Chuan Xi Lu (傳習錄) · Volume 2
○問，「『析之有以極其精而不亂，然後合之有以盡其大而無餘』。此言如何」？先生曰，「恐亦未盡。此理豈容分析？又何須湊合得？聖人說精一，自是盡」。
Someone asked: "'Analyze it so as to reach its utmost refinement without confusion, and then combine it so as to exhaust its greatness without remainder.' What do you say to this?" The Master said: "Perhaps this too is not complete. How can this principle be analyzed? And what need is there to piece it together? When the sage speaks of refinement and unity, it is naturally exhausted."
○省察是有事時存養，存養是無事時省察。
Self-examination is nourishing the mind when there is something to do, and nourishing the mind is self-examination when there is nothing to do.
○澄嘗問象山在人情事變上做工夫之說。先生曰，「除了人情事變，則無事矣。喜怒哀樂非人情乎？自視聽言動以至富貴貧賤患難死生，皆事變也。事變亦只在人情裡。其要只在致中和。致中和只在謹獨」。
Lu Cheng once asked about Xiangshan's (Lu Jiuyuan's) teaching on working in human feelings and the changes of affairs. The Master said: "Apart from human feelings and the changes of affairs, there is nothing to do. Are joy, anger, sorrow and delight not human feelings? From seeing, hearing, speaking and moving to wealth, honor, poverty, lowliness, hardship, death and life, all are changes of affairs. And the changes of affairs are also only within human feelings. The essential is only to reach centrality and harmony. Reaching centrality and harmony lies only in being watchful over oneself when alone."
○澄問，「仁義禮智之名，因已發而有」。曰，「然」。他日澄曰，「惻隱羞惡辭讓是非，是性之表德邪」？曰，「仁義禮智也是表德。性一而已。自其形體也，謂之天。主宰也，市之帝。流行也，謂之命。賦於人也，謂之性。主於身也，謂之心。心之發也，遇父便謂之孝，遇君便謂之忠。自此以往，名至於無窮，只一性而已。猶人一而已。對父謂之子，對子謂之父。自此以往，至於無窮，只一人而已。人只要在性上用功。看得一性字分明，即萬理燦然」。
Lu Cheng asked: "The names of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom exist because of what has been manifested." The Master said: "Right." Another day Lu Cheng said: "Are compassion, shame, deference and the sense of right and wrong the manifested virtues of nature?" The Master said: "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are also manifested virtues. Nature is only one. In terms of its form it is called Heaven; as ruler it is called the Lord; as flowing it is called the mandate; as bestowed on humans it is called nature; as master of the body it is called mind. When the mind functions, toward a father it is called filial piety, toward a ruler it is called loyalty. From here onward the names are endless, but it is only one nature. Just as a person is only one: toward a father he is called son, toward a son he is called father. From here onward, to endless extent, it is only one person. A person need only apply effort to nature. When one sees the one word 'nature' clearly, the myriad principles shine out."
○一日論為學工夫。先生曰，「教人為學不可執一偏。初學時心猿意馬，拴縛不定。其所思慮多是人慾一邊。故且教之靜坐息思慮。久之，俟其心意稍定。只懸空靜守，如槁木死灰，亦無用。須教他省察克治。省察克治之功，則無時而可間。如去盜賊，須有個掃除廓清之意。無事時，將好色好貨好名等私，逐一追究搜尋出來。定要拔去病根，永不復起，方始為快。常如貓之捕鼠。一眼看著，一耳聽著。才有一念萌動，即與克去。斬釘截鐵，不可姑容與他方便。不可窩藏。不可放他出路。方是真實用功。方能掃除廓清。到得無私可克，自有端拱時在。雖曰『何思何慮』，非初學時事。初學必須思省察克治。即是思誠。只思一個天理。到得天理純全，便是何思何慮矣」。
One day the discussion was on the work of learning. The Master said: "In teaching people to learn one must not cling to one side. When one first begins to learn, the mind is a monkey and the thoughts are a horse, tethered but unsettled, and what one thinks about is mostly on the side of human desire, so for now one is taught to sit quietly and rest thought. After a long time, when the mind has become somewhat steady, merely holding still in empty quiet, like dry wood and dead ashes, is of no use. One must be taught self-examination and self-conquest. The work of self-examination and self-conquest must never be interrupted. It is like getting rid of thieves: one must have the idea of sweeping out and clearing. When there is nothing going on, one should hunt out and search for private desires such as love of beauty, love of goods and love of fame one by one, and one must pull out the root of the illness so that it never rises again, and only then is it satisfying. Be always like a cat catching a mouse, with one eye watching and one ear listening, so that as soon as a thought stirs one conquers it at once. Cut through like a nail and a bar of iron: do not tolerate it or give it convenience, do not harbor it, do not let it find a way out. Only then is it real effort, only then can one sweep clean. When there is no private desire left to conquer, naturally there is a time of upright, folded-hands calm. Though it is said 'What is there to think, what is there to ponder,' that is not the matter of a beginner. A beginner must think, examine and conquer himself, which is thinking sincerity. He thinks only of one thing, heavenly principle. When heavenly principle is pure and whole, that is 'what is there to think, what is there to ponder.'"
○澄問，「有人夜怕鬼者奈何」？先生曰，「只是平日不能集義而心有所慊，故怕。若素行合於神明，何怕之有」？子莘曰，「正直之鬼不須怕。恐邪鬼不管人善惡，故未免怕」。先生曰，「豈有邪鬼能迷正人乎？只此一怕即是心邪。故有迷之者。非鬼迷也，心自迷耳。如人好色，即是色鬼迷。好貨，即是貨鬼迷。怒所不當怒，是怒鬼迷。懼所不當懼，是懼鬼迷也」。
Lu Cheng asked: "What should one do about fearing ghosts at night?" The Master said: "It is only that in ordinary times one has not accumulated righteousness and feels something lacking in the mind, and so one fears. If one's usual conduct accords with the spirits, what is there to fear?" Zishen said: "One need not fear upright ghosts. I fear that evil ghosts do not care whether a person is good or bad, so fear is hard to avoid." The Master said: "How can an evil ghost confuse an upright person? This very fear is the mind's evil, which is why there is something to confuse him. It is not a ghost that confuses him; it is the mind confusing itself. For instance, if a man loves beauty, a ghost of beauty confuses him; if he loves goods, a ghost of goods confuses him; if he is angry where he should not be, a ghost of anger confuses him; if he fears where he should not, a ghost of fear confuses him."
○定者心之本體。天理也。動靜所遇之時也。
Stillness is the original substance of the mind, which is heavenly principle. Movement and quiet are the times one encounters.
○澄問學庸同異。先生曰，「子思括大學一書之義為中庸首章」。
Lu Cheng asked about the similarities and differences between the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. The Master said: "Zisi summarized the meaning of the Great Learning and made it the first chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean."
○問，「孔子正名。先儒說上告天子，下告方伯。廢輒立郢。此意如何」？先生曰，「恐難如此。豈有一人致敬盡禮，待我而為政，我就先去廢他，豈人情天理？孔子既肯與輒為政，必已是他能傾心委國而聽。聖人盛德至誠，必已感化衛輒。使知無父之不可以為人。必將痛哭奔走，往迎其父。父子之愛本於天性。輒能悔痛真切如此，蒯聵豈不感動底豫？蒯聵既還，輒乃致國詩戮。聵已見化於子，又有夫子至誠調和其間，當亦決不肯受。仍以命輒。群臣百姓又必欲得輒為君。輒乃自暴其罪惡。請於天子，告於方伯諸侯。而必欲致國於父。聵與群臣臣姓，亦皆表輒悔悟仁孝之美，請於天子，告於力伯諸戾。必欲得輒而為之君。於是集命於輒。使之復君衛國。輒不得已，乃如後世上皇故事。率群臣百姓尊聵為太公。備物致養。而始退復其位焉。則君君臣臣父父子子，名正言順。一舉而可為政於天下矣。孔子正名或是如此」。
Someone asked: "Confucius rectified names. Earlier Confucians said he reported above to the Son of Heaven and below to the regional lords, to depose Zhe and set up Ying. What do you think this means?" The Master said: "I fear it cannot be so. How could there be a man who shows complete respect and courtesy, who waits for me to take up his government, and I first go and depose him? What kind of human feeling or heavenly principle is that? Since Confucius was willing to govern for Zhe, Zhe must already have been able to entrust the affairs of state to him with his whole heart and listen to him. With his abundant virtue and utmost sincerity, the sage must already have moved and transformed Zhe of Wei, making him know that one without a father cannot be a person, and Zhe would surely weep bitterly and hurry to welcome his father. The love between father and son is rooted in nature. Zhe, repenting so sincerely, would Kuaikui not be moved and pleased? Once Kuaikui returned, Zhe would hand over the state and ask to be put to death. Kuaikui, already transformed by his son and with the Master's utmost sincerity mediating between them, would surely never accept, and would give the state's mandate back to Zhe. The ministers and common people would also surely wish Zhe to be their ruler. Zhe would then expose his own crimes, ask the Son of Heaven, report to the regional lords, and insist on giving the state to his father. Kuaikui and the ministers and people would likewise praise the beauty of Zhe's repentance, benevolence and filial piety, ask the Son of Heaven, report to the regional lords, and insist that Zhe be their ruler. So the mandate would be gathered on Zhe, making him rule Wei again. Zhe, having no choice, would, like the later story of the Retired Emperor, lead the ministers and people to honor Kuaikui as Grand Duke, provide him with all things and nourish him, and only then withdraw and resume his own place. Then ruler would be ruler, minister minister, father father and son son, names would be correct and speech in accord, and in one stroke he could govern the world. This is perhaps how Confucius would have rectified names."
○澄在鴻臚寺倉居。忽家信至，言兒病危。澄心甚憂悶不能堪。先生曰，「此時正宜用助。若此時放過，閒時講學何用？人正要在此時磨鍊？父之愛子，自是至情。然天理亦自有個中和處。過即是私意。人於此處多認做天理當憂，則一向憂苦，不知己，是『有所憂患，不得其正』。大抵七情所感，多隻是過，少不及者。才過便非心之本體。必須調停適中始得。就如父母之喪。人子豈不欲一哭便死，方快於心？然卻曰『毀不滅性』。非聖人強制之也。天理本體，自有分限。不可過也。人但要識得心體，自然增減分毫不得」。
Lu Cheng was staying at the granary of the Court of State Ceremonial when suddenly a letter from home arrived saying his son was gravely ill. Lu Cheng was deeply distressed and could not bear it. The Master said: "This is just the time to apply effort. If you let this time pass, what use is lecturing on learning at leisure? A person needs to be tempered precisely at such a time. A father's love for his son is of course the deepest feeling. Yet heavenly principle also has its place of centrality and harmony, and beyond it is private will. In such a moment people mostly take it as heavenly principle that one ought to grieve, and so they go on grieving, not knowing that they have already fallen into 'having something to be anxious about and failing to be correct.' In general, when the seven feelings are stirred, it is mostly excess, seldom falling short. As soon as there is excess it is no longer the original substance of the mind, and one must adjust it to be moderate. Take mourning for one's parents. How could a son not wish to weep until he died, which would satisfy his heart? Yet it is said 'let grief not destroy the nature.' It is not that the sage forces him. The original substance of heavenly principle has its own limits and cannot be exceeded. One only needs to recognize the substance of the mind, and naturally one cannot add or subtract a hair's breadth."
○不可謂未發之中常人俱有。蓋體用一源。有是體，即有是用。有未發之中，即有發而皆中節之和。今人未能有發而皆中節之和。須知是他未發之中亦未能全得。
One cannot say that ordinary people all have the centrality of the unmanifested. Because substance and function have one source. If there is this substance, there is this function. If there is the centrality of the unmanifested, there is the harmony in which all manifestations hit the measure. People today cannot yet have the harmony in which all manifestations hit the measure; one should know that they cannot yet fully have the centrality of the unmanifested either.
○易之辭是「初九潛龍勿用」六字。易之象是初晝。易之變是值其晝。易之占是用其辭。
The text of the Changes is the six characters of "The hidden dragon: do not act." The image of the Changes is the first line. The change of the Changes is just when the line comes up. The divination of the Changes is using its text.
○夜氣是就常人說。學者能用功，則日間有事無事，皆是此氣翕聚發生處。聖人則不消說夜氣。
The night qi is spoken of with ordinary people in mind. If a learner can apply effort, then in the daytime, whether there is business or not, this is where this qi gathers and arises. As for the sage, there is no need to speak of night qi.
○澄問操存舍亡章。曰，「『出入無時，莫知其鄉』。此雖就常人心說。學者亦須是知得心之本體，亦元是如此。則操存功夫，始沒病痛。不可便謂出為亡人為存。若論本體，元是無出無入的。若論出入，則其思慮運用是出。然主宰常昭昭在此，何出之有？既無所出，何人之有？程子所謂腔子，亦只是天理而已。雖終日應酬，而不出天理，即是在腔子裡。若出天理，斯謂之放，斯謂之亡」。又曰，「出入亦只是動靜。動靜無端。豈有鄉邪」？
Lu Cheng asked about the chapter on holding fast and losing. The Master said: "'It goes out and comes in at no fixed time; no one knows its abode.' Though this is said with the ordinary person's mind in view, learners too must know that the original substance of the mind is also like this, and then the work of holding fast will have no fault. One must not take going out to be losing and coming in to be preserving. If one speaks of the original substance, originally it neither goes out nor comes in. If one speaks of going out and coming in, then the activity of thought and use is going out. Yet the master is always clearly here; what is going out? Since there is nothing going out, what is coming in? What Master Cheng called the 'inside of the chest' is only heavenly principle. Even if one deals with affairs all day without leaving heavenly principle, that is being inside the chest. If one leaves heavenly principle, this is called letting go, this is called losing." He also said: "Going out and coming in are only movement and stillness. Movement and stillness have no beginning or thread; where is there an abode?"
○王嘉秀問，「佛以出離生死誘人入道。仙以長生久視誘人入道。其心亦不是要人做不好。究其極至，亦是貝得聖人上一截。然非人道正路。如今仕者，有由科，有由貢，有由傳奉一般做到大官。畢竟非人仕正路，君子不由也。仙佛到極處，與儒者略同。但有了上一截，遺了下一截。終不似聖人之全。然其上一截同者，不可誣也。後世儒者又只得聖人下一截。分裂失真。流而為記誦，詞章，功利，訓詀。亦卒不免為異端。是四冢者，終身勞苦於身心。無分毫益。祝彼仙佛之徒，清心寡慾，超然於世累之外者，反若有所不及矣。今學者不必先排仙佛。且當篤志為聖人之學。聖人之學明，則仙佛自泯。不然，則此之所學，恐彼或有不屑。而反欲其俯就，不亦難乎？鄙見如此。先生以為何如」？先生曰，「所論大略亦是。但謂上一截，下一截，亦是人見偏了如此。若論聖人大中至正之道，徹上徹下。只是一貫。更有甚上一截，下一截？『「陰一陽之謂道但仁者見之便謂之仁。知者見之便謂之智。百姓又曰用而不知。故君子之道鮮矣』。仁智豈可不謂之道？但見得偏了，便有弊病」。
Wang Jiaxiu asked: "The Buddhists lure people into the Way with escape from birth and death, and the Taoists lure people into the Way with long life and long vision. Their intentions are also not to make people do wrong. At the utmost, they too have seen the upper section of the sage. But it is not the correct road of the human Way. Take officials today: some come through the examinations, some through tribute recommendation, some through court appointment, and all alike may become high officials, but after all this is not the correct road into service, and the gentleman does not take it. At their furthest reach, the Taoists and Buddhists are roughly the same as the Confucians. But having the upper section and losing the lower, they in the end do not resemble the sage's wholeness. Yet where their upper section agrees, it cannot be denied. Later Confucians again obtained only the lower section of the sage, split and lost the truth, and flowed into memorization, rhetoric, utility and philology, and could not in the end avoid being heterodox. These four schools toil in body and mind all their lives and gain not a bit. Looking at the Taoist and Buddhist followers, who clear their minds, reduce desire and rise above worldly entanglements, they seem on the contrary to be lacking in nothing. Learners now need not first reject Buddhism and Taoism, but should earnestly set their aim on the learning of the sage. When the learning of the sage is clear, Buddhism and Taoism will naturally vanish. Otherwise, what we learn here may be disdained over there, and wishing them to stoop to us is also hard, is it not? That is my humble view. What does the Master think?" The Master said: "What you say is roughly right. But to speak of an upper section and a lower section is itself a one-sided view. If we speak of the sage's Way of great centrality and perfect uprightness, it penetrates above and below and is only one thread; what upper and lower sections are there? 'One yin and one yang is called the Way. The benevolent see it and call it benevolence, the wise see it and call it wisdom, and the common people use it daily without knowing it, so the way of the gentleman is rarely seen.' Can benevolence and wisdom not be called the Way? But when seen one-sidedly there is a defect."
○蓍固是易。龜亦是易。
Yarrow stalks are of course the Changes, and tortoise shells are also the Changes.
○問，「孔子謂武王未盡善，恐亦有不滿意」。先生曰，「在武王自合如此」。曰，「使文王未沒，畢竟如何」？曰，「文王在時，天下三分已有其二。若到武王伐商之時，文王若在，或者不致興兵。必然這一分亦來歸了文王。只善處籿，使不得縱惡而已」。
Someone asked: "Confucius said that King Wu was not wholly good; probably there was also some dissatisfaction." The Master said: "In King Wu's own case this was just as it should be." Asked: "Supposing King Wen had not died, what would have happened in the end?" The Master said: "When King Wen was alive, he already held two thirds of the world. When it came to the time King Wu attacked Shang, if King Wen had been alive, he might not have raised troops, and surely the remaining third would also have come to King Wen. He would only have dealt with Zhou well, so that he could not indulge in evil."
○問，「孟於言『執中無權猶執一』」。先生曰，「中只有天理，只是易。隨時變易，如何執得？須是因時制宜。難預先定一個規矩在。如後世儒者要將道理一一說得無罅漏。立定個格式。此正是執一」。
Asked: "Mencius said, 'To hold the center without weighing circumstances is like holding to one thing.'" The Master said: "The center is only heavenly principle, only change. It changes with the times; how can one hold to it? One must adapt to the time, and it is hard to fix a rule in advance. Later Confucians want to explain principles one by one with no gaps and set up a pattern. This is exactly holding to one thing."
○唐詡問，「立志是常存個善念要為善去惡否」？曰，「善念存時，即是天理。此念即更思何善？此念非惡，更去何惡？此念如樹之根芽。立志者長立此善念而已。『從心所欲。不踰矩』，只是志到熟處」。
Tang Xu asked: "Is setting one's aim constantly keeping a good thought, and wishing to do good and remove evil?" The Master said: "When a good thought is kept, that is heavenly principle. If this thought is already present, what more good is there to think? If this thought is not evil, what evil is there to remove? This thought is like the root and sprout of a tree. One who sets his aim only constantly establishes this good thought. 'Following what the heart desires without overstepping the rule' is only the aim brought to ripeness."
○精神，道德，言動，大率收斂為主。發散是不得已。天地人物皆然。
In spirit, morality, speech and action, the main thing is generally to draw in and gather. Spreading out is only when unavoidable. Heaven, earth, humans and things are all like this.
○問，「文中子是如何人」？先生曰，「文中子庶幾『具體而微』。惜其蚤死」。問，「如何卻有續經之非」？曰，「續經亦未可盡非」。請問。良久，曰，「更覺『良工心獨苦』」。
Asked: "What kind of man was Wenzhongzi?" The Master said: "Wenzhongzi was almost 'complete in all respects though in miniature,' a pity that he died early." Asked: "Why then is his continuation of the Classics wrong?" The Master said: "The continuation of the Classics too cannot be wholly rejected." He was asked to explain. After a long while he said: "I feel even more that 'the skilled craftsman's heart toils alone.'"
○許魯齋謂儒者以。治生為先之說亦誤人。
Xu Luzhai (Xu Heng) said that Confucians should put managing a livelihood first, and this saying also misleads people.
○問仙家元氣，元神，元精。先生曰，「只是一件。流行為氣。凝聚為精。妙用為神」。
Asked about the Taoist original qi, original spirit and original essence. The Master said: "They are only one thing. Flowing it is qi, condensed it is essence, and wonderfully functioning it is spirit."
○喜怒哀樂，本體自是中和的。才自家看些意思，便過不及，便是私。
Joy, anger, sorrow and delight, in their original substance, are naturally central and harmonious. As soon as one adds some personal intent, there is excess or shortfall, and that is selfishness.
○問，「哭則不歌」。先生曰，「聖人心體自然如此」。
Asked: "When one weeps one does not sing." The Master said: "The mind-substance of the sage is naturally so."
○克己須要掃除廓清，一毫不存方是。有一毫在，則眾惡相引而來。
Overcoming the self must be a sweeping out and clearing away, and only when not a hair remains is it right. If a hair remains, then a host of evils are drawn in.
○問律呂新書，先生曰，「學者當務為急。算得此數熟，亦恐未有用。必須心中先具禮樂之本方可。且如其書說，冬用管以候氣。然至冬至那一刻時，管灰之飛，或有先後須臾之間。焉知那管正值冬至之刻？須自心中先曉得冬至之刻始得。此便有不通處。學者須先從禮樂本原上用功」。
Asked about the New Book of Pitch-pipes. The Master said: "Learners should do what is urgent and needs doing. To master these numbers and calculations is probably also of no use. One must first have the root of rites and music in the mind. As that book says, in winter one uses pipes to detect the qi. But at the moment of the winter solstice, the flying of the pipe ashes may come a little earlier or later. How can one know the pipe is at the moment of the winter solstice? One must first know the moment of the winter solstice in one's own mind. This is where it breaks down. Learners must first apply effort to the root source of rites and music."
○曰仁云，「心猶鏡也。聖人心如明鏡。常人心如昏鏡。近世格物之說，如以鏡照物，照上用功。不知鏡尚昏在，何能照？先生之格物，如磨鏡而使之明。磨上用功。明瞭後亦未嘗廢照」。
Xu Ai (Renri) said: "The mind is like a mirror. The sage's mind is like a bright mirror, the ordinary person's mind is like a clouded mirror. The recent doctrine of the investigation of things is like using a mirror to illuminate things, applying effort to the illuminating. It does not know that the mirror is still clouded; how can it illuminate? The Master's investigation of things is like polishing the mirror to make it bright, applying effort to the polishing. After it is bright, illumination has never been abandoned."
○問道之精粗。先生曰，「道無精粗。人之所貝有精粗。如這一間房。人初進來，只貝一個大規模如此。處久便柱壁之類，一一看得明白。再久，如柱上有些文藻，細細都看出來。然只是一間房」。
Asked about the fineness and coarseness of the Way. The Master said: "The Way has no fineness or coarseness. Only what people see has fineness and coarseness. Take this room: when a person first comes in, he sees only a large layout like this. After staying a while, he sees the pillars and walls and so on clearly one by one. After longer still, if there is some pattern on a pillar, he sees it in detail. Yet it is only one room."
○先生曰，「諸公近見時，少疑問。何也？人不用力，莫不自以為己知。為學只循而行之是矣。殊不知私慾日生。如地上塵一日不掃，便又有一層。看實用功，便見道無終窮。愈探愈深。必使精白無一毫不徹方可」。
The Master said: "Gentlemen, when you meet me lately, you have few questions. Why? When people do not put in effort, there is none who does not think he already knows. They think learning is just following and doing. They do not realize that private desires grow day by day, like dust on the ground, which if not swept for one day has another layer. When one truly applies effort, one sees that the Way has no end, and the more one probes the deeper it is. One must make it pure and white until there is not a hair that is not penetrated, and only then is it enough."
○問，「知至然後可以言誠意。今天理人慾知之未盡，如何用得克己工夫」？先生曰，「人若真宣切己用功不已，則於此心天理之精微，日見一日。私慾之細微，亦日見一日。若不用克己工夫，終日只是說話而已。天理格不自見，私慾亦胳不自貝。如人走路一般。走得一段，方認得一段。走到歧路處，有疑便問。問了又走。方漸能到得欲到之處。今人於己知之天理不肯存。己知之人慾不肯去。且只管愁不能盡知。只管閒講。何益之有？巨待克得自己無私可克，方愁不能盡知，亦未遲在」。
Asked: "Only when knowledge has been reached can one speak of making the will sincere. Now if we do not fully know heavenly principle and human desire, how can we use the work of overcoming the self?" The Master said: "If a person truly and earnestly applies effort ceaselessly on himself, then of the subtlety of heavenly principle in this mind he sees more each day, and of the fineness of private desire he also sees more each day. If one does not use the work of overcoming the self, one only talks all day. Heavenly principle can never show itself, and private desire can never show itself either. It is like walking a road: only after walking a stretch does one recognize that stretch. When one reaches a fork, if in doubt one asks, and after asking one walks on, and gradually one can reach the place one wants to reach. Today people are unwilling to keep the heavenly principle they already know or remove the human desire they already know, and just worry that they cannot know everything and just talk idly; what benefit is there? Wait until one has overcome oneself so that there is no private desire left to conquer, and then worry that one cannot fully know; it is not too late."
○問，「道一而已。古人論道往往不同。求之亦有要乎」？先生曰，「道無方體。不可執著。卻拘滯於文義上求道遠矣。如今人只說天。其實何嘗見天？謂日月風雷即天，不可。謂人物草木不是天，亦不可。道鄎是天。若識得時，何莫而非道？人但各以其一隅之見，認定以為道止如此，所以不同。若解向裡尋求，見得自己心體，即無時無處不是此道。旦古一旦今。無終無始。更有甚同異？心即道。道即天。知心則知道知天」。又曰，「諸君要實見此道，須從自己心上體認，不假外求始得」。
Asked: "The Way is only one, yet the ancients often spoke of the Way differently. Is there also an essential key in seeking it?" The Master said: "The Way has no direction, place or form, and cannot be clung to. If one is bound to the literal meaning of the text in seeking the Way, it is far off. Today people only speak of Heaven, but when have they really seen Heaven? To say that sun, moon, wind and thunder are Heaven is wrong; to say that people, things, grass and trees are not Heaven is also wrong. The Way is Heaven. If one recognizes it, where is it not the Way? People each take their own corner of understanding and decide that the Way ends there, and so they differ. If one knows to look inward and sees one's own mind-substance, then at no time and place is it not this Way. From ancient times to now, with no end and no beginning, what sameness or difference is there? Mind is the Way, and the Way is Heaven. To know the mind is to know the Way and know Heaven." He also said: "If you gentlemen wish to truly see this Way, you must recognize it in your own mind and not seek it from outside."
○問，「名物度數。亦須先講求否」？先生曰，「人只要成就自家心體，則用在其中。如養得心體果有未發之中，自然有發而中節之和。自然無施不可。茍無是心，雖預先講得世上許多名物度數，與己原不相干。只是裝綴臨時，自行不去。亦不是將名物度數全然不理。只要『知所先後，則近道』」。又曰，「人要隨才成就，才是其所能為。如夔之樂，稷之種。是他資性合下便如此。成就之者，亦只是要他心體純乎天理。其運用處，皆從天理上發來，然後謂之才。到得純乎天理處，亦能不器。使薆稷易藝而為，當亦能之」。又曰，「如『素富貴，行乎富貴。素患難，行乎患難』，皆是不器。此惟養得心體正者能之」。
Asked: "Must one also study names, things, institutions and numbers first?" The Master said: "A person need only fulfill his own mind-substance, and the function is within it. If one nourishes the mind-substance so that it truly has the centrality of the unmanifested, naturally there is the harmony that hits the measure when manifested, and naturally nothing one does is wrong. If there is no such mind, even if one has studied beforehand all the names, things, institutions and numbers of the world, they have no connection with oneself and are merely decoration for the moment, and will not work by themselves. It is not that names, things, institutions and numbers are wholly ignored; only 'knowing what comes first and last brings one close to the Way.'" He also said: "A person should be fulfilled according to his talent, what he can do. Take Kui's music or Ji's planting: these are naturally his innate disposition. What fulfills him is only that his mind-substance be purely heavenly principle and all his activities arise from heavenly principle, and then it is called talent. When one reaches the point of purity in heavenly principle, one can also be no mere utensil. If Kui and Ji had exchanged tasks, they should have been able to do them." He also said: "As in 'Being by nature in wealth, one acts as in wealth; being by nature in hardship, one acts as in hardship,' all are not being a mere utensil. Only one who has nourished a rectified mind-substance can do this."
○「與其為數頃無源之塘水，不若為數尺有源之井水，生意不窮」。時先生在塘邊坐。傍有井，故以之喻學雲。
"Rather than be a pond of several acres with no source, be a well of several feet with a source, whose life is inexhaustible." At that time the Master was sitting by a pond, and beside it was a well, so he used this as a metaphor for learning.
○問，「世道日降。太古時氣象，如何復見得」？先生曰，「一日便是一元。人平日一時起坐，未與物接。此心清明景象，便如在伏羲時遊一般」。
Asked: "The world's Way declines day by day. How can one again see the atmosphere of high antiquity?" The Master said: "One day is one cycle. When a person first rises and sits in ordinary times, before meeting things, the clear and bright scene of this mind is just like wandering in the age of Fu Xi."
○問，「心要逐物。如何則可」？先生曰，「人君端拱清穆，六卿分職，天下乃治。心統五官，亦要如此。今眼要視時，心便逐在色上。耳要聽時，心便逐在聲上。如人君要選官時，便自去坐在吏部。要調軍時，便自去坐在兵部。如此，豈惟失卻君體？六卿亦皆不得其職」。
Asked: "The mind wants to chase after external things; how can this be put right?" The Master said: "When the ruler sits upright with folded hands, pure and solemn, and the six ministers divide their duties, the world is ordered. The mind governs the five senses and should be the same. Now when the eyes want to see, the mind chases after color; when the ears want to hear, the mind chases after sound. It is as if a ruler, when he wishes to select officials, goes to sit in the Ministry of Personnel himself, and when he wishes to move troops, goes to sit in the Ministry of War himself. In that case, not only is the ruler's own role lost, but the six ministers also cannot fulfill their duties."
○善念發而知之，而充之。惡念發而知之，而遏之。知眾充與遏者，志也。天聰明也。聖人只有此。學者當存此。
When a good thought arises, know it and expand it; when an evil thought arises, know it and check it. What knows what should be expanded and what should be checked is the aim, which is Heaven-given intelligence. The sage has only this. Learners should preserve this.
○澄曰，「好色，好利，好名等心，固是私慾。如閒思雉慮，如何亦謂之私慾」？先生曰，「畢竟從好色，好利，好名等根上起。自尋其根便見。如汝心中決知是無有做劫盜的思慮。何也？以汝元無是心也。汝若於貨色名利等心，一切皆如不做劫盜之心一般，都消滅了。光光只是心之本體。看有甚閒思慮？此便是『寂然不動』。便是『未發之中』。便是『廓然大公』。自然『感而遂通』。自然『發而中節』。自然『物來順應』」。
Lu Cheng said: "Minds that love beauty, profit and fame are of course private desire. But why are idle thoughts and stray musings also called private desire?" The Master said: "After all they arise from the roots of loving beauty, profit and fame. Look for their roots in yourself and you will see it. For instance, in your mind you know for certain that there are no thoughts of robbery. Why? Because originally you have no such mind. If with respect to the minds of goods, beauty, name and profit you had eliminated everything, as with the mind that does not rob, leaving only the bare original substance of the mind, would you still have idle thoughts? This is 'still and unmoving,' this is 'the centrality of the unmanifested,' this is 'vast and perfectly impartial,' and naturally 'on being stirred it penetrates,' naturally 'when manifested it hits the measure,' and naturally 'when things come it responds accordingly.'"
○問志至氣次。先生日，「『志之所至，氣亦至焉』之謂。非『極至次貳』之謂。『持其志』，則養氣在其中。『無暴其氣』，則亦持其志矣。孟子救告子之偏，故如此夾持說」。
Asked about "the will is supreme and the qi comes next." The Master said: "It means 'wherever the will goes, the qi goes too,' not the meaning of 'utmost and secondary.' If one 'holds firm to the will,' nourishing the qi is within it; if one 'does not do violence to the qi,' that too is holding to the will. Mencius was rescuing Gaozi's one-sidedness, so he spoke clamping from both sides in this way."
○問，「先儒曰，『聖人之道，必降而自卑。賢人之言，則引而自高』。如何」？先生日，「不然。如此卻乃偽也。聖人如天。無往而非天。三光之上，天也。九地之下，亦天也。天何嘗有降而自卑？此所謂大而化之也。賢人如山嶽。守其高而已。然百仞者不能引而為千仞。千仞者不能引而為萬仞。是賢人未嘗引而自高也。引而自高，則偽矣」。
Asked: "An earlier Confucian said: 'The Way of the sage must descend and humble itself; the words of the worthy draw themselves upward.' What do you say?" The Master said: "It is not so. That would be false. The sage is like Heaven, and there is nowhere that is not Heaven. Above the three luminaries is Heaven, and beneath the nine earths is also Heaven. When has Heaven ever descended to humble itself? This is what is called great and transforming. The worthy is like a mountain peak, keeping to his height only. But a hundred-fathom peak cannot be drawn up into a thousand fathoms, nor a thousand into ten thousand. So the worthy has never drawn himself upward. To draw oneself upward would be false."
○問，「伊川謂『不當於喜怒哀樂未發之前求中』。延平卻教學者看未發之前氣象。何如」？先生日，「皆是也。伊川恐人於未發前討個中，把中做一物看。如吾向所謂認氣定時做中。故令只於涵養省察上用功。延平恐人未便有下手處，故令入時時刻刻求末發而氣象。使人正目而視惟此，傾耳而聽惟此。即是『戒慎不睹。恐懼不聞』的工夫。皆古人不得已誘人之言也」。
Asked: "Yichuan (Cheng Yi) said: 'One should not seek the center before joy, anger, sorrow and delight arise.' Yanping (Li Tong) instead taught learners to observe the atmosphere before they arise. What do you make of this?" The Master said: "Both are right. Yichuan feared that people would seek a center before arising and treat the center as a thing, as I have been saying about taking the moment when the qi is settled as the center, so he only had people apply effort to nourishing and examining. Yanping feared that people would have nowhere to begin, so he had people at every moment seek the atmosphere before arising, so that when one looks directly it is only on this and when one listens intently it is only on this. This is the practice of 'being cautious about what is not seen and fearful about what is not heard.' Both are words the ancients spoke out of necessity to guide people."
○澄問，「喜怒哀樂之中和。其全體常人固不能有。如一件小事當喜怒者，平時無喜怒之心。至其臨時，亦能中節。亦可謂之中和乎」？先生曰，「在一時之事，固亦可謂之中和。然未可謂之大本達道。人性皆善。中和是人人原有的。豈可謂無？但常人之心既有所昏蔽，則其本體蜼亦時時發見，終是暫明暫滅，非其全體大用矣。無所不中，然後謂之大本。無所不和，然後謂之達道。惟天下之至誠，然後能立天下之大本」。曰，「澄於中字之義尚未明」。曰，「此須自心體認出來。非言語所能喻。中只是天理」。曰，「何者為天理」？曰，「去得人慾，便識天理」。曰，「天理何以謂之中」？曰，「無所偏倚」。曰，「無所偏倚，是何等氣象」？曰，「如明鏡然。全體瑩徹，略無纖塵染著」。曰，「偏倚是有所染著。如著在好色好利好名等項上，方見得偏倚。若未發時，美色名利皆未相看。何以便知其有所偏倚」？曰，「雖未相著，然平日好色好利好名之心，原未嘗無。既未嘗無，即謂之有。既謂之有，則亦不可謂無偏倚。譬之病瘧之人，雖有時不發，而病根原不曾除，則亦不得謂之無病之人矣。須是平日好色好利好名等項一應私心，掃除盪滌，無復纖毫留滯。而此心全體廓然，純是天理。方可謂之喜怒哀樂未發之中。方是天下之大本」。
Lu Cheng asked: "The centrality and harmony of joy, anger, sorrow and delight, in their whole substance, ordinary people of course cannot have. But if on a small matter where there should be joy or anger, one normally has no heart of joy or anger, yet at the time hits the measure, can that also be called centrality and harmony?" The Master said: "In the matter of a moment it can of course be called centrality and harmony, but it cannot yet be called the great root and the universal Way. Human nature is all good. Centrality and harmony are originally in everyone; how can one say they are absent? But when the ordinary person's mind is clouded and obscured, even if its original substance also appears from time to time, it is after all briefly bright and briefly dim, and is not the whole substance and great function. When there is nothing it does not hit the center, then it is called the great root; when there is nothing it is not in harmony, then it is called the universal Way. Only the most sincere in the world can establish the great root of the world." Lu Cheng said: "Cheng still does not understand the meaning of the word 'center.'" The Master said: "This must be recognized in your own mind and cannot be explained by words. The center is only heavenly principle." Asked: "What is heavenly principle?" The Master said: "Remove human desire and you recognize heavenly principle." Asked: "Why is heavenly principle called the center?" The Master said: "Because it leans in no direction." Asked: "What atmosphere is there in leaning in no direction?" The Master said: "Like a bright mirror, whole and transparent, with not a speck of dust attached." Asked: "Leaning is being attached. For instance, when attached to love of beauty, profit, fame and so on, one sees the leaning. But when unmanifested, beauty, fame and profit have not touched it; how can one know it has a leaning?" The Master said: "Though they have not touched it, the mind that loved beauty, profit and fame in ordinary times has originally not been absent. Since it has not been absent, it is called present. Since it is called present, one cannot say there is no leaning. It is like a man with malaria: though at times it does not erupt, the root of the illness has not been removed, and so he cannot be called a person without illness. Only when all the private minds of ordinary times, loving beauty, profit and fame and the like, have been swept and washed away, with not a hair's trace remaining, and the whole of this mind is vast and purely heavenly principle, can it be called the centrality of joy, anger, sorrow and delight unmanifested, and be the great root of the world."
○問，「『顏子沒而聖學亡』。此語不能無疑」。先生曰，「見聖道之全者惟顏子。觀喟然一嘆可見。其謂『夫子循循然善誘人。博我以文，約我以禮』。是見破後如此說。博文約禮，如何是善誘人。學者須恩之。道之全體，聖人亦難以語人。須是學者自修自俉。顏子『雖欲從之，未由也已』即文王望道未見意。望道未見，乃是真見。顏子沒，而聖學之正派，遂不盡傳矣」。
Asked: "'When Yan Zi died the learning of the sage was lost'; this saying cannot but be doubted." The Master said: "The only one who saw the whole of the sage's Way was Yan Zi. One can see this from his sigh. He said, 'The Master is good at leading people step by step, broadening me with culture and restraining me with ritual,' which he said after seeing through it. How broadening with culture and restraining with ritual is skillful guidance, learners must think. The whole substance of the Way is hard even for a sage to tell people; learners must cultivate and awaken it themselves. Yan Zi's 'Though I wish to follow it, I find no way' is the meaning of King Wen 'gazing at the Way as if he had not seen it.' Gazing at the Way and not having seen it is truly seeing. When Yan Zi was gone, the correct line of the learning of the sage could not be fully transmitted."
○問，「身之主為心，心之靈明是知。知之發動是意。意之所看為物。是如此否」？先生曰，「亦是」。
Asked: "The master of the body is the mind, the spiritual brightness of the mind is knowing, the stirring of knowing is intention, and where intention is, there is the thing. Is this so?" The Master said: "Yes."
○只存得此心常見在便是學。過去未來事，思之何益？徒放心耳。
Only keep this mind constantly present, and that is learning. Of past and future matters, what good is thinking about them? It only sends the mind away.