Jing Shen Xun (Essence and Spirit)

夫臣主之相與也，非有父子之厚，骨肉之親也，而竭力殊死，不辭其軀者，何也？勢有使之然也。昔者豫讓，中行文子之臣。智伯伐中行氏，併吞其地。豫讓背其主而臣智伯。智伯與趙襄子戰於晉陽之下，身死為戮，國分為三。豫讓欲報趙襄子，漆身為厲，吞炭變音，擿齒易貌。夫以一人之心而事兩主，或背而去，或欲身徇之，豈其趨舍厚薄之勢異哉？人之恩澤使之然也。紂兼天下，朝諸侯，人跡所及，舟楫所通，莫不賓服。然而武王甲卒三千人，禽之於牧野。豈周民死節，而殷民背叛哉？其主之義德厚而號令行也。夫疾風而波興，木茂而鳥集，相生之氣也。是故臣不得其所欲於君者，君亦不能得其所求於臣也。君臣之施者，相報之勢也。是故臣盡力死節以與君，君計功垂爵以與臣。是故君不能賞無功之臣，臣亦不能死無德之君。君德不下流於民，而欲用之，如鞭蹄馬矣。是猶不待雨而熟稼，必不可之數也。

Ministers and ruler deal with each other without the thickness of father and son or the closeness of flesh and blood, yet they exhaust their strength, fight to the death, and do not decline to sacrifice their bodies. Why? Circumstance makes them so. In the past Yu Rang was a minister of Zhonghang Wenzi. Zhi Bo attacked the Zhonghang clan and annexed their land. Yu Rang turned away from his lord and became Zhi Bo's minister. Zhi Bo fought Zhao Xiangzi below the walls of Jinyang, and Zhi Bo was killed and his state divided into three. Yu Rang wanted to take revenge on Zhao Xiangzi; he smeared lacquer on his body to get leprosy, swallowed charcoal to change his voice, and knocked out his teeth to change his looks. With one heart serving two lords, sometimes turning away and leaving, sometimes wishing to follow in death with his body, was it that his circumstance of leaning toward or away, thick or thin, differed? It is the grace of people that made him so. Zhou held the whole world and made the feudal lords come to court; where human tracks reached and boats and oars passed, none did not submit. Yet King Wu with three thousand armored soldiers captured him at Muye. Was it that the people of Zhou were willing to die for their principles while the people of Yin turned against him? It is that the ruler's righteousness and virtue were thick and his orders could be carried out. When a gale comes, waves rise; when trees are lush, birds gather; these are mutually producing qi. So a minister cannot get from the ruler what he wants, and the ruler cannot get from the minister what he seeks. The bestowing and giving of ruler and minister is a circumstance of mutual repayment. So the minister gives his strength and dies for principle for the ruler, and the ruler counts merit and lowers rank for the minister. So the ruler cannot reward a minister without merit, and a minister cannot die for a ruler without virtue. If a ruler's virtue does not flow down to the people yet he wants to use them, it is like whipping a horse that will not accept the bridle. This is like not waiting for rain and yet wanting the crops to ripen; certainly it is a number that cannot be done.

君人之道，處靜以修身，儉約以率下。靜則下不擾矣，儉則民不怨矣；下擾則政亂，民怨則德薄；政亂則賢者不為謀，德薄則勇者不為死。是故人主好鷙鳥猛獸，珍怪奇物，狡躁康荒，不愛民力，馳騁田獵，出入不時，如此，則百官務亂，事勤財匱，萬民悉苦，生業不修矣。人主好高臺深池，雕琢刻鏤，黼黻文章，絺綌綺繡，寶玩珠玉；則賦斂無度，而萬民力竭矣。堯之有天下也，非貪萬民之富而安人主之位也，以為百姓力征，強淩弱，眾暴寡，於是堯乃身服節儉之行，而明相愛之仁，以和輯之。是故茅茨不翦，採椽不斷，大路不畫，越席不緣，大羹不和，粢食不毇。巡狩行教，勤勞天下，周流五嶽。豈其奉養不足樂哉！舉天下而以為社稷，非有利焉。年衰志憫，舉天下而傳之舜，猶卻行而脫屣也。衰世則不然。一日而有天下之富，處人主之勢，則竭百姓之力，以奉耳目之欲，志專在宮室臺榭，陂池苑囿，猛獸熊羆，玩好珍怪。是故貧民糟糠不接於口，而虎狼熊羆厭芻豢；百姓短褐不完，而宮室衣錦繡。人主急茲無用之功，百姓黎民，憔悴於天下。是故使天下不安其性。

The way of a ruler lies in using stillness to cultivate himself and thrift to set an example for those below. With stillness, those below are not disturbed; with thrift, the people do not resent. When those below are disturbed, government is disordered; when the people resent, virtue is thin. When government is disordered, the worthy do not plan for him; when virtue is thin, the brave do not die for him. So when a ruler likes raptors and fierce beasts, rare and strange things, is cunning, restless, and indulges desires, takes pleasure in ease and neglect, does not spare the people's strength, gallops about hunting, and goes out and in at irregular times, then the hundred officials strive to make disorder, labor is heavy and wealth scarce, the myriad people are all distressed, and their livelihoods are not cultivated. When a ruler likes high terraces and deep ponds, carving and engraving, embroidered ornaments and patterns, kudzu cloth, damask, and embroidery, treasures, jade, and pearls, taxes have no limit and the strength of the myriad people is exhausted. When Yao held the world, it was not that he coveted the wealth of the myriad people or was content with the position of ruler; it was that the people used force against each other, the strong bullied the weak and the many oppressed the few, so Yao personally practiced thrift and made manifest the humaneness of mutual love to harmonize them. So his thatched roof was not trimmed, his oak rafters were not hewn, his great carriage was not painted, his rush mats had no border, his great soup was not seasoned, and his rice was not finely pounded. He toured and inspected to carry out teaching, toiled for the world, and made the rounds of the Five Peaks. Was his upkeep not pleasant enough! He took the world as the altar of the land and grain, not for any benefit of his own. When the years declined and his heart grew sorrowful, he passed the world to Shun as easily as walking backward or taking off shoes. A declining age is not like this. In a single day one has the wealth of the world and sits in the position of ruler, and then exhausts the strength of the people to supply the desires of ears and eyes, and his mind is solely on palaces, terraces, ponds, parks, fierce beasts, bears, brown bears, playthings, and rare and strange things. So the poor have no chaff to reach their mouths while tigers, wolves, bears, and brown bears are sated with livestock; the people's coarse short clothes are incomplete while in the palace they wear brocade and embroidery. The ruler hastens to this useless work, and the common people languish in the world. So he makes it impossible for the world to be at ease in its nature.

人主之居也，如日月之明也。天下之所同側目而視，側耳而聽，延頸舉踵而望也。是故非澹薄無以明德，非寧靜無以致遠，非寬大無以兼覆，非慈厚無以懷眾，非平正無以制斷。是故賢主之用人也，猶巧工之制木也，大者以為舟航柱梁，小者以為楫楔，修者以為櫚榱，短者以為朱儒枅櫨。無小大修短，各得其所宜；規矩方圓，各有所施。天下之物，莫兇於雞毒，然而良醫橐而藏之，有所用也。是故林莽之材，猶無可棄者，而況人乎？今夫朝廷之所不舉，鄉曲之所不譽，非其人不肖也，其所以官之者非其職也。鹿之上山，獐不能跂也，及其下，牧豎能追之；才有所修短也。是故有大略者，不可責以捷巧；有小智者，不可任以大功。人有其才，物有其形，有任一而太重，或任百而尚輕。是故審豪釐計者，必遺天下之大數；不失小物之選者，惑於大數之舉。譬猶狸之不可使搏牛，虎之不可使捕鼠也。今人之才，或欲平九州，並方外，存危國，繼絕世，志在直道正邪，決煩理挐，而乃責之以閨閣之禮，奧窔之間；或佞巧小具，諂進愉說，隨鄉曲之俗，卑下眾人之耳目，而乃任之以天下之權，治亂之機。是猶以斧劗毛，以刀抵木也，皆失其宜矣。

The dwelling of a ruler is as bright as the sun and moon. The whole world turns its eyes sideways to look, its ears sideways to listen, stretches its necks and stands on tiptoe to gaze. So without plainness there is no way to manifest virtue, without tranquility no way to reach far, without breadth no way to cover all, without kindness and generosity no way to comfort the multitude, and without evenness and uprightness no way to decide. So a worthy ruler employs people like a skilled craftsman cutting wood: the large is used for boats, masts, pillars, and beams, the small for oars and wedges, the long for bolts and rafters, and the short for dwarf pillars and brackets. Whether small, large, long, or short, each gets what suits it; compass, square, round, and straight each have their use. Among the things of the world none is fiercer than the poison of the cormorant, yet a good doctor stores it in a bag, because it has a use. So even timber from woods and thickets has nothing to throw away, let alone people? Now those whom the court does not promote and whom the villages do not praise are not unworthy; it is that the office given to them is not their duty. A deer climbs a mountain, and the roe cannot keep up on tiptoe, but when it comes down the mountain a shepherd boy can catch it; talents have strengths and weaknesses. So one with great strategy cannot be demanded to be nimble and clever, and one with small wisdom must not be entrusted with great deeds. People have their talents and things have their forms; some are overburdened by one task and some find a hundred tasks light. So one who examines hairs and strands to count will surely miss the great numbers of the world; one who does not lose small things in his selection will be confused in the movements of great numbers. It is like how a wildcat cannot be made to grapple with an ox and a tiger cannot be made to catch mice. Now among people's talents, some want to pacify the nine regions, annex lands beyond the borders, preserve endangered states, and continue lost lines; their aim lies in the straight Way, in correcting crookedness, deciding confusion, and ordering tangles, yet they are demanded to follow the rituals of the inner chambers and matters of the recesses of the home; others have only the small skills of flattery and cleverness, advancing by fawning and pleasing, following village customs and humbling themselves before the eyes and ears of the crowd, yet are entrusted with the world's power and the pivot of order and disorder. This is like using an axe to shave hair or a knife to fell wood; both lose what is fitting.

人主者，以天下之目視，以天下之耳聽，以天下之智慮，以天下之力爭。是故號令能下究，而臣情得上聞。百官修同，群君輻湊，喜不以賞賜，怒不以罪誅。是故威立而不廢，聰明光而不蔽，法令察而不苛，耳目達而不暗，善否之情，日陳於前而無所逆。是故賢者盡其智，而不肖者竭其力。德澤兼覆而不偏，群臣勸務而不怠，近者安其性，遠者懷其德。所以然者，何也？得用人之道，而不任己之才者也。故假輿馬者，足不勞而致千里；乘舟楫者，不能遊而絕江海。夫人主之情，莫不欲總海內之智，盡眾人之力，然而群臣志達效忠者，希不困其身。使言之而是，雖在褐夫芻蕘，猶不可棄也；使言之而非也，雖在卿相人君，揄策於廟堂之上，未必可用。是非之所在，不可以貴賤尊卑論也。是明主之聽於群臣，其計乃可用，不羞其位；其言可行，而不責其辯。暗主則不然。所愛習親近者，雖邪枉不正，不能見也；疏遠卑賤者，竭力盡忠，不能知也。有言者窮之以辭，有諫者誅之以罪。如此而欲照海內，存萬方，是猶塞耳而聽清濁，掩目而視青黃也，其離聰明則亦遠矣！

The ruler sees with the eyes of the world, hears with the ears of the world, thinks with the wisdom of the world, and contends with the strength of the world. So his orders reach all the way down and the real conditions of the ministers reach upward to be heard. The hundred officials are well ordered and coordinated, the ministers gather like spokes (the base text writes 'many rulers'), joy is not expressed by rewards and anger is not expressed by punishments. So his authority stands and is not abandoned, his intelligence shines and is not obscured, his laws are clear and not harsh, his ears and eyes are open and not dim, and the real conditions of the good and the not good are laid out before him daily without contradiction. So the worthy exhaust their wisdom and the unworthy exhaust their strength. His virtue and grace cover all without partiality, the ministers strive in their tasks without laziness, those near rest in their nature and those far embrace his virtue. Why is it so? Because he has the Way of employing people and does not rely solely on his own talent. So one who relies on carriage and horses reaches a thousand li without tiring his feet; one who rides a boat, not knowing how to swim, can cross rivers and seas. The ruler's feeling is that none fails to want to gather up the wisdom within the seas and use the strength of the multitude fully, yet few ministers whose aims are achieved and who give loyal service avoid having their own bodies brought to hardship. If words are right, even from a straw-gatherer in coarse clothes they cannot be discarded; if words are not right, even drawn up by ministers and rulers in the temple hall they are not necessarily usable. Where right and wrong lie cannot be discussed by noble and humble, high and low. So an enlightened ruler listening to his ministers does not feel ashamed of a person's rank if his plan can be used, and does not demand eloquence if his words can be practiced. A dim ruler is not like this. Those he loves, is familiar with, and keeps close, even if crooked and not upright, he cannot see; those distant and lowly, though they exhaust themselves in loyalty, he cannot know. If someone speaks, he exhausts him with words; if someone remonstrates, he executes him for a crime. If so, yet he wants to illuminate all within the seas and preserve the myriad regions, it is like stopping up the ears to hear clear and muddy sounds or covering the eyes to see blue and yellow; far from intelligence indeed.

法者，天下之度量，而人主之準繩也。縣法者，法不法也；設賞者，賞當賞也。法定之後，中程者賞，缺繩者誅。尊貴者不輕其罰，而卑賤者不重其刑，犯法者雖賢必誅，中度者雖不肖必無罪，是故公道通而私道塞矣。古之置有司也，所以禁民，使不得自恣也；其立君也，所以剬有司，使無專行也；法籍禮儀者，所以禁君，使無擅斷也。人莫得自恣，則道勝；道勝而理達矣，故反於無為。無為者，非謂其凝滯而不動也，以其言莫從己出也。夫寸生於𥢕，𥢕生於日，日生於形，形生於景，此度之本也。樂生於音，音生於律，律生於風，此聲之宗也。法生於義，義生於眾適，眾適合於人心，此治之要也。故通於本者不亂於末，睹於要者不惑於詳。法者，非天墮，非地生，發於人間，而反以自正。是故有諸己不非諸人，無諸己不求諸人。所立於下者，不廢於上；所禁於民者，不行於身。所謂亡國，非無君也，無法也。變法者，非無法也，有法者而不用，與無法等。是故人主之立法，先自為檢式儀錶，故令行於天下。孔子曰：“其身正，不令而行；其身不正，雖令不從。”故禁勝於身，則令行於民矣。

Law is the world's measure and the ruler's standard. Laws are hung up in order to dispose according to law of those who do not keep the law; rewards are established in order to reward those who ought to be rewarded. Once the law is fixed, those who accord with the form are rewarded, and those who fall short of the line and ink are executed. The honored are not given lighter penalties, the lowly are not given heavier punishments; those who violate the law are executed even if worthy, and those who accord with the law are not guilty even if unworthy, so the public way opens and the private way is blocked. In ancient times officials were established to restrain the people so that they could not indulge themselves; a ruler was set up to regulate the officials so that they could not act arbitrarily; legal records and ritual rules were used to restrain the ruler so that he could not decide on his own. When people cannot indulge themselves, the Way prevails; when the Way prevails, principle goes through, so one returns to non-action. Non-action does not mean stagnant and unmoving, but that his words do not come out of himself. The cun (inch) comes from the finest unit of measure (the base text's character here is an obscure one), the fine unit comes from the day, the day from form, and form from shadow; this is the root of measures. Music comes from tone, tone from pitch, and pitch from wind; this is the ancestor of sound. Law comes from righteousness, righteousness comes from what suits the multitude, and what suits the multitude accords with human hearts; this is the essential of governing. So one who penetrates the root is not confused over branches, and one who sees the essential is not misled by details. Law does not fall from the sky or grow from the earth; it comes from among human beings and in turn is used to correct oneself. So what one has oneself, one does not criticize in others; what one lacks oneself, one does not demand from others. What is established below is not abolished above; what is prohibited for the people is not practiced by oneself. What is called a perished state is not one without a ruler but one without law. One who alters the law is not one without law; having law but not using it is equal to having none. So when a ruler establishes law, he first takes himself as the model and standard, and only then can it be put into effect in the world. Confucius said: "If one's own person is upright, orders are carried out without being given; if one's own person is not upright, even if orders are given they are not followed." So when prohibitions first prevail over oneself, orders can be carried out among the people.

聖主之治也，其猶造父之禦。齊輯之於轡銜之際，而急緩之於唇吻之和；正度於胸臆之中，而執節於掌握之間；內得於心中，外合於馬志。是故能進退履繩，而旋曲中規；取道致遠，而氣力有餘。誠得其術也。是故權勢者，人主之車輿也；大臣者，人主之駟馬也。體離車輿之安，而手失駟馬之心，而能不危者，古今未有也。是故輿馬不調，王良不足以取道；君臣不和，唐、虞不能以為治。執術而禦之，則管、晏之智盡矣；明分以示之，則蹠、蹻之奸止矣。夫據除而窺井底，雖達視猶不能見其晴，借明於鑒以照之，則寸分可得而察也。是故明主之耳目不勞，精神不竭，物至而觀其象，事來而應其化，近者不亂，遠者治也。是故不用適然之數，而行必然之道，故萬舉而無遺策矣。今夫禦者，馬體調於車，禦心和於馬，則歷險致遠，進退周遊，莫不如志。雖有騏驥騄駬之良，臧獲禦之，則馬反自恣，而人弗能制矣。故治者不貴其自是，而貴其不得為非也。故曰：勿使可欲，毋曰弗求，勿使可奪，毋曰不爭。如此，則人材釋而公道行矣。美者正於度，而不足者建於用，故海內可一也。夫釋職事而聽非譽，棄公勞而用朋黨，則奇材佻長而幹次，守官者雍遏而不進。如此，則民俗亂於國，而功臣爭於朝。故法律度量者，人主之所以執下，釋之而不用，是猶無轡銜而馳也，群君百姓反弄其上。是故有術則制人，無術則制於人。吞舟之魚，蕩而失水，則制於螻蟻，離其居也；猿狖失木，而禽於狐狸，非其處也。君人者釋所守而與臣下爭，則有司以無為持位，守職者以從君取容。是以人臣藏智而弗用，反以事轉任其上矣。夫富貴者之於勞也，達事者之於察也，驕恣者之於恭也，勢不及君；君人者不任能而好自為之，則智日困而自負其責也。數窮於下，則不能伸理；行墮於國，則不能專制。

A sage ruler governing the world is like Zao Fu driving a carriage. Between the reins and bit he brings the horses into line; in the harmony of lips and mouth he controls fast and slow; within his chest he sets the standards straight; in his grip he holds the measure; within he gains it in his heart, and outwardly he matches the horses' wills. So he can advance and retreat following the plumb line, turn and curve in accord with the compass, take the road to a distant place, and still have strength to spare. He truly has got the art. So power is the ruler's carriage, and the great ministers are the ruler's team of four. If the body is away from the carriage's safety and the hand has lost the heart of the four horses, and yet one is not in danger, there has never been such a case from ancient times to now. So if carriage and horses are not in harmony, even Wang Liang cannot take the road; if ruler and ministers are not in accord, even Yao and Shun could not govern. Hold the art to drive, and the wisdom of Guan Zhong and Yan Ying is exhausted; mark out duties to show them, and the wickedness of Robber Zhi and Zhuang Qiao is stopped. Leaning on the well curb to peer to the bottom, even if one's sight reaches it, one still cannot see the clarity of the well bottom; but with the aid of a mirror's brightness shining on it, one can inspect it to the inch. So the ears and eyes of an enlightened ruler are not wearied, his spirit is not exhausted; when things arrive he looks at their image, when affairs come he responds to their changes, those near are not disordered and the far places are also governed. So he does not use chance and luck but follows the Way of necessity, and so in ten thousand actions there is no oversight in his plans. Now a driver whose horses' bodies are in harmony with the carriage and whose heart is in harmony with the horses can pass through difficulty to reach far places, advance, retreat and circle, with nothing not as he intends. Even with fine horses like Qi, Ji, Hua and Liu, if a slave drove them, the horses would run wild on their own and the man could no longer restrain them. So the one who governs does not value being right himself but values that others cannot do wrong. So it is said: do not let what can be desired appear, and do not say do not seek; do not let what can be contested appear, and do not say do not contest. When it is so, men of talent put down their private aims and the public way proceeds. What is fine is set right by law and measure, what is lacking is established in use, and all within the seas can be unified. If one abandons duties and listens to slander and praise, discards the labor for the public and employs cliques, then marvelous talents jump the ranks and disturb the order, and those who keep their offices are blocked and cannot advance. When it is so, popular custom is disordered in the state and meritorious ministers contend at court. So laws and measures are what the ruler uses to hold those below; to put them down and not use them is like galloping without reins and bit, and the ministers and people in turn play with those above (the base text has a variant reading here). So with art one can restrain people, and without art one is restrained by others. A fish that can swallow a boat, if it flounders and loses water, is restrained by mole crickets and ants, because it has left its dwelling; a monkey that loses its trees is seized by a fox, because it is not in its place. A ruler who puts down what he should keep and contends with his ministers, the officials keep their positions by doing nothing, and those who guard their duties follow the ruler to please him. So ministers hide their wisdom and do not use it, and instead transfer affairs to those above. The rich and noble toward toil, the people who understand affairs toward clear examination, the arrogant toward respect, are none of them a match for the ruler in power; a ruler who does not employ the capable and likes to do things himself finds his wisdom more distressed every day and takes the burden of responsibility himself. When methods are exhausted below, principle cannot be extended; when conduct falls in the state, one cannot rule alone.

智不足以為治，威不足以行誅，則無以與天下交也。喜怒形於心者，欲見於外，則守職者離正而阿上，有司枉法而從風，賞不當功，誅不應罪，上下離心，而君臣相怨也。是以執政阿主，而有過則無以責之。有罪而不誅，則百官煩亂，智弗能解也；毀譽萌生，而明不能照也。不正本而反自然，則人主逾勞，人臣逾逸，是猶代庖宰剝牲，而為大匠斫也。與馬競走，筋絕而弗能及，上車執轡，則馬死於衡下。故伯樂相之，王良禦之，明主乘之，無禦相之勞而致千里者，乘於人資以為羽翼也。是故君人者，無為而有守也，有為而無好也。有為則讒生，有好則諛起。昔者齊桓公好味，而易牙烹其首子而餌之；虞君好寶，而晉獻以璧馬釣之；胡王好音，而秦穆公以女樂誘之。是皆以利見制於人也。故善建者不拔。夫火熱而水滅之，金剛而火銷之，木強而斧伐之，水流而土遏之，唯造化者，物莫能勝也。故中欲不出謂之扃，外邪不入謂之塞。中扃外閉，何事之不節！外閉中扃，何事之不成？弗用而後能用之，弗為而後能為之。精神勞則越，耳目淫則竭。故有道之主，滅想去意，清虛以待，不伐之言，不奪之事，循名責實，使有司，任而弗詔，責而弗教，以不知為道，以奈何為寶。如此，則百官之事，各有所守矣。攝權勢之柄，其於化民易矣。衛君役子路，權重也；景、桓公臣管晏，位尊也。怯服勇而愚制智，其所託勢者勝也。故枝不得大於幹，末不強於本，則輕重大小，有以相制也。若五指之屬於臂，搏援攫捷，莫不如志。言以小屬於大也。是故得勢之利者，所持甚小，其存甚大；所守甚約，所制甚廣。是故十圍之木，持千鈞之屋；五寸之鍵，制開闔之門。豈其材之巨小足哉？所居要也。孔丘、墨翟，修先聖之術，通六藝之論，口道其言，身行其志，慕義從風，而為之服役者不過數十人。

If wisdom is not enough to govern and authority is not enough to carry out punishment, there is no way to deal with the world. If joy and anger take shape in the heart and desire shows outside, those who keep their posts leave the right to flatter those above, and officials bend the law and follow the wind; rewards do not match merit, punishments do not match crimes, high and low are of different hearts, and ruler and ministers resent each other. So those in power flatter the ruler, and when there is fault there is no way to demand it of him. If there is guilt and it is not punished, the hundred officials are in confusion and wisdom cannot untie it; when slander and praise sprout, enlightenment cannot illuminate them. If one does not set the root right and return to naturalness, the ruler grows ever more toilsome and the ministers ever more at ease, like taking the place of the chef to butcher the animal or the master carpenter to chop and plane. Racing a horse, one's sinews break and one still cannot catch up; mounting a carriage and holding the reins, the horse dies beneath the yoke. So Bo Le appraises horses, Wang Liang drives, and the enlightened ruler rides, without the toil of driving and appraising, and reaches a thousand li, riding on the resources of others as wings. So a ruler does nothing and yet has what he keeps; he acts and yet has no fondness. If he acts, slander is born; if he has a fondness, flattery arises. Formerly Duke Huan of Qi loved fine flavors, and Yi Ya cooked his own eldest son to bait him; the lord of Yu loved treasure, and Duke Xian of Jin used jade discs and horses to fish him in; the King of the Hu loved music, and Duke Mu of Qin lured him with women musicians. All these were restrained by others because of profit. So what is well established cannot be pulled out. Fire is hot and water puts it out, metal is hard and fire melts it, wood is strong and the axe fells it, water flows and earth checks it; only the creator is such that nothing can overcome him. So when inner desire does not come out it is called a bolt, and when outer wickedness cannot get in it is called a stop. With the inside bolted and the outside closed, what affair cannot be regulated! With the outside closed and the inside bolted, what affair cannot be accomplished? Only after not using can one use; only after not acting can one act. When the spirit toils, it scatters further; when ears and eyes are lewd, they are exhausted. So a ruler who has the Way extinguishes imagination and removes intention, waits in clear emptiness, does not boast of his own words, does not encroach on his ministers' affairs, follows names to demand reality, employs the officials, assigns without ordering, makes responsible without personally teaching, takes not knowing as the Way and 'What shall I do?' as a treasure. When it is so, the affairs of the hundred officials each have their keeper. Holding the handle of power, it is easy to transform the people. The lord of Wei employed Zilu because of the weight of his power; Duke Jing and Duke Huan took Guan Zhong and Yan Ying as ministers because of the honor of their position. The timid subduing the brave and the foolish restraining the wise is because the power they rely on prevails. So a branch cannot be larger than the trunk and the tip cannot be stronger than the root; light and heavy, large and small have what restrains each other. As the five fingers belong to the arm, striking and grasping are swift, with nothing not as intended. This means using the small to belong to the great. So one who gets the advantage of power holds very little and keeps very much; what he guards is very simple and what he restrains is very broad. So a log of ten spans' girth supports a house of a thousand jun; a bolt of five inches restrains the opening and closing of a gate. Is it that the size of the material itself is enough? It is that the place it holds is vital. Confucius and Mozi cultivated the arts of the former sages and understood the discourses of the six arts, praised their words with their mouths and practiced their aims with their bodies, and those who admired righteousness and followed their wind to serve them numbered only a few dozen.

使居天子之位，則天下遍為儒、墨矣。楚莊王傷文無畏之死於宋也，奮袂而起，衣冠相連於道，遂成軍宋城之下，權重也。楚文王好服獬冠，楚國效之，趙武靈王貝帶鵔鸃而朝，趙國化之。使在匹夫布衣，雖冠獬冠，帶貝帶、鵔鸃而朝，則不免為人笑也。夫民之好善樂正，不待禁誅而自中法度者，萬無一也。下必行之令，從之者利，逆之者兇，日陰未移，而海內莫不被繩矣。故握劍鋒，以離北宮子，司馬蒯蕢不使應敵；操其觚，招其末，則庸人能以制勝。今使烏獲、藉蕃從後牽牛尾，尾絕而不從者，逆也；若指之桑條以貫其鼻，則五尺童子，牽而週四海者，順也。夫七尺之橈而制船之左右者，以水為資；天子發號，令行禁止，以眾為勢也。夫防民之所害，開民之所利，威行也，若發堿決唐。故循流而下易以至，背風而馳易以遠。桓公立政，去食肉之獸，食粟之鳥，系罝之網，三舉而百姓說。紂殺王子比干而骨肉怨，斮朝涉者之脛而萬民叛，再舉而天下失矣。故義者，非能遍利天下之民也，利一人而天下從風；暴者，非盡害海內之眾也，害一人而天下離叛。故桓公三舉而九合諸侯，紂再舉而不得為匹夫。故舉錯不可不審。

If they had been placed in the position of Son of Heaven, the whole world would have become Confucian and Mohist. King Zhuang of Chu was grieved that Wen Wuwei had died in Song; he flung his sleeves and rose, and his clothes and caps followed one after another along the road, and he formed an army under the walls of Song; this was the weight of power. King Wen of Chu liked to wear the xie cap, and the state of Chu imitated him; King Wuling of Zhao came to court with a cowrie belt and a pheasant-feather ornament, and the state of Zhao was transformed by him. If one were a commoner in plain clothes, even wearing the xie cap, cowrie belt and pheasant feather to go to court, one could not escape being laughed at. That people like good and delight in rectitude and conform to law and measure of themselves without waiting for prohibition and punishment: there is not one in ten thousand. An order that must be carried out below, where those who comply profit and those who defy meet misfortune, and before the shadow of the sun has moved, there is no one within the seas not bound by the plumb line. So when one grasps the blade of a sword, even Beigong Zi and Sima Kuaibi could not use it to meet an enemy; holding the hilt and raising the point, an ordinary man could use it to win. Now if one had Wu Huo and Ji Fan pull an ox's tail from behind, the tail would break and the ox would not follow; that is going against it. If one strung a mulberry twig through its nose, a five-foot child could lead it around the four seas; that is going with it. A seven-foot oar can control the left and right of a boat, because it relies on water; the Son of Heaven issues commands, and orders are carried out and prohibitions kept, because he takes the multitude as his power. Prevent the harm the people suffer and open the benefit they receive, and authority can be exercised, like opening salt flats and breaching dikes. So going downstream one arrives easily, and galloping with the wind at one's back one goes far easily. When Duke Huan set up his government, he removed the meat-eating beasts, the grain-eating birds and the catching nets, and in three actions the people were pleased. Zhou killed the prince Bi Gan and his flesh and blood resented him, and cut off the shins of men who crossed the water in the morning and the ten thousand people rebelled; in two actions he lost the world. So righteousness is not something that benefits all the people of the world; it benefits one person and the world follows its wind. Cruelty does not harm all the multitude within the seas; it harms one person and the world rebels. So Duke Huan, with three actions, gathered the feudal lords nine times; Zhou, with two actions, could not even be a commoner. So one's measures cannot be anything but careful.

人主租斂於民也。必先計歲收，量民積聚，知饑饉有餘不足之數，然後取車輿衣食供養其欲。高臺層榭，接屋連閣，非不麗也，然民有掘穴狹廬所以託身者，明主弗樂也。肥醲甘脆，非不美也，然民有糟糠菽粟不接於口者，則明主弗甘也。匡床蒻席，非不寧也，然民有處邊城，犯危難，澤死暴骸者，明主弗安也。故古之君人者，其慘怛於民也。國有饑者，食不重味；民有寒者，而冬不被裘。歲登民豐，乃始縣鐘鼓，陳干鏚，君臣上下，同心而樂之，國無哀人。故古之為金石管絃者，所以宣樂也；兵革斧鉞者，所以飾怒也；觴酌俎豆，酬酢之禮，所以效善也；衰絰菅屨，闢踴哭泣，所以諭哀也。此皆有充於內而成像於外。及至亂主，取民則不裁其力，求於下則不量其積，男女不得事耕織之業，以供上之求，力勤財匱，君臣相疾也。故民至於焦唇沸肝，有今無儲，而乃始撞大鍾，擊鳴鼓，吹竽笙，彈琴瑟，是猶貫甲冑而入宗廟，被羅紈而從軍旅，失樂之所由生矣。夫民之為生也，一人蹠耒而耕，不過十畝，中田之獲，卒歲之收，不過畝四石，妻子老弱，仰而食之，時有涔旱災害之患，無以給上之徵賦車馬兵革之費。由此觀之，則人之生，憫矣！夫天地之大，計三年耕而餘一年之食，率九年而有三年之畜，十八年而有六年之積，二十七年而有九年之儲，雖涔旱災害之殃，民莫困窮流亡也。故國無九年之畜，謂之不足；無六年之積，謂之憫急；無三年之畜，謂之窮乏。故有仁君明王，其取下有節，自養有度，則得承受於天地，而不離饑寒之患矣。若貪主暴君，撓於其下，侵漁其民，以適無窮之慾，則百姓無以被天和而履地德矣。

When a ruler collects rent and tax from the people, he must first calculate the year's harvest, weigh the people's stores, and know the numbers of famine and of surplus and shortage, and only then take carriages, clothing and food to nourish his own desires. High terraces and layered pavilions, houses joined to houses and towers connected, are not unbeautiful, but if some people still dig caves and live in narrow huts to shelter themselves, an enlightened ruler takes no joy in them. Rich, fat, sweet and crisp food is not unpleasant, but if some people cannot even get husks, beans and millet to their mouths, an enlightened ruler finds it not sweet. Comfortable beds and soft mats are not unrestful, but if some people are stationed at border cities, braving danger and difficulty, dying in marshes with their bones exposed, an enlightened ruler is not at ease. So in ancient times rulers were pained and grieved for the people. When there were hungry people in the state, they did not add a second dish to their own meals; when there were cold people among the people, they did not wear fur even in winter. Only when the year was good and the people abundant did they begin to hang up bells and drums and set out shields and axes, ruler and ministers, high and low, rejoicing with one heart, with no sorrowful person in the state. So in ancient times metal, stone, strings and pipes were made to give vent to joy; armor, axes and halberds to adorn anger; the rites of wine cups, ritual stands, offering and returning to test the good; mourning dress, straw sandals, beating the breast, leaping and weeping to make grief known. All these are fullness within, taking image outside. When it came to disordered rulers, taking from the people did not weigh their strength, demanding from below did not weigh their stores, and men and women could not do the work of plowing and weaving to supply what those above demanded; their strength was diligent and their wealth scarce, and ruler and ministers hated each other. So when the people were so desperate that lips were scorched and the liver and bowels boiled, with today but no reserve for tomorrow, only then did they begin to strike great bells, beat resounding drums, blow reed organs and pluck zithers; this is like wearing armor into the ancestral temple or putting on silk gauze to go to war, losing the cause from which music is born. As for the people's livelihood, one man treading the plow does no more than ten mu, the harvest of middling land in a year is no more than four shi per mu, and wife, children, old and weak depend on it to eat; at times there is the trouble of long rain, drought and disaster, and there is no way to supply what those above levy for carriages, horses, armor and weapons. From this it can be seen that human life is distressing. Heaven and Earth are so great that, reckoned out, three years of plowing leave a year of food, about nine years leave three years of stores, eighteen years leave six years of reserve, and twenty-seven years leave nine years of storage, and even if there were the calamity of long rain, drought and disaster, the people would not be in distress or flee. So a state without nine years of storage is called insufficient; without six years of reserve is called pressed and urgent; without three years of storage is called destitute. So a benevolent lord and enlightened king takes from below with moderation and supports himself within limits, and so can receive the favor of Heaven and Earth and not depart from the worry of hunger and cold. As for greedy rulers and tyrants, they disturb those below, encroach on and plunder their people to fit unlimited desires, and the people have no way to receive Heaven's harmony and tread on Earth's virtue.

食者，民之本也；民者，國之本也；國者，君之本也。是故人君者，上因天時，下盡地財，中用人力，是以群生遂長，五穀蕃殖，教民養育六畜，以時種樹，務修田疇，滋植桑麻，肥墝高下，各因其宜，丘陵阪險不生五穀者，以樹竹木。春伐枯槁，夏取果蓏，秋畜疏食，冬伐薪蒸，以為民資。是故生無乏用，死無轉屍。故先王之法，畋不掩群，不取蓏夭。不涸澤而漁，不焚林而獵。豺未祭獸，罝罦不得布於野；獺未祭魚，網罟不得入於水；鷹隼未摯，羅網不得張於溪穀；草木未落，斤斧不得入山林；昆蟲未蟄，不得以火燒田。孕育不得殺，鷇卵不得探，魚不長尺不得取，彘不期年不得食。是故草木之發若蒸氣，禽獸之歸若流泉，飛鳥之歸若煙云，有所以致之也。故先王之政，四海之雲至，而修封疆；蝦蟆鳴燕降，而達路除道；陰降百泉，則修橋梁；昏張中，則務種穀；大火中，則種黍菽；虛中，則種宿麥；昴中，則收斂畜積，伐薪木。上告於天，下布之民。先王之所以應時修備，富國利民，實曠來遠者，其道備矣。非能目見而足行之也，欲利之也。欲利之也，不忘於心，則官自備矣。心之於九竅四支也，不能一事焉。然而動靜聽視皆以為主者，不忘於欲利之也。故堯為善而眾善至矣，桀為非而眾非來矣。善積則功成，非積則禍極。

Food is the root of the people; the people are the root of the state; the state is the root of the ruler. So a ruler follows the seasons of Heaven above, makes full use of the wealth of Earth below, and employs human strength in between, so that the multitude of beings grow smoothly and the five grains flourish. He teaches the people to raise the six domestic animals, to plant trees at the proper time, and to strive to manage the fields and cultivate mulberry and hemp, whether the land is fertile or poor, high or low, each according to what is suitable. On hills, slopes and steep places where the five grains do not grow, bamboo and trees are planted. In spring they cut withered wood, in summer they gather melons and fruits, in autumn they store vegetables and grain, and in winter they cut firewood and kindling, for the people's use. So the living lack nothing for use, and the dead leave no corpses that have been moved about. So the law of the former kings was that in hunting one does not encircle a whole herd and does not take young fruits or young animals. One does not drain a marsh to fish, and does not burn the forest to hunt. Before the jackal has made its offering of animals, nets for catching beasts may not be spread in the fields; before the otter has made its offering of fish, nets may not enter the water; before the hawks and falcons have struck, snares may not be stretched in the valleys; before the grass and trees have fallen, axes may not enter the mountains and forests; before the insects have gone into hibernation, fire may not be used to burn the fields. Pregnant animals may not be killed, young birds and eggs may not be sought, fish under a foot long may not be taken, and pigs under a year old may not be eaten. So grass and trees sprout like steam, birds and beasts come like a flowing spring, and flying birds come like smoke and clouds, because there is a reason that draws them. So in the government of the former kings, when the clouds of the four seas came they repaired the boundaries; when frogs croaked and swallows descended they opened the roads and cleared the paths; when the yin breath descended to the hundred springs they repaired the bridges; when the star Zhang was at the zenith at dusk they strove to plant grain; when the Great Fire star was at the zenith they planted millet and beans; when the star Xu was at the zenith they planted wheat for the next year; when the Pleiades were at the zenith they gathered and stored and cut firewood. Above they reported to Heaven, below they proclaimed to the people. The former kings followed the seasons in preparing, enriching the state and benefiting the people, filling the empty and drawing in people from afar, and that Way was complete. It was not that their eyes could see or their feet cover everywhere, but that in their hearts they wished to benefit them. Wishing to benefit them, not forgetting it in the heart, the offices were naturally complete. The heart cannot do any one of the things of the nine orifices and four limbs, yet in movement and stillness, hearing and sight, they all treat it as master; it does not forget to wish to benefit them. So when Yao did good, all good came; when Jie did wrong, all wrong came. When good accumulates, merit is achieved; when wrong accumulates, disaster reaches its extreme.

凡人之論，心欲小而志欲大，智欲員而行欲方，能欲多而事欲鮮。所以心欲小者，慮患未生，備禍未發，戒過慎微，不敢縱其欲也；志欲大者，兼包萬國，一齊殊俗，並覆百姓，若合一族，是非輻湊而為之轂；智欲員者，環複轉運，終始無端，旁流四達，淵泉而不竭，萬物並興，莫不回應也；行欲方者，直立而不撓，素白而不汙，窮不易操，通不肆志；能欲多者，文武備具，動靜中儀，舉動廢置，曲得其宜，無所擊戾，無不畢宜也；事欲鮮者，執柄持術，得要以應眾，執約以治廣，處靜持中，運於璿樞，以一合萬，若合符者也。故心小者，禁於微也；志大者，無不懷也；智員者，無不知也；行方者，有不為也；能多者，無不治也；事鮮者，約所持也。

In general, in discussing people, the heart should be small and the will large, wisdom should be round and conduct square, ability should be many and affairs few. The heart should be small: it thinks about trouble before it is born, guards against disaster before it breaks out, is wary of faults and careful in small matters, and does not dare indulge its own desires. The will should be large: it embraces ten thousand states, unifies different customs, covers the people all together like one clan, with right and wrong gathering like spokes, making itself the hub. Wisdom should be round: it revolves and moves, its beginning and end without a start, flowing out in all four directions like a deep spring that does not dry up, all things rising together and none not answered. Conduct should be square: it stands upright without bending, plain and white without stain, in distress not changing its principles, in success not letting the will go wild. Ability should be many: it has both the civil and the martial, movement and stillness accord with propriety, every action, discarding and setting aside, each turn and bend finds what is suitable, without conflict or perversity, with nothing unsuitable. Affairs should be few: it holds the handle of power, takes the art, grasps the essential to respond to the many, holds the simple to govern the broad, stays in stillness and keeps to the center, turns on the jade pivot, joins ten thousand with one like fitting tallies. So the small heart is to prohibit in the subtle; the large will is that nothing is not embraced; the round wisdom is that nothing is not known; the square conduct is that there are things it does not do; many abilities mean that nothing cannot be governed; few affairs mean that what is held is simple.

古者天子聽朝，公卿正諫，博士誦詩，瞽箴師誦，庶人傳語，史書其過，宰徹其膳。猶以為未足也，故堯置敢諫之鼓，舜立誹謗之木，湯有司直之人，武王立戒慎之鞀。過若豪釐，而既已備之也。夫聖人之於善也，無小而不舉；其於過也，無微而不改。堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武，皆坦然天下而南面焉。當此之時，鼛鼓而食，奏《雍》而徹，已飯而祭灶，行不用巫祝，鬼神弗敢祟，山川弗敢禍，可謂至貴矣。然而戰戰慄栗，日慎一日。由此觀之，則聖人之心小矣。《詩》云：惟此文王，小心翼翼，昭事上帝，聿懷多福。”其斯之謂歟！武王伐紂，發鉅橋之粟，散鹿臺之錢，封比干之墓，表商容之閭，朝成湯之廟，解箕子之囚。使各處其宅，田其田，無故無新，惟賢是親，用非其有，使非其人，晏然若故有之。由此觀之，則聖人之志大也。文王、周公觀得失，遍覽是非，堯、舜所以昌，桀、紂所以亡者，皆著於明堂，於是略智博問，以應無方。由此觀之，則聖人之智員矣。成、康繼文、武之業，守明堂之制，觀存亡之跡，見成敗之變，非道不言，非義不行，言不苟出，行不苟為，擇善而後從事焉。由此觀之，則聖人之行方矣。孔子之通，智過於萇弘，勇服於孟賁，足躡效菟，力招城關，能亦多矣。然而勇力不聞，伎巧不知，專行教道，以成素王，事亦鮮矣。《春秋》二百四十二年，亡國五十二，弒君三十六，採善鉏醜，以成王道，論亦博矣。然而圍於匡，顏色不變，絃歌不輟，臨死亡之地，犯患難之危，據義行理而志不懾，分亦明矣。然為魯司寇，聽獄必為斷，作為《春秋》，不道鬼神，不敢專己。夫聖人之智，固已多矣。其所守者約，故舉而必榮。愚人之智，固已少矣，其所事者多，故動而必窮矣。吳起、張儀，智不若孔、墨，而爭萬乘之君，此其所以車裂支解也。夫以正教化者，易而必成；

In ancient times when the Son of Heaven attended court, the dukes and ministers remonstrated with straight words, the court scholars recited poems, the blind music masters admonished, the music masters chanted, commoners passed on words, the historians recorded his faults, and the chief cook removed his meals. Even so they thought it not enough, so Yao set up a drum for those daring to remonstrate, Shun set up a post for criticism, Tang had a man in charge of straight speech, and King Wu set up a rattle of caution. Though a fault be as small as a hair, they already guarded against it. Toward good, the sages never failed to promote even the smallest; toward faults, never failed to correct even the slightest. Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen and Wu all faced the world openly and sat facing south. At that time they ate while the great drum was beaten, withdrew the mats while the Yong was played, offered to the hearth god after the meal, used no shamans or invocators in their affairs, and ghosts and spirits dared not make mischief and mountains and rivers dared not send disaster; one may say they were of the utmost honor. Yet they were still trembling and fearful, more careful day by day. From this it can be seen that the sage's heart is small. The Book of Poetry says: "This King Wen was cautious and reverent, served the Lord on High brightly, and thereby brought many blessings." This is what is meant! When King Wu attacked Zhou, he opened the grain stores at Juqiao, distributed the money of Deer Terrace, raised the tomb of Bi Gan, honored the village of Shang Rong, paid homage at the temple of Cheng Tang, and released Jizi from prison. He let each person live in his own house and plow his own fields, with no old acquaintance and no new connection, close only to the worthy; what he used was not his own originally, whom he employed were not originally his own people, yet he was at ease as if it had always been so. From this it can be seen that the sage's will is large. King Wen and the Duke of Zhou observed gains and losses and surveyed right and wrong, and what caused Yao and Shun to flourish and Jie and Zhou to perish was all written in the Mingtang; so they simplified wisdom and asked widely, in order to answer affairs with no fixed direction. From this it can be seen that the sage's wisdom is round. Kings Cheng and Kang continued the work of Wen and Wu, kept the institutions of the Mingtang, observed the traces of survival and ruin and saw the changes of success and failure; what was not the Way they did not speak, what was not righteous they did not do, and they did not let words leave their mouths carelessly or do deeds carelessly, but chose the good and then acted. From this it can be seen that the sage's conduct is square. Confucius's ability: his wisdom surpassed Chang Hong, his courage could subdue Meng Ben, his feet could overtake a cunning hare, and his strength could lift the bar of a city gate; his abilities were many too. Yet his courage and strength were not known to people and his skill was not known, and he devoted himself to practicing the teaching and the Way and became an uncrowned king; his affairs were few too. In the two hundred and forty-two years of the Spring and Autumn Annals, fifty-two states perished and thirty-six rulers were murdered, and he took the good and removed the ugly in order to complete the kingly way; his discourse was broad too. Yet when besieged in Kuang, his face did not change and he did not stop playing and singing; approaching the ground of death and braving the danger of calamity, he held to righteousness and practiced principle and his will was not cowed; his duty was clear too. Yet when he was Minister of Justice of Lu, in hearing lawsuits he must make decisions; in writing the Annals, he did not praise ghosts and spirits and did not dare rely on himself alone. The sage's wisdom was already much; what he held was simple, so every action was surely glorious. The fool's wisdom was already little, and his undertakings were many, so every move surely ended in distress. Wu Qi and Zhang Yi were not equal to Confucius and Mozi in wisdom, yet contended for rulers of ten thousand chariots, and this is why they were torn apart by carriages. Teaching and transforming with the right is easy and surely succeeds;

以邪巧世者，難而必敗。凡將設行立趣於天下，舍其易成者，而從事難而必敗者，愚惑之所致也。凡此六反者，不可不察也。遍知萬物而不知人道，不可謂智；遍愛群生而不愛人類，不可謂仁。仁者愛其類也，智者不可惑也。仁者雖在斷割之中，其所不忍之色可見也。智者雖煩難之事，其不暗之效可見也。內恕反情，心之所欲，其不加諸人，由近知遠，由己知人，此仁智之所合而行也。小有教而大有存也，小有誅而大有寧也，唯惻隱推而行之，此智者之所獨斷也。故仁智錯，有時合，合者為正，錯者為權，其義一也。府吏守法，君制義，法而無義，亦府吏也，不足以為政。

seeking cleverness in the world with the crooked is hard and surely fails. In general, when one is about to set up conduct and fix a direction in the world, to abandon what succeeds easily and take up what is hard and surely fails is caused by foolish confusion. These six opposites must be carefully examined. To know all things but not the human way cannot be called wise; to love all living beings but not human beings cannot be called benevolent. Benevolence is loving one's own kind, and wisdom is not being deceived. A benevolent person, even when cutting and severing, shows a look of being unable to bear it; a wise person, even in troublesome matters, shows evidence of not being dim. To be considerate within and return to feeling, not imposing on others what one does not want in one's own heart, knowing the far from the near and others from oneself: this is benevolence and wisdom joined and carried out. To teach in small things and preserve in great ones, to punish in small matters and bring peace in great ones, only by extending compassion in practice: this is what the wise decide alone. So benevolence and wisdom sometimes cross and sometimes agree; agreement is the standard and crossing is expedient, but righteousness is one. A government clerk keeps the law, and the ruler decides on righteousness; having law and no righteousness, one is only a clerk and is not enough to handle government.

耕之為事也勞，織之為事也擾，擾勞之事而民不捨者，知其可以衣食也。人之情不能無衣食，衣食之道，必始於耕織，萬民之所公見也。物之若耕織者，始初甚勞，終必利也。眾愚人之所見者寡，事可權者多，愚之所權者少，此愚者之所多患也。物之可備者，智者盡備之；可權者，盡權之；此智者所以寡患也。故智者先忤而後合，愚者始於樂而終於哀。今日何為而榮乎？旦日何為而義乎？此易言也。今日何為而義，旦日何為而榮，此難知也。問瞽師曰：“白素何如？”曰：“縞然。”曰：“黑何若？”曰：“黮然。”授白黑而示之，則不處焉。人之視白黑以目，言白黑以口，瞽師有以言白黑，無以知白黑，故言白黑與人同，其別白黑與人異。

Plowing as a task is toilsome, and weaving as a task is troublesome, yet the people do not give up troublesome and toilsome tasks because they know they can give clothing and food. Human feeling cannot be without clothing and food, and the way of clothing and food must begin from plowing and weaving; this is what all the people plainly see. Things like plowing and weaving are toilsome at the beginning and surely beneficial at the end. What the multitude of fools see is little, while the matters that can be adapted are many, and what fools can adapt is little; this is why fools have many troubles. For things that can be guarded against, the wise guard against all of them; for those that can be adapted, they adapt all of them; this is why the wise have few troubles. So the wise first conflict and afterward agree, while fools begin in joy and end in sorrow. Why is it glorious today? Why is it righteous tomorrow? This is easy to say. Why is it righteous today and glorious tomorrow? This is hard to know. Ask a blind music master: "What does white plain silk look like?" He says: "White like plain silk." Ask: "What does black look like?" He says: "Black like dark silk." Show him white and black and he cannot judge. People see black and white with their eyes and speak of black and white with their mouths; the blind music master has words to explain black and white but no way to know black and white; so we say that saying black and white is the same as other people, but distinguishing black and white is different from other people.

入孝於親，出忠於君，無愚智賢不肖，皆知其為義也，使陳忠孝行而知所出者，鮮矣！凡人思慮，莫不先以為可而後行之，其是或非，此愚智之所以異。凡人之性，莫貴於仁，莫急於智。仁以為質，智以行之，兩者為本，而加之以勇力、辯慧、捷疾、劬錄、巧敏、遲利、聰明、審察，盡眾益也。身材未修，伎藝曲備，而無仁智以為表幹，而加之以眾美，則益其損。故不仁而有勇力果敢，則狂而操利劍；不智而辯慧懷給，則棄驥而不式。雖有材能，其施之不當，其處之不宜，適足以輔偽飾非，伎藝之眾，不如其寡也。故有野心者，不可借便勢；有愚質者，不可與利器。魚得水而遊焉則樂，唐決水涸，則為螻蟻所食。有掌修其堤防，補其缺漏，則魚得而利之，國有以存，人有以生。國之所以存者，仁義是也；人之所以生者，行善是也。國無義，雖大必亡；人無善志，雖勇必傷。治國上使不得與焉。孝於父母，弟於兄嫂，信於朋友，不得上令而可得為也。釋己之所得為，而責於其所不得制，悖矣。士處卑隱，欲上達，必先反諸己。上達有道，名譽不起，而不能上達矣；取譽有道，不信於友，不能得譽；信於友有道，事親不說，不信於友；說親有道，修身不誠，不能事親矣；誠身有道，心不專一，不能專誠。道在易而求之難，驗在近而求之遠，故弗得也。

At home to be filial to parents and abroad to be loyal to the ruler, whether foolish or wise, worthy or unworthy, all know this is righteousness; but those who, asked to state loyal and filial conduct, know the root from which it comes are few. In general, in human thought, there is none who does not first think something is permissible and then do it; whether it is right or wrong is where the foolish and the wise differ. Of human nature, nothing is more precious than benevolence and nothing more urgent than wisdom. Take benevolence as substance and wisdom as practice, with both as the root, and add courage and strength, eloquence and intelligence, quickness, diligence, skill, sharpness, keenness and discernment, and one takes in all the gains. If one's stature is not yet cultivated and skills are complete in every turn, but without benevolence and wisdom as surface and trunk, adding all the other fine things only increases its harm. So to be unbenevolent but have courage and strength and daring is like a madman holding a sharp sword; to be unwise but have eloquence and swiftness is like discarding a fine horse and not using the front rail. Even with talent, if applied improperly and put in an unsuitable place, it only helps falsehood and adorns faults; with many skills, it is better to have few. So a man with a wild heart cannot be lent the advantage of a favorable situation; a man with a foolish nature cannot be given sharp tools. A fish that gets water swims happily, but when the pond bursts and the water dries up it is eaten by mole crickets and ants. If someone manages the repair of the dike and patches the breach, the fish gain benefit; a state has what it exists by and a person has what he lives by. What a state exists by is benevolence and righteousness; what a person lives by is doing good. A state without righteousness, though large, will surely perish; a person without a will to good, though brave, will surely be wounded. In governing a state, those above should not let people take part in it. To be filial to parents, fraternal to elder brothers and their wives, and trustworthy to friends can be done without waiting for orders from above. To put down what one can do and demand what one cannot control is perverse. A scholar who is in low and hidden station and wishes to reach upward must first turn back to himself. There is a way to reach upward: if one's reputation does not rise, one cannot reach upward; there is a way to gain praise: if one is not trusted by friends, one cannot gain praise; there is a way to be trusted by friends: if in serving one's parents one cannot please them, one cannot be trusted by friends; there is a way to please parents: if in cultivating oneself one is not sincere, one cannot serve parents; there is a way to make oneself sincere: if the heart is not single, one cannot be wholly sincere. The Way is in an easy place but is sought in a hard one; the effect is near but is sought far away; so it is not obtained.

道至高無上，至深無下，平乎準，直乎繩，圓乎規，方乎矩，包裹宇宙而無表裡，洞同覆載而無所礙。是故體道者，不哀不樂，不喜不怒，其坐無慮，其寢無夢，物來而名，事來而應。主者，國之心，心治則百節皆安，心擾則百節皆亂。故其心治者，支體相遺也；其國治者，君臣相忘也。黃帝曰：「芒芒昧昧，從天之道，與元同氣。」故至德者，言同略，事同指，上下一心，無岐道旁見者，遏障之於邪，開道之於善，而民鄉方矣。故《易》曰：「同人於野，利涉大川。」道者，物之所導也；德者，性之所扶也；仁者，積恩之見證也；義者，比於人心而合於眾適者也。故道滅而德用，德衰而仁義生。故上世體道而不德，中世守德而弗壞也，末世繩繩乎唯恐失仁義。君子非仁義無以生，失仁義，則失其所以生；小人非嗜慾無以活，失嗜慾，則失其所以活。故君子懼失仁義，小人懼失利。觀其所懼，知各殊矣。《易》曰：「即鹿無虞，惟入於林中，君子幾不如舍，往吝。」其施厚者其報美，其怨大者其禍深。薄施而厚望，畜怨而無患者，古今未之有也。是故聖人察其所以往，則知其所以來者。聖人之道，猶中衢而致尊邪：過者斟酌，多少不同，各得其所宜。是故得一人，所以得百人也。人以其所願於上，以交其下，誰弗戴？以其所欲於下，以事其上，誰弗喜？《詩》云：「媚茲一人，應侯慎德。」慎德大矣，一人小矣。能善小，其能善大矣。

The Way is so high it has no above and so deep it has no below, level as a water gauge, straight as a plumb line, round as a compass, square as a carpenter's square; it wraps up the universe without inside or outside, and is open and unobstructed like the covering Heaven and bearing Earth. So one who embodies the Way is neither sad nor joyful, neither pleased nor angry; sitting he has no thoughts, sleeping he has no dreams; when things come he gives them names, when affairs come he responds. The ruler is the heart of the state; when the heart is in order, the hundred joints are at ease; when the heart is disturbed, the hundred joints are in disorder. So those whose hearts are in order forget their limbs, and when a state is in order, ruler and ministers forget each other. The Yellow Emperor said: "Vague and dim, follow the Way of Heaven, share the breath with the primal." So people of supreme virtue have words of one plan and affairs of one direction, high and low are of one heart, no divergent roads or side views; they stop and block the wicked, open and guide the good, and the people incline to what is square and right. So the Book of Changes says: "Uniting with others in the wilds is favorable for crossing the great river." The Way is what things are led by; virtue is what nature is supported by; benevolence is the witness of accumulated kindness; righteousness is what matches the human heart and accords with what is suitable to the multitude. So when the Way vanished, virtue came to be used; when virtue declined, benevolence and righteousness were born. So in high antiquity people embodied the Way without speaking of virtue; in the middle age they kept virtue without ruin; in the last age they were cautious and fearful only of losing benevolence and righteousness. A gentleman without benevolence and righteousness has no way to live; losing benevolence and righteousness, he loses what he lives by. A petty man without desires has no way to live; losing desires, he loses what he lives by. So the gentleman fears losing benevolence and righteousness, and the petty man fears losing profit. Looking at what they fear, one knows how they differ. The Book of Changes says: "Chasing a deer without a forester, one only enters the forest; the gentleman sees the subtle signs and would rather give it up; going on brings regret." If the kindness given is thick, the repayment is fine; if the resentment is great, the disaster is deep. Giving thinly but hoping for much, storing up resentment and having no trouble, has never been seen since ancient times. So the sage looks at where one has gone and knows where one came from. The Way of the sage is like setting a wine vessel on a road open in four directions: those who pass pour as they like, differing in amount, each getting what is suitable. So to gain one person is the way to gain a hundred. If a person uses what he hopes for from those above to treat those below, who would not support him? If he uses what he wants from those below to serve those above, who would not be pleased? The Book of Poetry says: "Love this one man, and so be careful of his virtue." Being careful of virtue is great, and the one man is small. One who can do the small well can also do the great well.

君子見過忘罰，故能諫；見賢忘賤，故能讓；見不足忘貧，故能施。情繫於中，行形於外。凡行戴情，雖過無怨；不戴其情，雖忠來惡。后稷廣利天下，猶不自矜。禹無廢功，無廢財，自視猶觖如也。滿如陷，實如虛，盡之者也。凡人各賢其所說，而說其所快。世莫不舉賢，或以治，或以亂，非自遁，求同乎己者也。己未必得賢，而求與己同者，而欲得賢，亦不幾矣！使堯度舜則可，使桀度堯，是猶以升量石也。今謂狐狸，則必不知狐，又不知狸。非未嘗見狐者，必未嘗見狸也。狐、狸非異，同類也。而謂狐狸，則不知狐、狸。是故謂不肖者賢，則必不知賢；謂賢者不肖，則必不知不肖者矣。

The gentleman, seeing fault, forgets punishment, and so can remonstrate; seeing the worthy, forgets his own lowliness, and so can yield; seeing lack, forgets poverty, and so can give. Feeling is tied within and conduct shows outside. Whenever conduct carries feeling, even if there is fault there is no resentment; when it does not carry feeling, even loyalty brings hatred. Hou Ji broadly benefited the world and yet did not boast; Yu had no abandoned merit and no abandoned wealth, and to himself still seemed lacking. When full, he looked collapsed; when filled, he looked empty: this is one who has exhausted it. Ordinary people each take what they like as worthy and delight in what pleases them. There is no age that does not promote the worthy, yet some use them to bring order and some to bring disorder, and it is not that they deceive themselves but that they seek people who are the same as themselves. If he himself has not necessarily obtained worth, but seeks those the same as himself and still hopes to obtain the worthy, it is nearly impossible. Letting Yao measure Shun is possible; letting Jie measure Yao is like measuring a shi with a sheng. Now say 'fox-raccoon dog': one surely does not know the fox, nor the raccoon dog. It is not that one has never seen a fox and so surely never seen a raccoon dog. Fox and raccoon dog are not different kinds but the same kind. Yet to say 'fox-raccoon dog' means not knowing fox or raccoon dog. So to call the unworthy worthy is surely not to know the worthy; to call the worthy unworthy is surely not to know the unworthy.

聖人在上，則民樂其治；在下，則民慕其意。小人在上位，如寢關曝纊，不得須臾寧。故《易》曰：「乘馬班如，泣血漣如。」言小人處非其位，不可長也。物莫無所不用，天雄烏喙，藥之兇毒也，良醫以活人；侏儒鼓師，人之困慰者也，人主以備樂。是故聖人制其剟材，無所不用矣。勇士一呼，三軍皆闢，其出之也誠。故倡而不和，意而不戴，中心必有不合者也。故舜不降席而王天下者，求諸己也。故上多故，則民多詐矣，身曲而景直者，未之聞也。說之所不至者，容貌至焉；容貌之所不至者，感忽至焉。感乎心，明乎智，發而成形，精之至也。可以形勢接，而不可以昭誋。戎、翟之馬，皆可以馳驅，或近或遠，唯造父能盡其力；三苗之民，皆可使忠信，或賢或不肖，唯唐、虞能齊其美。必有不傳者。中行繆伯手搏虎，而不能生也，蓋力優而克不能及也。用百人之所能，則得百人之力；舉千人之所愛，則得千人之心。闢若伐樹而引其本，千枝萬葉則莫得弗從也。慈父之愛子，非為報也，不可內解於心；聖人之養民，非求用也，性不能已。若火之自熱，冰之自寒。夫有何修焉！及恃其力，賴其功者，若失火舟中。故君子見始，其知終矣。媒妁譽人，而莫之德也；取庸而強飯之，莫之愛也。雖親父慈母，不加於此，有以為，則恩不接矣。故送往者，非所以迎來也；施死者，非專為生也。誠出於己，則所動者遠矣。錦繡登廟，貴文也；圭璋在前，尚質也。文不勝質，之謂君子。故終年為車，無三寸之鎋，不可以驅馳；匠人斫戶，無一尺之楗，不可以閉藏。故君子行斯乎其所結。心之精者，可以神化，而不可以導人；目之精者，可以消澤，而不可以昭誋。在混冥之中，不可諭於人。故舜不降席而天下治，桀不下陛而天下亂，蓋情甚乎叫呼也。無諸己，求諸人，古今未之聞也。

When a sage is above, the people delight in his government; when below, the people admire his intention. A petty man in a high position is like sleeping on the door bar or drying floss silk, not at peace for a moment. So the Book of Changes says: "Riding a horse that circles and does not advance, weeping blood in streams." It means a petty man in a position not his own cannot last long. There is no place where things cannot be used. Aconite and monkshood are among the fierce poisons in medicine, yet a good physician uses them to save lives; dwarfs and drummers are among the unfortunate among people, yet the ruler uses them to prepare music. So the sage cuts out those leftover materials and finds nothing that cannot be used. When a brave man gives one shout, the three armies all avoid him, because what he has sent out is sincere. So if one leads and no one answers, or has intention and no one supports him, there must be something in the heart that does not match. So Shun did not step down from his mat and yet became king of the world, because he sought it in himself. So when those above have much cleverness, the people have much deceit; that a body is bent and its shadow straight has never been heard. Speaking what cannot be reached, the countenance reaches; what the countenance cannot reach, feeling reaches. Feeling lies in the heart, clarity lies in wisdom, and when sent out it takes form; this is the utmost of essence. One can deal with it through momentum but cannot give it clear warnings. The horses of the Rong and Di can all be driven, near or far, but only Zao Fu can exhaust their strength; the people of the Three Miao can all be made loyal and trustworthy, worthy or unworthy, but only Yao and Shun could unify their goodness. There must be something that cannot be handed down. Zhonghang Miubo struck a tiger with his bare hands but could not keep it alive; probably his strength was superior but his care and nurture could not keep up. Using what a hundred people can do, one gains the strength of a hundred; raising what a thousand people love, one gains the hearts of a thousand. It is like felling a tree and pulling its root: the thousand branches and ten thousand leaves all follow. A kind father loves his son not for repayment but because his heart cannot let go; a sage nourishes the people not seeking to use them but because his nature cannot stop of itself. Like fire that is hot of itself and ice that is cold of itself, what is there to cultivate! When it comes to relying on their strength and depending on their merit, it is like fire on a boat. So the gentleman, seeing the beginning, knows the end. A matchmaker praising someone gets no thanks; a hired laborer forced to eat is loved by no one. Even a real father and kind mother are no more than this: once there is something to be done, kindness cannot continue. So sending off the departed is not for welcoming the coming; giving to the dead is not exclusively for the living. If sincerity comes from oneself, what it moves is far away. Brocade and embroidery entering the temple show valuing pattern; jade tablets and scepters in front show esteem for substance. When pattern does not exceed substance, one is called a gentleman. So when making a carriage the whole year without a three-inch linchpin one cannot drive; when a craftsman hews a gate without a foot-long bolt one cannot shut and store. So when the gentleman acts, he is careful at the point where it ends. The essence of the heart can transform divinely but cannot be used to instruct people; the essence of the eye can melt and moisten but cannot give clear warning. In the dim and obscure one cannot instruct others. So Shun did not step down from his mat and the world was in order, and Jie did not step down from his steps and the world was in disorder; probably feeling is stronger than shouting. To have nothing oneself and yet seek it from others has never been heard since ancient times.

同言而民信，信在言前也；同令而民化，誠在令外也。聖人在上，民遷而化，情以先之也。動於上，不應於下者，情與令殊也。故《易》曰：「亢龍有悔。」三月嬰兒，未知利害也，而慈母之愛諭焉者，情也。故言之用者，昭昭乎小哉！不言之用者，曠曠乎大哉！身君子之言，信也；中君子之意，忠也。忠信形於內，感動應於外，故禹執干鏚，舞於兩階之間，而三苗服。鷹翔川，魚鱉沈，飛鳥揚，必遠害也。子之死父也，臣之死君也，世有行之者矣，非出死以要名也，恩心之藏於中，而不能違其難也。故人之甘甘，非正為蹠也，而蹠焉往。君子之慘怛，非正為偽形也，諭乎人心。非從外入，自中出者也。義正乎君，仁親乎父。故君之於臣也，能死生之，不能使為苟簡易；父之於子也，能發起之，不能使無憂尋。故義勝君，仁勝父，則君尊而臣忠，父慈而子孝。聖人在上，化育如神。太上曰：「我其性與！」其次曰：「微彼，其如此乎！」故《詩》曰：「執轡如組。」《易》曰：「含章可貞。」運於近，成文於遠。

When the same words are spoken and the people believe, trust lies before the words; when the same orders are issued and the people are transformed, sincerity lies outside the orders. When a sage is above, the people move and are transformed because feeling is already there first. If one moves above and those below do not respond, feeling and orders are different. So the Book of Changes says: "The arrogant dragon has cause for regret." A three-month infant does not yet know profit and harm, yet the love of a kind mother can instruct him; this is feeling. So the use of speech is bright but small; the use of not speaking is vast and great. To personally practice a gentleman's words is trust; to accord in the heart with the gentleman's intention is loyalty. When loyalty and trust take form within, the response outside moves; so Yu held shield and axe and danced between the two steps, and the Three Miao submitted. When a hawk flies above a river, fish and turtles sink and flying birds soar, surely to get far from harm. A son dying for his father or a minister dying for his ruler, which people in the world practice, is not throwing away their lives to seek fame; kindness is hidden within and they cannot avoid that difficulty. So people take the sweet as sweet, not because they are specially going to tread on it, but they go and tread on it naturally. The gentleman's compassion is not specially to put on a show, yet it can make the human heart understand. It does not come in from outside but goes out from inside. Righteousness is set right toward the ruler, and benevolence is affection toward the father. So a ruler toward his ministers can make them die or live, but cannot make them do careless or easy things; a father toward his son can rouse him but cannot keep him from deep worry. So when righteousness prevails over the ruler and benevolence over the father, the ruler is honored and the ministers loyal, the father kind and the son filial. When a sage is above, his transformation is like that of a spirit. The highest says: "I suppose it is nature!" The next says: "Without him, could it be like this!" So the Book of Poetry says: "Holding the reins like weaving a ribbon." The Book of Changes says: "Containing pattern, one can be correct." It turns near and completes its pattern far.

夫察所夜行，周公慚乎景，故君子慎其獨也。釋近斯遠，塞矣。聞善易，以正身難。夫子見禾之三變也，滔滔然曰：「狐向丘而死，我其首禾乎！」故君子見善則痛其身焉。身苟正，懷遠易矣。故《詩》曰：「弗躬弗親，庶民弗信。」小人之從事也，曰苟得，君子曰苟義。所求者同，所期者異乎！擊舟水中，魚沈而鳥揚，同聞而殊事，其情一也。僖負羈以壺餐表其閭。趙宣孟以束脯免其軀，禮不隆，而德有餘，仁心之感恩接而よ怛生。故其入人深。俱之叫呼也，在家老則為恩厚，其在責人則生爭鬥。故曰：兵莫憯於意志，莫邪為下；寇莫大於陰陽，枹鼓為小。聖人為善，非以求名，而名從之。名不與利期，而利歸之。故人之憂喜，非為蹗，蹗焉往生也。故至人不容。故若眯而撫，若跌而據。聖人之為治，漠然不見賢焉，終而後知其可大也。若日之行，騏驥不能與之爭遠。

Look at what is done in the night: even the Duke of Zhou would be ashamed before his own shadow, and so the noble person is careful when alone. To set aside the near and seek the far is to be blocked. It is easy to hear of goodness, but hard to use it to set oneself right. The Master, seeing the three changes of the grain stalk, said earnestly: "The fox dies with its head toward its mound; perhaps I should have my head toward the grain!" So the noble person on seeing goodness feels pain in himself. If one's own person is upright, it is easy to bring distant people to him. So the Odes say: "If you do not do it yourself, the common people will not trust you." The petty person acts and says that he got it by being careless; the noble person says he has been careless and fits righteousness. What they seek is the same, but what they hope for differs! Strike the boat in the water and the fish sink while the birds rise; they hear the same thing but act differently, while the feeling is one. Xi Fuji, with one pot of rice, had his lane commended; Zhao Xuanmeng, with a bundle of dried meat, saved his own body; the ritual was not lavish but the virtue was more than enough, for the kindness of a humane heart connected and compassion rose up (the source text has a damaged character here, and the sense is compassion). So it enters a person very deeply. The same shout, in the home toward the old is warm kindness, and in blaming others is a quarrel. So it is said: no weapon is more cruel than the will, with Moye the lowest; no robber is greater than yin and yang, with the drumstick and war drum the smaller. When the sage does good, it is not to seek fame, yet fame follows. Fame has no agreement with profit, yet profit turns toward it. So people's worry and joy are not for the sake of treading on it, yet naturally arise there. So the perfect person has no adornment. It is like an eye with a speck, one rubs it; like one who has stumbled, one holds on. In the sage's governing, one sees silently no place where the worthy are, and only after the end does one know it can be great. It is like the sun's course, in which no fine steed can compete in distance.

今夫夜有求，與瞽師併，東方開，斯照矣。動而有益，則損隨之。故《易》曰：「剝之不可遂盡也。故受之以複。」積薄為厚，積卑為高，故君子日孳孳以成輝，小人日怏怏以至辱。其消息也，離朱弗能見也。文王聞善如不及，宿不善如不祥。非為日不足也，其憂尋推之也。故《詩》曰：「周雖舊邦，其命維新。」懷情抱質，天弗能殺，地弗能霾也。聲揚天地之間，配日月之光，甘樂之者也。苟向善，雖過無怨；苟不向善，雖忠來患。故怨人不如自怨，求諸人不如求諸己得也。聲自召也，貌自示也，名自命也，文自官也，無非己者。操銳以刺，操刃以擊，何怨乎人？故管子文錦也，雖醜登廟；子產練染也，美而不尊。虛而能滿，淡而有味，被褐懷玉者。故兩心不可以得一人，一心可以得百人。男子樹蘭，美而不芳，繼子得食，肥而不澤，情不相與往來也。

Now if one seeks something at night, one is like a blind musician; but once the east opens, one sees. One movement that brings gain, and loss follows. So the Changes say: "Stripping cannot go on stripping to the end, so what follows is Return." The thin accumulates into the thick, the low accumulates into the high, so the noble person is diligent daily to complete his radiance, while the petty person is discontented daily until he reaches disgrace. The rise and fall of it, even Li Zhu could not see. When King Wen heard of goodness he was like one who could not catch up; a night-old lapse in goodness was like an ill omen. It was not that days were insufficient; deep anxiety pushed him. So the Odes say: "Zhou, though an old state, has a mandate that is new." Holding feeling and embracing substance, heaven cannot kill him and earth cannot bury him. His fame spreads between heaven and earth, matching the light of the sun and moon; this is for those who delight in this. If one turns toward goodness, even with faults there is no resentment; if one does not turn toward goodness, even loyalty will bring trouble. So resenting others is not as good as resenting oneself, and seeking from others is not as effective as seeking from oneself. Sound is summoned by oneself, appearance is shown by oneself, a name is named by oneself, and literary form is made official by oneself; nothing is not of oneself. One who holds a sharp tool and stabs, or holds a blade and strikes, what does he resent in others? So Guan Zhong was patterned brocade, and even with ugliness he entered the temple; Zichan was boiled and dyed silk, beautiful but not honored. To be empty yet able to be filled, to be plain yet have flavor, is one who wears coarse clothes and carries jade in his bosom. So two hearts cannot win a single person, while one heart can win a hundred. A man plants orchids: beautiful but not fragrant; a stepson gets food: fat but without gloss; this is because feeling does not pass between them.

生所假也，死所歸也。故宏演直仁而立死，王子閭張掖而受刃，不以所託害所歸也。故世治則以義衛身，世亂則以身衛義。死之日，行之終也，故君子慎一用之。無勇者，非先懾也，難至而失其守也；貪婪者，非先欲也，見利而忘其害也。虞公見垂棘之璧，而不知虢禍之及己也。故至道之人，不可遏奪也。人之慾榮也，以為己也，於彼何益？聖人之行義也，其憂尋出乎中也，於己何以利？故帝王者多矣，而三王獨稱；貧賤者多矣，而伯夷獨舉。以貴為聖乎？則聖者眾矣；以賤為仁乎？則賤者多矣。何聖人之寡也。獨專之意樂哉！忽乎日滔滔以自新，忘老之及己也。始乎叔季，歸乎伯孟，必此積也。不身遁，斯亦不遁人。故若行獨梁，不為無人不兢其容。故使人信己者易，而蒙衣自信者難。情先動，動無不得；無不得，則無莙，發莙而後快。故唐、虞之舉錯也，非以偕情也，快己而天下治；桀、紂非正賊之也，快己而百事廢。喜憎議而治亂分矣。

Life is a place borrowed for lodging, and death is where one returns. So Hong Yan stood and died for the sake of humaneness, and Prince Lü opened his armpits to receive the blade, not letting the lodging harm where he would return. So when the age is ordered one guards the person with righteousness, and when the age is disordered one guards righteousness with the person. The day of death is the end of conduct, so the noble person is careful and single-minded in using it. One without courage is not one who has already been cowed; it is that when difficulty arrives he loses what he holds to. A greedy person is not one who first has desires; it is that on seeing profit he forgets its harm. The Duke of Yu saw the jade disk of Chuiji but did not realize that Guo's disaster had arrived at himself. So one who has reached the utmost Way cannot be stopped or seized. People want honor for their own sake; what benefit is it to the other side? The sage practices righteousness, and that deep anxiety comes from within; what profit is it to himself? So of emperors and kings there are many, but only the Three Kings are celebrated; of the poor and humble there are many, but only Bo Yi is singled out. Is it that being noble makes one sage? Then sages would be many; is it that being humble makes one humane? Then the humane would be many. Why are sages so few? A single-minded intent alone is joyful! Suddenly day by day, earnestly renewing oneself, one forgets that old age has arrived. From the younger brothers up to the eldest, it must have accumulated like this. If one does not flee oneself, one also does not let others flee. So it is like walking on a single log bridge, where one is careful to compose oneself even when no one is there. So making others believe in oneself is easy, while believing in oneself under one's clothes is hard. Feeling moves first, and when it moves there is nothing that is not obtained; where nothing is not obtained there is no obstruction, and when the obstruction is opened there is relief. So the conduct of Yao and Shun was not to indulge feeling; relieving themselves, they governed the world; Jie and Zhou were not just about to harm others, but relieving themselves, a hundred affairs were ruined. When likes and dislikes are discussed, order and disorder part ways.

聖人之行，無所合，無所離，譬若鼓，無所與調，無所不比。絲管金石，小大修短有敘，異聲而和；君臣上下，官職有差，殊事而調。夫織者日以進，耕者日以卻，事相反，成功一也。申喜聞乞人之歌而悲，出而視之，其母也。艾陵之戰也，夫差曰：「夷聲陽，句吳其庶乎！」同是聲而取信焉異。有諸情也。故心哀而歌不樂，心樂而哭不哀。夫子曰：「弦則是也，其聲非也。」文者，所以接物也，情繫於中而欲發外者也。以文滅情，則失情；以情滅文，則失文。文情理通，則鳳麟極矣。言至德之懷遠也。輸子陽謂其子曰：「良工漸乎矩鑿之中。」矩鑿之中，固無物而不周。聖王以治民，造父以治馬，醫駱以治病。同材而各自取焉。上意而民載，誠中者也。未言而信，弗召而至，或先之也，忣於不己知者，不自知也。矜怛生於不足，華誣生於矜。誠中之人，樂而不忣，如鴞好聲，熊之好經。夫有誰為矜。春女思，秋士悲，而知物化矣。號而哭，嘰而哀，而知聲動矣；容貌顏色，理詘𠈐倨佝，徇知情偽矣。故聖人慄慄乎其內，而至乎至極矣。

The conduct of the sage has nothing it joins and nothing it leaves, like a drum, which has nothing in tune with it yet nothing that does not attach to it. Strings, pipes, metal and stone, small and large, long and short have their order, and their sounds differ yet harmonize; ruler and minister, high and low, offices differ, and their affairs differ yet are coordinated. The weaver advances daily and the plowman retreats daily; their tasks are opposite but the accomplishment is one. Shen Xi heard a beggar's song and was grieved, and on going out to look, it was his mother. At the battle of Ailing, Fuchai said: "The sound of the barbarians is yang; Gouwu is probably about done!" The same sound but a different degree of trust, because feeling is within it. So when the heart is grieved, even a song is not joyful; when the heart is joyful, even weeping is not sorrowful. The Master said: "The string is still that string, but the sound is not." Form is used to deal with things, and feeling is tied within and wishes to come out. If one uses form to extinguish feeling, one loses feeling; if one uses feeling to extinguish form, one loses form. When form, feeling and principle connect, phoenixes and unicorns arrive. This says that utmost virtue can draw distant people. Shu Ziyang said to his son: "A good craftsman gradually accomplishes his work within the square and the chisel." Within the square and chisel, there is surely nothing that is not covered. The sage king uses it to govern the people, Zao Fu uses it to govern horses, and the physician Luo uses it to treat illness. With the same material, each takes what he uses. When those above have an intent, the people take it up and carry it out, because sincerity is within. Before speaking he is believed, without being summoned he arrives, because someone was already there. One who is anxious not to be known by others does not know himself. Boasting and angry resentment arise from insufficiency, and flashiness and falsehood arise from boasting. One in whom sincerity is within is joyful and not hasty, like the owl that loves its own call or the bear that loves to hang itself. Who is there to boast? A woman in spring longs and a scholar in autumn is saddened, and so one knows that things are changing; crying out and weeping, sighing and grieving, and so one knows the sound is stirring; in appearance and color, the lines of curve and straightness, arrogance and stooping (the source text has a rare character here), one can know whether feeling is true or false. So the sage within is awed and reaches the utmost.

功名遂成，天也；循理受順，人也。太公望、周公旦，天非為武王造之也；崇侯、惡來，天非為紂生之也；有其世，有其人也。教本乎君子，小人被其澤；利本乎小人，君子享其功。昔東戶季子之世，道路不拾遺，耒耜餘糧宿諸畮首，使君子小人各得其宜也。故一人有慶，兆民賴之。凡高者貴其左，故下之於上曰左之，臣辭也；下者貴其右，故上之於下曰右之，君讓也。故上左遷，則失其所尊也；臣右還，則失其所貴矣。小快害道，斯須害儀。子產騰辭，獄繁而無邪，失諸情者，則塞於辭矣。成國之道，工無偽事，農無遺力，士無隱行，官無失法。譬若設網者，引其綱而萬目開矣。舜、禹不再受命，堯、舜傳大焉，先形乎小也。刑于寡妻，至於兄弟，禪於家國，而天下從風。故戎兵以大知小，人以小知大。君子之道，近而不可以至，卑而不可以登，無載焉而不勝，大而章，遠而隆，知此之道，不可求於人，斯得諸己也。釋己而求諸人，去之遠矣。

Achieving merit and fame is Heaven's; following principle and receiving what accords is the person's. Taigong Wang and Dan, the Duke of Zhou, Heaven did not create for King Wu; Chong Hou and E Lai, Heaven did not produce for Zhou; when there is that age, there are such people. Teaching takes the noble person as its root while petty people receive its blessing; profit takes the petty person as its root while noble persons enjoy its merit. In the age of Dong Hu Jizi, nothing dropped on the road was picked up, and plow and surplus grain were left on the field ridges, so that noble and petty each found what suited them. So when one man has good fortune, the myriad people rely on him. For the high, the left is valued, so those below say 'to the left of you' to those above, which is the minister's wording; for the lower, the right is valued, so those above say 'to the right of you' to those below, which is the ruler's humility. So if the one above moves left, he loses what he is honored for; if the minister returns to the right, he loses what he values. Small relief harms the Way, and a moment's relief harms decorum. Zichan broadened his wording, and though lawsuits were many there was no deviance; those who lose feeling are blocked by wording. The way of accomplishing a state: craftsmen have no false work, farmers have no neglected strength, scholars have no hidden conduct, officials have no mistaken law. It is like one who casts a net: pull the main cord and the ten thousand meshes open. Shun and Yu did not receive the mandate a second time; Yao and Shun passed on the great, first taking form in the small. Set the model with one's legitimate wife, reaching brothers, extending to household and state, and the world follows like grass in wind. So in using troops one knows the small from the great, and in people one knows the great from the small. The Way of the noble person is near but cannot be walked to, lowly but cannot be climbed; nothing loads it and fails to bear it; it is great and bright, far and flourishing; knowing this Way, one cannot seek it from others, for it is obtained from oneself. To set oneself aside and seek from others is to leave it far behind.

君子者，樂有餘而名不足，小人樂不足而名有餘。觀於有餘不足之相去，昭然遠矣。含而弗吐，在情而不萌者，未之聞也。君子思義而不慮利，小人貪利而不顧義。子曰：「鈞之哭也，曰：『子予奈何兮乘我何』其哀則同，其所以哀則異。」故哀樂之襲人情也深矣。鑿地漂池，非止以勞苦民也。各從其蹠而亂生焉。其載情一也，施人則異矣。故唐、虞日孳孳以致於王，桀、紂日怏怏以致於死，不知後世之譏己也。凡人情，說其所苦即樂，失其所樂則哀。故知生之樂，必知死之哀。有義者不可欺以利，有勇者不可劫以懼，如饑渴者不可欺以虛器也。人多欲虧義，多憂害智，多懼害勇。嫚生乎小人，蠻夷皆能之；善生乎君子，誘然與日月爭光，天下弗能遏奪。故治國樂其所以存，亡國亦樂其所以亡也。金錫不消釋則不流刑，上憂尋不誠則不法民。憂尋不在民，則是絕民之系也。君反本，而民系固也。至德小節備，大節舉。齊桓舉而不密，晉文密而不舉。晉文得之乎閨內，失之乎境外；齊桓失之乎閨內，而得之乎本朝。

The noble person has joy more than fame, while the petty person has fame more than joy. Look at the distance between having more and having less; it is plainly very far. To hold something in without letting it out, to be in feeling without it sprouting, has never been heard of. The noble person thinks of righteousness and does not consider profit; the petty person is greedy for profit and ignores righteousness. Confucius said: "The same weeping, saying 'Alas, what can be done! What can be done to me!'; the sorrow is the same, yet what is grieved over differs." So grief and joy enter people's feelings deeply. Digging the ground and releasing pond water is not merely to make the people toil. Each person follows his own tendency and so disorder arises. The feeling carried is one, but what is given to others differs. So Yao and Shun were diligent daily until they became kings, while Jie and Zhou were discontented daily until they died, not knowing that later ages would mock them. In the feelings of people, speaking of what pains them gives pleasure, and losing what delights them brings grief. So one who knows the joy of life must know the sorrow of death. A righteous person cannot be deceived by profit, a brave person cannot be coerced by fear, just as a hungry and thirsty person cannot be fooled by an empty vessel. Much desire diminishes righteousness, much worry harms wisdom, and much fear harms courage. Contempt arises from petty people, and even barbarians can do it; goodness arises from the noble person, and gently competes with the sun and moon for brilliance, and the world cannot stop or seize it. So a state that is ordered delights in what allows it to survive, and a state that is lost also delights in what causes its ruin. Metal and tin do not flow into the mold unless smelted, and the deep anxiety of those above, unless sincere, cannot be a model for the people. If deep anxiety is not in the people, the link with the people is cut off. If the ruler returns to the root, the people's link will be firm. Utmost virtue is complete in the small measures and brings out the large ones. Duke Huan of Qi brought out the large but was not thorough; Duke Wen of Jin was thorough but did not bring out the large. Duke Wen gained within the women's quarters and lost beyond the border; Duke Huan lost within the women's quarters and gained in his own court.

水下流而廣大，君下臣而聰明。君不與臣爭功，而治道通矣。管夷吾、百里奚經而成之，齊桓、秦穆受而聽之。照惑者，以東為西，惑也；見日而寤矣。衛武侯謂其臣曰：「小子無謂我老而羸我，有過必謁之。」是武侯如弗羸之必得羸。故老而弗舍，通乎存亡之論者也。人無能作也，有能為也；有能為也，而無能成也。人之為，天成之。終身為善，非天不行；終身為不善，非天不亡。故善否，我也；禍福，非我也。故君子順其在己者而已矣。性者，所受於天也；命者，所遭於時也。有其材，不遇其世，天也。太公何力，比干何罪，循性而行指，或害或利。求之有道，得之在命。故君子能為善，而不能必其得福；不忍為非，而未能必免其禍。君，根本也；臣，枝葉也。根本不美，枝葉茂者，未之聞也。有道之世，以人與國；無道之世，以國與人。堯王天下而憂不解，授舜而憂釋。憂而守之，而樂與賢終，不私其利矣。

Water flows downward and so becomes vast; a ruler stoops to his ministers and so becomes keen and bright. If the ruler does not compete with the ministers for merit, the way of governing flows. Guan Yiwu and Baili Xi managed and accomplished, and Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Mu of Qin accepted and followed. One who is deluded takes east for west, which is delusion; on seeing the sun he awakens. Marquis Wu of Wei said to his ministers: "Young men, do not think I am old and treat me as weak; when I make a mistake you must tell me." This is Marquis Wu's knowing that if he did not treat himself as weak he would surely gain weakness. So one who does not abandon himself even when old is one who understands the discourse of survival and loss. People cannot create, but can act; having the ability to act, they cannot accomplish. People do, and Heaven accomplishes. One who does good all his life, if not for Heaven could not carry it out; one who does not good all his life, if not for Heaven would not perish. So good and not good are me; misfortune and blessing are not me. So the noble person only goes along with what is on his own side. Nature is received from Heaven; fate is what is met in one's time. To have the talent and not meet the age is Heaven's doing. What strength did Taigong have, what crime did Bigan have? Following nature and carrying out their aims, some were harmed and some benefited. In seeking there is the Way, but in attaining it depends on fate. So the noble person can do good but cannot be sure to gain blessing; he cannot bear to do wrong but cannot be sure to avoid misfortune. The ruler is the root and the ministers are the branches and leaves. It has never been heard that the root is not fine and the branches are flourishing. In an age with the Way, the person is entrusted to the state; in an age without the Way, the state is entrusted to a person. Yao ruled the world as king and his anxiety was not resolved; only when he handed the world to Shun was the anxiety put down. Anxious yet holding on to it, he delighted in ending with the worthy, and did not take profit as private.

凡萬物有所施之，無小不可；為無所用之，碧瑜糞土也。人之情，於害之中爭取小焉，於利之中爭取大焉。故同味而嗜厚膊者，必其甘之者也；同師而超群者，必其樂之者也。弗甘弗樂，而能為表者，未之聞也。君子時則進，得之以義，何幸之有！不時則退，讓之以義，何不幸之有！故伯夷餓死首陽之下，猶不自悔，棄其所賤，得其所貴也。福之萌也綿綿，禍之生也分分。禍福之始萌微，故民嫚之。唯聖人見其始而知其終。故傳曰：「魯酒薄而邯鄲圍，羊羹不斟而宋國危。」明主之賞罰，非以為己也，以為國也。適於己而無功於國者，不施賞焉；逆於己便於國者，不加罰焉。故楚莊謂共雍曰：「有德者受吾爵祿，有功者受吾田宅。是二者，女無一焉，吾無以與女。」可謂不逾於理乎！其謝之也，猶未之莫與。周政至，殷政善，夏政行。行政善，善未必至也。至至之人，不慕乎行，不慚乎善。含德履道，而上下相樂也，不知其所由然。有國者多矣，而齊桓、晉文獨名；泰山之上有七十壇焉，而三王獨道。君不求諸臣，臣不假之君，修近彌遠，而後世稱其大。不越鄰而成章，而莫能至焉。故孝己之禮可為也，而莫能奪之名也。必不得其所懷也。

In all the myriad things there are uses, and none is so small as to be unfit; with nothing to use it, even jade is dung. In human feeling, within harm one strives for the small and within profit one strives for the large. So with the same flavors, one who likes thick-cut meat must be one who finds it sweet; with the same teacher, one who surpasses his peers must be one who delights in it. That one who is neither satisfied nor delighted can be a model has never been heard. When the time arrives the noble person advances, gaining by righteousness; what luck is there in it! When the time has not arrived he withdraws, declining by righteousness; what misfortune is there in it! So Bo Yi starved to death beneath Mount Shouyang yet did not himself regret it, for he abandoned what he regarded as low and gained what he regarded as precious. The sprouting of blessing is slender and fine, while the arising of misfortune is tangled and clamorous. When blessing and misfortune first sprout they are tiny, so the people take them lightly. Only the sage sees their beginning and knows their end. So the tradition says: "The wine of Lu was thin and Handan was besieged; the lamb stew was not served and Song was in danger." The rewards and punishments of an enlightened ruler are not for himself but for the state. One who suits himself but has no merit for the state is not rewarded; one who opposes himself but benefits the state is not punished. So King Zhuang of Chu said to Gong Yong: "A person of virtue receives my rank and stipend, a person of merit receives my fields and houses. Of these two you have neither, and I have no way to give you." It can be said he did not overstep principle! He declined, and no one gave to him either. The government of Zhou reached the utmost, the government of Yin was good, and the government of Xia could be carried out. A government that can be carried out is good, but good does not necessarily reach the utmost. One who reaches the utmost does not envy what can be carried out and is not ashamed of the good. Holding virtue and treading the Way, high and low rejoice in each other without knowing why. Of those who held states there were many, but only Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin alone had fame; atop Mount Tai there were seventy altars, but only the Three Kings alone are celebrated. The ruler does not seek from his ministers and the ministers do not borrow from the ruler; cultivating the near, he goes ever farther, and later ages celebrate his greatness. Without leaving the neighborhood he accomplished literary brilliance, yet no one could reach it. So Xiaoji's ritual could be done, yet no one could take away his name. It must be that what he cherished could not be obtained.

義載乎宜之謂君子，宜遺乎義之謂小人。通智得而不勞，其次勞而不病，其下病而不勞。古人味而弗貪也，今人貪而弗味。歌之修其音也，音之不足於其美者也。金石絲竹，助而奏之，猶未足以至於極也。人能尊道行義，喜怒取予，欲如草之從風。召公桑蠶耕種之時，馳獄出拘，使百姓皆得反業修職。文王辭千里之地，而請去炮烙之刑。故聖人之舉事也，進退不失時，若夏就絺綌，上車授綏之謂也。老子學商容，見舌而知守柔矣；列子學壺子，觀景柱而知持後矣。故聖人不為物先，而常制之，其類若積薪樵，後者在上。人以義愛，以黨群，以群強。是故德之所施者博，則威之所行者遠；義之所加者淺，則武之所制者小矣。鐸以聲自毀，膏濁以明自鑠，虎豹之文來射，猿狖之捷來措。故子路以勇死，萇弘以智困。能以智知，而未能以智不知也。故行險者不得履繩，出林者不得直道，夜行瞑目而前其手，事有所至，而明有所害。人能貫冥冥入於昭昭，可與言至矣。鵲巢知風之所起，獺穴知水之高下，暉目知晏，陰諧知雨，為是謂人智不如鳥獸，則不然。故通於一伎，察於一辭，可與曲說，未可與廣應也。甯戚擊牛角而歌，桓公舉以大政；雍門子以哭見孟嘗君，涕流沾纓。歌哭，眾人之所能為也，一發聲，入人耳，感人心，情之至者也。故唐、虞之法可效也。其諭人心，不可及也。簡公以懦殺，子陽以猛劫，皆不得其道者也。故歌而不比於律者，其清濁一也；繩之外與繩之內，皆失直者也。紂為象箸而箕子嘰，魯以偶人葬而孔子歎，見所始則知所終。故水出於山，入於海；稼生乎野，而藏乎倉。聖人見其所生，則知其所歸矣。

Righteousness borne on what is fitting is called a noble person; what is fitting that loses righteousness is called a petty person. The wise who penetrate gain it without toil; the next toil without illness; the lowest toil though ill. The ancients tasted and were not greedy; people today are greedy and do not taste. In song one refines the tones, yet the tones are not enough to reach its beauty. Metal, stone, strings and bamboo assist the performance, yet are not enough to reach the extreme. If a person can honor the Way and practice righteousness, then in joy and anger, taking and giving, desires are like grass following the wind. The Duke of Shao, in the season of silkworms and plowing, released those held in prison so that the hundred clans could all return to their basic work and tend to their duties. King Wen declined a thousand li of land and asked to abolish the roasting punishment. So the sage in conduct does not lose the time, like wearing hemp cloth in summer or giving a strap when one boards a carriage. Laozi studied with Shang Rong and, seeing the tongue, knew to keep to softness; Liezi studied with Huzi and, watching shadow and pillar, knew to hold behind. So the sage does not rush before things yet often restrains them; that kind is like piled firewood with the later laid on top. People love by righteousness, form crowds by parties, and become strong by crowds. So where virtue is applied broadly, awe reaches far; where righteousness is applied shallowly, the restraint of arms is small. Bells and clappers destroy themselves by sound, fat melts itself by light, the leopard's and tiger's patterns invite the arrow, and the monkey's quickness invites the spear. So Zilu died by courage and Chang Hong was brought to hardship by wisdom. One can use wisdom to know, but cannot use wisdom not to know. So one who walks a dangerous road cannot step on the plumb line, and one who leaves a forest cannot walk a straight path; walking at night with eyes closed and hands stretched in front, things have their reach, and brightness has its harm. Only one who can pierce through the dim into the bright can be spoken to of the utmost. The magpie building its nest knows where the wind comes from, the otter digging its burrow knows the height of the water, those with a clear gaze know when it will be clear, and those with yin harmony know rain; so it is said that human wisdom is not as good as that of birds and beasts, but it is not so. So one who understands one skill, one who examines one phrase, can be spoken to in detail but not broadly responded to. Ning Qi sang beating an ox horn, and Duke Huan raised him to great affairs; Master Yongmen went to see Lord Mengchang by weeping, and his tears wet the cap strings. Singing and weeping are what all can do; one sound goes out, enters a person's ear and stirs his heart, which is feeling reaching its extreme. So the law of Yao and Shun can be imitated. How they enlightened people's hearts cannot be matched. Duke Jian was killed through weakness, and Zi Yang was kidnapped through fierceness; both lacked the Way. So a singing that does not conform to the pitch has clear and muddy as one; outside the cord and inside the cord both lose straightness. When Zhou made ivory chopsticks, Jizi sighed; when Lu used clay figures in burial, Confucius lamented; seeing the beginning one knows the end. So water comes out of the mountain and enters the sea; crops grow in the field and are stored in the granary. The sage, seeing where something grows, knows where it will return.

水濁者魚噞，令苛者民亂。城峭者必崩，岸青者必陀。故商鞅立法而支解，吳起刻削而車裂。治國譬若張瑟，大絃絚，則小絃絕矣。故急轡數策者，非千里之禦也。有聲之聲，不過百里；無聲之聲，施於四海。是故祿過其功者損，名過其實者蔽。情行合而名副之，禍福不虛至矣。身有醜夢，不勝正行；國有妖祥，不勝善政。是故前有軒冕之賞，不可以無功取也；後有斧鉞之禁，不可以無罪蒙也。素修正者，弗離道也。君子不謂小善不足為也而舍之，小善積而為大善；不謂小不善為無傷也而為之，小不善積而為大不善。是故積羽沈舟，群輕折軸。故君子禁於微。壹快不足以成善，積快而為德；壹恨不足以成非，積恨而成怨。故三代之稱，千歲之積譽也；桀、紂之謗，千歲之積毀也。

When water is muddy, fish poke their mouths up to breathe; when laws and orders are harsh, the people become disorderly. A city wall that is steep is sure to collapse, and a riverbank that is high and sheer is sure to cave in. So Shang Yang set up laws and was dismembered, and Wu Qi was severe and was torn apart by chariots. Governing a state is like stringing a zither: if the large strings are stretched too tight, the small strings break. So one who draws the reins very tight and repeatedly lashes the whip is not one who can drive a thousand li. A sound that has a voice does not go beyond a hundred li; a sound without a voice is applied to the four seas. When a stipend exceeds one's merit, it is a loss; when a name exceeds one's reality, it is a cover. When feeling and conduct agree and the name matches them, misfortune and blessing do not arrive for nothing. Ugly dreams in the body cannot overcome upright conduct; ominous signs in the state cannot overcome good government. So before you are the rewards of coach and cap, which you must not take without merit; behind you is the prohibition of axe and halberd, which you must not incur without crime. One who is always cultivating himself does not leave the Way. The noble person does not say that a small good is not enough to do and so discard it; small goods accumulate into a great good; he does not say that a small bad does no harm and so do it; small bads accumulate into a great bad. So feathers accumulated in quantity can sink a boat, and light things in a crowd can break an axle. So the noble person guards against it in the minute. A single moment of ease is not enough to make goodness, but ease accumulated becomes virtue; a single grudge is not enough to make wrong, but grudges accumulated become resentment. So the Three Dynasties are celebrated for praise accumulated over a thousand years, and Jie and Zhou are reviled for blame accumulated over a thousand years.

天有四時，人有四用。何謂四用？視而形之，莫明於目；聽而精之，莫聰於耳；重而閉之，莫固於口；含而藏之，莫深於心。目見其形，耳聽其聲，口言其誠，而心致之精，則萬物之化鹹有極矣。地以德廣，君以德尊，上也；地以義廣，君以義尊，次也；地以強廣，君以強尊，下也。故粹者王，駁者霸，無一焉者亡。昔二皇鳳皇至於庭，三代至乎門，周室至乎澤。德彌粗，所至彌遠；德彌精，所至彌近。君子誠仁，施亦仁，不施亦仁；小人誠不仁，施亦不仁，不施亦不仁。善之由我，與其由人若，仁德之盛者也，故情勝欲者昌，欲勝情者亡。欲知天道，察其數；欲行地道，物其樹；欲知人道，從其欲。勿驚勿駭，萬物將自理；勿撓勿攖，萬物將自清。

Heaven has four seasons and a person has four uses. What are the four uses? In seeing and giving form to it, nothing is clearer than the eye; in hearing and making it refined, nothing is keener than the ear; in closing off what is weighty, nothing is firmer than the mouth; in holding and storing, nothing is deeper than the mind. The eye sees its form, the ear hears its sound, the mouth speaks its truth, and the mind carries it to refinement, and then the changes of the myriad things all reach their limit. When the earth is broadened by virtue and the ruler honored by virtue, that is the highest; when the earth is broadened by righteousness and the ruler honored by righteousness, that is the next; when the earth is broadened by force and the ruler honored by force, that is the lowest. So the pure become kings, the mixed become hegemons, and those with neither perish. Formerly in the time of the Two Sovereigns, the phoenix reached the courtyard; in the Three Dynasties, the gate; in the house of Zhou, the marshes. The coarser the virtue, the farther the reach; the finer the virtue, the nearer. The noble person is truly humane, whether he gives or does not give he is humane; the petty person is truly inhumane, whether he gives or does not give he is inhumane. When goodness comes from oneself just as it comes from others, one is a person of flourishing humane virtue. So where feeling overcomes desire there is prosperity, and where desire overcomes feeling there is ruin. If you want to know the Way of Heaven, observe its numbers; if you want to carry out the way of earth, discern its trees; if you want to know the way of man, follow his desires. Do not startle, do not alarm, and the myriad things will govern themselves; do not stir, do not entangle, and the myriad things will clear themselves.