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或問「神」。曰：「心。」「請問之。」曰：「潛天而天，潛地而地。天地，神明而不測者也。心之潛也，猶將測之，況於人乎？況於事倫乎？」「敢問潛心於聖。」曰：「昔乎，仲尼潛心於文王矣，達之。顏淵亦潛心於仲尼矣，未達一間耳。神在所潛而已矣。」

Someone asked about "spirit." Yang Xiong said: "The heart." "Please say more." Yang Xiong said: "Immersed in Heaven, it becomes Heaven; immersed in Earth, it becomes Earth. Heaven and Earth are divine and cannot be fathomed. When the heart immerses itself, it will still fathom them; how much more people? How much more the principles of things?" "May I ask about immersing the heart in the sage?" Yang Xiong said: "In the past, Confucius immersed his heart in King Wen, and arrived. Yan Yuan also immersed his heart in Confucius, only a single room away. Spirit is simply in whatever one is immersed in."

天神天明，照知四方；天精天粹，萬物作類。

Heaven's spirit and Heaven's brightness illuminate and know the four directions; Heaven's essence and Heaven's purity let the myriad things each fulfill their kind.

人心其神矣乎？操則存，舍則亡。能常操而存者，其惟聖人乎？

Is not the human heart spirit? Hold it and it remains; let go and it is lost. One who can constantly hold it and keep it, is probably only the sage?

聖人存神索至，成天下之大順，致天下之大利，和同天人之際，使之無間也。

The sage keeps spirit and seeks it to the utmost, brings about the great harmony of the world, attracts the great benefit of the world, and makes Heaven and humanity harmonious and one, without any gap.

龍蟠於泥，蚖其肆矣。蚖哉，蚖哉，惡覩龍之志也與！或曰：「龍必欲飛天乎？」曰：「時飛則飛，時潛則潛，既飛且潛。食其不妄，形其不可得而制也與！」曰：「聖人不制，則何為乎羑里？」曰：「龍以不制為龍，聖人以不手為聖人。」

When the dragon coils in the mud, the salamander grows bold. Salamander, oh salamander, how could you see the dragon's aspiration! Someone said: "Must the dragon want to fly up to the sky?" Yang Xiong said: "When it is time to fly, it flies; when it is time to hide, it hides; it can both fly and hide. It does not take food carelessly, and its form cannot be subdued, I suppose!" Asked: "If the sage cannot be subdued, why was he at Youli?" Yang Xiong said: "The dragon is a dragon because it cannot be subdued, and the sage is a sage because he is not controlled by others."

或曰：「經可損益與？」曰：「《易》始八卦，而文王六十四，其益可知也。《詩》《書》《禮》《春秋》，或因或作，而成於仲尼，其益可知也。故夫道非天然，應時而造者，損益可知也。」

Someone said: "Can the classics be increased or reduced?" Yang Xiong said: "The Changes at first had only eight trigrams, and King Wen expanded them into sixty-four, so the additions can be known. The Songs, the Documents, the Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals, some were handed down and some created, completed by Confucius, so the additions can be known. So the Way was not so by birth but was made in response to the times, and so increase and reduction can be known."

或曰：「《易》損其一也，雖憃知闕焉。至《書》之不備過半矣，而習者不知。惜乎《書序》之不如《易》也！」曰：「彼數也，可數焉，故也。如《書序》，雖孔子末如之何矣！」

Someone said: "If the Changes lacked one hexagram, even a fool would know something was missing. But the Documents are more than half incomplete, and those who study them do not know. It is a pity that the Preface to the Documents is not like the Changes!" Yang Xiong said: "That is because the hexagrams can be counted, so one knows what is missing. As for the Preface to the Documents, even Confucius could do nothing about it!"

昔之說《書》者，序以百，而《酒誥》之篇俄空焉，今亡夫。

In the past, those who taught the Documents had a preface of a hundred chapters, and the chapter on the Proclamation on Wine suddenly went empty; it is lost now, I suppose.

虞、夏之書渾渾爾，《商書》灝灝爾，《周書》噩噩爾。下週者，其《書》譙乎！

The documents of Yu and Xia are thick and deep, the Documents of Shang are vast and broad, and the Documents of Zhou are stern and upright. From Zhou on down, the Documents become hurried, I suppose!

或問：「聖人之經不可使易知與？」曰：「不可。天俄而可度，則其覆物也淺矣；地俄而可測，則其載物也薄矣。大哉！天地之為萬物郭，五經之為眾說郛。」

Someone asked: "Can the sage's classics not be made easy for people to understand?" Yang Xiong said: "They cannot. If Heaven could be measured all at once, its covering of the myriad things would be shallow; if Earth could be fathomed all at once, its bearing of the myriad things would be thin. Great indeed! Heaven and Earth are the outer wall of the myriad things, and the five classics are the outer city of the many schools."

或問：「聖人之作事，不能昭若日月乎？何後世之訔訔也！」曰：「瞽曠能默，瞽曠不能齊不齊之耳；狄牙能喊，狄牙不能齊不齊之口。」

Someone asked: "Can the sage's deeds not be as clear as the sun and moon? Why is there so much argument in later ages!" Yang Xiong said: "Shi Kuang could be silent, but could not make uneven ears hear evenly; Yi Ya could season food, but could not make uneven mouths taste evenly."

君子之言，幽必有驗乎明，遠必有驗乎近，大必有驗乎小，微必有驗乎著。無驗而言之謂妄。君子妄乎？不妄。

The words of a noble person: what is hidden must be verifiable in what is plain, what is far must be verifiable in what is near, what is great must be verifiable in what is small, and what is subtle must be verifiable in what is evident. To speak without verification is called recklessness. Is the noble person reckless? No.

言不能達其心，書不能達其言，難矣哉！惟聖人得言之解，得書之體，白日以照之，江河以滌之，灝灝乎其莫之禦也。面相之，辭相適，捈中心之所欲，通諸人之嚍嚍者，莫如言。彌綸天下之事，記久明遠，著古昔之㖧㖧，傳千里之忞忞者，莫如書。故言，心聲也；書，心畫也。聲畫形，君子小人見矣。聲畫者，君子小人之所以動情乎！

Words cannot express what is in the heart, and writing cannot express what is spoken; how hard! Only the sage obtains the understanding of speech and the substance of writing, like the bright sun shining on it, like rivers and streams washing it, so vast that no one can block it. Face to face, with words exchanged, to draw out what one wants to say and communicate what others urgently want to express, nothing is better than speech. To embrace all affairs under Heaven, record the distant past and illuminate remote antiquity, making what was dim in ancient times clear and letting what was in confusion a thousand li away be passed on, nothing is better than writing. So speech is the sound of the heart, and writing is the picture of the heart. Once sound and picture take shape, the noble person and the petty person are revealed. Sound and picture are exactly what the noble and the petty use to stir their natures, I suppose!

聖人之辭，渾渾若川。順則便，逆則否者，其惟川乎！

The sage's writing is thick and deep like a great river. What is convenient when followed and impossible when opposed, is it not a river!

或曰：「仲尼聖者與？何不能居世也，曾範、蔡之不若！」曰：「聖人者範、蔡乎？若範、蔡，其如聖何？」

Someone said: "Was Confucius a sage? Why could he not hold his place in the world, and even fall short of Fan Ju and Cai Ze!" Yang Xiong said: "Is a sage Fan Ju or Cai Ze? If he were Fan Ju or Cai Ze, how could he be a sage?"

或曰：「淮南、太史公者，其多知與？曷其雜也！」曰：「雜乎雜！人病以多知為雜，惟聖人為不雜。」

Someone said: "The King of Huainan and the Grand Historian had plenty of knowledge, did they not? Why so miscellaneous!" Yang Xiong said: "Miscellaneous indeed! The fault of people is to mistake much knowledge for being miscellaneous; only the sage is not miscellaneous."

書不經，非書也；言不經，非言也。言、書不經，多多贅矣。

A book that does not accord with the classics is not a book; words that do not accord with the classics are not words. If both words and books fail to accord with the classics, however many there are, they are only superfluous growths.

或曰：「述而不作，《玄》何以作？」曰：「其事則述，其書則作。」

Someone said: "One transmits and does not create; why did you create your Taixuan?" Yang Xiong said: "Events are transmitted, but books are created."

育而不苗者，吾家之童烏乎！九齡而與我《玄》文。

One nurtured who did not grow into a sprout was my Tong Wu, was he not! At nine he could discuss the text of the Taixuan with me.

或曰：「《玄》何為？」曰：「為仁義。」曰：「孰不為仁？孰不為義？」曰：「勿雜也而已矣。」

Someone said: "For what was the Taixuan written?" Yang Xiong said: "For benevolence and righteousness." Asked: "Who is not for benevolence? Who is not for righteousness?" Yang Xiong said: "Only do not be miscellaneous."

或問「經之艱易」。曰：「存亡。」或人不諭。曰：「其人存則易，亡則艱。延陵季子之於樂也，其庶矣乎！如樂弛，雖札末如之何矣。如周之禮樂庶事之備也，每可以為不難矣。如秦之禮樂庶事之不備也，每可以為難矣。」

Someone asked about "the difficulty or ease of the classics." Yang Xiong said: "It lies in survival or loss." The person did not understand. Yang Xiong said: "If the man is still alive it is easy; if not, it is hard. Ji Zha of Yanling, regarding music, was nearly there, I suppose! If music has already fallen into disuse, even Ji Zha could do nothing about it. When the rites, music and many affairs are as complete as in Zhou, one can feel everywhere that it is not hard; when the rites, music and many affairs are as incomplete as in Qin, one can feel everywhere that it is hard."

衣而不裳，未知其可也；裳而不衣，未知其可也。衣裳，其順矣乎！

To have an upper garment and no lower skirt, I do not know if that will do; to have a lower skirt and no upper garment, I do not know if that will do. Only when upper garment and lower skirt are both present is it proper!

或問「文」。曰：「訓。」問「武」。曰：「克。」未達。曰：「事得其序之謂訓，勝己之私之謂克。」

Someone asked about "culture." Yang Xiong said: "Instruction." Asked about "martial valor." Yang Xiong said: "Overcoming." The other did not understand. Yang Xiong said: "When affairs attain their proper order, that is called instruction; to overcome one's own selfish desires is called overcoming."

為之而行，動之而光者，其德乎！或曰：「知德者鮮，何其光？」曰：「我知，為之；不我知，亦為之，厥光大矣。必我知而為之，光亦小矣。」

What, when done, works, and, when set in motion, gives light, is it not virtue! Someone said: "Few understand virtue; how can one speak of light?" Yang Xiong said: "If others know me, I do it; if others do not know me, I also do it, and then the light is great. If I must have others know me before I do it, the light is small."

或曰：「君子病沒世而無名，盍勢諸名卿，可幾也。」曰：「君子德名為幾。梁、齊、趙、楚之君非不富且貴也，惡乎成名？谷口鄭子真，不屈其志，而耕乎巖石之下，名振於京師，豈其卿！豈其卿！」

Someone said: "The noble person worries about having no name after death; why not attach oneself to a famous high minister, and that will nearly do?" Yang Xiong said: "The noble person achieves a name through virtue, which comes close. The lords of Liang, Qi, Zhao and Chu were not lacking in wealth or rank; what name did they achieve? Zheng Zizhen of Gukou, not bending his will, farmed beneath the cliffs, and his name shook the capital; how is it through being a high minister! How is it through being a high minister!"

或問「人」。曰：「艱知也。」曰：「焉難？」曰：「太山之與螘垤，江河之與行潦，非難也；大聖之與大佞，難也。烏呼！能別似者為無難。」

Someone asked about "people." Yang Xiong said: "Hard to know." Asked: "Where is the difficulty?" Yang Xiong said: "Mount Tai and an anthill, or a great river and a puddle on the road, are not hard to tell apart; a great sage and a great flatterer are hard to tell apart. Alas! Only one who can distinguish things that look alike can be said to find it not hard."

或問：「鄒、莊有取乎？」曰：「德則取，愆則否。」「何謂德、愆？」曰：「言天、地、人經，德也；否，愆也。愆語，君子不出諸口。」

Someone asked: "Is there anything to take from Zou Yan and Zhuang Zhou?" Yang Xiong said: "What accords with virtue, take; what has faults, leave." "What is virtue and what is a fault?" Yang Xiong said: "To speak of the constant norms of Heaven, Earth and humans is virtue; to do otherwise is a fault. The noble person does not utter words that are faults."

或問「明」。曰：「微。」或曰：「微何如其明也？」曰：「微而見之，明其誖乎？」

Someone asked about "clarity." Yang Xiong said: "Subtlety." Someone said: "How can subtlety count as clarity?" Yang Xiong said: "One can see from the subtle; if one is not clear, is one not instead led into confusion?"

聰明其至矣乎？不聰，實無耳也；不明，實無目也。「敢問大聰明。」曰：「眩眩乎，惟天為聰，惟天為明。夫能高其目而下其耳者，匪天也夫？」

Is acuity of hearing and sight perhaps the utmost? Without acute hearing, one is in fact without ears; without clear sight, one is in fact without eyes. "May I ask about great acuity?" Yang Xiong said: "Vast and dazzling, only Heaven has acuity of hearing and only Heaven has clarity of sight. One who can raise the eyes high and lower the ears, is that not Heaven?"

或問：「小每知之，可謂師乎？」曰：「是何師與！是何師與！天下小事為不少矣，每知之，是謂師乎？師之貴也，知大知也。小知之師亦賤矣。」

Someone asked: "If one knows every small matter, can one be called a teacher?" Yang Xiong said: "What kind of teacher is that! What kind of teacher is that! There are many small matters in the world; if one knows each of them, is that called a teacher? What is valuable in a teacher is knowing the great knowledge. A teacher who knows only the small is too cheap."

孟子疾過我門而不入我室。或曰：「亦有疾乎？」曰：「摭我華而不食我實。」

Mencius lamented that someone passed my gate but did not enter my room. Someone said: "Do you also have something to lament?" Yang Xiong said: "They pluck only my flowers and do not eat my fruit."

或謂：「仲尼事彌其年，蓋天勞諸病矣夫？」曰：「天非獨勞仲尼，亦自勞也。天病乎哉？天樂天，聖樂聖。」

Someone said: "Confucius filled his years with work; was it perhaps that Heaven wearied him and made him ill?" Yang Xiong said: "Heaven wearies not only Confucius but also itself. Is Heaven ill? Heaven delights in being Heaven, and the sage delights in being a sage."

或問：「鳥有鳳，獸有麟，鳥、獸皆可鳳、麟乎？」曰：「群鳥之於鳳也，群獸之於麟也，形性。豈群人之於聖乎？」

Someone asked: "Among birds there is the phoenix and among beasts the qilin; can any bird or beast become a phoenix or qilin?" Yang Xiong said: "The flocks of birds relative to the phoenix and the herds of beasts relative to the qilin are different in form and nature. Could the multitude relative to the sage also be only like this?"

或曰：「甚矣！聖道無益於庸也。聖讀而庸行，盍去諸？」曰：「甚矣，子之不達也！聖讀而庸行，猶有聞焉。去之，抏也。抏秦者，非斯乎？投諸火。」

Someone said: "Too much! The Way of the sages brings no benefit to the mediocre. One reads the sage but acts as a mediocre person; why not get rid of those books?" Yang Xiong said: "Too much, and you do not understand! To read the sage and act mediocrely, one has still heard a little. Getting rid of them is breaking them. What was broken in Qin, was it not these books? Throw them into the fire."

或問：「人何尚？」曰：「尚智。」曰：「多以智殺身者，何其尚？」曰：「昔乎皋陶以其智為帝謨，殺身者遠矣；箕子以其智為武王陳《洪範》，殺身者遠矣。」

Someone asked: "What do people esteem?" Yang Xiong said: "Wisdom." Asked: "Many lose their lives because of wisdom; why still esteem it?" Yang Xiong said: "In the past, Gao Yao used his wisdom to make plans for the emperor, and was far from losing his life; Jizi used his wisdom to expound the Great Plan to King Wu, and was far from losing his life."

仲尼，聖人也，或者劣諸子貢。子貢辭而精之，然後廓如也。於戲！觀書者違子貢，雖多亦何以為？

Confucius was a sage, yet some regarded him as inferior to Zigong. Only after Zigong argued his case and explained it carefully did people become broad-minded and clear. Alas! If readers of books go against Zigong's attitude, what use is it to read however much?

「盛哉！成湯丕承也，文王淵懿也。」或問「丕承」。曰：「由小致大，不亦丕乎？革夏以天，不亦承乎？」「淵懿」。曰：「重《易》六爻，不亦淵乎？浸以光大，不亦懿乎？」

"Grand indeed! Cheng Tang greatly received Heaven's mandate, and King Wen was deep and fine." Someone asked about "greatly received." Yang Xiong said: "To go from small to grand, is that not great? To use Heaven's mandate to overturn Xia, is that not receiving?" Asked about "deep and fine." Yang Xiong said: "To double the six lines of the Changes, is that not deep? To grow gradually brighter, is that not fine?"

或問「命」。曰：「命者，天之命也，非人為也。人為不為命。」「請問人為。」曰：「可以存亡，可以死生，非命也。命不可避也。」或曰：「顏氏之子，冉氏之孫。」曰：「以其無避也。若立巖牆之下，動而徵病，行而招死，命乎！命乎！」

Someone asked about "fate." Yang Xiong said: "Fate is Heaven's fate, not made by people. What people make is not called fate." "May I ask about what people make?" Yang Xiong said: "What can be made to stay or to perish, made to die or to live, is not fate. Fate cannot be evaded." Someone said: "What of Yan Yuan and Ran Boniu (who died young)?" Yang Xiong said: "Precisely because they had no way to evade it. If one stands beneath a toppling wall, falls ill at the slightest move and seeks death at the slightest step, is that still called fate! Is that still called fate!"

吉人兇其吉，兇人吉其兇。

The fortunate person sees his own fortune as misfortune (and so stays alert); the unfortunate person sees his own misfortune as fortune (and so lets himself go).

辰乎辰，曷來之遲，去之速也！君子兢諸。

Time, oh time, why does it come so slowly and go so fast! The noble person is anxious and diligent before it.

謣言敗俗，謣好敗則，姑息敗德。君子謹於言，慎於好，亟於時。

Absurd talk ruins customs, absurd tastes ruin standards, and indulgence ruins virtue. The noble person is careful in speech, cautious in tastes, and urgent about time.

吾不見震風之能動聾聵也。

I have never seen a gale able to move one who is both deaf and dim.

或問「君子」。「在治曰若鳳，在亂曰若鳳。」或人不諭。曰：「未之思矣。」曰：「治則見，亂則隱。鴻飛冥冥，弋人何慕焉？鷦明遴集，食其絜者矣！鳳鳥蹌蹌，匪堯之庭。」

Someone asked about the "noble person." Yang Xiong said: "In a well-ordered age, he is said to be like the phoenix; in a disordered age, he is also said to be like the phoenix." The person did not understand. Yang Xiong said: "You have not thought it through." He added: "In a well-ordered age he appears; in a disordered age he withdraws. When the wild goose flies into the far dim sky, what is there left for the archer to envy? The jiaoming bird chooses where it perches, and eats what is clean! The phoenix walks with measured steps; if it is not the court of Yao, it does not come."

亨龍潛升，其貞利乎？或曰：「龍何如可以貞利而亨？」曰：「時未可而潛，不亦貞乎？時可而升，不亦利乎？潛升在己，用之以時，不亦亨乎？」

The dragon who has attained penetration can hide and can rise; is it not about steadfastness and benefit? Someone said: "How can the dragon be both steadfast and beneficial and also penetrating?" Yang Xiong said: "To hide when the time is not right, is that not steadfastness? To rise when the time is right, is that not benefit? Hiding and rising lie in oneself, and using them in accord with the time, is that not penetration?"

或問「活身」。曰：「明哲。」或曰：「童蒙則活，何乃明哲乎？」曰：「君子所貴，亦越用明保慎其身也。如庸行翳路，沖沖而活，君子不貴也。」

Someone asked about "staying alive." Yang Xiong said: "Clear-sighted wisdom." Someone said: "Even a child in ignorance can stay alive; why need clear-sighted wisdom?" Yang Xiong said: "What the noble person values is using clear wisdom to preserve and take care of his own person. Mediocre conduct blocking the road, living in a hurry and a rush, the noble person does not value."

楚兩龔之絜，其清矣乎！蜀莊沈冥，蜀莊之才之珍也，不作苟見，不治苟得，久幽而不改其操，雖隨、和何以加諸？舉茲以旃，不亦珍乎！吾珍莊也，居難為也。不慕由，即夷矣，何毚欲之有？

The two Gongs of Chu who kept themselves pure can be called clear, can they not! Yan Junping of Shu commandery lived hidden and obscure, and Yan Junping's is the truly rare: not seeking recognition carelessly, not seeking gain carelessly, remaining long secluded without changing his principles; even the Pearl of Marquis Sui or the jade of Mr. He, how could they surpass him? Raising him as a banner, is that not rare! I treasure Yan Junping, whose circumstances are hard to match. If one does not envy Xu You, one comes close to Boyi; where is the greedy desire then?

或問：「堯將讓天下於許由，由恥，有諸？」曰：「好大者為之也。顧由無求於世而已矣。允喆堯儃舜之重，則不輕於由矣。好大累克，巢父灑耳，不亦宜乎？靈場之威，宜夜矣乎！」

Someone asked: "Yao wanted to hand the world over to Xu You, and Xu You felt ashamed; was there such a thing?" Yang Xiong said: "That was made up by those who like to exaggerate. Xu You simply sought nothing from the world. If one truly understands the weight of Yao's yielding to Shun, one would not think so lightly of the world as to hand it to Xu You. Those who like to exaggerate pile up stories of deference; Chao Fu washing his ears, is that not just right? The solemnity of a sacred site is meant for the night, I suppose!"

朱鳥翾翾，歸其肆矣。或曰：「奚取於朱鳥哉？」曰：「時來則來，時往則往。能來能往者，朱鳥之謂與？」

The red bird flutters, returning to its own free place. Someone said: "What is there to take from the red bird?" Yang Xiong said: "It comes when it is time to come and goes when it is time to go. One who can come and can go, is that not what is said of the red bird?"

或問：「韓非作《說難》之書，而卒死乎說難，敢問何反也？」曰：「說難蓋其所以死乎？」曰：「何也？」曰：「君子以禮動，以義止，合則進，否則退，確乎不憂其不合也。夫說人而憂其不合，則亦無所不至矣。」或曰：「說之不合，非憂邪？」曰：「說不由道，憂也；由道而不合，非憂也。」

Someone asked: "Han Fei wrote 'The Difficulties of Persuasion,' and ended up dying of those difficulties; may I ask why it turned out the opposite?" Yang Xiong said: "'The Difficulties of Persuasion' was probably the very reason he died, was it not?" Asked: "Why?" Yang Xiong said: "The noble person moves according to ritual and stops according to righteousness; when in accord, he advances, and when not, he withdraws, so firm that he does not worry about not being in accord. To persuade others and worry about not being in accord, then there is nothing one would not do." Someone said: "If one persuades and is not in accord, should one not worry?" Yang Xiong said: "If one's persuasion does not go through the Way, one should worry; if it goes through the Way and is not in accord, there is no need to worry."

或問「哲」。曰：「旁明厥思。」問「行」。曰：「旁通厥德。」

Someone asked about "wisdom." Yang Xiong said: "Universally illuminating one's own thought." Asked about "conduct." Yang Xiong said: "Universally connecting one's own virtue."