Lingling, Lord Yin Boxu, a man of high talent and sound judgment, said: 'Within, Linzong consorted with generals and ministers; abroad, he traveled among the regions; he exalted private opinion to stir the crowd and tied praise and blame to the court. Those he approved rose like wind and rain, their value changed and their appearance transformed; those he disliked were crushed and sunk, and gentlemen would not speak of them. Moreover, though he was a man of fame and worth (the base text has a missing character before 'his fame and worth'), he went into hiding in a time of disorder and concealed his light and shadow, which still was not so far from the mark. A gentleman practices the Way in order to set the ruler right and to correct custom; at that time the ruler could not be corrected nor the custom set right, and Linzong's circling about, clear talk in village lanes, did nothing to save the world from decline, and nothing to relieve the exhausted people.' The late Secretary Zhou Gongyuan, also a heroic and renowned scholar, said: 'Meeting a well-ordered age and praising it is called delighting in the Way; meeting a disordered age and trying to save it is called worrying for the Way; when disorder cannot be saved, avoiding it is called keeping to the Way. Shun delighted in the Way, Zhongni worried for the Way, and the Viscount of Wei kept to the Way. The Han age was about to fall and the business of the age lay in making friends and traveling; Linzong ought rightly to have been moved and emptied his heart, bound like-minded gentlemen together, and corrected it with them; instead he personally bustled about to become a lord among men, which was not fit for saving the age. In those days, even those palace eunuchs were no more than livestock lodged on others. Chen Fan, Dou Wu and their like, though they were ministers and governors, all valued Linzong and trusted his words, and praise or blame was settled by him; could one not have hoped from this that danger would be set right and custom changed? Yet Linzong, unable to recommend capable men or establish even a hair's breadth of benefit, compared those who fled and refused office to Chao and Xu, those who neglected duty to entertain guests to the Duke of Zhou, those who kept disciples to avoid service to Zhongni, and those who abandoned their parents to rely on the powerful to You and Xia. So the world was dazzled over name and reality, and the great disorder grew worse. If one says Linzong did not know, one cannot call him clever; if one says he knew and did not change, one cannot call him worried for the Way. Earlier the four lords of the Warring States resembled the Duke of Zhou and yet could not become him; now Linzong resembles Zhongni and yet cannot become him.

’”於是問者慨而嘆曰：“然則斯人乃避亂之徒，非全隱之高矣。”

'" Thereupon the questioner sighed with feeling and said: "Then this man was one who fled disorder, not a lofty recluse of complete withdrawal."

抱朴子曰：漢末有禰衡者，年二十有三，孔文舉齒過知命，身居九列，文學冠群，少長稱

Baopuzi said: Toward the end of the Han there was a man named Mi Heng, twenty-three years old, while Kong Wenju was over fifty and held the rank of one of the Nine Ministers, his literary learning crowning the crowd, and old and young alike praised

譽，名位殊絕，而友衡於布衣，又表薦之於漢朝，以為宜起家作臺郎。

him. Their standing differed to the extreme, yet Kong befriended Heng, a commoner, and also submitted a memorial recommending him to the Han court, holding that he should be raised from his home to be an official at the court.

云：“惟嶽降神，異人並出。目所一見，輒誦於口。耳所瞥聞，不忘於心。性與道合，思若有神。’其嘆之如此。衡遊許下，自公卿國士以下，衡初不稱其官，皆名之雲阿某，或以姓呼之為某兒，呼孔融為大兒，呼楊修為小兒。荀彧猶強可與語，過此以住，皆木梗泥偶，似人而無人氣，皆酒甕飲囊耳。百官大會，衡時在坐，忽顰蹙悽愴，哀嘆忼慨，或譏之曰：“英豪樂集，非所嘆也。”衡眄歷視稠眾而答曰：“在此積屍列柩之間，仁人安能不悲乎”

The memorial said: "The sacred mountains send down spirits, and extraordinary men emerge together. What his eyes see once, he can recite by mouth; what his ears catch in passing, his heart never forgets. His nature accords with the Way, and his thought is as if inspired." He praised him to this extent. Heng traveled to Xuchang, and among the officials and men of the state from the dukes and ministers downward, Heng at first did not address them by their offices but called them all 'Ah so-and-so,' or addressed them by surname with 'child,' calling Kong Rong 'Elder Child' and Yang Xiu 'Younger Child.' Xun Yu he could just about talk with; beyond that, all were wooden dolls and clay figures, resembling people but lacking human breath, nothing but wine jars and rice bags. At a great gathering of the officials Heng was present; suddenly he knit his brows in sorrow and sighed with deep feeling. Someone mocked him: "Heroes delight in gatherings; this is no occasion for sighing." Heng cast a sidelong glance over the dense crowd and answered: "Among these heaped-up corpses and lined-up coffins, how could a benevolent man not grieve?"

曹公嘗切齒欲殺之，然復無正有入法應殆之罪，又惜有殺儒生之名，乃謫作鼓吏，衡了無悔情恥色，乃縛角於柱，口就吹之，乃有異聲，並搖鼓兆擊鼓，聞者不知其一人也。而論更劇，無所顧忌，尋亡走投荊州牧劉表，表欲作書與孫權，討逆於時已全據江東，帶甲百萬，欲結輔車之援，與共距中國，使諸文士立草，盡思而不得表意。乃示衡。衡省之曰：“但欲使孫左右持刀兒視之者，此可用爾，儻令張子布見此，大辱人也。”即摧壞投地，表悵然有怪色，謂衡曰：“為了不中芸鋤乎惜之也。

Lord Cao once gnashed his teeth and wanted to kill him, but there was no true offense against the law that carried a death sentence, and he was reluctant to bear the name of one who had killed a scholar, so he demoted him to be a drummer. Heng showed no regret or shame at all; he tied a horn to a pillar and put his mouth to it and blew, producing an extraordinary sound, and he also shook the hand drum and beat the great drum, so that those who heard could not tell it was one and the same man. His speech grew sharper still and held nothing back. Before long he fled and went over to Liu Biao, Governor of Jingzhou. Biao wished to write a letter to Sun Quan, for Sun the Rebel-Queller then held all of Jiangdong entire with a million armored men, and Biao wanted to secure the support of a close ally to resist the Central Plains together; he had his literary men draft it, but they exhausted their thought without getting Biao's meaning. So he showed it to Heng. Heng looked it over and said: "This is only meant for the knife-bearing men at the Sun clan's side to see, and for that it will do; if Zhang Zibu should see it, it would be a great insult." At once he tore it up and flung it to the ground. Biao was dismayed and looked displeased, and said to Heng: "Is it altogether unfit for hoe and plow? What a pity.

”衡索紙筆，便更書之，眾所作有十餘通，衡凡一歷視之而已，暗記書之，畢以還表。表以還主，或有錄所作之本也，以比校之，無一字錯，乃各大驚。表乃請衡更作，衡即作成，手不停輟，表甚以以為佳而施用焉。

" Heng asked for paper and brush and wrote another version. Of what the others had written there were more than ten drafts; Heng merely looked through each once, memorized them silently and wrote them out again, and when finished handed them back to Biao. Biao returned them to their authors, and someone who had kept a copy of his own draft compared them and found not one character wrong, so they were each greatly astonished. Biao then asked Heng to compose again, and Heng finished at once without his hand ever pausing; Biao thought it very fine and used it.

衡驕傲轉甚，一州人士，莫不憎恚，而表亦不復堪，欲殺之。或諫以為曹公名為嚴酷，猶能容忍，衡少有虛名，若一朝殺之，則天下游士，莫復擬足於荊楚者也。表遂遣之。衡走到夏口，依將軍黃祖，祖待以上賓。祖大兒黃射，與衡偕行，過人墓下，俱讀碑銘一過而去。

Heng's arrogance grew worse, and among the men of the whole province there was none who did not hate and resent him; Biao could no longer bear it either and wanted to kill him. Someone remonstrated, saying that Lord Cao was reputed harsh and yet could tolerate him, that Heng had a modest empty reputation, and that if he were killed one morning, no wandering scholar in the world would set foot in Jing and Chu again. Biao therefore sent him away. When Heng reached Xiakou he attached himself to the general Huang Zu, who treated him as a most honored guest. Zu's eldest son Huang She traveled with Heng, and as they passed a tomb they read the stele inscription through once together and left.

久之，射曰：“前所視碑文大佳，恨不寫也。”衡曰：“卿存其名目耳。我一覽尚記之。”即為暗書之，末有一字，石缺，乃不分明。衡與半字，曰：“疑此當作某字。恐不審也。”射省可(下有缺文)。雖言行輕人，寧願榮顯，是以高遊鳳林，不能幽翳蒿萊，然修己駁刺，迷而不覺，故開口見憎，舉足蹈禍。齎如此之伎倆，亦何理容於天下而得其死哉猶梟鳴狐嚾，從皆不喜，音響不改，易處何益。許下，人物之海也。文舉為之主任，荷之足以至到，於此不安，已可知矣。猶必死之病，俞附越人，所無如何。朽木鉛鋌，班輸歐冶所不能匠也。而復走投荊楚間，終陷極害，此乃衡懵蔽之效也。蓋欲之而不能得，非能得而弗用者矣。於戲才士，可勿戒哉！

After a long time She said: "The stele text we saw earlier was very fine; a pity we did not copy it down." Heng said: "You only remember the headings. I still remember it after one look." He then wrote it out silently, and at the end there was one character where the stone was chipped and could not be made out clearly. Heng wrote half a character and said: "I suspect this should be such-and-such a character. I fear it may not be exact." She checked and confirmed it (the text is missing below this point). Although in speech and conduct he treated others lightly, he nonetheless preferred to be glorious and prominent, so he wished to roam high in the phoenix grove and could not be hidden in the weeds; but his self-cultivation was mixed and perverse, and he was lost in confusion without noticing it, so the moment he opened his mouth he was hated and with every step he trod on disaster. With such a disposition, what reason was there for the world to tolerate him and let him die a good death? It is like the screech of an owl or the howl of a fox, which everyone dislikes; if the sound does not change, what benefit is there in changing the place? Xuchang was a sea of notable men. Wenju was his host, and relying on this he was able to arrive there, yet he was not at ease even there, which shows how it was already knowable. It was like a fatal disease for which even Yu Fu and Yue Ren could do nothing, or rotten wood and a lead blade that Ban Shu and Ou Ye could not serve as craftsmen to repair. And yet he went off to Jing and Chu and finally fell into the extreme penalty; this is the proof of Heng's obscured mind. It was probably that he wanted something but could not obtain it, not that he could obtain it but did not use it. Alas, men of talent, can you not take warning!

嵇生曰：“吾所惑者，衡之虛名也；子所論者，衡之實病也。敢不寤寐於指南，投杖於折中乎！”

Master Ji said: "What I doubted was Heng's empty reputation; what you have set out is Heng's real illness. How dare I not sleep and wake beneath your south-pointing guide, and throw my staff down to settle the matter by your judgment!"

鮑生敬言，好老莊之書，治劇辯之言，以為古者無君，勝於今世，故其著論云：“儒者曰：‘天生烝民而樹之君。’豈其皇天諄諄然亦將欲之者為辭哉！夫強者凌弱，則弱者服之矣；智者詐愚，則愚者事之矣。服之，故君臣之道起焉；事之，故力寡之民制焉。然則隸屬役御，由乎爭強弱而校愚智。彼蒼天果無事也，夫混茫以無名為貴，群生以得意為歡。故剝桂刻漆，非木之願；拔鶡裂翠，非鳥所欲；促轡銜鑣，非馬之性；荷車兀運重，非牛之樂。詐巧之萌，任力違真，伐生之根，以飾無用，捕飛禽以供華玩，穿本完之鼻，絆天放之腳，蓋非萬物並生之意。伕役彼黎烝，養此在官，貴者祿厚而民亦困矣。夫死而得生，欣喜無量，則不如向無死也。

Master Bao Jingyan, fond of the books of Laozi and Zhuangzi and versed in sharp and disputatious argument, held that antiquity, having no rulers, was better than the present age, so he wrote an essay saying: "The Confucians say: 'Heaven sent down the multitude of people and set up rulers for them.' Is it truly that August Heaven earnestly wished it so, and so used this saying as a pretext! The strong bully the weak, and the weak submit to them; the clever deceive the foolish, and the foolish serve them. Because they submit, the way of ruler and minister arose; because they serve, people of little strength are subdued. So bondage and servitude come from contending over strength and weakness and testing wisdom against foolishness. That blue Heaven did nothing of the kind. The primal chaos prized having no name, and all living things took joy in getting their fulfillment. So stripping cassia and carving lacquer is not what trees wish; plucking pheasant feathers and splitting kingfisher plumes is not what birds want; urging on the bridle and bit is not the nature of a horse; bearing the yoke and hauling heavy loads (the base text has a variant reading here, which should be 'yoke') is not the joy of an ox. Craft and cunning sprouted, strength was used and truth was violated; they cut down the root of life in order to adorn what is useless, snared flying birds to supply gaudy entertainment, pierced noses that were whole and bound feet that ran free, none of which is the meaning of all things being born together. They employ those common folk to feed these men in office; the noble have thick salaries and the people are the more distressed. Death followed by a return to life would bring joy beyond measure, yet it would be better never to have died at all.

讓爵辭祿，以釣虛名，則不如本無讓也。天下逆亂焉而忠義顯矣，六親不和焉而孝慈彰矣。曩古之世，無君無臣，穿井而飲，耕田而食，日出而作，日入而息，泛然不繫，恢爾自得，不競不營，無榮無辱，山無蹊徑，澤無舟梁。川穀不通，則不相併兼；士眾不聚，則不相攻伐。是高巢不探，深淵不漉，鳳鸞棲息於庭宇，龍鱗群遊於園池，飢虎可履，虺蛇可執，涉澤而鷗鳥不入飛，入林而狐兔不驚。勢利不萌，禍亂不作，干戈不用，城池不設，萬物玄同，相忘於道，疫癘不流，民獲考終，純白在胸，機心不生，含食甫而熙，鼓腹而遊。其言不華，其行不飾，安得聚斂以奪民財，安得嚴刑以為坑阱！

To decline rank and refuse emolument in order to fish for empty fame—that is worse than there being no declining at all. When all under heaven is in rebellion and disorder, loyalty and rightness become manifest; when the six kin are not in harmony, filiality and kindness are made plain. In the age of high antiquity there was no lord and no subject; men dug wells to drink, ploughed fields to eat, worked when the sun rose, rested when it set; drifting unattached, easy and self-content, not striving, not contriving, with neither glory nor disgrace; the hills had no paths, the meres had no boats or bridges. River-valleys not connecting, they did not devour one another; officers and hosts not gathering, they did not attack one another. So high nests were not rifled, deep pools not drained; phoenix and simurgh perched in the courtyards, the scaled dragons swam in flocks in the garden ponds; hungry tigers could be trodden on, vipers could be grasped; wading the marsh the gulls did not fly off, entering the wood the fox and hare were not startled. Power and profit did not sprout, calamity and disorder did not arise; shield and dagger were not used, walls and moats were not built; the myriad things were darkly one, forgetting each other in the Way; pestilence did not spread, the people met good ends; pure white lay in the breast, the scheming heart was not born; holding their food they played (the base text reads 'han shi fu,' read 'han bu'), drumming their bellies they roamed. Their words were not flowered, their deeds not adorned—how could there be gathering to rob the people's wealth, or stern punishments made into pitfalls!

“降及杪季，智用巧生，道德既衰，尊卑有序，繁升降損益之禮，飾紱冕玄黃之服，起土木於凌霄，構丹綠於棼撩，傾峻搜寶，泳淵辨珠。聚玉如林，不足以極其變；積金成山，不足以贍其費。澶漫於淫荒之域，而叛其大始之本，去宗日遠，背樸彌增，尚賢則民爭名，貴貨則盜賊起，見可欲則真正之心亂，勢利陳則劫奪之途開。造剡銳之器，長侵割之患，弩恐不勁，甲恐不堅，矛恐不利，盾恐不厚。若無凌暴，此皆可棄也。故曰：白玉不毀，孰為珪璋道德不廢，安取仁義使夫桀紂之徒，得燔人辜諫者，脯諸侯，菹方伯，剖人心，破人脛，窮驕淫之惡，用炮烙之虐。若令斯人併為匹夫，性雖兇奢，安得施之！使彼肆酷恣欲，屠割天下，由於為君，故得縱意也。君臣既立，眾慝日滋，而欲攘臂乎桎梏之間，悉勞於塗炭之中。

(Master Bao went on:) 'Descending to latter days, cunning was used and artifice born; the Way and virtue declined, honored and base took their order; the tedious rites of rising and descending, giving and taking; the adorned robes of sash and cap, dark and yellow; earth and timber built to pierce the sky, cinnabar and green raised on beams and purlins; the high places overturned to seek treasure, the deep pools swum to tell apart pearls. Jade gathered like a forest cannot exhaust that change; gold heaped like a mountain cannot feed that cost. Drifting in the realm of wantonness and deserting the root of Grand Beginning, they left the ancestor ever farther, turned from simplicity ever more. Esteeming worthiness, the people vie for names; prizing goods, robbers and thieves arise; showing the desirable, true hearts are disordered; power and profit displayed, the road of plunder opens. Sharp weapons are made and the harm of invasion grows; crossbows fear to be weak, armor to be soft, spears to be dull, shields to be thin. Had there been no oppression and violence, all these could be cast away. So it is said: if white jade is not destroyed, who would make tablets and scepters? If the Way and virtue are not abandoned, where would humaneness and rightness be sought? It let men of Jie's and Zhou's kind burn men at the stake and punish the remonstrant, make the lords into dried meat and the earls into mince, cut open men's hearts, break men's shins, work the utmost of arrogant vice, and use the cruelty of the burning pillar. Had such men been but common fellows, though their nature was fierce and wanton, how could they have done it! That they could loose their cruelty, spend their lust, and butcher all under heaven was because they were made lords—so they could follow their bent. Once lord and subject are set up, the many evils grow by the day; and then they want to bare their arms amid the shackles, give all their toil in the mire and charcoal.'

人主憂栗於廟堂之上，百姓煎擾乎困苦之中，閒之以禮度，整之以刑罰，是猶闢滔天之源，激不測之流，塞之以撮壤，障之以指掌也。”

'The lord of men trembles in worry above the hall; the hundred surnames are tormented amid hardship; they are hedged by the rules of ritual and dressed by punishments. This is like opening the flood-gate's source and stirring the unfathomable stream, then damming it with a pinch of earth and stemming it with a palm.'

抱朴子難曰：“蓋聞沖昧既闢，降濁升清，穹隆仰燾，旁泊俯停。乾坤定位，上下以形，遠取諸物，則天尊地卑，以著人倫之體；近取諸身，則元首股肱，以表君臣之序，降殺之軌，有自來矣。若夫太極混沌，兩儀無質，則未若玄黃剖判，七耀垂象，陰陽陶冶，萬物群分也。由滋以言，亦知鳥聚獸散，巢棲穴竄，毛血是茹，結草斯服，入無六親之尊卑，出無階級之等威，未若庇體廣夏，粳梁嘉旨，黼黻綺紈，御冬當暑，明闢蒞物，良宰匠世，設官分職，宇宙穆如也。貴賤有章，則慕賞畏罰；勢齊力均，則爭奪靡憚。是以有聖人作，受命自天，或結罟以畋漁，或瞻辰而鑽燧，或嘗卉以選粒，或構宇以仰蔽。備物致用，去害興利，百姓欣戴，奉而尊之，君臣之道於是乎生，安有詐愚凌弱之理三五迭興，道教遂隆，辯章勸沮，德盛刑清，明良之歌作，蕩蕩之化成，太階既平，七政遵度，梧禽激響於朝陽，麟虞覿靈而來出，龜龍吐藻於河湄，景老摛耀於天路，皇風振於九域，兇器戢乎府庫，是以禮制則君安，樂作而刑厝也。若夫奢淫狂暴，由乎人己，豈必有君，便應爾乎而鮑生獨舉衰世之罪，不論至治之義，何也

Baopuzi challenged: 'I have heard that when the murky dimness was parted, the turbid qi descended and the clear qi rose; the vault arched to cover above, the broad mass settled to rest below. Qian and Kun took their places, above and below took form; borrowing afar from things, heaven is honored and earth base, to make plain the frame of human relations; borrowing near from the body, the head and the limbs, to show the ordering of lord and subject—the canon of exalting and curtailing has its grounds. As for when Grand Culmen was undivided and the two forms not yet embodied, it was not as good as when dark and yellow were cleft, the seven luminaries hung their signs, yin and yang smelted, and the myriad things sorted into kinds. By this one may also know that flocking like birds and scattering like beasts, perching in nests and crouching in caves, eating fur and drinking blood, and binding grass for clothes—with neither the honored and base of the six kin within nor the ranks of awe without—is not as good as sheltering the body in broad halls, fine grain and good fare, embroidered and figured silks, guarding winter and meeting heat; an enlightened lord presiding over the myriad things, good stewards fashioning the age, offices set and charges divided, the cosmos at peace. When noble and base have their rule, men covet reward and fear punishment; when power is even and strength matched, they war without check. So a sage arose, received the charge from heaven: now knotting nets for hunt and fishing, now watching the stars to bore for fire, now tasting the hundred plants to choose the grains, now framing houses to cover overhead. Furnishing things for use, removing harm and raising benefit, the people rejoiced and bore him up, served and honored him—and the way of lord and subject was born. Where is the reason of deceiving fools and bullying the weak? The Three Augusts and Five Emperors arose in turn and the teaching of the Way grew great: distinguishing and making plain exhortation and restraint, virtue flourishing and punishments clear; the song of brightness and goodness was made, the transformation of boundless ease achieved; the Grand Stairway was levelled, the seven governors kept their measures; the bird on the wutong sang in the morning sun, the unicorn and zouyu showed their numen and came forth, tortoise and dragon shed ornament on the river's edge, the bright star and the Old Man spread their gleam on heaven's road; the august wind stirred through the nine lands, the weapons of ill were stowed in the arsenals—so that ritual rule gave the lord rest and music's work set punishments aside. As for the wanton and violent—it lies in the men themselves; must there be a lord for it to be so? Yet Master Bao cites only the crimes of a decaying age and does not argue the rightness of utmost order—why?'

“且夫逮古質樸，蓋其未變，民尚童蒙，機心不動，譬夫嬰孩，智慧未萌，非為知而不為，欲而忍之也。若人與人爭草萊之利，家與家訟巢窟之地，上無治枉之官，下有重類之黨，則私鬥過於公戰，木石銳於干戈，交屍布野，流血絳路，久而無君，噍類盡矣。至於擾龍馴鳳，河圖洛書，或麟銜甲負，或黃魚波湧，或丹禽翔授，或迴風三集，皆在有君之世，不出無王之時也。夫祥瑞之徵，指發玄極，或以表革命之符，或以彰至治之盛，若令有君，不合天意，彼嘉應之來，孰使之哉子若以混冥為美乎則乾坤不宜分矣；若以無名為高乎則八卦不當畫矣。豈造化有謬，而太昊之暗哉雅論所尚，唯貴自然，請問夫識母忘父，群生之性也；拜伏之敬，世之末飾也。然性不可任，必尊父焉；飾不可廢，必有拜焉。任之廢之，子安乎

(Baopuzi went on:) 'Moreover high antiquity was simple and rude—doubtless the change had not yet come. The people were still in childlike blindness, the scheming heart unmoved, like babes whose wit has not yet sprouted; it is not that they knew and did not act, or desired and refrained. If man had striven with man for the profit of the weeds, house had pleaded with house for the soil of nest and burrow, with no officers above to govern the crooked and factions below banding with their kind, then private brawls would have outdone public wars, wood and stone sharper than shield and spear; corpses would have strewn the fields, blood dyed the roads—and without a lord for long, the living kinds would have been done. As for the trained dragon and tamed phoenix, the River Chart and the Luo Writing—the unicorn bearing the tally, the yellow fish surging the waves, the vermilion bird flying the grant, the thrice-gathering whirlwind—all came in an age with lords, none in a kingless time. Signs of good omen are sent down from the dark pole: now to show the tally of revolution, now to manifest the greatness of utmost order. If a lord did not match heaven's intent, on whose account did those fair answers come? If you hold murk and dimness for beauty, then Qian and Kun ought never to have parted; if you hold namelessness for height, then the eight trigrams ought never to have been drawn. Was creation then in error and Taihao in darkness? What refined doctrine exalts is only nature. Let me ask: to know the mother and forget the father is the nature of all that is born; the reverence of bowing down is the age's trailing ornament. Yet nature cannot be given rein—the father must be honored; ornament cannot be abolished—bowing must be. Give them rein and abolish them—could you rest easy?'

“古者生無棟宇，死無殯葬，川無舟楫之器，陸無車馬之用，吞啖毒烈，以至殞斃，疾無醫術，枉死無限。後世聖人，改而垂之，民到於今，賴其厚惠，機巧之利，未易敗矣。今使子居則反巢穴之陋，死則捐之中野，限水則泳之遊之，山行則徒步負戴，棄鼎鉉而為生臊之食，廢針石而任自然之病。裸以為飾，不用衣裳；逢女為偶，不假行媒。吾子亦將曰：‘不可也。’況於無君乎若令上世人如木石，玄冰結而不寒，資糧絕而不飢者，可也。衣食之情，苟在其心，則所爭豈必金玉，所競豈必榮位！橡草予可以生鬥訟，藜藿足用，致侵奪矣。夫有欲之性，萌於受氣之初，厚己之情，著於成形之日，賊殺併兼，起於自然，必也不亂，其理何居！夫明王在上，群后盡規，坐以待旦，昧朝旰食，延誹謗以攻過，責暱屬之補察，聽輿謠以屬省，鑑履尾而夕惕，颺清風以埽穢，厲秋威以肅物，制峻網密，有犯無赦，刑戮以懲小罪，九伐以討大憝，猶豺狼之當路，感彝倫之不敘，憂作威之兇家，恐奸宄之害國。故嚴司鷹揚以彈違，虎臣杖鋮於方岳，而狂狡之變，莫世乏之，而令放之，使無所憚，則盜跖將橫行以掠殺，而良善端拱以待禍，無主所訴，無強所憑，而冀家為夷齊，人皆柳惠，何異負豕而欲無臭，憑河而欲不濡，無轡篋而御奔馬，棄枻櫓而乘輕舟，未見其可也。”

(Baopuzi went on:) 'In the old days men lived without roof-beams and died without burial; the streams had no boats or oars, the land no use of cart and horse; they swallowed the venomous and died of it; in illness there was no healing art—wrongful deaths beyond count. The sages of later ages changed this and left it for them, and the people rely on that great kindness to this day; the profit of artifice is not easily undone. Now let you live back in the meanness of nest and cave, die and be cast out in the wilds; at water, swim across; in the hills, walk and carry; cast off the tripod and eat reeking raw flesh, lay aside needle and stone and let illness take its course; wear nakedness for dress and no clothes; take whatever woman you meet for mate without the go-between's offices—you too would say, "This cannot be." How much more being without a lord! Had the men of high antiquity been like wood and stone—dark ice formed yet they were not cold, stores cut off yet they were not hungry—that would do. But if the wish for clothes and food is in the heart, then what is fought for need not be gold and jade, what is vied for need not be rank and glory: acorns and weeds can stir quarrels; goosefoot and pulse suffice to bring seizure. The nature that desires sprouts at the first drawing of breath; the feeling of favoring self shows the day the form is made. Murder and annexation arise of nature—must they not run wild, and where is the pattern for that? With an enlightened king on high, the many lords spend their hearts planning, sit waiting for dawn, hold court at first light, eat late at day's end; invite slander to attack their own faults, charge intimates to mend the inspection, listen to lane-songs to examine themselves, take warning from treading the tiger's tail and keep watch at dusk; lift the clear wind to sweep the filth, wield autumn's austerity to order things; laws stern, nets close-meshed, offenders unpardoned, small crimes punished by execution, great evils smitten by the nine campaigns—yet still it is like wolves blocking the road: they sigh that the constant relations are not followed, worry that making awe brings ill on the house, fear that treachery harms the state. So the strict officers like hawks rise to impeach the wayward, and tiger-ministers hold the axe at the marches—yet the wild and cunning changes have lacked in no age. Give them free rein so they have nothing to dread, and Robber Zhi will run wild to plunder and kill while the good fold their hands and await ruin, with no lord to tell and no strong to lean on—yet you hope that every house is a Bo Yi and Shu Qi, every man a Liuxia Hui! How does it differ from carrying a pig and wishing it not to stink, crossing a river on foot and wishing not to be wet, driving a runaway horse without rein or whip, boarding a light skiff having cast off oar and sweep—I have never seen that this can be.'

鮑生又難曰：“夫天地之位，二氣範物，樂陽則雲飛，好陰則川處。承柔剛以率性，隨四八而化生，各附所安，本無尊卑也。君臣既立，而變化遂滋，夫獺多則魚擾，鷹眾則鳥亂，有司設則百姓困，奉上厚則下民貧，壅崇寶貨，飾玩臺榭，食則方丈，衣則龍章，內聚曠女，外多鰥男，辨難得之寶，貴奇怪之物，造無益之器，恣不已之慾，非鬼非神，財力安出哉

Master Bao challenged again: 'The places of heaven and earth—the two qi transformed into the myriad things: those loving yang ride the clouds; those loving yin dwell in the streams. Receiving soft and hard they follow their nature, living with the four seasons and eight terms, each cleaving to what contents it—there was no honored and base at root. Once lord and subject are set up, changes sprout thereupon. When otters are many the fish are disturbed; when hawks are many the birds are scattered. When officers are set the people are pressed; when what is offered above is thick the folk below are poor. He chokes up hoards to treasure goods, adorns towers for play; his table spans ten squares; his robes are dragon-patterned; within he gathers maidens past their time, without are widowed men. He seeks the hard-won treasure, prizes the strange thing, makes vessels of no use, lets loose desire without cease—neither ghost nor spirit—from where does the wealth and strength come?'

夫谷帛積則民有飢寒之儉，百官備則坐靡供奉之費，宿衛有徒食之眾，百姓養遊手之人，民乏衣食，自給已劇，況加賦斂，重以苦役，下不堪命，且凍且飢，冒法斯濫，於是乎在。王者憂勞於上，臺鼎顰戚頁於下，臨深履薄，懼禍之及。恐智勇之不用，故厚爵重祿以誘之；恐奸釁之不虞，故嚴城深池以備之。而不知祿厚則民匱而臣騎，城嚴則役重而攻巧。故散鹿臺之金，發鉅橋之粟，莫不歡然；況乎本不聚金，而不斂民粟乎休牛桃林，放馬華山，載戢干戈，載櫜弓矢，猶以為泰；況乎本無軍旅，而不戰不戍乎茅茨土階，棄織拔葵，雜囊為幃，濯裘布被，妾不衣帛，馬不秣粟，儉以率物，以為美談，所謂盜跖分財，取少為讓，陸處之魚，相煦以沫也。

'When grain and silk are hoarded the people have hunger and cold; when the hundred offices are filled they sit and spend what is offered; the palace guards are crowds fed for nothing; the people must feed the idle-handed. The people lack clothes and food—it is hard for them to feed even themselves; how much more with levies laid on, and heavy toil added—those below cannot bear the charge, frozen and starved together; trespassing the laws swells and spreads—here it lies. The king frets and toils above; the tripod-thrones knit their brows below (the base text's graphs are corrupt; read 'cu'); treading the deep and thin ice, they fear the coming of calamity. Fearing the wise and brave will not be used, they bait them with fat titles and rich salaries; fearing treachery will breach unawares, they wall steep and moat deep to ward. They do not know that fat salaries starve the people and make ministers proud (the base text reads 'chen qi,' 'qi' being an error for 'jiao'), and steep walls burden the labors and breed the craft of siege. So scattering the gold of Lutai and opening the grain of Juqiao—there is none but rejoices; how much more never gathering gold or stripping the people's grain! Turning oxen loose on the peach-wood fields, turning horses loose on Mount Hua, stowing shield and dagger away, bagging bow and arrow—still they count it excessive; how much more having no armies at all, no wars, no garrisons! Thatched roofs and earthen steps, throwing down the loom, plucking up the mallows, making curtains of sacking, washing furs and cotton quilts, the concubines not wearing silk, the horses not fed grain—to lead the myriad things by thrift is counted a fair tale: this is Robber Zhi dividing the goods, where taking less passes for yielding; fish on dry land wetting each other with spittle.'

“夫身無在公之役，家無輸調之費，安土樂業，順天分地，內足衣食之用，外無勢利之爭，操杖攻劫，非人情也。象刑之教，民莫之犯，法令滋彰，盜賊多有，豈彼無利性而此專貪殘，蓋我清靜則民自正，下疲怨則智巧生也。任之自然，猶慮凌暴，勞之不休，奪之無已，田蕪倉虛，杼柚之空，食不充口，衣不周身，欲令勿亂，其可得乎所以救禍而禍彌深，峻禁而禁不止也。關梁所以禁非，而猾吏因之以為非焉。衡量所以檢偽，而邪人因之以為偽焉。

(Master Bao went on:) 'The body owes no public service, the house no levies to pay; at peace on the soil, happy in its work, following heaven's share of ground, within sufficient in clothes and food, without no strife for power and gain—taking up a staff to rob is not man's bent. Under the teaching of symbolic punishments the people had nothing to offend against; the clearer the laws and commands, the more robbers there were. Were those men without a nature for gain, or is greed and cruelty only here? The truth is that when those above are still and clean the people right themselves; when those below are worn and resentful, craft is born. Letting nature take its course, there is still worry over bullying; with labor unceasing and seizure unending, fields run to weeds, stores run empty, looms stand bare, food cannot fill the mouth, clothes cannot cover the body—to want them not to run wild, how can it be! So rescuing calamity the calamity deepens; bans are stern and cannot be stopped. Passes and bridges are used to forbid the unlawful, and cunning clerks use them to do the unlawful; weights and measures are used to test the false, and crooked men use them to work the false.'

大臣所以扶危，而奸臣恐主之不危。兵革所以靜難，而寇者盜之以為難。此皆有君之所致也。民有所利，則有爭心，富貴之家，所利重矣。且夫細民之爭，不過小小，匹夫校力，亦何所至，無疆土之可貪，無城郭之可利，無金寶之可欲，無權柄之可競，勢不能以合徒眾，威不足以驅異人，孰與王赫斯怒，陳師鞠旅，推無讎之民，攻無罪之國，殭屍則動以萬計，流血則漂櫓丹野。無道之君，無世不有，肆其虐亂，天下無邦，忠良見害於內，黎民暴骨於外，豈徒小小爭奪之患邪至於移父事君，廢孝為忠，申令無君，亦同有之耳。古之為屋，足以蔽風雨，而今則被以朱紫，飾以金玉；古之為衣，足以掩身形，而今則玄黃黼黻，綿綺紈；古之為樂，足以定人情，而今則煩乎淫聲，驚魂傷和；古之飲食，足以充飢虛，而今則焚林漉淵，宰割群生。(下有脫文。)

'Great ministers are used to prop the perilous, and treacherous ministers fear only that the lord is not in peril. Weapons and arms are used to quell calamity and disorder, and bandits use them to make disorder. All this is what having lords has brought about. Where the people have something to gain, the fighting heart is there; in houses of wealth and honor the gain is greater. Moreover the common people's contention is petty at most; when common men measure strength, what can come of it—no lands to covet, no walls to profit by, no gold and treasure to desire, no handles of power to fight over; their strength cannot gather a band, their awe cannot drive men—compare the king flaring in wrath, arraying the host and swearing the troops, driving out men who bear no feud to attack a state that has done no wrong: corpses reckoned by the ten thousand, blood that floats a shield and dyes the field red—what of that! Wayless lords have lacked in no age; loosing their wild disorder, under heaven no land is spared; the loyal and good are cut down within, the black-haired folk's bones bleach without—what is the harm of petty squabbling beside this! As for moving the filiality owed the father to serve the lord, giving up filiality for loyalty—had command been given that there be no lord, the same ills would still be there. In old times they made houses enough to fend off wind and rain; now they are hung with vermilion and purple and set with gold and jade. In old times they made clothes enough to cover the form; now they are dark and yellow, embroidered, brocaded, gauzed. In old times they made music enough to quiet men's feelings; now it is burdened with wanton sound that startles the soul and wounds the harmony. In old times food and drink were enough to fill emptiness; now they burn the forests and drain the deeps and butcher the living hosts. (Here the text has lost characters.)'