Chuan Xi Lu (傳習錄) · Volume 7

○黃以方問，「先生格致之說，隨時恪物以致其知，則知是一節之知，非全體之知也，何以到得『溥博如天，淵泉如淵』地位？」先生曰：「人心是天．淵。心之本體，無所不該，原是一個天，只為私慾障礙，則天之本體失了：心之理無窮盡，原是一個淵，只為私慾窒塞，則淵之本體失了。如今念念致真知，將此障礙窒塞一齊去盡，則本體已復，便是天、淵了。」乃指天以示之曰：「比如面前見天，是昭昭之天，四外見天，也只是眧眧之天。只為許多房子牆壁遮蔽，便不見天之全體，若撤去房子牆壁，總是一個天矣。不可道跟前天是昭昭之天，外面又不是昭昭之天也。於此便見一節之知郥全體之知，全體之知郥一節之知，總是一個本體。」

Huang Yifang asked, "In the Master's doctrine of investigating things and extending knowledge, one investigates things as occasions arise to extend one's knowing, so the knowing is knowledge of one section, not knowledge of the whole. How can one reach the state of 'vast and extensive like Heaven, deep like a spring in an abyss'?" The Master said, "The human mind is Heaven and the abyss. The original substance of the mind includes everything and is originally a Heaven; only because selfish desires obstruct it, the original substance of Heaven is lost. The principle of the mind is inexhaustible and is originally an abyss; only because selfish desires block it, the original substance of the abyss is lost. Now if we extend innate knowing in every thought and remove all these obstructions and blockages together, the original substance is restored, and it is Heaven and the abyss." He pointed to the sky to show him: "For example, the sky seen in front of you is the shining sky; the sky seen on all four sides is also just the shining sky. It is only because so many houses and walls cover it that you do not see the whole of Heaven. If you removed the houses and walls, it would be all one sky. You cannot say the sky before your eyes is the shining sky and the sky outside is not. From this you see that knowledge of one section is knowledge of the whole, and knowledge of the whole is knowledge of one section; all is one original substance."

○先生曰：「聖賢非無功業氣節：但其循著這天理則便是道，不可以事功氣節名矣。」

The Master said, "The sages and worthies do not lack achievements and integrity, but what they follow is heavenly principle, which is the Way, and they cannot be named by achievements and integrity."

○「『發憤忘食』是聖人之志如此，真無有已時。『樂以忘憂』是聖人之道如此，真無有戚時。恐不必雲得不得也。」

"'Being so zealous as to forget to eat' is such a sage's aim, truly without end. 'Being so joyful as to forget sorrow' is such a sage's Way, truly without a time of grief. I fear one need not say whether one has attained it or not."

○先生曰﹕「我輩知，只是名隨分限所及；今日良知見在如此，只隨今日所知擴充到底，明日晨知又有開悟，便從明日所知擴充到底，如此方是精一功夫。與人論學，亦須隨人分限所及；如樹有這些萌芽，只把這些水去灌慨，萌芽再長，便又加水，自拱把以至合抱，灌溉之功皆是隨其分限所及，若些小萌芽，有一桶水在，盡要傾上，便浸壤他了。」

The Master said, "Our knowledge is only what each of us can reach according to our limits. If today our innate knowing appears like this, we simply extend what we know today to the end; if tomorrow innate knowing opens up further, we extend what we know tomorrow to the end. Only this is the effort of being refined and unified. In discussing learning with others one must also go as far as the other person's limits. A tree that has a little sprout is watered only with a little water; when the sprout grows more, more water is added. From a shoot to a trunk of a full armful, the work of watering follows its limits. If a little sprout is given a whole bucket of water and it is all poured on, it will be drowned."

○問知行合一。先生曰：「此須識我立言言宗旨今人學問，只因知、行分作兩件，故有一念猣動，雖是不善，然卻未曾行，便不去禁止。我今說個『知、行合一』，正要人曉得一念發動虛，便即是行了；猣動虛有不善，就將這不善的念克倒了，須要徹根徹底不使那一念不善潛伏在胸中：此是我上上言宗旨。」

He asked about the unity of knowledge and action. The Master said, "You must recognize the main point of my teaching. Because today's scholars divide knowing and acting into two things, when a thought arises, though it is not good, they have not yet acted on it and so do not stop it. Now I speak of the 'unity of knowledge and action' precisely so that people understand that the moment a thought arises, it is already action. If there is something not good in the arising, I overcome that bad thought, and it must be done to the root and to the bottom, so that no bad thought is allowed to lie hidden in the breast. This is the main point of my teaching."

○「聖人無所不知，只是知個天理：無所不能，只是能個天理。聖人本體明白，故事事知個天理所在，便去盡個天理：不是本體明後，卻於天下事物都便知得，便做得來也。天下事物，如名物度數、草木鳥獸之類，不勝其煩，聖人須是本體明瞭，亦何緣能盡知得。但不必知的，聖人自不消求知，其所當知的，聖人自能閒人：如『子入太廟，序事間』之類。先儒謂『雖知亦問，敬謹之至』；此說不可通。聖人於禮樂名物，不必盡知，然他知得一個天理，便自有許多節文度數出來，不知能問，亦即是天理節文所在。」

"The sage knows everything, but only knows heavenly principle; the sage can do everything, but only does heavenly principle. The sage's original substance is clear, so in every matter he knows where heavenly principle lies and then exhausts that principle. It is not that after the original substance becomes clear, he immediately knows and can do all the affairs and things of the world. The things of the world, such as names of things, systems of measures, plants, trees, birds and beasts, are too numerous to count. Even if the sage's original substance is clear, how could he know them all? But what he need not know, the sage does not seek to know; what he ought to know, the sage can ask others about, as in 'when the Master entered the Grand Temple he asked about everything.' Earlier scholars said, 'Though he knew, he asked, which was the utmost of reverence and care,' but this explanation does not make sense. The sage does not need to know all about rites, music and names of things, but since he knows heavenly principle, then many details of ceremony and measures come out of it naturally. When he does not know and can ask, that too is where heavenly principle's ceremonial detail lies."

○問：「先生嘗謂善、惡只是一物。善、惡兩端，如冰、炭相反，如同謂只一物？」先生曰：「至善者，心之本體。本體上才過當些子，便是惡了；不是有一個善，卻又有一個惡來相對也。故善、惡只是一物。」直因聞先生之說，則知程子所謂「善固性也，惡亦不可不謂之性。」又曰：「善、惡皆天理。謂之惡者，本非惡，但於本性上過與不及之閒耳。」其說皆無可疑。○先生嘗謂「人但得好善如好好色，惡惡如惡惡臭，便是聖人。」直初聞之，覺甚易，後禮驗得來，此個功夫著實是難。如一念雖知好善、惡惡，然不知不覺，又夾雜去了。才有夾雜，便不是好善如好好色、惡惡如惡惡臭的心。善能實實的好，是無一念不善矣：惡能實實的惡，是無念及惡矣。如同不是聖人？故聖人之學，只是一誠而已。

He asked, "The Master once said that good and evil are only one thing. But the two ends of good and evil are opposite like ice and charcoal; how can you say they are only one thing?" The Master said, "The highest good is the original substance of the mind. If the original substance goes even a little beyond measure, that is evil. It is not that there is a good and then there is also an evil standing opposite to it. So good and evil are only one thing." Huang Zhi, having heard the Master's words, then knew that what Master Cheng said, that 'good is of course nature, and evil too cannot but be called nature,' and also that 'good and evil are both heavenly principle; what is called evil is originally not evil but lies only in excess or deficiency of the original nature,' were beyond doubt. The Master once said, "If a person can love good as he loves a beautiful color and hate evil as he hates a foul smell, he is a sage." When Huang Zhi first heard this, he felt it was very easy, but later by experience realized that this effort is truly hard. For example, in one thought one may know to love the good and hate evil, but without noticing it, something gets mixed in. As soon as there is a mixture, it is no longer the mind that loves good as it loves a beautiful color and hates evil as it hates a foul smell. If one can truly love good, there is no thought that is not good; if one can truly hate evil, there is no thought of evil. How could such a person not be a sage? So the learning of the sage is only sincerity, and nothing more.

○問「修道說」言﹁率性之謂道」屬聖人分上事，「修道之謂教」屬賢人分上事。先生日︰﹁眾人亦率性也，但率性在聖人分上較多，故﹃率性之謂道﹄屬聖人事；聖人亦修道也，但修道在賢人分上多，故﹃修道之謂教﹄屬賢人事。」又日︰「︿中庸﹀一書，大抵皆是說修道的事︰放後面凡說君子，說顏淵，說子路，皆是能修道的；說小人，說賢知、愚不肖，說庶民，皆是不能修道的；其它言舜、文、周公、仲尼，至誠至聖之類，則又聖人之自能修道者也。」

He asked about the essay on Cultivating the Way, which says that 'following nature is called the Way' belongs to the sage and 'cultivating the Way is called teaching' belongs to the worthy. The Master said, "Ordinary people also follow nature, but following nature is more in the portion of the sage, so 'following nature is called the Way' is the sage's matter. The sage also cultivates the Way, but cultivating the Way is more in the portion of the worthy, so 'cultivating the Way is called teaching' is the worthy's matter." He also said, "The Doctrine of the Mean as a whole speaks mostly about cultivating the Way. So the later mentions of the gentleman, of Yan Yuan, and of Zilu are all about those who can cultivate the Way; the mentions of the small man, of those clever and those foolish or unworthy, and of the common people are all about those who cannot cultivate the Way. The other mentions of Shun, King Wen, the Duke of Zhou, Zhongni, the utmost sincere and the utmost sage are again about sages who can cultivate the Way by themselves."

○問︰「儒者到三更時分，掃蕩胸中思慮，空空靜靜，與釋氏之靜只一般，兩下皆不用，此時何所分別？﹂先生日︰「動、靜只是一個。那三更詩分，空空靜靜的，只是存天理，即是如今應事接物的心，如今應事接物的心，亦是循此理，便是那三更時分空空靜靜的心。故動、靜只是一個，分別不得。知得動、靜合一，釋氏毫釐差處亦自莫掩矣。」

He asked, "When a Confucian at the third watch of the night sweeps away the thoughts in his breast and becomes empty and still, it seems the same as the Buddhist's stillness, and neither is used in action. At this time, what is the difference?" The Master said, "Movement and stillness are only one. That empty stillness at the third watch is only preserving heavenly principle, which is the mind that responds to affairs and deals with things now; the mind that responds to affairs and deals with things now also follows this principle, and is the very mind that is empty and still at the third watch. So movement and stillness are only one and cannot be separated. If you know that movement and stillness are united, even a hair's breadth of the Buddhists' error cannot be hidden."

○門人在座，有動止甚矜持者。先生曰︰「人若矜持太過，終是有弊。」日﹕「衿得太過，如何有弊？」日︰「人只有許多精神，若專茌容貌上用功，刖於中心照管不及者多矣。」有太直率者，先生曰︰「如今講此學，卻外面全不檢束，又分心與事為二矣。」

Among the disciples present, one's conduct and bearing were very guarded and stiff. The Master said, "If a person is too guarded, in the end there is harm." He asked, "How is there harm in being too guarded?" He said, "A person has only so much spirit. If it is applied only to appearance, much will not be looked after in the heart." Of one who was too blunt and frank, the Master said, "Now you lecture on this learning but are wholly unrestrained outwardly, which again divides mind and affairs into two."

○門人作文送友行，問先生曰︰「作文字不免費思，作了後又一二日常記茌懷。」曰︰「文字思索亦無害；但作了常記在懷，則為文所累，心中有一物矣，此則未可也。」又作詩送人。先生看詩畢，謂日︰「凡作文字要隨我分限所及；若說得太過了，亦非修辭立誠矣。」

A disciple wrote an essay to send off a friend, and asked the Master, "In writing, it is hard to avoid spending thought, and after writing I often keep it in mind for a day or two." The Master said, "There is no harm in thinking about writing, but if after writing you keep it in mind, you are burdened by the essay and there is a thing in your mind, and this will not do." He also wrote a poem to send off someone. After the Master looked at the poem, he said, "In all writing you must follow what your limits reach; if you say too much, it is not cultivating words and establishing sincerity either."

○「文公『格物』之說，只是少頭腦。如所謂『察之於念慮之微』，此一句不該與『求之文字之中，驗之於事為之著，索之講論之際』混作一例看，是無輕重也。」

"Master Zhu's theory of 'investigating things' only lacks a main point. For example, his phrase 'examine it in the subtlety of thoughts' should not be treated as the same kind as 'seek it in the text, verify it in the traces of action, search for it in discussion,' as though there were no difference in weight."

○問有所忿懥一條。先生曰：「忿懥畿件，人心怎能無得，只是不可『有所』耳。幾人忿懥，著了一分意思，便怒得過當，非廓然大公之體了。故有所忿懥，便不得其正也。如今於凡忿懥等件，只是個物來順應，不要著一分意思，便心體廓然大公，得其本體之正了。且如出外見人相鬫，其不是的，我心亦怒：然雖怒，卻此心廓然，不曾動些子氣。如今怒人，亦得如此，方才是正。」

He asked about the passage on being angry. The Master said, "Anger and the like, how could a person's mind be without them? It is only that one should not 'have' them. When people are angry, if they hold on to even a bit of intent, their anger goes beyond measure and is not the substance of wide-open impartiality. So to have anger is not to be correct. Now, for all anger and the like, simply respond to things as they come without holding on to any intent, and the mind-substance is open and impartial and gains the rectitude of its original substance. For example, if you go out and see people fighting, the one in the wrong makes my mind angry too; yet though angry, this mind is open and has not stirred any qi. If we are angry at people now, it must be like this to be correct."

○先生嘗言：「佛氏不著相，其實著了相，吾儒著相，其實不著相。」請問。曰：「佛怕父子累，卻逃了父子，怕君臣累，卻逃了君臣，怕夫婦累，卻逃了夫婦，都是為個君臣、父子、夫婦著了相，便須逃避。如吾懦有個父子，還他以仁，有個君臣，還尥以義，有個夫婦，還他以別，何曾著父子、君臣、夫婦的相？以下門人黃修易錄

The Master once said, "The Buddhists do not cling to appearances, but in fact they do cling; we Confucians seem to cling to appearances, but in fact we do not." I asked for explanation. He said, "The Buddha feared being burdened by father and son, and so fled father and son; feared being burdened by ruler and minister, and so fled ruler and minister; feared being burdened by husband and wife, and so fled husband and wife. All this is because they clung to the appearances of ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife, and so must flee. In our Confucian way, where there is father and son, we give them benevolence; where there is ruler and minister, we give them righteousness; where there is husband and wife, we give them distinction. When did we ever cling to the appearances of father and son, ruler and minister, husband and wife?" What follows was recorded by the disciple Huang Xiuyi.

○黃勉叔問：「心無惡念時，此心空空蕩蕩的，不知亦須存個善念否？」先生曰：「既去惡念，便是善念，便復心之本體矣：譬如日光被雲來遮蔽，雲去光已復矣。若惡念既去，又要存個善念，即是日光之中添燃一燈。

Huang Mianshu asked, "When the mind has no evil thoughts, it is empty and vast. I do not know whether one must still preserve a good thought." The Master said, "Once the evil thought is gone, that is the good thought, and the original substance of the mind is restored. It is like sunlight covered by clouds: when the clouds go, the light is restored. If after the evil thought is gone you still want to preserve a good thought, it is like lighting a lamp in the midst of sunlight."

○問﹕「近來用功，亦頗覺妄念不生，但腔子裡黑窸窸的，不知如何打得光明？」先生曰﹕「初下手用功，如何腔子裡便得光明？譬如奔流濁水，繞聹在缸裡，初然雖定，也只是昏濁的；須矣澄定既久，自然渣滓盡去，復得清來。汝只要在良知上用功；良知存入，黑窸窸自能光明也。今便要責效，卻是助長，不成工夫。」

He asked, "Recently when I apply effort, I do feel that false thoughts do not arise, but inside my chest it is dark and murky, and I do not know how to make it bright." The Master said, "When you first start to apply effort, how could your chest be bright right away? It is like turbid water rushing along: when it is first stored in a vat, although it settles, it is still dim and turbid. It must be left to settle for a long time before the dregs naturally go away and clearness returns. You only need to apply effort to innate knowing; when innate knowing has been preserved for a long time, the darkness will naturally become bright. If you want results right now, that is 'helping it grow' and not real effort."

○先生曰﹕「吾教人『致良知』，在『格物』上用功，卻是有根本的學問；日長貂一日，愈久愈覺精明。世儒教人事事物物上去尋討，卻是無根本的學問；方其莊時，雖暫能外面飾，不見有過，老則精神衰邁，終須放倒；譬如無根之樹，移栽水邊，雖暫時鮮好，終久要憔悴。」

The Master said, "When I teach people to 'extend innate knowing' through effort on 'investigating things,' this is learning that has a root, and it grows day by day, and the longer it goes the more refined and bright one feels. Worldly scholars teach people to go and search in every affair and thing, which is learning without a root. While one is in one's prime, one may for a time paper over things outwardly and appear to have no faults, but when old and the spirit is failing, in the end it must fall. It is like a tree with no roots, transplanted to the water's edge: though fresh and good for a while, in the end it will wither."

○問「志於道」一章。先生曰﹕「只『志道』一句，便含下面數句功夫，自住不得。譬如做此屋，『志於道』是念念要去擇地鳩材，經營成個區宅；『據德』卻是經畫已成，有付據矣；『依仁』卻是常常住在區宅內，更不離去；『遊藝』卻是加些畫採，美此區宅。藝者義也，理之所宜者也。如誦詩、讀書、彈琴、習射之類，皆所以調習此心，使之熟於道也。苟不知道而遊藝，卻如無狀小子，不先去置造區宅，只管要去買畫掛做門面。不知將掛在何處？」

He asked about the chapter 'set your will on the Way.' The Master said, "The single phrase 'set your will on the Way' already includes the effort of the following phrases and cannot stay by itself. It is like building a house: 'setting your will on the Way' is thinking in every thought of choosing a site and gathering materials and planning to make a dwelling; 'holding firm to virtue' is when the plan has been completed and one has something to rely on; 'relying on benevolence' is living constantly in the dwelling without leaving it; 'wandering in the arts' is adding some painting and color to beautify the dwelling. 'Arts' (yi) means 'what is fitting' (yi), what principle finds appropriate. Reciting poems, reading books, playing the zither and practicing archery are all ways to tune and train this mind and make it familiar with the Way. If someone wanders in the arts without knowing the Way, he is like a worthless youngster who does not first build a house but only wants to buy paintings to hang as a facade, and does not know where they will be hung."

○問：「讀書所以調攝此心，不可缺的。但讀之之時，一種科目意思牽引而來，不知同以免此？」先主曰：「只要良知真切，雖做舉榮，不為心累，雖有累，亦易覺克之而已。且如讀書時，良知知得強記之心不是，即克去之，有欲速之心不是，即克去之，有誇多鬥靡之心不是，即克去之：如此亦只是終日與聖賢印對，是個純乎天理之心。任他讀書，亦只是調攝此心而已，何累之有？」曰：「雖蒙開示，奈負質庸下，實難免累：竊聞窮通有命，上智之人，恐不屑此不肖為聲利牽纖，甘心為此，徙自苫耳。欲屏棄之，又制於親，不能捨去，奈何？」先生曰：「此事歸辭於親者多矣；其實只是無志。志立得時，良知千事萬事只是一事。讀書作文，安能累人，人自累於得失耳！」因嘆曰：「此學不明，不知此處擔擱了幾多英雄漢！」

He asked, "Reading books is the way to regulate and nurture the mind and cannot be lacking. But when reading, a kind of thought about examinations pulls at me. I do not know how to avoid it." The Master said, "If innate knowing is real and keen, even if one does the civil service examinations, they will not burden the mind; even if there is a burden, it is easy to notice it and overcome it. For example, when reading, if innate knowing knows that the mind of strong memorizing is wrong, remove it; if it knows that the mind of wanting to hurry is wrong, remove it; if it knows that the mind of showing off how much one knows and competing in ornament is wrong, remove it. In this way one is all day long being verified against the sages and worthies, a mind of pure heavenly principle. Whatever one reads, it is only a way to regulate and nurture the mind; what burden is there?" The student said, "Though I have received your instruction, my endowment is poor and I truly cannot avoid being burdened. I have heard that failure and success are fated, and men of the highest wisdom probably disdain this; I, unworthy, am entangled in fame and profit and willingly do this, only making myself suffer. I wish to cast it aside, but my parents restrain me and I cannot give it up. What can I do?" The Master said, "Many people blame their parents for this matter, but really it is only lack of resolve. When resolve is set, innate knowing makes the thousand matters and ten thousand matters one matter. How could reading and writing burden anyone? People are only burdened by gain and loss!" He then sighed and said, "Because this learning is not clear, who knows how many heroes have been delayed here!"

○問：「『生之謂性』，告子亦說得是，孟子如何非之？」先生曰﹕「固是性，但告子認得一邊去了，不曉得頭腦；若曉得頭腦，如此說亦是。孟子亦曰：「形色，天性也」，這也是指氣說。」又曰﹕「凡人信口說，任意行，皆說此是依我心性出來，此是所謂生之謂性；然卻要有過差。若曉得頭腦，依吾良知上說出來，行將去，便自是停當。然良知亦只是這口說，這身行，巖能外得氣，別有個去行去說：故曰：『論性不論氣，不備：論氣不論性，不明。』氣亦性也，性亦氣也，但須認得頭腦是當。」

He asked, "'Life is what is called nature' was also said by Gaozi, and was right; why did Mencius criticize it?" The Master said, "It is of course nature, but Gaozi grasped only one side and did not know the main point. If one knows the main point, it is right to say this too. Mencius also said 'form and color are heavenly nature,' which also refers to qi." He added, "When people speak freely and act as they please, they all say this comes from my heart and nature, which is what 'life is what is called nature' means, but there are errors in it. If one knows the main point and speaks and acts from our innate knowing, one is naturally fitting. Yet innate knowing is just this mouth speaking and this body acting; how could it be apart from qi and have something else to act and speak? So it is said, 'To discuss nature without discussing qi is incomplete; to discuss qi without discussing nature is unclear.' Qi is also nature and nature is also qi, but one must recognize the main point correctly."

○又曰：「諸君功夫，最不可『助長』。上智絕少，學者無超入聖人之理。一起一伏，一進一退，自是功夫節次。不可以我前日用得功夫了，今卻不濟，便要矯強做出一個沒破綻的模樣，這便便是『助長』，連前些子功夫都壞了。此非小過。譬如行路的人遭一蹶跌，起來便走，不要欺人做那不曾跌倒的樣子出來。諸君只要常常懷個『遁世無悶，不見是而無悶』之心，依此良知忍耐做去，不管人非笑，不管人毀謗，不管人榮辱，任他功夫有進有退，我只是這致良知的主宰，不息久久，自然有得力處，一切外事亦自能不動。」又曰：「人若著實用功隨人毀謗，隨人欺慢，處處得益，處處是進德之資；若不用功，只是魔也，終被累倒。」

He also said, "In your efforts, gentlemen, the most important thing is not to 'help it grow.' Those of highest wisdom are very rare, and a learner has no way to leap into sagehood. Rising and falling, advancing and retreating are naturally the stages of effort. You must not think, 'I put in effort a few days ago and today it fails,' and then force yourself to make a flawless appearance; this is 'helping it grow' and ruins even the little effort you had before. This is no small fault. It is like a traveler who stumbles: he gets up and walks on, and does not pretend to others that he never fell. You only need to keep always in your heart the mind of 'withdrawing from the world without distress, and not being recognized as right without distress.' Follow this innate knowing and persevere, not caring whether people laugh at you, not caring whether people slander you, not caring whether people honor or disgrace you. Let the effort go forward and back; I only keep my mastery of extending innate knowing without rest, and in time I will naturally find where my strength lies, and all outside matters will naturally not move me." He also said, "If a person applies real effort, then whoever slanders him and whoever deceives or slights him, he benefits everywhere and everywhere finds material for advancing in virtue; if one does not apply effort, it is only demonic and in the end he will be brought down by his burdens."

○先生一日出遊禹穴，顧田間禾曰：「能幾同時，又如此長了！」範兆期茌旁曰：「此只是有根。學問能自植根，亦不患無長。」先生曰：「人孰無根，良知即是天植靈根，自生生不息；但著了私累，把此恨戕賊蔽寒，不得發生耳。」

One day the Master went out to Yu's Cave and, looking at the grain in the fields, said, "How little time, and it has grown like this again!" Fan Zhaoqi at his side said, "This is only because it has roots. If learning can plant its own roots, there is no worry about growth." The Master said, "Who does not have roots? Innate knowing is the spiritual root planted by Heaven, naturally producing life without ceasing; it is only that it is covered by selfish burdens, which injure and block this root so that it cannot sprout."

○一友常易動氣責人，先生警之曰：「學須反己；若徒責人，只見得人不是，不見自已非；若能反己，方見自己有許多未盡處，奚瑕責人？舜能化得象的傲，其機括只是不見象的不是。若舜只要正他的奸惡，就見得象的不是矣；象是傲人必不肯相下，如同感化得他？」是友感悔。曰：「你今後只不要去論人之是非，「當責辨人時，就把做一件大己私，克去方可。」

A friend easily lost his temper and blamed others. The Master warned him, "Learning must be turned back on oneself. If one only blames others, one sees only others' faults and does not see one's own. If one can reflect on oneself, then one sees that one has many unfinished things; what leisure is there to blame others? Shun could transform Xiang's arrogance, and his mechanism was only not seeing Xiang's faults. If Shun had wanted to correct his treachery and evil, he would have seen Xiang's faults. Xiang was an arrogant man who would never be willing to yield; how could he have been moved and transformed?" The friend felt moved and repentant. The Master said, "From now on, you must not discuss others' rights and wrongs. At the very time you want to blame and argue with others, treat that as a great selfishness of your own and overcome it."

○先生曰：「凡朋友問難，縱有淺近粗疏，或露才揚己，皆是病發。當因其病而藥之可也，不可便懷鄙薄之心，非君子與人為善之心矣。」

The Master said, "When friends ask difficult questions, even if they are shallow or crude or show off their talent and exalt themselves, these are all symptoms of illness. You should treat their illness with medicine; you must not immediately develop a mind of contempt and disdain, which is not the mind of a gentleman helping others do good."

○問：「《易》，朱子主卜筮，程《傳》主理，何如？」先生曰：「卜筮是理，理亦是卜筮。天下之理孰有大於卜筮者乎？只為後世將卜筮專主在占卦上看了，所以看得卜筮似小藝。不知今之「師友問答，博學、審問、慎思、明辨、篤行之類，皆是卜筮。卜筮者，不過求決狐疑，神明吾心而已。《易》是間諸天；人有疑，自信不及，故以《易》問天；謂人心尚有所涉，惟天不容偽耳。」

He asked, "As for the Changes, Master Zhu takes it as divination and Cheng's Commentary takes it as principle. What do you say?" The Master said, "Divination is principle, and principle is divination. What principle under Heaven is greater than divination? It is only because later people looked at divination as solely about reading hexagrams that they came to see divination as a minor art. They do not know that today's questions and answers between teacher and friends, such as 'study widely, inquire carefully, think prudently, discriminate clearly, practice earnestly,' are all divination. Divination is nothing more than seeking to resolve doubts and make my mind spiritual and bright. The Changes ask of Heaven. When people have doubts and cannot trust themselves, they use the Changes to ask Heaven. It is said that the human mind still has things it is involved with, and only Heaven does not tolerate falsehood."

○黃勉之問：「『無適也，無莫也，義之與比。』事事要如此否？」先生曰：「固是事事要如此，須是識得個頭腦乃可。義即是良知，曉得良知是個頭腦，方無執著。且如受人饋送，也有今日當受的，他日不當受的。也有今日不當受的，他日當受的。你若執著了今日當受的，便一切受去。執著了今日不當受的，便一切不受去。便是適莫。便不是良知的本體。如何喚得做義？」

Huang Mianzhi asked, "'There is no preference and no prejudice; he sides with what is right.' Should one be like this in everything?" The Master said, "Of course in everything, but one must recognize the main point first. Righteousness is innate knowing. Only when one knows that innate knowing is the main point is there no clinging. For example, in accepting gifts from others, there are things to accept today but not accept another day, and things not to accept today but to accept another day. If you cling to what you should accept today and accept everything, or cling to what you should not accept today and accept nothing, that is preference and prejudice and is not the original substance of innate knowing. How could that be called righteousness?"

○問，「『思無邪』一言，如何便蓋得三百篇之義？」先生曰，「豈特三百篇？六經只此一言，便可該貫，以至窮古今天下聖賢的話。『思無邪』一言，也可該貫。此外便有何說？此是一了百當的功夫。」

He asked, "How can the single phrase 'having no depraved thoughts' cover the meaning of the three hundred Odes?" The Master said, "Not only the three hundred Odes. The Six Classics can all be bound through with this one phrase, and even all the words of the sages and worthies from ancient times to now can be bound through with 'having no depraved thoughts.' What else is there to say besides this? This is the effort that finishes one thing and settles a hundred."

○問道心人心。先生曰，「『率性之為道』，便是道心。但著些人的意思在，便是人心。道心本是無聲無臭，故曰微。依著人心行去，便有許多不安穩處，故曰惟危。」

He asked about the mind of the Way and the human mind. The Master said, "'Following nature is called the Way' is the mind of the Way. But as soon as a bit of human intention is added, it is the human mind. The mind of the Way is originally without sound or smell, so it is called subtle. Acting according to the human mind brings many unstable places, so it is called precarious."

○問：「『中人以下，不可以語上』，愚的人與之語上尚且不進，況不與之語可乎？」先生曰：「不是聖人終不與語，聖人的心憂不得人人都做聖人；只是人的資質不同，施教不可躐等，中人以下的人，便與他說性、說命，他也不省得，也須慢慢琢磨他起來。」

He asked, "'To those of middling ability and below, one cannot speak of higher things.' If speaking of higher things to the foolish does not advance them, would it be acceptable not to speak to them at all?" The Master said, "It is not that the sage never speaks to them. The sage's heart worries that not everyone can become a sage. It is only that people's endowments differ and teaching must not skip stages. For those of middling ability and below, even if you tell them about nature and fate they will not understand, and you must slowly polish them up."

○一友問：「讀書不記得如何？」先生曰：「只要曉得，如何要記得？要曉得已是落第二義了，只要明得自家本體。若徒要記得，便不曉得：若徒要曉得，便明不得自家的本體。」

A friend asked, "What if I cannot remember what I read?" The Master said, "You only need to understand; why must you remember? Even wanting to understand is already of secondary importance; you only need to make your own original substance clear. If you only want to remember, you will not understand; if you only want to understand, you will not make your own original substance clear."

○問：「『逝者如斯』是說自家心性活潑潑地否？」先生曰：「然。須要時時用致良知的功夬，方才活潑潑地，方才與他川水一般；若須臾閒斷，便與天地不相似。此是學問極至處，聖人也只如此。」

He asked, "Does 'what passes is like this' mean one's own mind-nature is lively and quick?" The Master said, "Yes. You must constantly apply the effort of extending innate knowing to be lively and quick and to be like the river's water. If there is even a moment's interruption, it is not like Heaven and Earth. This is the utmost point of learning, and the sages are also just like this."

○問志士、仁人章。先生曰：「只為世上人都把生身命子看得太重，不問當死不當死，定要宛轉委曲保全，以此把天理卻丟去了，忍心害理，同者不為。若違了天理，便與禽獸無異，便偷生茌世上百千年，也不過做了千百年的禽獸。學者要於此等處看得明白；比干、龍逢，只為也看得分明，所以能成就得他的仁。」

He asked about the chapter on the man of resolve and the benevolent man. The Master said, "It is only because people in the world all take their own life and body too seriously, and without asking whether they should die or not, insist on preserving themselves by twists and turns. In this way they throw away heavenly principle and, with a hard heart harming principle, there is nothing they will not do. If one goes against heavenly principle, one is no different from a beast, and even if one steals a life in the world for a hundred or a thousand years, it is only being a beast for a hundred or a thousand years. Learners must see this clearly. Bi Gan and Longfeng saw it clearly too, and so they could accomplish their benevolence."

○問：「叔孫武叔毀仲尼，大聖人如何猶不免於毀謗？」先生曰：「毀謗自外來的雖聖人如同免得？人只貴於自修，若自己實實落落是個聖賢，縱然人都毀他，也說他不著；卻若浮雲揜日如何損得日的光明。若自己是個象恭色莊、不堅不介的，縱然沒一個人說他，他的惡意終須一日發露。所以孟子說『有求全之毀，有不虞之譽：』譭譽在外的，安能避得，只要自修何如爾。」

He asked, "Shusun Wushu slandered Zhongni; how could such a great sage still not escape slander?" The Master said, "Slander comes from outside; how could even a sage avoid it? What people value is self-cultivation. If one is truly and solidly a sage or worthy, even if everyone slanders him, they cannot touch him, like floating clouds covering the sun; how could they diminish the sun's brightness? If one is outwardly respectful and solemn in appearance but not firm or upright, even if no one speaks of him, his evil will in the end be exposed one day. That is why Mencius said, 'There is praise that is unexpected and slander that comes from seeking perfection.' Praise and blame are outside; how can they be avoided? One only needs to cultivate oneself."

○劉君亮要在山中靜坐。先生曰：「汝若以厭外物之心去求之靜，是反養成一個驕惰之氣了；汝若不厭外物，復於靜處涵養，卻好。」

Liu Junliang wanted to sit in quiet meditation in the mountains. The Master said: "If you seek stillness with a mind that loathes external things, you will only cultivate arrogance and sloth. If you do not loathe external things and cultivate yourself again in a quiet place, that is good."

○王汝中、省曾侍坐。先生握扇命曰﹕「你們用扇。」省曾起對日﹕「不敢。」先生曰：「聖人之學不是這等捆縛苦楚的。不是裝做道學的模樣。」汝中曰：「觀仲尼與曾點言志一章略見。」先生曰：「然。以此章觀之，聖人何等寬洪，包含氣象。且為師者問志於群弟子，三子皆整頓以對，至於曾點，瓢飄然不看那三子在眼，自去鼓起瑟來，何等狂態：及至言志，又不對師之問目，都是狂言。設在伊川，彧斥罵起來了。聖人乃複稱許他，何等氣象。聖人教人，不是個束縛尥通做一般，只如狂者便從狂處成就他，狷者便從狷處成就地，人之才氣如何同得。」

Wang Ruzhong and Sheng Zeng were sitting in attendance. The Master held out a fan and said: "Please use the fan." Sheng Zeng rose and replied: "I dare not." The Master said: "The learning of the sages is not this sort of binding and bitterness, and it is not putting on the look of a Neo-Confucian." Ruzhong said: "This can be glimpsed in the chapter where Confucius and Zeng Dian state their aspirations." The Master said: "Yes. Looking at that chapter, how broad and embracing is the sage's manner! Moreover, when the teacher asked his disciples to state their aspirations, the other three all straightened up and answered; but Zeng Dian, drifting free and paying no mind to the other three, began to strum his zither by himself; what wildness! And when he stated his aspiration, he did not answer the teacher's question at all, but spoke only wild words. Had it been Yichuan, he might have scolded him. Yet the sage praised him instead; what a manner! The sage's teaching of people is not to bind them all into one mold: the wild are brought to completion through their wildness, and the cautious through their caution. How can people's talents and temperaments all be the same?"

○先生語陸元靜曰：「元靜少年亦要解五經，志亦好博。但聖人教人，只怕人不簡易，他說的皆是簡易之規：以今人好博之心觀之，卻似聖人教人差了。」

The Master said to Lu Yuanjing: "Yuanjing, you are young and want to explain the Five Classics, and your aspiration likes breadth. But in teaching people the sages feared only that people would not be simple and easy, and all they said were simple and easy rules. Looked at through the broad-loving minds of people today, it seems that the sages erred in their teaching."

○先生曰：「孔子無不知而作；顏子有不善未嘗不知：此是聖學真血脈路。」

The Master said: "Confucius never created anything without knowing; Yan Zi never failed to know when he had done something wrong. This is the true bloodline of the sages' learning."

○何廷仁、黃正之、李侯璧、汝中、德洪侍坐。先生顧而言曰：「汝輩學問不得長進，只是卡小上止志。侯璧起而對曰：「珙亦願立志。」先生曰：「難說不立，未是必為聖人之志耳。」對曰：「願立必為聖人之志。」先生曰：「你真有聖人之志，良知上更無不盡：良知上留得些子別唸掛帶，便非必為聖人之志矣。」洪初聞時心若未服，聽說到不覺悚汗。

He Tingren, Huang Zhengzhi, Li Houbi, Ruzhong and Dehong were sitting in attendance. The Master looked around and said: "The reason your learning does not make progress is simply that you have not yet set even a small aim." Houbi rose and replied: "I, Gong, also wish to set my aim." The Master said: "It is hard to say you have not set it; it is just that it is not yet the aim of surely becoming a sage." He replied: "I wish to set the aim of surely becoming a sage." The Master said: "If you truly had the aim of a sage, there would be nothing left unexhausted in innate knowing. If even a trace of another thought hangs on in innate knowing, it is not the aim of surely becoming a sage." When Dehong first heard this, his heart was not yet convinced, but on hearing this he broke into a sweat without realizing it.

○先生曰；「良知是造化的精靈，這些精靈，生天生地，成鬼成帝，皆從此出，真是與物無對。人若復得他完完全全，無少虧欠，自不覺手舞足蹈，不知天地閒更有何樂可代。」

The Master said: "Innate knowing is the spirit of creation and transformation. This spirit gives birth to heaven and earth and makes ghosts and gods; all come from it, and truly it has no counterpart among things. If a person recovers it whole and complete, with no lack, he will unconsciously dance with hands and feet, and not know what other joy between heaven and earth could replace it."

○一友靜坐有見，馳問先生。答曰：「吾昔居滁時，見諸生多務知解，口耳異同，無益於得，姑教之靜坐；一時藽見光景，頗收近效：久之漸有喜靜厭動，流入枯槁之病，或務為玄解妙覺，動人聽聞。故邇來只說『致良知』。良知明白，隨你去靜處體悟也好。隨你去事上磨練也好，良知本體原是無動無靜的：此便是學問頭腦。我這個話頭，自滁州到今，亦較過幾番，只是『致良知』三字無病。醫經摺肱，方能察人病理。」

A friend, who had seen something in quiet sitting, hurried to ask the Master. He answered: "When I lived in Chu, I saw that many students were busy with intellectual understanding and with differences between what they heard and spoke, which did not help them attain anything, so I temporarily taught them to sit in stillness. For a while they glimpsed a kind of light and received quite quick results. After a long time, they gradually fell into the fault of loving stillness and hating movement, sinking into dryness and desiccation, or striving for mysterious understanding and wondrous awakening to impress people's ears. Therefore recently I have only said 'extend innate knowing.' When innate knowing is clear, whether you go to quiet places to experience and awaken, or go to affairs to temper yourself, is fine, for the original substance of innate knowing is neither moving nor still. This is the head and source of learning. I have compared this teaching several times from Chuzhou until now, and only the three words 'extend innate knowing' have no fault. Only one who has broken his own arm can understand a person's illness."

○一友問：「功夫欲得此知時時接續，一切應感處反覺照管不及，若去事上週旋，又覺不見了。如何則可？」先生曰：「此只認良知未真，尚有內外之閒。我這裡功夫不由人急心，認得良知頭惱是當，去樸實用功，自會透徹。到此便是內外兩忘，又何心事不合一。」

A friend asked: "In my practice I want this knowing to continue at all times, but I feel I cannot keep watch over everything in response and stimulus; and if I go to deal with affairs, I feel I lose it. How can this be done?" The Master said: "This is just not recognizing innate knowing truly, still having a gap between inside and outside. The effort here does not depend on a hurried mind. Once you recognize the head and source of innate knowing properly and go work honestly, you will naturally see through it. Reaching this, both inside and outside are forgotten, and what matter of the mind could fail to be one?"

○又曰：「功夫不是透得這個真機，如何得他充實光輝？若能透得時，不由你聰明知解接得來。須胸中渣滓渾化，不使有毫髮沾帶始得。」

He also said: "If one's effort does not break through this true pivot, how can it become full and radiant? If one can break through, it does not come by cleverness and intellectual understanding. The dregs in the chest must be completely dissolved, with not a hair's breadth left clinging."

○先生曰：「『天命之謂性』，命即是性。『率性之謂道』，性即是道；『修道之謂教』，道即是教。」

The Master said: "'What Heaven decrees is called nature'; decree is nature. 'Following nature is called the Way'; nature is the Way. 'Cultivating the Way is called teaching'; the Way is teaching."

○問：「如何道即是教？」曰：「道即是良知：真知原是完完全全，是的還他是，非的還他非，是非只依著他，更無有不是處，這真知還是你的明師。」問：「『不睹不聞』是說本禮，『戒慎恐懼』是說功夫否？」先生曰：「此處須信得本體原是不睹不聞的，亦原是戒慎恐懼的，戒慎恐懼不曾在不睹不聞上加得些子。見得真時，便謂戒慎恐懼是本體，不睹不聞是功夫亦得。」

Someone asked: "How is the Way itself teaching?" He said: "The Way is innate knowing. Innate knowing is originally whole and complete: what is right it returns as right, and what is wrong it returns as wrong; if one follows it in right and wrong, nothing is ever wrong. This innate knowing is your enlightened teacher." He asked: "Does 'not seeing, not hearing' speak of the original substance, and 'being cautious and apprehensive' speak of effort?" The Master said: "Here one must trust that the original substance is originally not seen and not heard, and is also originally cautious and apprehensive. Caution and apprehension adds not a bit to the unseen and unheard. When one sees it truly, it is also fine to say that caution and apprehension is the substance, and not seeing and not hearing is the effort."