09

「先知其幾於神乎！敢問先知。」曰：「不知。知其道者其如視，忽、眇、緜作昞。」

"Foreknowledge is surely nearly divine! May I ask about foreknowledge." Yang Xiong said: "I do not know. One who understands that Way looks at affairs as at objects, and the slight, the tiny and the far-reaching all become clear."

先甲一日易，後甲一日難。

The day before a jia day is easy; the day after a jia day is difficult.

或問：「何以治國？」曰：「立政。」曰：「何以立政？」曰：「政之本，身也，身立則政立矣。」

Someone asked: "By what does one govern a state?" Yang Xiong said: "By establishing government." Asked: "By what does one establish government?" Yang Xiong said: "The root of government is one's own person; when one's own person is established, government is established."

或問：「為政有幾？」曰：「思斁。」或問「思斁」。曰：「昔在周公，徵於東方，四國是王；召伯述職，蔽芾甘棠，其思矣夫！齊桓欲徑陳，陳不果內，執袁濤塗，其斁矣夫！於戲，從政者審其思斁而已矣！」或問：「何思？何斁？」曰：「老人老、孤人孤、病者養、死者葬、男子畝、婦人桑之謂思。若汙人老、屈人孤、病者獨、死者逋、田畝荒、杼軸空之謂斁。」

Someone asked: "Does government have a pivot?" Yang Xiong said: "Longing and loathing (being longed for by people and being loathed by people)." Someone asked about "longing and loathing." Yang Xiong said: "In the past, when the Duke of Zhou campaigned in the east, the states in all four directions turned to him; when the Earl of Shao made his tours of duty, people still protected the shade of the sweet pear tree: that was longing! When Duke Huan of Qi wanted to take a shortcut through Chen, Chen would not let him in, and he seized Yuan Taotu: that was loathing! Ah, those who govern need only examine longing and loathing!" Someone asked: "What is longing, and what is loathing?" Yang Xiong said: "Treating the old as the old and supporting them, treating orphans as orphans and caring for them, having the sick provided for and the dead properly buried, men plowing the fields and women raising silkworms on mulberry: this is called longing. Ruining the old, wronging orphans, leaving the sick alone, giving the dead no burial, leaving fields overgrown and looms empty: this is called loathing."

為政日新。或人：「敢問日新。」曰：「使之利其仁，樂其義，厲之以名，引之以美，使之陶陶然之謂日新。」

Government should be renewed daily. Someone said: "May I ask about daily renewal." Yang Xiong said: "Make the people feel that humaneness benefits them and be glad to practice righteousness, spur them on with reputation, lead them with what is good, and make them content and joyful; this is called daily renewal."

或問「民所勤」。曰：「民有三勤。」曰：「何哉所謂三勤？」曰：「政善而吏惡，一勤也；吏善而政惡，二勤也；政、吏駢惡，三勤也。禽獸食人之食，土木衣人之帛，穀人不足於晝，絲人不足於夜之謂惡政。」

Someone asked about "what the people grieve and toil over." Yang Xiong said: "The people have three kinds of toil." Asked: "What are the three toils?" Yang Xiong said: "Good government but bad officials is the first toil; good officials but bad government is the second; government and officials both bad is the third. When beasts eat people's grain, and earth and wood are clothed in people's silk, farmers have not enough daylight and silk-reelers have not enough night, this is called bad government."

聖人，文質者也。車服以彰之，藻色以明之，聲音以揚之，《詩》《書》以光之。籩豆不陳，玉帛不分，琴瑟不鏗，鍾鼓不抎，則吾無以見聖人矣。

The sage is a person in whom refinement and substance complete each other. He is made manifest through carriages and robes, marked out through colored patterns, spread abroad through sound, and glorified through the Odes and the Documents. If the bian and dou vessels are not set out, jade and silk are not distinguished, the zithers are not sounded, and the bells and drums are not stirred, I have no way of seeing the sage.

或曰：「以往聖人之法治將來，譬猶膠柱而調瑟，有諸？」曰：「有之。」曰：「聖君少而庸君多，如獨守仲尼之道，是漆也。」曰：「聖人之法，未嘗不關盛衰焉。昔者堯有天下，舉大綱，命舜、禹；夏、殷、周屬其子，不膠者卓矣！唐、虞象刑惟明，夏後肉闢三千，不膠者卓矣！堯親九族，協和萬國；湯、武桓桓，征伐四克。由是言之，不膠者卓矣！禮樂征伐自天子所出，春秋之時，齊、晉實與，不膠者卓矣！」

Someone said: "To govern the future with the laws of past sages is like gluing the bridges of a zither and then tuning the strings; is there such a thing?" Yang Xiong said: "There is." Asked: "Sage rulers are few and mediocre ones many; if one only clings to the Way of Confucius, that is like being lacquered shut." Yang Xiong said: "The laws of the sages have never been unrelated to rise and decline. In the past, when Yao held the world, he raised the great outline and appointed Shun and Yu; the Xia, Yin and Zhou passed the world on to their sons; those who do not glue themselves in place are the outstanding ones! The symbolic punishments of Tang and Yu merely made things clear, while the Xia sovereigns had three thousand articles of corporal punishment; those who do not glue themselves in place are the outstanding ones! Yao made the nine clans affectionate and harmonized the myriad states; Tang and Wu were martial and won every campaign in the four directions. From this it follows that those who do not glue themselves in place are the outstanding ones! Rites, music and punitive expeditions came from the Son of Heaven, but in the Spring and Autumn period Qi and Jin actually took part; those who do not glue themselves in place are the outstanding ones!"

或曰：「人君不可不學《律》《令》。」曰：「君子為國，張其綱紀，謹其教化。導之以仁，則下不相賊；蒞之以廉，則下不相盜；臨之以正，則下不相詐；修之以禮義，則下多德讓。此君子所當學也。如有犯法，則司獄在。」

Someone said: "A ruler cannot do without studying the Statutes and Ordinances." Yang Xiong said: "The exemplary person governs a state by stretching out the main cords and threads of order and being careful with teaching. Lead with humaneness, and those below will not harm one another; oversee with integrity, and those below will not steal from one another; face them with uprightness, and those below will not cheat one another; cultivate them with ritual and righteousness, and those below will abound in virtue and deference. This is what the exemplary person should study. If someone breaks the law, there are prison officials for that."

或苦亂。曰：「綱紀。」曰：「惡在於綱紀？」曰：「大作綱，小作紀。如綱不綱，紀不紀，雖有羅網，惡得一目而正諸？」

Someone was distressed by an age of chaos. Yang Xiong said: "Rely on the main cords and threads of order." Asked: "Where do the cords and threads work?" Yang Xiong said: "The large ones serve as the main cords and the small ones as the threads. If the main cords are not like main cords and the threads are not like threads, even if there is a net, how could one use a single mesh to set it right?"

或曰：「齊得夷吾而霸，仲尼曰小器。請問大器。」曰：「大器其猶規矩準繩乎？先自治而後治人之謂大器。」

Someone said: "Qi obtained Guan Zhong and became hegemon, yet Confucius called him a person of small capacity. May I ask what a person of great capacity is?" Yang Xiong said: "A person of great capacity is perhaps like the compass, square and plumb line. One who first governs himself and then governs others is called a person of great capacity."

或曰：「正國何先？」曰：「躬工人績。」

Someone said: "In setting a state right, what comes first?" Yang Xiong said: "Act on one's own person, and achievements follow."

或曰：「為政先殺後教。」曰：「於乎！天先秋而後春乎？將先春而後秋乎？」

Someone said: "In government, first execute and then teach." Yang Xiong said: "Ah! Does Heaven put autumn before spring, or spring before autumn?"

吾見玄駒之步，雉之晨雊也，化其可以已矣哉！

I see the black ants moving and the pheasants crowing at dawn; how could teaching ever be stopped!

民可使覿德，不可使覿刑。覿德則純，覿刑則亂。

One may let the people see virtue, but one may not let the people see punishment. Seeing virtue makes them pure; seeing punishment makes them disorderly.

象龍之致雨也，難矣哉！曰：「龍乎！龍乎！」

Praying for rain with an earthen dragon is hard! One says: "Dragon! Dragon!"

或問「政核」。曰：「真偽。真偽則政核。如真不真，偽不偽，則政不核。」

Someone asked about "how government is made solid." Yang Xiong said: "Tell the true from the false. When the true and false are distinguished, government is solid. If the true is not like the true and the false is not like the false, government is not solid."

鼓舞萬物者，雷風乎！鼓舞萬民者，號令乎！雷不一，風不再。

What stirs all things is thunder and wind! What stirs the myriad people is commands and orders! Thunder does not sound only once, and the wind does not come again a second time.

聖人樂陶成天下之化，使人有士君子之器者也，故不遁於世，不離於群。遁離者，是聖人乎？

The sage delights in molding and completing the teaching of the world, giving people the capacity of the scholar and exemplary person, and so he does not flee from the human world or leave the crowd. One who flees and leaves, is he still a sage?

雌之不才，其卵毈矣；君之不才，其民野矣。

If a hen has no ability, the egg will not hatch; if a ruler has no ability, the people will be coarse.

或問曰：「載使子草律。」曰：「吾不如弘恭。」「草奏。」曰：「吾不如陳湯。」曰：「何為？」曰：「必也律不犯，奏不剡。」

Someone asked: "Suppose you were asked to draft laws." Yang Xiong said: "I am no match for Hong Gong." "Drafting memorials." Yang Xiong said: "I am no match for Chen Tang." Asked: "Then what would you do?" Yang Xiong said: "I would make sure that no one breaks the laws and the memorials need no further trimming or revision."

甄陶天下者，其在和乎？剛則甈，柔則壞。

The key to molding the world lies in harmonizing, does it not? Too hard and it cracks; too soft and it spoils.

龍之潛亢，不獲其中矣。是以過中則惕，不及中則躍，其近於中乎！

The dragon's submerged and its soaring states both fail to attain the mean. Therefore when one has passed the mean one should be on guard, and when one has not reached the mean one should leap up; this is perhaps close to the mean!

聖人之道，譬猶日之中矣。不及則未，過則𣅔。

The Way of the sage is like the sun exactly at its zenith. Not reaching it is not yet arriving; passing it is slanting off.

什一，天下之中正也。多則桀，寡則貉。

Taking one part in ten is the right measure for the world. Taking more is the tyrant Jie, and taking less is the Mo barbarians.

井田之田，田也；肉刑之刑，刑也。田也者，與眾田之；刑也者，與眾棄之。

Only fields like the well-field system are truly fields, and only punishments like corporal punishments are truly punishments. What is called a field is one plowed together with the multitude, and what is called punishment is something the multitude cast out together.

法無限，則庶人田侯田，處侯宅，食侯食，服侯服，人亦多不足矣。

If the law has no limit, commoners will till the fields of marquises, live in the houses of marquises, eat the food of marquises and wear the clothes of marquises, and then most people will not have enough.

為國不迪其法，而望其效，譬諸算乎？

To govern a state without following the law and yet hope for its effects, is that like doing arithmetic?

或問：「南正重司天，北正黎司地，今何僚也？」曰：「近羲，近和。」「孰重？孰黎？」曰：「羲近重，和近黎。」

Someone asked: "Chong, the Southern Director, was in charge of heaven, and Li, the Northern Director, was in charge of earth; what office is that today?" Yang Xiong said: "Close to the Xi and close to the He." "Who is Chong? Who is Li?" Yang Xiong said: "Xi is close to Chong, and He is close to Li."

或問「黃帝終始」。曰：「託也。昔者姒氏治水土，而巫步多禹；扁鵲，盧人也，而醫多盧。夫欲讎偽者必假真。禹乎？盧乎？終始乎？」

Someone asked about "the beginning and end of the Yellow Emperor." Yang Xiong said: "It is a false attribution. In the past, when the Si clan managed the waters and lands, shamans mostly learned the Yu step in their walking; Bian Que was a man of Lu, and doctors mostly call themselves Lu. Those who want to sell what is fake must borrow from what is genuine. Is it Yu? Is it Lu? Is it the beginning and end?"

或問「渾天」。曰：「下閎營之，鮮於妄人度之，耿中丞象之，幾乎！幾乎！莫之能違也。」「請問蓋天。」曰：「蓋哉！蓋哉！應難未幾也。」

Someone asked about the "Hun Tian" (celestial sphere) theory. Yang Xiong said: "Luoxia Hong built it, Xianyu Wangren measured it, and Vice Censor Geng modeled it; nearly there! Nearly there! No one can go against it." "May I ask about the Gai Tian" (canopy heaven) theory. Yang Xiong said: "Canopy! Canopy! It falls far short of answering objections."

或問：「趙世多神，何也？」曰：「神怪茫茫，若存若亡，聖人曼雲。」

Someone asked: "The age of Zhao had many spiritual marvels; why is that?" Yang Xiong said: "Spirits and strange things are vague, seeming to exist and seeming not to; the sage does not speak of them."

或問：「子胥、種、蠡孰賢？」曰：「胥也，俾吳作亂，破楚入郢，鞭屍藉館，皆不由德。謀越諫齊不式，不能去，卒眼之。種、蠡不彊諫而山棲，俾其君詘社稷之靈而童僕，又終弊吳。賢皆不足卲也。至蠡策種而遁，肥矣哉！」

Someone asked: "Among Wu Zixu, Wen Zhong and Fan Li, who was worthy?" Yang Xiong said: "Zixu stirred Wu into turmoil, broke Chu and entered Ying, whipped the corpse and slept in the Chu palace, none of which came through virtue. His plans against Yue and his advice to attack Qi had no effect, and yet he could not leave, and in the end his eyes were gouged out. Wen Zhong and Fan Li could not remonstrate strongly and let their lord live on a mountain, making him demean the spirits of the altars of state to serve as a mere servant, and in the end brought harm to Wu as well. Neither is worthy enough to be called lofty. As for Fan Li, who devised the plan for Wen Zhong and then fled himself, that was truly fat and fine!"

或問「陳勝、吳廣」。曰：「亂。」曰：「不若是則秦不亡。」曰：「亡秦乎？恐秦未亡而先亡矣。」

Someone asked about "Chen Sheng and Wu Guang." Yang Xiong said: "Chaos." Asked: "Without this, Qin would not have fallen." Yang Xiong said: "Bring down Qin? I fear that before Qin fell, they themselves had fallen first."

或問：「六國竝，其已久矣。一病一瘳，迄始皇三載而鹹。時激、地保、人事乎？」曰：「具。」「請問事。」曰：「孝公以下，彊兵力農，以蠶食六國，事也。」「保。」曰：「東溝大河，南阻高山，西採雍、梁，北鹵涇垠，便則申，否則蟠，保也。」「激。」曰：「始皇方斧，將相方刀，六國方木，將相方肉，激也。」

Someone asked: "The six states had stood side by side for a long time. Now ill, now recovering, until the third year of the First Emperor, they were all pacified. Was it the stirring of the times, the protection of the terrain, or human effort?" Yang Xiong said: "All of them." "May I ask about human effort." Yang Xiong said: "From Duke Xiao on, strengthening the army and promoting agriculture so as to nibble away at the six states, that was human effort." "Protection." Yang Xiong said: "On the east, the great river served as a moat; on the south, high mountains blocked the way; on the west, they drew resources from Yong and Liang; on the north, salt flats reached to the bank of the Jing; when advantageous they extended, and when not they coiled up; that was protection." "Stirring." Yang Xiong said: "The First Emperor was like an axe, and his generals and ministers like knives; the six states were like wood, and their generals and ministers like flesh; that was stirring."

或問：「秦伯列為侯衛，卒吞天下，而赧曾無以制乎？」曰：「天子制公、侯、伯、子、男也，庸節。節莫差於僭，僭莫重於祭，祭莫重於地，地莫重於天，則襄、文、宣、靈其兆也。昔者襄公始僭，西畤以祭白帝；文、宣、靈宗，興鄜、密、上、下，用事四帝，而天王不匡，反致文、武胙。是以四疆之內各以其力來侵，攘肌及骨，而赧獨何以制秦乎？」

Someone asked: "The Earl of Qin was ranked as a guardian marquis and in the end swallowed up the whole world; was King Nan of Zhou really unable to stop it?" Yang Xiong said: "The Son of Heaven controls dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons by regulation. No regulation is violated worse than by usurpation, no usurpation is graver than in sacrifice, no sacrifice is graver than over land, and no land is graver than heaven; so Dukes Xiang, Wen, Xuan and Ling were already the omens. In the past Duke Xiang began the usurpation, building the Western Altar to sacrifice to the White Emperor; Wen, Xuan and Ling honored it, setting up the altars of Fu, Mi, Shang and Xia, performing rites to the four emperors, and the Heavenly King did not correct them but instead bestowed on them the sacrificial meat of Wen and Wu. So within the four borders each invaded with its own strength, seizing from the flesh to the bone, and how could King Nan alone have stopped Qin?"

或問：「嬴政二十六載，天下擅秦。秦十五載而楚，楚五載而漢。五十載之際，而天下三擅，天邪？人邪？」曰：「具。周建子弟，列名城，班五爵，流之十二，當時雖欲漢，得乎？六國蚩蚩，為嬴弱姬，卒之屏營。嬴擅其政，故天下擅秦。秦失其猷，罷侯置守，守失其微，天下孤睽。項氏暴強，改宰侯王，故天下擅楚。擅楚之月，有漢創業山南，發跡三秦，追項山東，故天下擅漢，天也。」「人。」曰：「兼才尚權，右計左數，動謹於時，人也。天不人不因，人不天不成。」

Someone asked: "In the twenty-sixth year of Ying Zheng, the world belonged solely to Qin. Qin lasted fifteen years and passed to Chu, and Chu lasted five years and passed to Han. In fifty years, the world belonged exclusively to three powers in turn; was it Heaven or humans?" Yang Xiong said: "Both. Zhou enfeoffed its sons and brothers, setting them in famous cities, handing out the five ranks of nobility, and it lasted for twelve generations; at that time, even if one wanted the Han, could one have gotten it? The six states were dim and muddled, and weakened the house of Ji of Zhou for Ying; in the end they were left fearful and without support. Ying alone held the government, and so the world belonged solely to Qin. Qin lost its strategy, abolished the feudal lords and set up commanderies, and the commandery governors lost control, so the world became isolated and estranged. Xiang Yu was violent and strong and re-enfeoffed kings and marquises, and so the world belonged solely to Chu. In the very month it belonged to Chu, Han had already begun its enterprise south of the mountains, rose from the Three Qin, and pursued Xiang Yu east of the mountains; so the world belonged solely to Han, and that was Heaven." "Humans." Yang Xiong said: "Combining ability, honoring adaptability, having calculations on every side, acting carefully in keeping with the times: that is human effort. Heaven without humans has nothing to rely on; humans without Heaven cannot accomplish anything."

或問：「楚敗垓下，方死，曰：『天也。』諒乎？」曰：「漢屈群策，群策屈群力。楚憞群策而自屈其力。屈人者克，自屈者負。天曷故焉？」

Someone asked: "When Chu was defeated at Gaixia, as he was about to die he said: 'It is Heaven.' Was he right?" Yang Xiong said: "Han made the multitude of plans submit, and the multitude of plans made the multitude of forces submit. Chu loathed the multitude of plans and so made its own strength submit. One who makes others submit wins, and one who makes himself submit loses. What has Heaven got to do with it?"

或問：「秦、楚既為天典命矣，秦縊灞上，楚分江西，興廢何速乎？」曰：「天胙光德而隕明忒。昔在有熊、高陽、高辛、唐、虞、三代，鹹有顯懿，故天胙之，為神明主，且著在天庭，是生民之願也，厥饗國久長。若秦、楚彊鬩震撲，胎藉三正，播其虐於黎苗，子弟且欲喪之，況於民乎？況於鬼神乎？廢未速也！」

Someone asked: "Since Qin and Chu had both been given the mandate by Heaven, Qin hanged itself at Bashang and Chu was divided west of the river; why was their rise and fall so swift?" Yang Xiong said: "Heaven blesses bright virtue and brings down clear errors. In the past, the lords of Youxiong, Gaoyang, Gaoxin, Tang, Yu and the Three Dynasties all had conspicuous fine virtue, and so Heaven blessed them to be lords of the spirits and wrote this up in the court of Heaven, which was the wish of the living people, and so they held their states long. As for Qin and Chu, they fought each other violently, striking and striking back, trampling the three correct principles, and spreading cruelty to the common people and their descendants; even their own sons and brothers wanted them to perish, so how much more the common people? How much more the spirits? Their abolition was not even swift enough!"

或問：「仲尼大聖，則天曷不胙？」曰：「無土。」「然則舜、禹有土乎？」曰：「舜以堯作土，禹以舜作土。」

Someone asked: "Confucius was a great sage; why did Heaven not bless him?" Yang Xiong said: "He had no land." "Then did Shun and Yu have land?" Yang Xiong said: "Shun took Yao as his land, and Yu took Shun as his land."

或問「聖人表裡」。曰：「威儀文辭，表也；德行忠信，裡也。」

Someone asked about "the outside and inside of the sage." Yang Xiong said: "Dignified bearing and refined language are the outside; virtuous conduct, loyalty and trustworthiness are the inside."

或問：「義帝初矯，劉龕南陽，項救河北。二方分崩，一離一合。設秦得人，如何？」曰：「人無為秦也，喪其靈久矣。」

Someone asked: "When the Righteous Emperor was newly honored and enthroned, Liu Bang took Nanyang and Xiang Yu relieved the north of the river. The two sides split apart, one separating and one joining. If Qin had gained talented men, what would have happened?" Yang Xiong said: "People would no longer have served Qin; Qin had lost its spirits long since."

韓信、黥布皆劒立，南面稱孤，卒窮時戮，無乃勿乎？或曰：「勿則無名，如何？」曰：「名者，謂令名也。忠不終而躬逆，焉攸令？」

Han Xin and Ying Bu both took their swords and made themselves independent, facing south and calling themselves lords, and in the end were put to death in their time; were they not muddled? Someone said: "If one is muddled, one has no name; so what then?" Yang Xiong said: "By 'name' I mean a good name. Loyalty that could not be carried through to the end and then turning rebel oneself, how can one speak of any good in that?"

或問「淳于越」。曰：「伎曲。」「請問。」曰：「始皇方虎挒而梟磔，噬士猶臘肉也。越與亢眉，終無撓辭，可謂伎矣。仕無妄之國，食無妄之粟，分無妄之橈，自令之間而不違，可謂曲矣。」

Someone asked about "Chunyu Yue." Yang Xiong said: "Upright and yet bending." "Please say more." Yang Xiong said: "The First Emperor was exactly like a tiger pouncing or an owl tearing, biting at scholars as if eating dried meat. Chunyu Yue faced him brow to brow and never yielded; he can be called upright. Serving in an unfathomable state, eating unfathomable grain, sharing in unfathomable crookedness, placing himself in the gaps and yet not leaving: he can be called bending."

或問：「茅焦歷井幹之死，使始皇奉虛左之乘。蔡生欲安項鹹陽，不能移，又亨之，其者未辯與？」曰：「生捨其木侯而謂人木侯，亨不亦宜乎？焦逆訐而順守之，雖辯，劘虎牙矣。」

Someone asked: "Mao Jiao, having lived through a row of people killed like the rim of a well, still got the First Emperor to leave the left seat of his carriage empty to welcome the Empress Dowager. Cai Sheng wanted Xiang Yu to make Xianyang his capital, could not move him, and was boiled alive; was it perhaps that he was not a good debater?" Yang Xiong said: "Cai Sheng threw away his own puppet and called others puppets; was being boiled not just right for him? Mao Jiao went against the grain to expose the faults, but followed along to hold his ground; even if he was a good debater, he was sharpening a tiger's teeth."

或問：「甘羅之悟呂不韋，張闢彊之覺平、勃，皆以十二齡，戊、良乎？」曰：「才也戊、良，不必父祖。」

Someone asked: "Gan Luo enlightened Lü Buwei, and Zhang Pijiang reminded Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, both at the age of twelve; are they of the same kind as Xiang Tuo and Zhang Liang?" Yang Xiong said: "If one's ability is like Xiang Tuo and Zhang Liang, one does not need to rely on one's father or grandfather."

或問：「酈食其說陳留，下敖倉；說齊，罷歷下軍，何辯也？韓信襲齊，以身脂鼎，何訥也？」曰：「夫辯也者，自辯也。如辯人，幾矣！」

Someone asked: "Li Yiji persuaded Chenliu and took the Ao granary; he persuaded Qi and had the garrison at Lixia withdrawn; how skilled a debater he was! Han Xin attacked Qi, and Li Yiji himself became grease in the cauldron; how tongue-tied he then was!" Yang Xiong said: "What is called debate is debating oneself. If one debates others, it is dangerous!"

或問：「蒯通抵韓信，不能下，又狂之。」曰：「方遭信閉，如其抵！」曰：「巇可抵乎？」曰：「賢者司禮，小人司巇，況拊鍵乎？」

Someone asked: "Kuai Tong looked for an opening to persuade Han Xin, could not convince him, and then feigned madness." Yang Xiong said: "He happened upon Han Xin shutting him out; what use is looking for an opening!" Asked: "Can one find an opening?" Yang Xiong said: "The worthy keep ritual, and petty people keep to the gaps; and what of one who is also holding the door bar?"

或問：「李斯盡忠，胡亥極刑，忠乎？」曰：「斯以留客至作相，用狂人之言，從浮大海，立趙高之邪說，廢沙丘之正，阿意督責，焉用忠？」「霍？」曰：「始元之初，擁少帝之微，摧燕、上官之鋒，處廢興之分，堂堂乎忠，難矣哉！至顯，不終矣。」

Someone asked: "Li Si was loyal to the end, and Huhai put him to a cruel death; was that loyalty?" Yang Xiong said: "Li Si rose from being a retained guest-minister to chancellor, listened to the words of a madman, went along to cross the great sea, set up Zhao Gao's heterodox doctrine, abolished the rightful mandate at Shaqiu, and flattered and urged; what need is there for loyalty?" "What about Huo Guang?" Yang Xiong said: "In the early Shiyuan years, he protected the young emperor, blunted the edge of the Prince of Yan and of Shangguan, and stood at the juncture of abolition and revival; such grand loyalty is difficult! By the time of Huo Xian, it could not be carried through to the end."

或問：「馮唐面文帝得廉頗、李牧不能用也，諒乎？」曰：「彼將有激也。親屈帝尊，信亞夫之軍，至頗、牧，曷不用哉？」「德？」曰：「罪不孥，宮不女，館不新，陵不墳。」

Someone asked: "Feng Tang told Emperor Wen to his face that even if he had Lian Po and Li Mu he could not use them; was he right?" Yang Xiong said: "He wished to stir him. Emperor Wen could personally condescend and trusted the camp of Zhou Yafu; as for Lian Po and Li Mu, how would he not have used them?" "And Emperor Wen's virtue?" Yang Xiong said: "Crimes did not extend to descendants, the palace was not crowded with women, lodgings did not seek novelty, and tombs were not heaped into high mounds."

或問「交」。曰：「仁。」問「餘、耳」。曰：「光初。」「竇、灌」。曰：「兇終。」

Someone asked about "friendship." Yang Xiong said: "Humaneness." Asked about "Chen Yu and Zhang Er." Yang Xiong said: "Bright at the start." "Dou Ying and Guan Fu." Yang Xiong said: "Dire at the end."

或問「信」。曰：「不食其言。」「請人。」曰：「晉荀息、趙程嬰、公子杵臼，秦大夫鑿穆公之側。」問「義」。曰：「事得其宜之謂義。」

Someone asked about "trustworthiness." Yang Xiong said: "Not swallowing one's own words." "Please give examples." Yang Xiong said: "Xun Xi of Jin, Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu of Zhao, and the grandees of Qin who died beside Duke Mu." Asked about "righteousness." Yang Xiong said: "When a matter gets the appropriateness it should have, that is righteousness."

或問：「季布忍焉，可為也？」曰：「能者為之，明哲不為也。」或曰：「當布之急，雖明哲之如何？」曰：「明哲不終項仕。如終項仕，焉攸避？」

Someone asked: "Ji Bu could endure; can one learn from him?" Yang Xiong said: "Those with ability do it; the wise do not." Someone said: "When Ji Bu was in danger, what could even a wise man have done?" Yang Xiong said: "A wise man would not have gone on serving in Xiang Yu's office to the end. If he had served in Xiang Yu's office to the end, where could he have hidden?"

或問「賢」。曰：「為人所不能。」「請人。」曰：「顏淵、黔婁、四皓、韋玄。」問「長者」。曰：「藺相如申秦而屈廉頗，欒布之不倍，朱家之不德，直不疑之不校，韓安國之通使。」

Someone asked about "the worthy." Yang Xiong said: "One who does what others cannot do." "Please give examples." Yang Xiong said: "Yan Yuan, Qian Lou, the Four Hoary Elders and Wei Xuancheng." Asked about "elders of good character." Yang Xiong said: "Lin Xiangru, who was firm toward Qin but yielding to Lian Po; Luan Bu, who did not abandon Peng Yue; Zhu Jia, who did not claim to have virtue; Zhi Buyi, who did not quarrel with people; and Han Anguo, who smoothed relations between people."

或問「臣自得」。曰：「石太僕之對，金將軍之謹，張衛將軍之慎，丙大夫之不伐善。」「請問臣自失。」曰：「李貳師之執貳，田祁連之濫帥，韓馮翊之愬蕭，趙京兆之犯魏。」

Someone asked about "what ministers have gained by themselves." Yang Xiong said: "The replies of the Grand Coachman Shi, the caution of General Jin, the prudence of General Zhang Wei, and Grandee Bing, who did not boast of his own merits." "May I ask about what ministers have lost by themselves." Yang Xiong said: "Li Ershi's harboring of divided loyalties, Tian Qilian's excess in being commander, Han Fengyi's false accusation of Xiao Wangzhi, and Zhao Jingzhao's offense against Wei Xiang."

或問「持滿」。曰：「扼欹。」

Someone asked about "keeping what is full." Yang Xiong said: "Steady the tilting vessel."

揚王孫倮葬以矯世。曰：「矯世以禮，倮乎？如矯世，則葛溝尚矣。」

Yang Wangsun was buried naked in order to correct the customs of his time. Yang Xiong said: "To correct the customs one should use ritual; is it naked burial? If one wanted to correct the customs, wrapping the body in kudzu cloth and throwing it into a ditch would be even earlier."

或問「《周官》」。曰：「立事。」「《左氏》」。曰：「品藻。」「太史遷。」曰：「實錄。」

Someone asked about the "Rites of Zhou." Yang Xiong said: "It sets up official duties." "The Zuo Commentary." Yang Xiong said: "It appraises and embellishes." "The Grand Historian Qian." Yang Xiong said: "He records according to the facts."