Volume 4

春秋何貴乎元而言之？元者，始也，言本正也；道，王道也；王者，人之始也。王正，則元氣和順，風雨時，景星見，黃龍下；王不正，則上變天，賊氣幷見。五帝三王之治天下，不敢有君民之心，什一而稅，教以愛，使以忠，敬長老，親親而尊尊，不奪民時，使民不過歲三日，民家給人足，無怨望忿怒之患、強弱之難，無讒賊妒疾之人，民修德而美好，被髮銜哺而遊，不慕富貴，恥惡不犯，父不哭子，兄不哭弟，毒蟲不螫，猛獸不搏，抵蟲不觸，故天為之下甘露，朱草生，醴泉出，風雨時，嘉禾興，鳳凰麒麟遊於郊，囹圄空虛，畫衣裳而民不犯，四夷傳譯而朝，民情至樸而不文，郊天祀地，秩山川，以時至封於泰山，禪於梁父，立明堂，宗祀先帝，以祖配天，天下諸侯各以其職來祭，貢土地所有，先以入宗廟，端冕盛服，而後見先，德恩之報，奉先之應也。

Why does the Spring and Autumn Annals value "yuan", the first? Yuan is the beginning, and it speaks of the root being upright; the Way is the kingly way; and the king is the beginning of people. When the king is upright, the original qi is harmonious and smooth, wind and rain come in season, auspicious stars appear and yellow dragons descend; when the king is not upright, above there are changes in the heavens and the qi of rebels appears all at once. The Five Emperors and Three Kings governed the world without daring to hold the mind of a ruler looking down on the people; they taxed one part in ten, taught with love, employed with loyalty, respected the old and the senior, loved kin and honored the honorable, did not take away the people's seasons, and called the people to labor no more than three days a year, so that the people's households had enough and every person was provided for, with no trouble of resentment and anger, no hardship of the strong and weak, and no people of slander, villainy, jealousy or spite. The people cultivated virtue and were good, wandered with loose hair and food in their mouths, did not envy wealth and rank, were ashamed to do evil and did not offend; fathers did not weep for sons, elder brothers did not weep for younger brothers, venomous creatures did not sting, fierce beasts did not strike, and horned creatures did not gore. Therefore Heaven sent down sweet dew for them, the red grass grew, sweet springs gushed forth, wind and rain came in season, fine grain flourished, phoenixes and unicorns roamed the suburbs, prisons stood empty, people did not break the law even when only robes were painted as punishment, and the four barbarian tribes came to court through interpreters. The people's feelings were utterly simple and without adornment; they sacrificed to Heaven and Earth in the suburbs, ranked the mountains and rivers, performed the feng sacrifice at Mount Tai and the shan sacrifice at Liangfu at the proper times, set up the Hall of Light, venerated the former emperors and sacrificed to them with the ancestors paired with Heaven. The feudal lords of the world each sacrificed according to their duties, offered up what their lands produced, entered the ancestral temple first, and in ceremonial cap and full dress only then saw their forebears. This was the repayment of virtue and kindness and the response to honoring ancestors.

桀紂皆聖王之後，驕溢妄行，侈宮室，廣苑囿，窮五采之變，極飭材之工，困野獸之足，竭山澤之利，食類惡之獸，奪民財食，高雕文刻鏤之觀，盡金玉骨象之工，盛羽旄之飾，窮白黑之變，深刑妄殺以陵下，聽鄭衛之音，充傾宮之志，靈虎兕文采之獸，以希見之意，賞佞賜讒，以糟為邱，以酒為池，孤貧不養，殺聖賢而剖其心，生燔人，聞其臭，剔孕婦，見其化，斮朝涉之足，察其拇，殺梅伯以為醢，刑鬼侯之女，取其環。誅求無已，天下空虛，群臣畏恐，莫敢盡忠，紂愈自賢，周發兵，不期會於孟津者，八百諸侯，共誅紂，大亡天下，春秋以為戒，曰蒲社災。周衰，天子微弱，諸侯力政，大夫專國，士專邑，不能行度製法文之禮，諸侯背叛，莫修貢聘，奉獻天子，臣弒其君，子弒其父，孽殺其宗，不能統理，更相伐銼以廣地，以強相脅，不能制屬，強奄弱，眾暴寡，富使貧，併兼無已，臣下上僭，不能禁止，日為之食，星霣如雨，雨螽，沙鹿崩，夏大雨水，冬大雨雪，霣石於宋五，六鷁退飛，霣霜不殺草，李梅實，正月不雨，至於秋七月，地震，梁山崩，壅河，三日不流，畫晦，彗星見於東方，孛於大辰，鸛鵒來巢，春秋異之，以此見悖亂之徵。孔子明得失，差貴賤，反王道之本，譏天王以致太平，刺惡譏微，不遺小大，善無細而不舉，惡無細而不去，進善誅惡，絕諸本而已矣。

Jie and Zhou were both descendants of sage kings, but they were arrogant, overflowing and reckless in conduct. They were extravagant in palaces and chambers, enlarged their parks and gardens, exhausted all the variations of the five colors, pushed the craft of refining materials to the limit, hobbled the feet of wild beasts, drained the benefits of mountains and marshes, ate vile creatures, seized the people's wealth and food, raised the heights of carved and engraved viewing structures, exhausted the craft of gold, jade, bone and ivory, filled their displays with feathers and yak tails, exhausted the variations of white and black, used harsh punishments and reckless killing to ride roughshod over those below, listened to the music of Zheng and Wei, filled the ambition of the Tilted Palace, kept tigers, rhinoceroses and patterned beasts to satisfy their desire for the rare, rewarded flatterers and favored slanderers, made dregs into a hill and wine into a pond, did not nourish the orphaned and poor, killed sages and worthies and cut out their hearts, burned people alive to smell the odor, slit open pregnant women to watch the changes, chopped off the shins of those who waded the river in the morning to examine their thumbs, killed Mei Bo and made him into mince, and punished the daughter of the Lord of Gui and took her bracelet. Their exactions had no end, the world was emptied, and the ministers were fearful and did not dare be loyal. Zhou grew still more convinced of his own worthiness. When Zhou sent out troops, the eight hundred feudal lords who met at Mengjin without prior agreement jointly punished Zhou, and the world was lost entirely. The Spring and Autumn Annals made this a warning, in recording the disaster at the altar of Pu. When Zhou declined, the Son of Heaven was weak, and the feudal lords wielded power in government, the grand masters monopolized the state and the gentlemen monopolized their cities, so that the rites of institutions, laws and written codes could not be carried out. The feudal lords rebelled, did not cultivate tribute and visits, and did not present offerings to the Son of Heaven. Ministers killed rulers, sons killed fathers, and children of concubines killed heirs; there was no one able to govern, and states attacked one another to enlarge their land, bullied one another by force, and could not restrain their own subordinates. The strong swallowed the weak, the many oppressed the few, the rich used the poor as servants, annexation had no end, and subordinates overstepped their superiors and could not be stopped. The sun was eclipsed, stars fell like rain, locusts rained down, Mount Shalu collapsed, in summer there were great floods, in winter great snows, five stones fell in Song, six fish-hawks flew backward, frost fell without killing the grass, plum and apricot trees bore fruit, there was no rain from the first month until the seventh month of autumn, the earth shook, Mount Liang collapsed and blocked the river so that for three days it did not flow, the daytime grew dark, a comet appeared in the east and a bo star appeared near the Great Fire, and mynas came to nest. The Spring and Autumn Annals considered these anomalies, and from them one sees the evidence of perversity and disorder. Confucius made clear success and failure, graded the noble and lowly, returned to the root of the kingly way, and criticized the Son of Heaven in order to bring about great peace; he rebuked evil and mocked the subtle, leaving out nothing large or small, so that no goodness was too small to be raised up and no evil too small to be removed, advancing the good and punishing the evil, cutting it off at the root, and that is all.

天王使宰喧來歸惠公仲子之賵，刺不及事也；天王伐鄭，譏親也；會王世子，譏微也；祭公來逆王后，譏失禮也。刺家父求車，武氏毛伯求賻金，王人救衛，王師敗於貿戎，天王不養，出居於鄭，殺母弟，王室亂，不能及外，分為東西周，無以先天下。召衛侯，不能致，遣子突徵衛，不能絕；伐鄭，不能從；無駭滅極，不能從。諸侯得以大亂，篡弒無已，臣下上逼，僭擬天子；諸侯強者行威，小國破滅；晉至三侵周，與天王戰於貿戎，而大敗之；戎執凡伯於楚丘，以歸；諸侯本怨隨惡，發兵相破，夷人宗廟社稷，不能統理；臣子強，至弒其君父；法度廢，而不復用，威武絕，而不復行。故鄭魯易地，晉文再致天子，齊桓會王世子，擅封邢衛杞，橫行中國，意欲王天下，魯舞八佾，北祭泰山，郊天祀地，如天子之為，以此之故，弒君三十二，亡國五十二，細惡不絕之所致也。

The Son of Heaven sent Zai Xuan to present feng gifts for Duke Hui and Zhongzi, which rebukes arriving too late for the event; the Son of Heaven attacking Zheng, which criticizes his doing it in person; meeting the king's heir, which criticizes the lowliness; the Duke of Zhai coming to welcome the royal consort, which criticizes the loss of ritual. It rebukes Jiafu seeking carriages, the Lord of Wu and the Earl of Mao seeking funeral gold, the royal men rescuing Wei, and the royal army being defeated at Maorong; the Son of Heaven was not supported and went out to live in Zheng, killed his younger brother by the same mother, the royal house was in disorder and could not reach beyond, and was divided into Eastern and Western Zhou, with no way to lead the world. It summoned the Marquis of Wei and could not bring him in; it dispatched Zitu to campaign against Wei and could not cut it off; it attacked Zheng and could not be followed; and when Wuhai destroyed Ji, it could not be followed. The feudal lords were thereby thrown into great disorder, usurpation and assassination had no end, subordinates pressed on their superiors and imitated the Son of Heaven; the strong feudal lords displayed their might and small states were destroyed. Jin went as far as invading Zhou three times and fought the Son of Heaven at Maorong and utterly defeated him; the Rong seized Fan Bo at Chuqiu and took him back. The feudal lords were already resentful and followed evil, sent out troops to break one another, razed one another's ancestral temples and altars, and no one could govern; ministers grew strong, to the point of assassinating their rulers and fathers; institutions were abandoned and no longer used, and martial authority was cut off and no longer exercised. Thus Zheng and Lu exchanged land, Duke Wen of Jin summoned the Son of Heaven twice, Duke Huan of Qi met the king's heir and on his own authority enfeoffed Xing, Wei and Qi, ran roughshod over the Central States, and had in mind to be king of the world. Lu danced eight rows of dancers, sacrificed north at Mount Tai, and sacrificed to Heaven and Earth in the suburbs as the Son of Heaven did. For this reason there were thirty-two assassinated rulers and fifty-two ruined states, brought about by not cutting off small evils.

春秋立義，天子祭天地，諸侯祭社稷，諸山川不在封內不祭。有天子在，諸侯不得專地，不得專封，不得專執天子之大夫，不得舞天子之樂，不得致天子之賦，不得適天子之貴。君親無將，將而誅，大夫不得世，大夫不得廢置君命。立適以長不以賢，立子以貴不以長，立夫人以適不以妾，天子不臣母后之黨，親近以來遠，未有不先近而致遠者也。故內其國而外諸夏，內諸夏而外夷狄，言自近者始也。

The Spring and Autumn Annals sets up its principles: the Son of Heaven sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, the feudal lords sacrifice to the altars of state, and the mountains and rivers that are not within one's fief are not sacrificed to. With the Son of Heaven present, the feudal lords may not monopolize land, may not monopolize enfeoffment, may not on their own authority seize a grand master of the Son of Heaven, may not dance the Son of Heaven's music, may not send off the Son of Heaven's tribute, and may not match the Son of Heaven's honor. Against a ruler or a parent there must be no intent to harm, and intent is punished. Grand masters may not inherit their offices, and grand masters may not abolish or set aside the ruler's command. In installing an heir one goes by seniority and not worth, in installing a son one goes by rank and not seniority, and in installing a lady one goes by principal wife and not concubine. The Son of Heaven does not treat the kin of his mother the queen as his ministers. One draws the near close in order to draw the far in; there is none who does not first draw the near in order to draw the far. Therefore one treats one's own state as inner and the Chinese states as outer, and treats the Chinese states as inner and the barbarians as outer; this means starting from the near.

諸侯來朝者得褒，邾婁儀父稱字，滕薛稱侯，荊得人，介葛盧得名；內出言如，諸侯來曰朝，大夫來曰聘，王道之意也。誅惡而不得遺細大，諸侯不得為匹夫興師，不得執天子之大夫，執天子之大夫，與伐國同罪，執凡伯言伐；獻八佾，諱八言六；鄭魯易地，諱易言假；晉文再致天子，諱致言狩；桓公存邢衛杞，不見春秋，內心予之行，法絕而不予，止亂之道也，非諸侯所當為也。春秋之義，臣不討賊，非臣也，子不復儲，非子也；故誅趙盾，賊不討者，不書葬，臣子之誅也；許世子止不嘗藥，而誅為弒父；楚公子比脅而立，而不免於死；齊桓晉文擅封致天子，誅亂，繼絕存亡，侵伐會同，常為本主，曰：桓公救中國，攘夷狄，卒服楚，至為王者事；晉文再致天子，皆止不誅，善其牧諸侯，奉獻天子，而服周室，春秋予之為伯，誅意不誅辭之謂也。

Feudal lords who came to court were praised: Yifu of Zhulou is called by his courtesy name, Teng and Xue are called marquises, Jing may be called "the people", and Ge Lu of Jie may be called by name. For going out from within, "go to" is said; when feudal lords come it is called court, and when grand masters come it is called a visit of inquiry; this is the meaning of the kingly way. It punishes wickedness without omitting anything small or large. Feudal lords may not raise an army for a commoner and may not seize a grand master of the Son of Heaven; seizing a grand master of the Son of Heaven is the same crime as attacking a state, and the seizure of Fan Bo is called an attack. When eight rows of dancers were offered, the eight is concealed and "six" is said; when Zheng and Lu exchanged land, the exchange is concealed and "borrowed" is said; when Duke Wen of Jin summoned the Son of Heaven twice, the summoning is concealed and "hunting" is said. Duke Huan preserving Xing, Wei and Qi does not appear in the Spring and Autumn Annals; inwardly it approves his conduct, but in the law it cuts it off and does not grant it, which is the way of stopping disorder and not something feudal lords should do. The principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals is that a minister who does not punish the rebel is not a minister, and a son who does not avenge is not a son. So it punishes Zhao Dun: where the rebel was not punished, the burial is not recorded, as a punishment on the ministers and sons. The heir of Xu, Zhi, did not taste the medicine, and was punished as having assassinated his father; Prince Bi of Chu was installed under compulsion, yet could not escape death. Dukes Huan of Qi and Wen of Jin enfeoffed on their own authority and summoned the Son of Heaven, but they punished disorder, continued broken lines and preserved the perishing, and in invasions, attacks, meetings and gatherings were often the main leaders. It says: Duke Huan rescued the Central States, repelled the barbarians and in the end made Chu submit, even to the point of doing the work of a king; Duke Wen of Jin summoned the Son of Heaven twice, yet both times it stopped and did not punish, approving that they shepherded the feudal lords, presented tribute to the Son of Heaven and made the Zhou house submit. The Spring and Autumn Annals granted them the rank of hegemon; this is the principle of punishing the intention and not the wording.

魯隱之代桓立，祭仲之出忽立突，仇牧、孔父、荀息之死節，公子目夷不與楚國，此皆執權存國，行正世之義，守惓惓之心，春秋嘉氣義焉，故皆見之，復正之謂也。夷狄邾婁人、牟人、葛人，為其天王崩而相朝聘也，此其誅也。殺世子母弟，直稱君，明失親親也。魯季子之免罪，吳季子之讓國，明親親之恩也。閽殺吳子餘祭，見刑人之不可近。鄭伯髡原卒於會，諱弒，痛強臣專君，君不得為善也。衛人殺州籲，齊人殺無知，明君臣之義，守國之正也。衛人立晉，美得眾也。君將不言率師，重君之義也。正月公在楚，臣子思君，無一日無君之意也。誅受令，恩衛葆，以正囹圉之平也。言圍成，甲午祠兵，以別迫脅之罪，誅意之法也。作南門，刻桷丹楹，作雉門及兩觀，築三臺，新延廄，譏驕溢不恤下也。故臧孫辰請糴於齊，孔子曰：“君子為國，必有三年之積，一年不熟，乃請糴，失君之職也。”誅犯始者，省刑絕惡，疾始也。大夫盟於澶淵，刺大夫之專政也。諸侯會同，賢為主，賢賢也。春秋記纖芥之失，反之王道，追古貴信，結言而已，不至用牲盟而後成約，故曰：“齊侯衛侯苟命於蒲。”傳曰：“古者不盟，結言而退。”宋伯姬曰：“婦人夜出，傳母不在，不下堂。”曰：“古者周公東征則西國怨。”桓公曰：“無貯粟，無鄣谷，無易樹子，無以妾為妻。”宋襄公曰：“不鼓不成列，不阨人。”莊王曰：“古者、杅不穿，皮不蠹，則不出。君子篤於禮，薄於利；要其人，不要其土；告從不赦，不祥；強不陵弱。”齊頃公吊死視疾；孔父正色而立於朝，人莫過而致難乎其君；齊國佐不辱君命，而尊齊侯；此春秋之救文以質也。救文以質，見天下諸侯所以失其國者亦有焉，潞子欲閤中國之禮義，離乎夷狄，未合乎中國，所以亡也。

Duke Yin of Lu was installed in place of Huan; Zhai Zhong drove out Hu and installed Tu; Chou Mu, Kong Fu and Xun Xi died for their principles; and Prince Mu Yi did not give Chu away. All these were cases of holding the balance to preserve the state, carrying out the principle of setting the age right and keeping a sincere heart, and the Spring and Autumn Annals commends their principle, so all are made manifest; these are the wording of restoring what is right. The barbarians, the people of Zhulou, the people of Mou and the people of Ge, who visited each other for court and inquiry although the Son of Heaven had died, are punished for it. When an heir or a younger brother by the same mother is killed, calling the killer "ruler" directly shows that kinship was lost. Jizi of Lu escaping guilt and Jizi of Wu yielding the state show the kindness of loving kin. The gatekeeper's killing of the King of Wu, Yuji, shows that one should not be close to those who have been mutilated. When the Earl of Zheng, Kun Yuan, died at a meeting, the assassination is concealed, in grief that a powerful minister monopolized the ruler and the ruler could not do good. The people of Wei killing Zhou Xu and the people of Qi killing Wuzhi show the righteousness between ruler and subject and the correctness of keeping the state. The people of Wei installing Jin praises obtaining the multitude. Not saying "led an army" of a ruler is to stress the righteousness of the ruler. When the Duke was in Chu in the first month, ministers longed for their ruler, with the sense that there was not a day without a ruler. Punishing one who received orders and showing kindness to the guard of Wei is how the fairness of the prison is rectified. The wording "besieged Cheng" and "on jiawu day, the weapons sacrifice" are used to distinguish the crime of coercion, which is the method of punishing intention. The building of the South Gate, the carving of the rafters and red pillars, the building of the Zhi Gate and its two towers, the building of three terraces, and the new stables are criticisms of arrogance and overflow with no consideration for those below. So when Zang Sunchen asked Qi to sell him grain, Confucius said: "When a gentleman governs a state, he must have three years of reserves; to beg for grain after one poor harvest is to fail in the ruler's duty." It punishes those who offended from the beginning, reducing punishment and cutting off evil, hating the beginning. The grand masters making a covenant at Chanyuan criticizes grand masters monopolizing government. When feudal lords meet and gather, the worthy being the leader is honoring the worthy. The Spring and Autumn Annals records the slightest faults and returns to the kingly way, tracing back to antiquity and valuing good faith, which is merely to conclude by words and not to reach the use of sacrificial animals in a covenant before an agreement is made. So it says: "The Marquis of Qi and the Marquis of Wei gave each other their word at Pu." The Commentary says: "In ancient times they did not make covenants; they concluded by words and withdrew." Bo Ji of Song said: "A woman does not go out at night; if her governess is not present, she does not descend from the hall." It also said: "In ancient times when the Duke of Zhou campaigned in the east, the western states resented it." Duke Huan said: "Do not hoard grain, do not block the valleys, do not change the heir, and do not treat a concubine as a wife." Duke Xiang of Song said: "Do not sound the drums before the ranks are formed, and do not press men in a defile." King Zhuang said: "In ancient times, if the bowls were not broken and the hides not worm-eaten, they did not go out. A gentleman is earnest in ritual and thin in profit; he wants the people and not the land; and once he has accepted submission, he does not pardon again, which is inauspicious; the strong do not trample the weak." Duke Qing of Qi condoled with the dead and visited the sick; Kong Fu stood with upright bearing at court, and no one passed by to bring calamity to his ruler; Guo Zuo of Qi did not disgrace his ruler's command and honored the Marquis of Qi. This is how the Spring and Autumn Annals uses substance to rescue refinement. Using substance to rescue refinement, one can see the reasons why feudal lords of the world lost their states. The Viscount of Lu wanted to join the ritual and righteousness of the Central States and leave the barbarians, but had not yet merged with the Central States, and so he was lost.

吳王夫差行強於越，臣人之主，妾人之妻，卒以自亡，宗廟夷，社稷滅，其可痛也，長王投死，於戲，豈不哀哉！晉靈行無禮，處臺上，彈群臣，枝解宰人而棄之，漏陽處父之謀，使陽處父死，及患趙盾之諫，欲殺之，卒為趙盾所弒。晉獻公行逆理，殺世子申生，以驪姬立奚齊卓子，皆殺死，國大亂，四世乃定，幾為秦所滅，從驪姬起也。楚平王行無度，殺伍子苟父兄，蔡昭公朝之，因請其裘，昭公不與，吳王非之，舉兵加楚，大敗之，君舍乎君室，大夫舍乎大夫室，妻楚王之母，貪暴之所致也。晉厲公行暴道，殺無罪人，一朝而殺大臣三人，明年，臣下畏恐，晉國殺之。陳侯佗淫乎蔡，蔡人殺之。古者，諸侯出疆，必具左右，備一師，以備不虞，今陳侯恣以身出入民間，至死閭里之庸，甚非人君之行也。宋閔公矜婦人而心妒，與大夫萬博，萬譽魯莊公曰：“天下諸侯宜為君者，唯魯侯爾。”閔公妒其言，曰：“此虜也。”“爾虜焉故？魯侯之美惡乎至。”萬怒，搏閔公，絕脰，此以與臣博之過也。古者，人君立於陰，大夫立於陽，所以別位，明貴賤，今與臣相對而博，置婦人在側，此君臣無別也，故使萬稱他國，卑閔公之意，閔公借萬，而身與之博，下君自置，有辱之婦人之房，俱而矜婦人，獨得殺死之道也。春秋傳曰：“大夫不適君”遠此逼也。梁內役民無已，其民不能堪，使民比地為伍，一家亡，五家殺刑，其民曰：“先亡者封，後亡者刑。”君者，將使民以孝於父母，順於長老，守丘墓，承宗廟，世世祀其先，今求財不足，行罰如將不勝，殺戮如屠，仇讎其民，魚爛而亡，國中盡空，春秋曰：“梁亡。”亡者，自亡也，非人亡之也。虞公貪財，不顧其難，快耳悅目，受晉之璧，屈產之乘，假晉師道，還以自滅，宗廟破毀，社稷不祀，身死不葬，貪財之所致也。故春秋以此見物不空來。

King Fuchai of Wu acted forcefully toward Yue, treated another's ruler as a subject and another's wife as a concubine, and in the end destroyed himself; his ancestral temple was razed and his altars of state destroyed. How painful; the long king threw himself to death; alas, is that not sad! Duke Ling of Jin acted without ritual: standing on a terrace, he shot the ministers with a slingshot, dismembered the cook and threw him away, leaked the plan of Yang Chufu so that Yang Chufu died, and again, troubled by Zhao Dun's remonstrance, wanted to kill him, and in the end was assassinated by Zhao Dun. Duke Xian of Jin acted against principle, killed his heir Shensheng, installed Xiqi and Zhuozi because of Li Ji, and they were all killed; the state fell into great disorder and it took four generations to settle, and was almost destroyed by Qin, all arising from Li Ji. King Ping of Chu acted without restraint and killed the father and brother of Wu Zixu. When Duke Zhao of Cai came to court to him, he asked for his fur coat, and Duke Zhao would not give it. The King of Wu criticized this and sent troops against Chu, utterly defeated it, with the ruler living in the ruler's chambers and the grand masters living in the grand masters' chambers, and took the King of Chu's mother as wife; this was brought about by greed and violence. Duke Li of Jin practiced the way of violence and killed the innocent, killing three great ministers in one morning, and the next year his ministers, fearful, had the state of Jin kill him. Marquis Tuo of Chen committed licentious acts in Cai, and the people of Cai killed him. In ancient times when feudal lords went beyond their borders, they must have attendants on left and right and prepare a division of troops to guard against the unforeseen. Now the Marquis of Chen indulgently took only himself in and out among the people, and ended up dying in an ordinary village lane, which is not at all the conduct of a ruler. Duke Min of Song was proud toward women yet jealous inwardly, and played boxing-dice with his grand master Wan. Wan praised Duke Zhuang of Lu, saying: "Among the feudal lords of the world, only the Marquis of Lu is fit to be a ruler." Duke Min was jealous of these words and said: "This is a captive." "How would you, a captive, know? Where would the Marquis of Lu's good or bad come from?" Wan was angry, struck Duke Min and broke his neck; this was the fault of playing dice with a minister. In ancient times a ruler stood in the yin, and grand masters stood in the yang, in order to distinguish positions and make clear noble and lowly. Now facing a minister playing dice with a woman set beside them, there was no distinction between ruler and minister, which led Wan to praise another state and look down on Duke Min's intention. Duke Min borrowed Wan and played with him himself, placing himself as a lower ruler, shaming himself in a woman's room, being proud toward women, and alone got the way of being killed. The Commentary of the Spring and Autumn Annals says: "A grand master does not match his ruler." This is keeping far from that kind of pressure. Liang, within its borders, employed its people without limit, and the people could not bear it. It had the people grouped in fives by neighboring households, so that if one household fled, five households were subjected to the death penalty. The people said: "Those who flee first are enfeoffed, and those who flee later are punished." A ruler should make the people use filial piety toward parents, follow elders, guard graves, carry on the ancestral temple and sacrifice to their ancestors from generation to generation. Now when he sought wealth and found it insufficient, he applied punishments as if unable to cope, killed as if slaughtering, treated the people as enemies, and like a fish rotting from within he was destroyed, and the state was emptied entirely. The Spring and Autumn Annals says: "Liang perished." Perished means it destroyed itself, not that others destroyed it. Duke Yu of Yu was greedy for wealth and heedless of its difficulty, delighted his ears and pleased his eyes, accepted the jade disc from Jin and the team of horses from Quchan, lent Jin's army a road, and on its return was himself destroyed, his ancestral temple ruined, his altars of state unsacrificed to, and he died without burial; this was brought about by greed for wealth. Thus from this the Spring and Autumn Annals shows that things do not come from nothing.

寶不虛出，自內出者，無匹不行，自外至者，無主不止，此其應也。楚靈王行強乎陳蔡，意廣以武，不顧其行；慮所美，內罷其眾，乾溪有物女，水盡則女見，水滿則不見，靈王舉發其國而役，三年不罷，楚國大怨；有行暴意，殺無罪臣成然，楚國大懣；公子棄疾卒令靈王父子自殺，而取其國，虞不離津澤，農不去疇土，而民相愛也，此非盈意之過

Treasures do not come out of emptiness. What goes out from within does not succeed without a match; what comes from without does not stop without a master. This is the verification. King Ling of Chu acted forcefully toward Chen and Cai, being expansive in intention and using arms, heedless of his conduct; what he thought fine wore out his people within. At Ganxi there was a water-spirit woman: when the water ran dry the woman appeared, and when the water was full she did not appear. King Ling mobilized his state to labor for it, and for three years did not stop, and the state of Chu resented it greatly; moreover he carried out his violent intentions and killed the innocent minister Chengran, and the state of Chu was greatly aggrieved. Prince Qiji in the end made King Ling and his sons kill themselves, and took his state. The foresters did not leave the ferries and marshes, the farmers did not leave their fields, and the people loved one another. Is this not the fault of fully indulging his own intentions

耶！魯莊公好宮室，一年三起臺，夫人內淫兩弟，弟兄子父相殺，國絕莫繼，為齊所存，夫

? Duke Zhuang of Lu loved palaces and chambers and built terraces three times in a year. His lady within committed licentious acts with her two younger brothers, brothers and sons and fathers killed one another, the state was cut off with no heir and was preserved by Qi; this was the consequence of the lady's

人淫之過也，妃匹貴妾，可不慎邪！此皆內自強，從心之敗已。見自強之敗，尚有正諫而不用，卒皆取亡，曹?諫其君曰：“戎眾以無義，君無自適。”君不聽，果死戎寇。伍子苟諫吳王，以為越不可不取，吳王不聽，至死伍子苟，還九年，越果大滅吳國。秦穆公將襲鄭，百里蹇叔諫曰：“千里而襲人者，未有不亡者也。”穆公不聽，師果大敗殽中，匹馬隻輪無反省。晉假道虞，虞公許之，宮之奇諫曰：“宴亡齒寒，虞虢之相救，非相賜也，君請勿許。”虞公不聽，後虞果亡於晉。春秋明此存亡道可觀也，觀乎蒲社，知驕溢之罰；觀乎許田，知諸侯不得專封；觀乎齊桓、晉文、宋襄、楚莊，知任賢奉上之功；觀乎魯隱、祭仲、叔武、孔父、荀息、仇牧、吳季子、公子目夷，知忠臣之效；觀乎楚公子比，知臣子之道，效死之義；觀乎潞子，知無輔自詛之敗；觀乎公在楚，知臣子之恩；觀乎漏言，知忠道之絕；觀乎獻六羽，知上下之差；觀乎宋伯姬，知貞婦之信；觀乎吳王夫差，知強陵弱；親乎晉獻公，知逆理近色之過；觀乎楚昭王之伐蔡，知無義之反；觀乎晉厲之妄殺無罪，知行暴之報；觀乎陳佗、宋閔，知妒淫之禍；觀乎虞公、梁亡，知貪財枉法之窮；觀乎楚靈，知苦民之壤；觀乎魯莊之起臺，知驕奢淫佚之失；觀乎衛侯朔，知不即召之罪；觀乎執凡伯，知犯上之法；觀乎晉卻缺之伐邾婁，知臣下作福之誅；觀乎公子翬，知臣窺君之意；觀乎世卿，知移權之敗。故明王視於冥冥，聽於無聲，天覆地載，天下萬國莫敢不悉靖其職，受命者不示臣下以知之至也，故道同則不能相先，情同則不能相使，此其教也。由此觀之，未有去人君之權，能制其勢者也；未有貴賤無差，能全其位者也；故君子慎之。

licentiousness. Can one be careless about choosing a consort or a noble concubine! These were all simply the ruin that comes from forcing one's own way within and following one's own heart's desire. Even having seen the ruin of those who forced their own way, there were still upright remonstrances that went unused, and in the end all brought about their own destruction. Cao Gui remonstrated with his ruler, saying: "The Rong are many and without righteousness; my lord should not go there yourself." The ruler did not listen and indeed died at the hands of the Rong raiders. Wu Zixu remonstrated with the King of Wu, holding that Yue could not but be taken; the King of Wu did not listen, and went so far as to kill Wu Zixu, and nine years later Yue indeed utterly destroyed Wu. When Duke Mu of Qin was about to attack Zheng by surprise, Baili and Jian Shu remonstrated: "No one who goes a thousand li to attack another by surprise has failed to be ruined." Duke Mu did not listen, and the army indeed was greatly defeated at Xiao, with not one horse or wheel returning. When Jin borrowed a road from Yu, the Duke of Yu agreed. Gong Zhiqi remonstrated: "When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; Yu and Guo rescue each other, not bestow on each other; my lord, please do not agree." The Duke of Yu did not listen, and later Yu indeed perished at the hands of Jin. The Spring and Autumn Annals makes these clear, and the way of survival and ruin can be observed. Observing the altar of Pu, one knows the punishment for arrogance and overflow; observing the Xu fields, one knows that feudal lords cannot monopolize enfeoffment; observing Dukes Huan of Qi, Wen of Jin, Xiang of Song and Zhuang of Chu, one knows the merit of employing the worthy and serving one's superior; observing Yin of Lu, Zhai Zhong, Shu Wu, Kong Fu, Xun Xi, Chou Mu, Jizi of Wu and Prince Mu Yi, one knows the verification of loyal ministers; observing Prince Bi of Chu, one knows the way of ministers and sons and the righteousness of dying in one's duty; observing the Viscount of Lu, one knows the ruin of having no support and cursing oneself; observing the Duke being in Chu, one knows the kindness of ministers and sons; observing the leaking of words, one knows that the way of loyalty is cut off; observing the offering of six rows of feathers, one knows the distinction of high and low; observing Bo Ji of Song, one knows the good faith of a chaste woman; observing King Fuchai of Wu, one knows the strong trampling the weak; observing Duke Xian of Jin, one knows the fault of going against principle and being close to beauty; observing King Zhao of Chu attacking Cai, one knows the retribution for lacking righteousness; observing Duke Li of Jin killing the innocent recklessly, one knows the retribution for practicing violence; observing Tuo of Chen and Duke Min of Song, one knows the calamity of jealousy and licentiousness; observing the Duke of Yu and the ruin of Liang, one knows the dead end of greed for wealth and bending the law; observing King Ling of Chu, one knows the ruin of making the people suffer; observing Duke Zhuang of Lu building terraces, one knows the loss from arrogance, extravagance, licentiousness and indulgence; observing Shuo, Marquis of Wei, one knows the crime of not coming at once when summoned; observing the seizure of Fan Bo, one knows the law against offending one's superior; observing Que of Xi in Jin attacking Zhulou, one knows the punishment for subordinates making their own fortune; observing Gongzi Hui, one knows a minister's eye on his ruler's intention; observing hereditary ministers, one knows the ruin of shifting power. So the enlightened king sees in the obscure and hears in the silent, covering like Heaven and bearing like Earth, and the ten thousand states of the world dare not fail to fulfill their duties in quiet. One who has received the mandate does not show to his subordinates the utmost of what he knows. Therefore, when the Way is the same, one cannot take precedence over another; when feelings are the same, one cannot command another; this is teaching. Seen this way, there has never been anyone who removed the ruler's authority and yet could govern the situation; there has never been anyone who made no gradation between noble and lowly and yet could keep his position. Therefore the gentleman is careful.

王者，民之所往，君者，不失其群者也；故能使萬民往之，而得天下之群者，無敵於天下。弒君三十六，亡國五十二，小國德薄不朝聘，大國不與諸侯會聚，孤特不相守，獨居不同群，遭難莫之救，所以亡也。非獨公侯大人如此，生天地之間，根本微者，不可遭大風疾雨，立鑠消耗。衛侯朔固事齊襄，而天下患之；虞虢幷力，晉獻難之。晉趙盾，一夫之士也，無尺寸之土，一介之眾也，而靈公據霸主之餘尊，而欲誅之，窮變極軸，軸盡力竭，禍大及身，推盾之心，載小國之位，庸能亡之哉！故伍子苟，一夫之士也，去楚，幹闔廬，遂得意於吳，所託者誠是，何可御邪！楚王髡托其國於子玉得臣，而天下畏之；虞公托其國於宮之奇，晉獻患之；及髡殺得臣，天下輕之；虞公不用宮之奇，晉獻亡之；存亡之端，不可不知也。諸侯見加以兵，逃遁奔走，至於滅亡，而莫之救，平生之素行可見也。隱代桓立，所謂僅存耳，使無駭帥師滅極，內無諫臣，外無諸侯之救，載亦由是也，宋、蔡、衛國伐之，鄭因其力而取之，此無以異於遺重寶於道，而莫之守，見者掇之也。鄧、谷失地，而朝魯桓，鄧、谷失地，不亦宜乎！

The king is the one whom the people turn toward; the ruler is the one who does not lose his group. Therefore one who can make the ten thousand people turn toward him and obtain the group of the whole world has no enemy under Heaven. Thirty-six rulers were assassinated and fifty-two states were ruined. Small states with thin virtue did not pay court or visit, and large states did not meet with the feudal lords; the isolated did not keep one another, those living alone did not join a group, and when calamity struck there was no one to rescue them, and so they perished. It is not only so with dukes, marquises and great men: those born between Heaven and Earth whose roots are weak cannot meet a great wind or heavy rain, and are at once melted and consumed. Shuo, Marquis of Wei, certainly served Duke Xiang of Qi, yet the world was troubled by him; when Yu and Guo joined their strength, Duke Xian of Jin found it difficult. Zhao Dun of Jin was a lone gentleman, with not an inch of land nor a single follower, yet Duke Ling, relying on the surplus honor of a hegemon, wanted to kill him, exhausted every variation and pushed every stratagem to the limit, until his strength was spent and calamity reached his own person. Judging by Dun's heart, holding the position of a small state, how could they have destroyed him! So Wu Zixu was a lone gentleman who left Chu and sought out Helu, and so achieved his aims in Wu. What he entrusted himself to was truly right; what could resist it! King Kun of Chu entrusted his state to Zi Yu Dechen, and the world feared him; the Duke of Yu entrusted his state to Gong Zhiqi, and Duke Xian of Jin was troubled by him. When Kun killed Dechen, the world looked down on him; when the Duke of Yu did not employ Gong Zhiqi, Duke Xian of Jin destroyed him. The clues to survival and ruin must be known. When feudal lords saw troops being added against others, they fled and ran, until they were destroyed and no one rescued them, and one could see their ordinary conduct throughout life. Yin was installed in place of Huan, which is what is called merely being preserved; he had Wuhai lead an army to destroy Ji, with no remonstrating ministers within and no feudal lords coming to the rescue without, and Zai was the same. Song, Cai and Wei attacked it, and Zheng borrowed their strength to seize it, which is no different from heavy treasure dropped on the road with no one guarding it and whoever sees it picks it up. Deng and Gu lost their land and came to court to Duke Huan of Lu; was it not fitting that Deng and Gu lost their land!

紀侯之所以滅者，乃九世之也，一旦之言，危百世之嗣，故曰大去。衛人侵成，鄭入成，及齊師圍成，三被大兵，終滅，莫之救，所恃者安在？齊桓公欲行霸道，譚遂違命，故滅而奔莒，不事大而事小。曹伯之所以戰死於位，諸侯莫助憂者，幽之會，齊桓數合諸侯，曹小，未嘗來也，魯大國，幽之會，莊公不往，戎人乃窺兵於濟西，由見魯孤獨而莫之救也，此時大夫廢君命，專救危者。魯莊公二十七年，齊桓為幽之會，衛人不來，其明年，桓公怒而大敗之；及伐山戎，張旗陳獲，以驕諸侯；於是魯一年三築臺，亂臣比三起於內，夷狄之兵仍滅於外；衛滅之端，以失幽之會；亂之本，存親內蔽。邢未嘗會齊桓也，附晉又微，晉侯獲於韓而背之，淮之會是也，齊桓卒，豎刁、易牙之亂作，邢與狄伐其同姓，取之，其行如此，雖爾親，庸能親爾乎！是君也，其滅於同姓，衛侯毀滅邢是也。齊桓為幽之會，衛不至，桓怒而伐之，狄滅之，桓憂而立之。魯莊為柯之盟，劫汶陽，魯絕，桓立之。邢杞未嘗朝聘，齊桓見其滅，率諸侯而立之，用心如此，豈不霸哉！故以憂天下與之。

The reason the Marquis of Ji was destroyed lay in nine generations of a "(a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription)"; a single day's word endangered a hundred generations of heirs, and so it is called "the great departure". The people of Wei invaded Cheng, Zheng entered Cheng, and then the army of Qi besieged Cheng; it suffered great armies three times, and in the end was destroyed with no one to rescue it; where was what it relied on? Duke Huan of Qi wished to practice the way of the hegemon; Tan and Sui disobeyed his command, and so they were destroyed and Tan fled to Ju, not serving the great but serving the small. The reason the Earl of Cao died in battle in his position was that none of the feudal lords helped in his trouble; at the meeting of You, Duke Huan of Qi repeatedly gathered the feudal lords, and Cao, being small, never came; Lu was a large state, and at the meeting of You Duke Zhuang did not go, so the Rong peered at its troops west of the Ji, because they saw Lu isolated and with no one to rescue it. At this time the grand masters set aside the ruler's command and acted on their own to rescue it from danger. In the twenty-seventh year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, Duke Huan of Qi held the meeting of You; the people of Wei did not come, and the next year Duke Huan, angry, utterly defeated it; and when he attacked the Mountain Rong, he displayed the spoils in ranks to show off to the feudal lords. Thereupon Lu built terraces three times in a year, disorderly ministers rose three times in succession within, and barbarian armies still destroyed others without. The origin of Wei's ruin was losing the meeting of You; the root of its disorder lay in the blinding by those close within. Xing had never met Duke Huan of Qi, depended on Jin and was weak, and the Marquis of Jin, captured at Han, rebelled, as at the meeting of Huai. When Duke Huan of Qi died, the disorder of Shu Diao and Yi Ya arose, and Xing and the Di attacked and seized from its own kin of the same surname; such conduct, even among kin, how could they be close to you! This ruler was destroyed by those of the same surname, as in the case of the Marquis of Wei destroying Xing. When Duke Huan of Qi held the meeting of You, Wei did not arrive; Huan was angry and attacked it, the Di destroyed it, and Huan grieved and reestablished it. When Duke Zhuang of Lu held the covenant at Ke, seized Wenyang, and Lu was cut off, Huan reestablished it. Xing and Qi had never paid court or visits, and Duke Huan of Qi, seeing them destroyed, led the feudal lords and reestablished them. With such intention, how could he not be hegemon! Therefore the concern for the world was entrusted to him.

顏淵死，子曰：“天喪予。”子路死，子曰：“天祝予。”西狩獲麟，曰：“吾道窮，吾道窮。”三年，身隨而卒。階此而觀，天命成敗，聖人知之，有所不能救，命矣夫！

When Yan Yuan died, the Master said: "Heaven has destroyed me." When Zilu died, the Master said: "Heaven has cut me off." When the unicorn was captured in the western hunt, he said: "My Way has come to an end, my Way has come to an end." Three years later, he himself passed away. Seen this way, the success and failure of Heaven's mandate are known to the sage, and there are things he cannot rescue; it is destiny!

先晉獻之卒，齊桓為葵丘之會，再致其集；先齊孝未卒一年，魯僖乞師取谷；晉文之威，天子再致，先卒一年，魯僖公之心分而事齊，文公不事晉；先齊侯潘卒一年，文公如晉，衛侯、鄭伯皆不期來，齊侯已卒，諸侯果會晉大夫於新城；魯昭公以事楚之故，晉人不入，楚國強而得意，一年再會諸侯，伐強吳，為齊誅亂臣，遂滅厲，魯得其威以滅鄫，其明年如晉，無河上之難，先晉昭之卒一年無難；楚國內亂，臣弒君，諸侯會於平丘，謀誅楚亂臣，昭公不得與盟，大夫見執，吳大敗楚之黨六國於雞父，公如晉而大辱，春秋為之諱，而言有疾；由此觀之，所行從不足恃所事者，不可不慎，此亦存亡榮辱之要也。先楚莊王卒之三年，晉滅赤狄潞氏及甲氏留籲；先楚子審卒之三年，鄭服蕭魚；晉侯周卒一年，先楚子昭卒之二年，與陳蔡伐鄭而大克，其明年，楚屈建會諸侯，而張中國，卒之三年，諸夏之君朝於楚；楚子卷繼之，四年而卒，其國不為侵奪，而顧隆盛強大中國，不出年餘，何也？楚子昭蓋諸侯可者也，天下之疾其君者，皆赴愬而乘之，兵四五出，常以眾擊少，以專擊散，義之盡也；先卒四五年，中國內乖，齊、晉、魯、衛之兵分守，大國襲小，諸夏再會陳儀，齊不肯往，吳在其南，而二君殺，中國在其北，而齊、衛殺其君，慶封劫君亂國，石惡之徒，聚而成群，衛衎據陳儀而為諼，林父據戚而以畔，宋公殺其世子，魯大飢，中國之行，亡國之跡也，譬如於文、宣之際，中國之君，五年之中，五君殺，以晉靈之行，使一大夫立於斐林，拱揖指撝，諸侯莫敢不出，此猶隰之有泮也。

Before Duke Xian of Jin died, Duke Huan of Qi held the meeting of Kuiqiu and again summoned a gathering; one year before Duke Xiao of Qi died, Duke Xi of Lu begged for troops and seized Gu. Such was the might of Duke Wen of Jin that the Son of Heaven was summoned twice; one year before he died, the mind of Duke Xi of Lu was divided and he served Qi, and Duke Wen did not serve Jin. One year before Pan, Marquis of Qi, died, Duke Wen went to Jin, and the Marquis of Wei and the Earl of Zheng both came without prior agreement. After the Marquis of Qi had died, the feudal lords indeed met the grand masters of Jin at Xincheng. Because Duke Zhao of Lu served Chu, the people of Jin did not receive him. Chu was strong and satisfied, twice in one year met the feudal lords, attacked mighty Wu, executed disorderly ministers for Qi, and then destroyed Li. Lu obtained that might to destroy Zeng, and the next year went to Jin and had no trouble on the river. In the year before Duke Zhao of Jin died there was no trouble. Chu was in disorder within, a minister assassinated his ruler, and the feudal lords met at Pingqiu to plan to punish the disorderly ministers of Chu; Duke Zhao could not take part in the covenant, and his grand master was seized. Wu utterly defeated the six allied states of Chu at Jifu. The Duke went to Jin and suffered great humiliation, and the Spring and Autumn Annals concealed it on his behalf and said he was ill. Seen this way, if one's conduct is not enough to be relied on by those one serves, one must be careful; this too is the essential of survival and ruin, glory and disgrace. Three years before King Zhuang of Chu died, Jin destroyed the Chidi of Lu, together with Jia and Liuxu; three years before Zi Shen of Chu died, Zheng submitted at Xiaoyu; one year before Zhou, Marquis of Jin, died, and two years before Zi Zhao of Chu died, he joined with Chen and Cai in attacking Zheng and won a great victory. The next year Qu Jian of Chu met the feudal lords and enlarged the Central States. Three years after his death, the rulers of the Chinese states came to court at Chu. Zi Juan of Chu succeeded and died after four years, yet his state was not invaded and seized but instead flourished and strengthened the Central States, and within little more than a year; why? Zi Zhao of Chu was probably the acceptable one among the feudal lords; all in the world who hated their rulers came to him to lay their grievances and took the opportunity, and troops went out four or five times, often the many striking the few, the concentrated striking the scattered, with righteousness at its utmost. Four or five years before his death, the Central States were at odds within, and the troops of Qi, Jin, Lu and Wei were divided to guard, and large states made surprise attacks on small ones. The Chinese states twice met at Chenyi, and Qi would not go. Wu was in the south and two rulers were killed; the Central States were in the north and Qi and Wei killed their rulers. Qing Feng held his ruler hostage and threw the state into disorder, the likes of Shi E gathered into groups, Kan of Wei took Chenyi and deceived, Linfu held Qi and rebelled, the Duke of Song killed his heir, and Lu had a great famine. The conduct of the Central States was a sign of states ruined; for example, in the time of Wen and Xuan, among rulers of the Central States, five rulers were killed in five years. By the conduct of Duke Ling of Jin, a single grand master standing at Feilin, bowing, gesturing and signaling, made the feudal lords not dare not to come out; this was as if there were a bank in the wet lowland.

至意雖難喻，蓋聖人者，貴除天下之患，貴除天下之患，故春秋重而書天下之患遍矣，以為本於見天下之所以致患，其意欲以除天下之患，何謂哉？天下者無患，然後性可善，性可善，然後清廉之化流，清廉之化流，然後王道舉，禮樂興，其心在此矣。傳曰：“諸侯相聚而盟。”君子修國，曰：“此將率為也哉！”是以君子以天下為憂也，患乃至於弒君三十六，亡國五十二，細惡不絕之所致也。辭已喻矣，故曰立義以明尊卑之分，強幹弱枝，以明大小之職；別嫌疑之行，以明正世之義；採摭托意，以繅失禮；善無小而不舉，惡無小而不去，以純其美；別賢不肖，以明其尊；親近以來遠，因其國而容天下，名倫等物，不失其理，公心以是非，賞善誅惡，而王澤洽，始於除患，正一而萬物備，故曰：大矣哉其號，兩言而管天下，此之謂也。

Although the utmost intention is hard to make known, probably the sage's value lies in removing the troubles of the world. Because he valued removing the troubles of the world, the Spring and Autumn Annals gives weight to writing down the troubles of the world throughout. It holds that the root lies in seeing why the world falls into trouble; and what is meant by saying that its intention is to remove the troubles of the world? When the world has no trouble, then human nature can be good; when nature can be good, then the transformation of integrity flows; when the transformation of integrity flows, then the kingly way is raised and ritual and music flourish. His heart is here. The Commentary says: "The feudal lords gathered and made a covenant." The gentleman, cultivating the state, said: "This is what we are going to lead and do!" Therefore the gentleman is concerned for the world. The troubles went so far as thirty-six rulers assassinated and fifty-two states ruined, brought about by not cutting off small evils. The wording has already made it known. So it is said: it establishes principle to make clear the distinction of honored and lowly; strengthens the trunk and weakens the branches to make clear the duties of large and small; distinguishes suspect conduct to make clear the principle of setting the age right; gathers and entrusts intentions to correct the loss of ritual; leaves no goodness too small to be raised up and no evil too small to be removed, in order to purify the beautiful; distinguishes worthy from unworthy to make clear what is honored; draws the near close to bring in the far, taking the state to embrace the world, ranking titles and classes and arranging things in order without losing principle. It judges right and wrong with a public heart, rewards the good and punishes the evil, and the king's grace spreads. Beginning from removing trouble, setting one right and all things are complete. So it is said: great are its names, two words that govern the world; this is what is meant.

春秋，大義之所本耶！六者之科，六者之恉之謂也，然後援天端，布流物，而貫通其理，則事變散其辭矣。故志得失之所從生，而後差貴賤之所始矣；論罪源深淺定法誅，然後絕屬之分別矣；立義定尊卑之序，而後君臣之職明矣；載天下之賢方，表謙義之所在，則見覆正焉耳；幽隱不相踰，而近之則密矣，而後萬變之應無窮者，故可施其用於人，而不悖其倫矣。是以必明其統於施之宜，故知其氣矣，然後能食其志也；知其聲矣，而後能扶其精也；知其行矣，而後能遂其形也；知其物矣，然後能別其情也；故倡而民和之，動而民隨之，是知引其天性所好，而壓其情之所憎者也。如是則言雖約，說必布矣；事雖小，功必大矣；聲響盛化鉉於物，散入於理；德在天地，神明休集，並行而不竭，盈於四海而訟詠。書曰：“八音克諧，無相奪倫，神人以和。”乃是謂也，故明於情性，乃可與論為政，不然，雖勞無功，夙夜是寤，思慮惓心，猶不能睹，故天下有非者。三示當中，孔子之所謂非，尚安知通哉！

The Spring and Autumn Annals is probably the source of great principles! The six categories speak of the purport of six things. Only then, drawing on the source of Heaven, distributing and flowing it among things and threading through its principle, are the changes of events scattered within the wording. So it records where gain and loss come from, and only then does the grading of noble and lowly have its beginning; it discusses the depth and shallowness of the source of crimes to fix punishment by law, and only then are the distinctions of cutting off kinship settled; it establishes principles and fixes the order of honored and lowly, and only then are the duties of ruler and subject made clear; it records the worthy ones of the world and singles out where modest righteousness lies, and one sees only that it is restoring what is right. What is secluded and hidden does not overstep its bounds, and when brought near it is close, and then the response to ten thousand changes is inexhaustible, so it can be applied to people without going against human relations. Therefore one must be clear about the suitability of this thread in its application. So one who knows that qi can nourish that will; one who knows that sound can support that essence; one who knows that conduct can complete that form; one who knows things can distinguish that feeling. Thus, when one leads, the people respond; when one sets in motion, the people follow; this is knowing to lead what their nature likes and to suppress what their feelings hate. In this way, though words are brief, the speech is sure to spread; though the matter is small, the achievement is sure to be great. The echo of sound and the flourishing transformation thread through things and disperse into principle; virtue lies in Heaven and Earth, and spirit and light gather in blessing, proceeding side by side without exhaustion, filling the four seas with praise. The Book of Documents says: "The eight sounds are able to harmonize, none usurping another's order, and spirits and men are harmonized." This is what it means. So only when one understands feelings and nature can one discuss government with him. Otherwise, even if one toils without achievement, wakes at night and thinks until the mind is weary, one still cannot see it. So there are those in the world who err. Three times showing the center, what Confucius called an error, how could one then know how to understand it!

春秋二百四十二年之文，天下之大，事變之博，無不有也，雖然，大略之要，有十指。十指者，事之所繫也，王化之所由得流也。舉事變，見有重焉，一指也；見事變之所至者，一指也；因其所以至者而治之，一指也；強幹弱枝，大本小末，一指也；別嫌疑，異同類，一指也；論賢才之義，別所長之能，一指也；親近來遠，同民所欲，一指也；承周文而反之質，一指也；木生火，火為夏，天之端，一指也；切刺譏之所罰，考變異之所加，天之端，一指也。舉事變，見有重焉，則百姓安矣；見事變之所至者，則得失審矣；因其所以至而治之，則事之本正矣；強幹弱枝，大本小末，則君臣之分明矣；別嫌疑，異同類，則是非著矣；論賢才之義，別所長之能，則百官序矣；承周文而反之質，則化所務立矣；親近來遠，同民所欲，則仁恩達矣；木生火，火為夏，則陰陽四時之理相受而次矣；切刺譏之所罰，考變異之所加，則天所欲為行矣。統此而舉之，仁往而義來，德澤廣大，衍溢於四海，陰陽和調，萬物靡不得其理矣。說春秋凡用是矣，此其法也。

In the text of two hundred forty-two years of the Spring and Autumn Annals, as vast as the world and as broad as the changes of events, there is nothing that is not there. Even so, the general essentials come to ten pointers. The ten pointers are what events are tied to, and through which the transformation of the king is able to flow. Raising up the changes of events and seeing what is weighty is one pointer; seeing where the changes of events arrive is one pointer; governing by that through which they arrive is one pointer; strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches, making the root great and the tip small, is one pointer; distinguishing suspect cases and separating like kinds is one pointer; discussing the righteousness of worthy talents and distinguishing the abilities in which each excels is one pointer; drawing the near close and bringing in the far, uniting what the people desire, is one pointer; receiving the Zhou refinement and returning to substance is one pointer; wood gives birth to fire, fire is summer, the first sign of Heaven, is one pointer; and genuinely criticizing and mocking what is punished and examining where anomalies are applied, a sign of Heaven, is one pointer. When one raises the changes of events and sees what is weighty, the hundred families are at peace; when one sees where the changes of events arrive, gain and loss are examined; when one governs by that through which they arrive, the root of affairs is set right; when one strengthens the trunk and weakens the branches, making the root great and the tip small, the distinction of ruler and subject is clear; when one distinguishes suspect cases and separates like kinds, right and wrong are manifest; when one discusses the righteousness of worthy talents and distinguishes the abilities in which each excels, the hundred officials are in order; when one receives the Zhou refinement and returns to substance, what teaching and transformation strive for is established; when one draws the near close and brings in the far, uniting what the people desire, benevolence and kindness reach everywhere; when wood gives birth to fire and fire is summer, the principles of yin and yang and the four seasons receive one another and have order; when one genuinely criticizes and mocks what is punished and examines where anomalies are applied, what Heaven wants done is carried out. Taking all these together and raising them up, benevolence goes forth and righteousness comes in, virtue and grace are broad and great, overflowing to the four seas, yin and yang are in harmony, and none of the ten thousand things fails to obtain its principle. These are all that are used in lecturing on the Spring and Autumn Annals; this is the method.

惟聖人能屬萬物於一，而系之元也，終不及本所從來而承之，不能遂其功，是以春秋變一謂之元，元猶原也，其義以隨天地終始也，故人惟有終始也，而生不必應四時之變，故元者，為萬物之本，而人之元在焉，安在乎，乃在乎天地之前，故人雖在天氣及奉天氣者，不得與天元，本天元命，而共違其所為也。故春正月者，承天地之所為也，繼天之所為而終之也，其道相與共功持業，安容言乃天地之元，天地之元，奚為於此，惡施於人，大其貫承意之理矣。

Only the sage can bring the ten thousand things together into one and tie them to the yuan. If one does not in the end return to the root from which one came and receive it, one cannot achieve merit. For this reason the Spring and Autumn Annals changed "one" into "yuan". Yuan is like "source", and its meaning follows Heaven and Earth from end to beginning. So people only have an end and a beginning, and their birth does not necessarily respond to the changes of the four seasons. So yuan is the root of the ten thousand things, and the yuan of man is there. Where is it? It is before Heaven and Earth. So even if a person is within the qi of Heaven and serves the qi of Heaven, he cannot, together with the original of Heaven and the mandate rooted in the original of Heaven, jointly go against what it does. So the first month of spring is receiving what Heaven and Earth do, continuing what Heaven does and bringing it to an end, and the Way jointly keeps the work; how can one say that it is then the yuan of Heaven and Earth? Why the yuan of Heaven and Earth is here and how it is applied to people is a matter of the greatness of the principle that threads through and receives the intention.

能說鳥獸之類者，非聖人所欲說也；聖人所欲說，在於說仁義而理之，知其分科條別，貫所附，明其義之所審，勿使嫌疑，是乃聖人所貴而已矣；不然，傳於眾辭，觀於眾物，說不急之言，而以惑後進者，君子之所甚惡也，奚以為哉！聖人思慮，不厭晝日，繼之以夜，然後萬物察者仁義矣，由此言之，尚自為得之哉！故曰：於乎！為人師者，可無慎邪！夫義出於經，經，傳大本也，棄營勞心也，苦志盡情，頭白齒落，尚不合自錄也哉！

Being able to speak of birds, beasts and the like is not what the sage wants to speak of. What the sage wants to speak of lies in speaking of benevolence and righteousness and governing, knowing how to divide categories and distinguish items, threading through what is attached, and making clear what righteousness examines, so as to leave no suspicion; this is what the sage values, and that is all. Otherwise, to relate many phrases and observe many things, speaking of things that are not urgent in order to confuse those who come after, is what the gentleman most detests; what is it for? The sage thinks in the daytime without weariness and continues into the night, and only then are the ten thousand things examined in benevolence and righteousness. Speaking from this, how could one still think of oneself as having attained it! So it is said: alas! Can one who is a teacher of others be anything but careful! Righteousness comes out of the classics, and the classics are the great root of the commentaries. If one abandons the classics and wearies the mind, embitters the will and exhausts the feelings until the hair is white and the teeth fall out, would one still not fit what one has recorded!

人始生有大命，是其體也，有變命存其間者，其政也，政不齊，則人有忿怒之志，若將施危難之中，而時有隨遭者，神明之所接，絕屬之符也，亦有變其間，使之不齊如此，不可不省之，省之則重政之本矣。

When a person is first born he has a great mandate, which is his body; there are changing mandates existing in between, which is his governance. If governance is not even, people have a will of anger and resentment, as if about to act in danger and difficulty, and at times there are mandates that follow and mandates that are encountered, which are the tokens by which the spirits connect and kinship is cut off. There are also changes in between that make it uneven to this extent, and one cannot fail to examine them. If one examines, one places weight on the root of governance.

撮以為一，進義誅惡，絕之本，而以其施，此與湯武同而有異，湯武用之，治往故。春秋明得失，差貴賤，本之天王之所失天下者，使諸侯得以大亂之說，而後引而反之，故曰：博而明，深而切矣。

Gathering them into one, advancing righteousness and punishing evil, cutting it off at the root and applying it in what is bestowed. This is the same as Tang and Wu and also different. Tang and Wu used it to govern the reasons of the past. The Spring and Autumn Annals makes clear gain and loss, grades the noble and lowly, bases itself on the account of how the Son of Heaven lost the world and let the feudal lords fall into great disorder, and then draws it back. So it is said: broad and clear, deep and incisive.

天地之生萬物也以養人，故其可適者，以養身體；其可威者，以為容服；禮之所為興也。劍之在左，青龍之象也；刀之在右，白虎之象也；韍之在前，赤鳥之象也；冠之在首，玄武之象也；四者、人之盛飾也。夫能通古今，別然不然，乃能服此也。蓋玄武者，貌之最嚴有威者也，其像在後，其服反居首，武之至而不用矣。聖人之所以超然，雖欲從之，末由也已！夫執介冑而後能拒敵者，故非聖人之所貴也，君子顯之於服，而勇武者消其志於貌也矣。故文德為貴，而威武為下，此天下之所以永全也。於春秋何以言之？孔父義形於色，而奸臣不敢容邪；虞有宮之奇，而獻公為之不寐；晉厲之強，中國以寢屍流血不已。故武王克殷，裨冕而搢笏，虎賁之士說劍，安在勇猛必在武殺然後威，是以君子所服為上矣，故望之儼然者，亦已至矣，豈可不察乎！

Heaven and Earth give birth to the ten thousand things in order to nourish people, so what suits the mouth is used to nourish the body, and what is awe-inspiring is used as dress and bearing. Ritual arose from this. The sword on the left is the image of the Azure Dragon; the knife on the right is the image of the White Tiger; the apron in front is the image of the Vermilion Bird; the cap on the head is the image of the Black Tortoise-Snake. These four are the full adornment of a person. Only one who can understand past and present and distinguish what is so from what is not so can wear them. The Black Tortoise-Snake has the most severe appearance and awe-inspiring bearing, its form is behind yet its garb sits at the head, which is martial prowess carried to the utmost without being used. This is how the sage rises above, and even if one wanted to follow, there is no way to begin! To hold armor and helmets and then be able to resist enemies is not what the sage values to begin with. The gentleman shows in his clothing, while the martial man's will dissolves in his appearance. So civil virtue is valued and martial might is low; this is how the world is kept whole forever. What does the Spring and Autumn Annals base this on? Kong Fu's righteousness took form in his bearing, and treacherous ministers did not dare harbor evil; Yu had Gong Zhiqi, and Duke Xian of Jin therefore could not sleep; the strength of Duke Li of Jin made the Central States lie in corpses and flow with blood without end. So when King Wu conquered Yin, he wore a robe and ceremonial cap and tucked his tablet in his sash, and the Tiger Warriors unbuckled their swords. How could courage lie only in killing by force before awe is achieved? For this reason the gentleman puts what he wears first, so that those who look at him find him solemn and already arrived at it; how could one fail to observe this!

春秋至意有二端，不本二端之所從起，亦未可與論災異也，小大微著之分也。夫覽求微細於無端之處，誠知小之將為大也，微之將為著也，吉凶未形，聖人所獨立也，雖欲從之，末由也已，此之謂也。故王者受命，改正朔，不順數而往，必迎來而受之者，授受之義也。故聖人能繫心於微，而致之著也。是故春秋之道，以元之深，正天之端，以天之端，正王之政，以王之政，正諸侯之即位，以諸侯之即位，正竟內之治，五者俱正，而化大行。故書日蝕，星隕，有蜮，山崩，地震，夏大雨水，冬大雨雹，隕霜不殺草，自正月不雨，至於秋七月，有鸛鵒來巢，春秋異之，以此見悖亂之徵，是小者不得大，微者不得著，雖甚末，亦一端，孔子以此效之，吾所以貴微重始是也，因惡夫推災異之象於前，然後圖安危禍亂於後者，非春秋之所甚貴也，然而春秋舉之以為一端者，亦欲其省天譴，而畏天威，內動於心志，外見於事情，修身審己，明善心以反道者也，豈非貴微重始、慎終推效者哉！

The Spring and Autumn Annals has two ultimate aims; if one does not trace back to where the two beginnings arise, one cannot discuss calamities and anomalies with it, which is the distinction between small and large, subtle and manifest. By looking for the minute where there is no clue yet, one truly knows that the small is about to become large and the subtle about to become manifest. Before good or ill fortune takes shape, the sage establishes himself alone; even if one wished to follow, there would be no way to begin, and this is what it means. So when a true king receives the mandate, he reforms the calendar and the first day of the year, does not go along following the old count but must welcome and receive the new, which is the meaning of giving and receiving. So the sage can fix his mind on the subtle and thereby reach the manifest. Therefore the way of the Spring and Autumn Annals is to use the depth of the origin to rectify the beginning of Heaven; to use the beginning of Heaven to rectify the king's governance; to use the king's governance to rectify the accession of the lords; and to use the lords' accession to rectify the government within their borders. When these five are all rectified, teaching and transformation are greatly carried out. Therefore it records solar eclipses, falling stars, water-sprites, mountain collapses, earthquakes, great summer rains, great winter hail, frost that did not kill the grass, no rain from the first month to the seventh month of autumn, and mynahs coming to nest; the Annals regarded these as anomalies, and from them one sees the evidence of perversity and disorder. This is the small unable to become large and the subtle unable to become manifest, and even at the very end, it is still one beginning. Confucius used this as proof, and this is why I value the subtle and stress the beginning. Hence I dislike those who first infer the images of calamities and anomalies and only afterward plan for safety, danger, misfortune and disorder; this is not what the Annals values most. Yet the Annals raises them as one beginning in order to have one examine Heaven's rebuke and fear Heaven's might, with aims stirring within and affairs showing without, cultivating oneself and examining oneself, clarifying the good heart in order to return to the Way; is this not valuing the subtle, stressing the beginning, and being careful at the end while inferring the proofs!

有非力之所能致而自至者，西狩獲麟，受命之符是也，然後托乎春秋正不正之間，而明改制之義，一統乎天子，而加憂於天下之憂也，務除天下所患，而欲以上通五帝，下極三王，以通百王之道，而隨天之終始，博得失之效，而考命象之為，極理以盡情性之宜，則天容遂矣。百官同望異路，一之者在主，率之者在相。

There are things which human strength cannot bring about, yet they arrive of themselves: the capture of a qilin in a western hunt was a sign of receiving the mandate of Heaven. After this he lodged principle between what the Annals rectifies and does not rectify in order to make clear the meaning of reforming institutions, to unify the world under the Son of Heaven, and to take the world's worries as his own heavier worry, seeking to remove what troubles the world. He also reached upward to the Five Emperors and downward to the end of the Three Kings in order to link the way of the hundred kings, followed the beginning and end of Heaven, broadly examined the proofs of gain and loss, observed the workings of mandate and image, pushed principle to its limit in order to exhaust what suits nature and feeling, and so the bearing of Heaven was made compliant. The hundred officials look up alike but take different roads; what can unify them lies in the ruler, and what can lead them lies in the chancellor.

仲尼之作春秋也，上探正天端，王公之位，萬民之所欲，下明得失，起賢才，以待後聖，故引史記，理往事，正是非，見王公，史記十二公之間，皆衰世之事，故門人惑，孔子曰：“吾因其行事，而加乎王心焉，以為見之空言，不如行事博深切明。”子貢、閔子、公肩子言其切而為國家資也。其為切，而至於殺君亡國，奔走不得保社稷，其所以然，是皆不明於道，不覽於春秋也。故衛子夏言：“有國家者，不可不學春秋，不學春秋，則無以見前後旁側之危，則不知國之大柄，君之重任也。故或脅窮失國，揜殺於位，一朝至爾，苟能述春秋之法，致行其道，豈徒除禍哉！乃堯舜之德也。”故世子曰：“功及子孫，光輝百世，聖人之德，莫美於恕。”故予先言：“春秋詳己而略人，因其國而容天下。”春秋之道，大得之則以王，小得之則以霸。故曾子、子石盛美齊侯，安諸侯，尊天子，霸王之道，皆本於仁，仁，天心，故次之以天心。愛人之大者，莫大於思患而豫防之，故蔡得意於吳，魯得意於齊，而春秋皆不告。故次以言：怨人不可邇，敵國不可狎，攘竊之國不可使久親，皆防患、為民除患之意也。不愛民之漸，乃至於死亡，故言楚靈王、晉厲公生弒於位，不仁之所致也。故善宋襄公不厄人，不由其道而勝，不如由其道而敗，春秋貴之，將以變習俗，而成王化也。故子夏言：“春秋重人，諸譏皆本此，或奢侈使人憤怨，或暴虐賊害人，終皆禍及身。”故子池言：“魯莊築臺，丹楹刻桷；晉厲之刑刻意者；皆不得以壽終。”上奢侈，刑又急，皆不內恕，求備於人。故次以春秋，緣人情，赦小過，而傳明之曰：君子辭也。孔子明得失，見成敗，疾時世之不仁，失王道之體，故緣人情，赦小過，傳又明之曰：君子辭也。孔子曰：“吾因行事，加吾王心焉，假其位號，以正人倫，因其成敗，以明順逆。

Zhongni composed the Spring and Autumn Annals, looking upward to rectify the beginning of Heaven, the ranks of kings and dukes, and the desires of the ten thousand people, and downward to make clear gain and loss and raise worthy talents in order to await later sages. So he drew on the historical records, set in order past events, rectified right and wrong, and made the conduct of kings and dukes manifest. What the records note across the twelve dukes were all matters of a declining age, so his disciples were perplexed. Confucius said: "I borrow those events that have already happened and add the heart of a true king, because I feel that empty theory is not as broad, deep and clear as borrowing events." Zigong, Master Min and Gong Jianzi all said that it was practical and enough to be drawn upon by states. It was practical to the point of rulers murdered, states lost, and men fleeing without being able to keep their altars; the reason this happens is always that they did not understand the Way and did not read the Annals. So Zixia of Wei said: "Those who hold a state cannot but study the Spring and Autumn Annals. Without studying it, one has no way to see the dangers before, behind, left and right, and does not know the great power of the state and the heavy duty of the ruler. So some are coerced and driven into straits and lose their states, or are ambushed and killed in their seats, arriving within a single morning. If one can recite the laws of the Annals and exert oneself to carry out its way, how could it only remove misfortune! It is the virtue of Yao and Shun." So Shizi said: "Merit extending to descendants and radiance passed down to a hundred generations, in the virtue of a sage nothing is finer than forgiveness." So Yu Xian said: "The Annals is detailed about oneself and sparing toward others, and by means of one state it embraces the world." The way of the Annals is such that one who gains it greatly may become king, and one who gains it slightly may become hegemon. So Zengzi and Zishi highly praised the Marquis of Qi for settling the lords and honoring the Son of Heaven. The ways of hegemon and king are both rooted in humaneness. Humaneness is the heart of Heaven, so next it speaks of the heart of Heaven. Among the great expressions of loving people, none is greater than thinking of misfortune and guarding against it beforehand. So Cai was satisfied in Wu and Lu was satisfied in Qi, yet the Annals does not write either as victory reports. So next it also says: those with resentments are not to be drawn close, enemy states are not to be treated with familiarity, and thieving states are not to be allowed to attach themselves for long, all of which mean guarding against trouble and removing trouble for the people. Not loving the people gradually leads to death and ruin, so it speaks of King Ling of Chu and Duke Li of Jin, who were assassinated in their seats while alive, which was brought on by inhumaneness. So it praises Duke Xiang of Song for not pressing people into a corner: to win without following the Way is not as good as to lose while following the Way. The Annals valued him in order to change customs with this and complete the teaching of a true king. So Zixia said: "The Annals values people, and every criticism is rooted in this. Some are extravagant and so cause resentment, some are cruel and harm people, and in the end disaster falls on themselves." So Zichi said: "Duke Zhuang of Lu built a terrace, painted its pillars red and carved its rafters, and Duke Li of Jin was harsh in punishment; neither lived out their years." Extravagance above and haste in punishment both come from lack of forgiveness within and demanding completeness from others. So next it uses the Annals' following of human feeling and pardoning small faults, and the commentary states clearly: "This is the wording of the gentleman." Confucius made gain and loss clear, saw success and failure, grieved at an age without humaneness that had lost the substance of the kingly Way, and so followed human feeling and pardoned small faults, and the commentary again states clearly: "This is the wording of the gentleman." Confucius said: "I borrow events and add my own heart of a true king, borrow those titles in order to rectify human relationships, and borrow success and failure to make clear compliance and rebellion.

”故其所善，則桓文行之而遂，其所惡，則亂國行之終以敗。故始言大惡，殺君亡國，終言赦小過，是亦始於麤粗，終於精微，教化流行，德澤大洽，天下之人，人有士君子之行，而少過矣，亦譏二名之意也。

" So what he praises, Duke Huan and Duke Wen carried out successfully; what he dislikes, the disordered states carried out and finally failed. So it begins by speaking of great evils, the murder of rulers and the ruin of states, and ends by speaking of pardoning small faults; this too begins with the coarse and ends in the subtle. When teaching spreads and virtue's kindness is everywhere harmonious, everyone in the world has the conduct of a scholar and gentleman, and faults are few; this too is the meaning of criticizing the two names.

天高其位而下其施，藏其形而見其光；高其位，所以為尊也，下其施，所以為仁也，藏其形，所以為神，見其光，所以為明；故位尊而施仁，藏神而見光者，天之行也。故為人主者，法天之行，是故內深藏，所以為神，外博觀，所以為明也，任群賢，所以為受成，乃不自勞於事，所以為尊也，泛愛群生，不以喜怒賞罰，所以為仁也。故為人主者，以無為為道，以不私為寶，立無為之位，而乘備具之官，足不自動，而相者導進，口不自言，而擯者讚辭，心不自慮，而群臣效當，故莫見其為之，而功成矣，此人主所以法天之行也。為人臣者，法地之道，暴其形，出其情，以示人，高下險易，堅耎剛柔，肥轢美惡，累可就財也，故其形宜不宜，可得而財也。為人臣者，比地貴信，而悉見其情於主，主亦得而財之，故王道威而不失，為人臣常竭情悉力，而見其短長，使主上得而器使之，而猶地之竭竟其情也，故其形宜可得而財也。

Heaven raises its position high and sends its bestowal downward; it hides its form and displays its light. By raising its position it completes its dignity; by sending bestowal downward it completes its humaneness; by hiding its form it completes its divinity; by displaying its light it completes its brightness. So dignified in position and humane in bestowal, hidden in spirit and showing light, this is the operation of Heaven. So one who is a ruler of men takes as model the operation of Heaven: hence by hiding deeply within he completes his divinity; by observing broadly outward he completes his brightness; by employing many worthy men he receives ready-made accomplishments; and so, not laboring himself in affairs, he completes his dignity; by loving all living beings universally and not rewarding or punishing by his own joy or anger, he completes his humaneness. So one who is a ruler of men takes non-action as his way and non-selfishness as his treasure, stands in the position of non-action, and relies on a complete staff of officials: his feet do not move on their own, and the ritual attendant leads him forward; his mouth does not speak on its own, and the usher speaks the words for him; his mind does not plan on its own, and the ministers present suitable methods. So one does not see him doing anything, yet the achievements are already completed. This is why a ruler takes as model the operation of Heaven. One who is a minister takes as model the way of Earth: he displays his own form and brings out his own feelings for others to see. High and low, steep and easy, hard and soft, firm and gentle, fat and lean, fine and coarse (the received text writes "fat-trampled," where the second character is an error for "lean"), all can be adjudged by what is at hand, so whether the form is fitting or not can be obtained and decided. One who is a minister, comparing himself with Earth, values trustworthiness and shows his feelings entirely to the ruler, and the ruler can also judge him. So the kingly Way has awe without failing. A minister who always exhausts his feelings and strength and shows his own strengths and shortcomings lets his ruler use him as a tool, as the Earth entirely offers up its feelings. So whether his form is fitting can be obtained and decided.

君人者，國之元，發言動作，萬物之樞機，樞機之發，榮辱之端也，失之豪釐，駟不及追。故為人君者，謹本詳始，敬小慎微，志如死灰，形如委衣，安精養神，寂寞無為，休形無見影，揜聲無出響，虛心下士，觀來察往，謀於眾賢，考求眾人，得其心，遍見其情，察其好惡，以參忠佞，考其往行，驗之於今，計其蓄積，受於先賢，釋其讎怨，視其所爭，差其黨族，所依為臬，據位治人，用何為名，累日積久，何功不成？可以內參外，可以小占大，必知其實，是謂開闔。君人者，國之本也，夫為國，其化莫大於崇本，崇本則君化若神，不崇本則君無以兼人，無以兼人，雖峻刑重誅，而民不從，是所謂驅國而棄之者也，患庸甚焉！何謂本？曰：天地人，萬物之本也，天生之，地養之，人成之；天生之以孝悌，地養之以衣食，人成之以禮樂，三者相為手足，合以成體，不可一無也；無孝悌，則亡其所以生，無衣食，則亡其所以養，無禮樂，則亡其所以成也；三者皆亡，則民如麋鹿，各從其欲，家自為俗，父不能使子，君不能使臣，雖有城郭，名曰虛邑，如此，其君河塊而僵，莫之危而自危，莫之喪而自亡，是謂自然之罰，自然之罰至，裹襲石室，分障險阻，猶不能逃之也。明主賢君，必於其信，是故肅慎三本，郊祀致敬，共事祖禰，舉顯孝悌，表異孝行，所以奉天本也；秉耒躬耕，採桑親蠶，墾草殖穀，開闢以足衣食，所以奉地本也；立辟廱庠序，修孝悌敬讓，明以教化，感以禮樂，所以奉人本也；

One who is a ruler is the origin of the state. His speech and actions are the pivot of the ten thousand things. Once the pivot moves, it is the beginning of glory or disgrace. If one is off by a hair, a carriage with four horses cannot catch up. So a ruler is careful of the root and examines the beginning, and is reverent even about small things: his will is like ash that has gone out, his body like a discarded garment, he steadies his spirit, is silent and does nothing, lets his form rest without producing a shadow, and muffles his voice without producing an echo; he treats scholars with an empty mind, observes the future and examines the past, plans with the many worthy men, consults the many, wins their hearts, sees their feelings everywhere, notes their likes and dislikes to test loyalty and flattery; he examines their past conduct and verifies it today; he calculates what has been accumulated and accepts the instruction of earlier worthies; he resolves grudges and sees what they are contending over; he ranks their factions and takes what they rely on as the standard. Governing people from his position, using what as a title, accumulating day upon day, what accomplishment will not be completed? He can use the inner to test the outer, can use the small to judge the large, and will surely know the reality; this is called opening and closing. One who is a ruler is the root of the state. In governing a state, no teaching is greater than honoring the root. If he honors the root, the ruler's teaching is like the divine; if he does not honor the root, the ruler has no way to lead the multitude together. If he cannot lead the multitude, then even with harsh punishments and heavy executions the people will not obey, which is what is called driving the state away and abandoning it, and what disaster is worse than this! What is the root? It is Heaven, Earth and humans, the root of the ten thousand things. Heaven gives birth to them, Earth nourishes them, and humans complete them. Heaven gives birth through filial piety and fraternal respect, Earth nourishes through clothing and food, and humans complete through ritual and music. These three act as each other's hands and feet, and together form one body; none can be missing. Without filial piety and fraternal respect, there is nothing by which to give birth; without clothing and food, nothing by which to nourish; without ritual and music, nothing by which to complete. If all three are lost, the people are like deer, each following his desires, every household making its own customs, a father cannot command a son, a ruler cannot command ministers, and even if there are city walls they are only called empty towns. In such a case that ruler falls stiff like a clod of earth (the received text writes "river clod," where "river" is an error for "how"); no one harms him yet he is endangered by himself, no one destroys him yet he perishes of himself, and this is called a natural punishment. When natural punishment arrives, even wrapped in a stone chamber and separated by barriers, he still cannot escape. Enlightened rulers and worthy lords must base themselves on good faith, and so respectfully and carefully handle the three roots: performing suburban sacrifices to express reverence, respectfully serving ancestors and fathers, recommending and promoting filial piety and fraternal respect, and commending exceptional filial conduct, in order to serve the root of Heaven; taking plow and spade in hand and cultivating personally, picking mulberry and rearing silkworms personally, clearing weeds and planting grain, and opening land to make clothing and food sufficient, in order to serve the root of Earth; setting up the Bi Yong, village schools and academies, cultivating filial piety, fraternal respect and courteous yielding, making people understand through teaching and transforming them with ritual and music, in order to serve the root of humans.

三者皆奉，則民如子弟，不敢自專，邦如父母，不待恩而愛，不須嚴而使，雖野居露宿，厚於宮室，如是者，其君安河而臥，莫之助而自強，莫之綏而自安，是謂自然之賞，自然之賞至，雖退讓委國而去，百姓襁負其子，隨而君之，君亦不得離也，故以德為國者，甘於飴蜜，固於膠漆，是以聖賢勉而崇本，而不敢失也，君人者，國之證也，不可先倡，感而後應，故居倡之位，而不行倡之勢，不居和之職，而以和為德，常盡其下，故能為之上也。

When these three are served, the people are like sons and younger brothers and dare not act on their own; the state is like parents, and they love without waiting for kindness to be bestowed and obey without relying on awe. Even living in the open they have deeper feeling than if they lived in palaces. In such a case that ruler lies at ease (the received text writes "at river," where "river" is an error for "thus"); no one helps him yet he is strong of himself, no one soothes him yet he is peaceful of himself, and this is called a natural reward. When natural reward arrives, even if he yielded and handed over the state and left, the common people would carry their children on their backs in cloths and follow him, taking him as their ruler, and the ruler could not leave them. So one who governs a state by virtue is sweeter than honey and firmer than glue and lacquer. Therefore sages strive to honor the root and dare not fail in it. One who is a ruler is the proof of the state and should not himself lead first but respond after there is resonance. So though he occupies the position of one who leads, he does not exercise the might of leading; he does not hold the duty of harmony, yet takes harmony as his virtue, always devotes his heart to those under him, and so can be their superior.

體國之道，在於尊神。尊者，所以奉其政也，神者，所以就其化也，故不尊不畏，不神不化。夫欲為尊者，在於任賢；欲為神者，在於同心；賢者備股肱，則君尊嚴而國安；同心相承，則變化若神；莫見其所為，而功德成，是謂尊神也。天積眾精以自剛，聖人積眾賢以自強；天序日月星辰以自光，聖人序爵祿以自明；天所以剛者，非一精之力，聖人所以強者，非一賢之德也。故天道務盛其精，聖人務眾其賢；盛其精而壹其陽，眾其賢而同其心；壹其陽，然後可以致其神，同其心，然後可以致其功；是以建治之術，貴得賢而同心。為人君者，其要貴神，神者，不可得而視也，不可得而聽也，是故視而不見其形，聽而不聞其聲；聲之不聞，故莫得其響，不見其形，故莫得其影；莫得其影，則無以曲直也，莫得其響，則無以清瘻也；無以曲直，則其功不可得而敗，無以清瘻，則其名不可得而度也。所謂不見其形者，非不見其進止之形也，言其所以進止不可得而見也；所謂不聞其聲者，非不聞其號令之聲也，言其所以號令不可得而聞也；不見不聞，是謂冥昏，能冥則明，能昏則彰，能冥能昏，是謂神。人君貴居冥而明其位，處陰而向陽，惡人見其情，而欲知人之心。是故為人君者，執無源之慮，行無端之事，以不求奪，以不問問；吾以不求奪，則我利矣，彼以不出出，則彼費矣；吾以不問問，則我神矣，彼以不對對，則彼情矣。故終日問之，彼不知其所對，終日奪之，彼不知其所出，吾則以明，而彼不知其所亡。故人臣居陽而為陰，人君居陰而為陽，陰道尚形而露情，陽道無端而貴神。

The way of governing a state lies in dignity and divinity. Dignity is that by which his government is upheld; divinity is that by which his teaching is completed. So without dignity no one fears, and without divinity none can be transformed. To be dignified, one must employ worthy men; to be divine, one must be of one mind. When worthy men are fully in place as limbs, the ruler is dignified and the state at peace; when of one mind and receiving one another, transformation is like the divine; one does not see what he does, yet merit and virtue are already completed, which is called dignified divinity. Heaven gathers many essences to make itself firm, and the sage gathers many worthy men to make himself strong; Heaven arranges the sun, moon and stars to make itself bright, and the sage arranges ranks and salaries to make himself clear. Heaven is firm not through the strength of one essence; the sage is strong not through the virtue of one worthy man. So the Way of Heaven strives to make its essences abundant, and the sage strives to make his worthy men many. He makes his essences abundant and concentrates his yang; he multiplies his worthy men and unifies their hearts. Concentrating his yang, he can then summon its spirit; unifying their hearts, he can then bring about the achievement. Therefore in establishing the art of governing, what is valued is gaining worthy men and being of one mind. The essential of a ruler lies in valuing the divine. The divine cannot be obtained by sight or hearing. Hence one looks and cannot see his form, and listens and cannot hear his voice. Since the voice cannot be heard, no one obtains an echo; since the form cannot be seen, no one obtains a shadow. When no one obtains a shadow, there is no way to discuss crooked and straight; when no one obtains an echo, there is no way to discuss clear and turbid (the received text writes "clear-fistula," where the second character is an error for "turbid"). When there is no way to discuss crooked and straight, his achievement cannot be damaged; when there is no way to discuss clear and turbid, his name cannot be measured. What is meant by not seeing his form is not that one cannot see the form of his advancing, retreating and movements, but that the reasons for his advancing and retreating cannot be seen; what is meant by not hearing his voice is not that one cannot hear the voice of his commands, but that the reasons for his commands cannot be heard. To be unseen and unheard is called obscure and dim. One who can be obscure can be bright, one who can be dim can be manifest. To be able to be obscure and dim is called divine. What a ruler values is to dwell in obscurity and make his position bright, to stay in yin while facing yang, and to dislike others seeing his feelings while wishing to know others' hearts. Therefore a ruler holds thoughts without source and carries out affairs without beginning, seizing by not seeking and asking by not inquiring. When I seize by not seeking, I gain; when he brings out what he did not mean to bring out, he is depleted. When I ask by not inquiring, I am divine; when he answers what was not asked, his feelings are revealed. So I ask him all day and he does not know how to answer; I seize from him all day and he does not know how to bring it out. Thus I become clear, and he does not know what he has lost. So a minister dwells in yang and shows yin, and a ruler dwells in yin and shows yang. The way of yin honors form and reveals feeling; the way of yang has no beginning and values the divine.

民無所好，君無以權也；民無所惡，君無以畏也；無以權，無以畏，則君無以禁制也；無以禁制，則比肩齊勢，而無以為貴矣。故聖人之治國也，因天地之性情、孔竅之所利，以立尊卑之制，以等貴賤之差，設官府爵祿，利五味，盛五色，調五聲，以誘其耳目；自令清瘻昭然殊體，榮辱踔然相駁，以感動其心；務致民令有所好，有所好，然後可得而勸也，故設賞以勸之；有所好，必有所惡，有所惡，然後可得而畏也，故設罰以畏之；既有所勸，又有所畏，然後可得而制；制之者，制其所好，是以勸賞而不得多也；制其所惡，是以畏罰而不可過也；所好多，則作福；所惡多，則作威；作威則君亡權，天下相怨；作福則君亡德，天下相賊。故聖人之制民，使之有欲，不得過節；使之敦樸，不得無慾；無慾有欲，各得以足，而君道得矣。國之所以為國者，德也，君之所以為君者，威也，故德不可共，威不可分，德共則失恩，威分則失權，失權則君賤，失恩則民散，民散則國亂，君賤則臣叛。是故為人君者，固守其德，以附其民，固執其權，以正其臣。聲有順逆，必有清瘻，形有善惡，必有曲直，故聖人聞其聲，則別其清瘻，見其形，則異其曲直，於瘻之中，必知其清，於清之中，必知其瘻，於曲之中，必見其直，於直之中，必見其曲，於聲無小而不取，於形無小而不舉，不以著蔽微，不以眾揜寡，各應其事，以致其報，黑白分明，然後民知所去就，民知所去就，然後可以致治，是為象則。為人君者，居無為之位，行不言之教，寂而無聲，靜而無形，執一無端，為國源泉，因國以為身，因臣以為心，以臣言為聲，以臣事為形，有聲必有響，有形必有影，聲出於內，響報於外，形立於上，影應於下，響有清瘻，影有曲直，響所報，非一聲也，影所應，非一形也。

If the people have no likes, the ruler has no way to weigh them; if the people have no dislikes, the ruler has no way to make them fear. Without a way to weigh or to inspire fear, the ruler has no way to restrain; without a way to restrain, they stand shoulder to shoulder with equal power, and the ruler has no way to be honored. So when sages govern a state, they go by the nature and feelings of Heaven and Earth and what suits the orifices, to establish the system of high and low, and to grade the distinctions of noble and base. They set up offices, ranks and salaries, make the five flavors beneficial, make the five colors rich and fine, harmonize the five sounds, to draw on the ears and eyes; they make the clear and the turbid (the received text writes "clear-fistula," where the second character is an error for "turbid") plain, each forming a different body, and glory and disgrace openly contradict each other, to move the heart. They strive to give the people something to like; having something to like, they can then be encouraged, so rewards are set up to encourage; having likes surely means having dislikes, and having dislikes they can then be made to fear, so punishments are set up to inspire fear. Having something that encourages them and something that they fear, they can then be restrained. What is meant by restraining is restraining what they like, so rewards are used to encourage but cannot be too many; and restraining what they dislike, so punishments are used to inspire fear but cannot be excessive. If what is liked is too much, they will make blessings; if what is disliked is too much, they will make awe. If they make awe, the ruler loses power and the world resents one another; if they make blessings, the ruler loses virtue and the world harms one another. So when a sage restrains the people, he lets them have desires but not exceed the measure; he makes them sincere and plain but not without any desire. When non-desire and desire each get their fill, the way of the ruler is attained. What makes a state a state is virtue; what makes a ruler a ruler is awe. So virtue cannot be shared with others, and awe cannot be divided. If virtue is shared with others, kindness is lost; if awe is divided, power is lost. Losing power makes the ruler base; losing kindness makes the people scatter. When the people scatter the state is in disorder, when the ruler is base the ministers rebel. Therefore a ruler firmly holds his virtue to attach the people and firmly grasps his power to correct the ministers. Sounds have compliant and contrary, and there must be clear and turbid; forms have good and bad, and there must be crooked and straight. So the sage, hearing a sound, distinguishes clear and turbid, and seeing a form, distinguishes crooked and straight. Within the turbid he must know the clear, within the clear he must know the turbid, within the crooked he must see the straight, and within the straight he must see the crooked. Of sounds there are none so small as not to be taken, of forms none so small as not to be raised; he does not let the conspicuous cover the subtle, nor the many cover the few, each answers according to the matter and brings its response, black and white are distinct, and then the people know what to leave and what to approach. When the people know what to leave and what to approach, governance can be achieved; this is taking images as the rule. One who is a ruler dwells in the position of non-action, carries out teaching without words, is quiet and without sound, calm and without form, holds to the One without a beginning, and is the wellspring of the state. He takes the state as his body and the ministers as his heart, takes the ministers' words as sound and the ministers' deeds as form. Where there is sound there must be an echo, where there is form there must be a shadow. The sound comes from within and the echo answers outside; the form stands above and the shadow responds below. The echo has clear and turbid, the shadow has crooked and straight. What the echo answers is not one kind of sound; what the shadow responds to is not one kind of form.

故為君，虛心靜處，聰聽其響，明視其影，以行賞罰之象，其行賞罰也，響清則生清者榮，響瘻則生瘻者辱，影正則生正者進，影枉則生枉者絀，?名考質，以參其實，賞不空施，罰不虛出，是以群臣分職而治，各敬而事，爭進其功，顯廣其名，而人君得載其中，此自然致力之術也，聖人由之，故功出於臣，名歸於君也。

So one who is a ruler stays in emptiness and stillness, listens keenly to the echo and sees clearly the shadow, in order to carry out the images of reward and punishment. In carrying out rewards and punishments: if the echo is clear, let the clear be glorified; if the echo is turbid, let the turbid be disgraced; if the shadow is straight, let the straight be promoted; if the shadow is crooked, let the crooked be demoted. Follow the name to examine the substance (the received text has an illegible character above "name," which should be "follow"), in order to test the reality. Rewards are not given out of nothing, punishments are not issued emptily. So the ministers divide their duties and govern, each is respectful in his work, they compete to present achievements, and spread and promote their own names, while the ruler is carried within it all. This is the art of making effort come naturally. The sage proceeds by it, so merit comes from the ministers and the name goes to the ruler.