Chuan Xi Lu (傳習錄) · Volume 9

○薛尚謙，鄒謙之，馬子萃，王汝止待坐。因嘆先生自徵寧藩以來，天下謗議益眾。請各言其故。有言先生功業勢位日隆，天下忌之者日眾。有言先生之學日明故為宋儒爭是非者亦日博。有言先生自南都以後，同志信從者日眾，而四方排阻者日力。先曰，「諸君之言，信皆有之。但吾一段自知處，諸君俱未道及耳」。諸友請問。先生曰，「我在南都已前，尚有些子鄉愿的意思在。我今信得這良知真是真非。信手行去。更不著些覆藏。我今繞做得個狂者的胸次。使天下之人都說我行不掩言也罷」。尚謙出曰，「信得此過，方是聖人的真血脈」。

Xue Shangqian, Zou Qianzhi, Ma Zishen and Wang Ruzhi were sitting in attendance. They sighed that since the Master subdued the Ning prince, slander and criticism in the world had grown greater, and asked each to give the reason. Some said that the Master's achievements and position grew greater by the day, so those who envied him grew in number by the day; some said that the Master's learning grew clearer by the day, so those who disputed right and wrong with Song Confucians also grew broader by the day; some said that since the Master left Nanjing, fellow aspirants who believed and followed him grew in number, and those who blocked and resisted him from all quarters also grew stronger. The Master said: "What you gentlemen say is all true. But there is one thing I know about myself that none of you has mentioned." The friends asked what it was. The Master said: "Before I was in Nanjing, I still had a bit of the village-worthy in me. Now I truly believe in this innate knowing as truly right and wrong, and act as it comes to hand without hiding anything. Only now have I attained the breast of a wild one. Let all the world say that my deeds do not cover my words; so be it." Shangqian came out and said: "Only one who can trust this far has the true bloodline of the sages."

○先生鍛鍊人處，一言之下，感人最深。一日，王汝止出遊歸，先生問曰：「遊何見？對曰：「見滿街人都是聖人。」先生曰：「你看滿街人是聖人，滿街人倒看你是聖人在。」又一日，董蘿石出遊而歸，見先生曰：「今日見一異事。」先生曰﹕「何異？」對曰：「見滿街人都是聖人。」先生曰：「此亦常事耳，何足為異？」蓋汝止圭角未融，蘿石恍見有悟，故問同答異，皆反其言而進之。洪與黃正之、張叔謙、汝中丙戌會試歸，為先生道塗中講學，有信有不信。先生曰：「你們拏一個聖人去與人講學，人見聖人來，都怕走了，如何講得行！須做得個愚夫、愚婦，方可與人講學。」洪又言今日要見人品高下最易。先生曰：「何以見之？，」對曰：「先生譬如泰山在前，有不知仰者，須是無目人。」先生曰：「泰山不如平地大，平地有何可見？」先生一言翦裁，剖破終年為外好高之病，在座者莫不悚懼。

The Master's way of tempering people moved them most deeply with a single word. One day, when Wang Ruzhi came back from an outing, the Master asked: "What did you see on your outing?" He answered: "I saw that everyone in the street is a sage." The Master said: "You see everyone in the street as a sage, but everyone in the street sees you as a sage." Another day Dong Luoshi came back from an outing and said to the Master: "Today I saw something strange." The Master said: "What was strange?" He answered: "I saw that everyone in the street is a sage." The Master said: "This is a common matter; what is strange about it?" For Ruzhi's sharp corners had not yet melted, while Luoshi had a sudden glimpse of awakening, so the same question received different answers, each reversing his words to push him forward. Dehong, with Huang Zhengzhi, Zhang Shuqian and Ruzhong, returned from the bingxu metropolitan examination and told the Master about lecturing on the road, where some believed and some did not. The Master said: "You take a sage to lecture to people, and when people see a sage coming they all run away; how can the lecturing succeed! You must become an ordinary man or woman before you can lecture to people." Dehong also said that today it is easiest to see people's character high or low. The Master said: "How can one see it?" He answered: "The Master is like Mount Tai before one; those who do not know to look up to it must be blind." The Master said: "Mount Tai is not as great as level ground; what is there to see in level ground?" With one word the Master cut away the fault of looking outward for loftiness throughout the year, and no one present was not startled and afraid.

○癸末春，鄒謙之來越問學，居數日，先生送別於浮峰。是夕與希淵諸友移舟宿延壽寺，秉燭夜坐，先生慨悵不已，曰：「江濤煙柳，故人倏在百里外矣！」一友問曰：「先生何念謙之之深也？」先生曰：「曾子所謂「以能問於不能，以多問於寡，有若無，宜若虛，犯而不校」，若謙之者良近之矣。」

In the spring of the guiwei year, Zou Qianzhi came to Yue to ask about learning, and after staying a few days the Master saw him off at Fufeng. That evening, with Cai Xiyuan and other friends, he moved his boat and stayed at Yanshou Temple, sitting through the night by candlelight, and the Master sighed without end and said: "River waves and misty willows; an old friend is suddenly a hundred li away!" A friend asked: "Master, why do you think of Qianzhi so deeply?" The Master said: "What Zengzi called 'asking the unable though able, asking the few though many, having though seeming to have not, being full though seeming empty, and not retaliating when offended'; a man like Qianzhi comes quite close to that."

○丁亥年九月，先生起復徵思田，將命行時，德洪與汝中論學；汝中舉先生教言：「無善無惡是心之體，有善有惡是意之動，知善知惡是良知，為善去惡是格物。」德洪曰：「此意如何？」汝中曰：「此恐未是究竟話頭：若說心體是無善、無惡，意亦是無善，無惡的意，知亦是無善、無惡的知，物亦是無善、無惡的物矣。若說意有善、惡，畢竟心體還有善、惡在。」德洪曰：「心體是『天命之性』，原是無善、無惡的：但人有習心，意念上貝有善惡在，格、致、誠、正、修，此正是復那性體功夫，若原無善惡，功夫亦不消說矣：」是夕侍坐天泉橋，各舉詩正。先生曰：「我今將行，正要你們來講破此意。二君之見，正好相資為用，不可各執一邊：我這裡接人，原有此二種。利根之人，直從本原上悟入，人心本體原是明瑩無湍的，原是個未發之中：利根之人一悟本體即是功夫，人己內外一齊俱透了。其次不免有習心在，本體受蔽，故且教在意念上實落為善、去惡，功夫熟後，渣滓去得盡時，本體亦明盡了；。汝中之見，是我這裡接利根人的：德洪之見，是我這裡為其次立法的。二君相取為用，則中人上下皆可引入於道：若各執一邊，跟前便有夫人，便於道體各有未盡。」既而曰：「已後與朋友講學，切不可矢了我的宗旨。無善，無惡是心之禮，有善、有惡是意之動，知善、知惡是良知，為善、去惡是格物。只依我這話頭隨人指點，自沒病痛，此原是徹上徹下功夫。利根之人，世亦難遇。本體功夫一悟盡透，此顏子、明道所不敢承當，豈可輕易望人。人有習心，不教他在良知上實用為善．去惡功夫，只去懸空想個本體，一切事為俱不著實，不過養成一個虛寂；此個病痛不是小小，不可不早說破。」是日德洪、汝中俱有省。

In the ninth month of the dingshou year, the Master was recalled to service to campaign against Sizhou and Tianzhou, and as he was about to set out, Dehong discussed learning with Ruzhong. Ruzhong cited the Master's teaching: "No good and no evil is the substance of the mind; good and evil are the stirring of the intention; knowing good and evil is innate knowing; doing good and removing evil is investigating things." Dehong said: "What is the meaning of this?" Ruzhong said: "I fear this is not the ultimate teaching. If the substance of the mind is without good or evil, then intention is also intention without good or evil, knowing is also knowing without good or evil, and things are also things without good or evil. If one says intention has good and evil, then in the end the substance of the mind still has good and evil in it." Dehong said: "The substance of the mind is 'the nature decreed by Heaven' and originally is without good or evil. But people have habituated minds, and in intention good and evil appear. Investigating, extending, making sincere, rectifying and cultivating is precisely the effort of recovering that nature's substance. If it were originally without good or evil, there would be no need even to speak of effort." That evening they sat in attendance at Tianquan Bridge and each presented his view for correction. The Master said: "I am about to leave, and I wanted you to come and explain this meaning fully. The views of you two are just right for mutual use and must not each cling to one side. Those I receive here originally fall into these two kinds. People of sharp roots go straight in from the source. The original substance of the human mind is originally bright and clear and without stagnation, originally the mean before stirring. For people of sharp roots, one awakening to the original substance is effort, and others and self, inner and outer, are all penetrated at once. The next kind cannot avoid having habituated minds, with the original substance covered, so I teach them for the time being to put effort into doing good and removing evil in their intentions. When effort is mature and the dregs are all removed, the original substance is also fully bright. Ruzhong's view is how I receive people of sharp roots; Dehong's view is how I set up methods for the next kind. If you two take from each other and use them together, people of middling grade, upper and lower, can all be led into the Way. If each clings to one side, then right before you there will be people lost, and each will have something incomplete about the substance of the Way." Then he said: "Afterward, when lecturing with friends, you must not lose my doctrine. No good and no evil is the substance of the mind; good and evil are the stirring of the intention; knowing good and evil is innate knowing; doing good and removing evil is investigating things. If you simply follow this teaching in guiding people, there will be no fault. This is an effort that penetrates both upward and downward. People of sharp roots are hard to meet in the world. To awaken to the original substance and effort and penetrate fully at one stroke is something that even Yan Zi and Mingdao did not dare claim, so how can one lightly hope for it in others? If people have habituated minds and one does not teach them to put real effort into doing good and removing evil on the basis of innate knowing, but only has them imagine an original substance in the air, then all their conduct is ungrounded, and they will only grow into emptiness and stillness. This fault is no small matter and I must say it plainly early." That day Dehong and Ruzhong both had insight.

先生初歸越時，朋友蹤跡尚寥落，既後四方來遊者日進：癸末年已後，環先生而居者比屋，如天妃、光相諸剎，每當一室，常合食者數十人，夜無臥處，更相就帟，歌聲徹昏旦。南鎮、禹穴、陽明洞諸山遠近寺剎，徒足所列，無非同志遊寓所在。先生每臨講座，前後左右環坐而聽者，常不下數百人，送往迎來，月無虛曰：至有在侍更歲，不能遍記其姓名者。每臨別，先生常嘆日；「君等雖別，不出天地間，苟同此志，吾亦可以忘形似矣。」諸生每聽講出門，未嘗不跳躍稱快。嘗聞之同門先輩曰：「南都以前，朋友從遊者雖眾。末有如在越之盛者。此雖講學日久，孚信漸博，要亦先生之學日進，感召之機，申變無力，亦自有不同也。」此後門人黃以方錄

When the Master first returned to Yue, friends were still few and scattered, but later those who came from all quarters increased daily. After the guiwei year, those who lived around the Master filled whole rows of houses, in temples such as Tianfei and Guangxiang; in each room there were often dozens eating together, and at night there was not enough room to sleep so they took turns at the mats, with singing that continued from dusk to dawn. In the mountain temples near and far, such as Nanzhen, Yu's Cave and Yangming Cave, the places visited on foot were all where fellow aspirants stayed. Whenever the Master took the lecture seat, those seated around in front, behind, left and right listening often numbered no fewer than several hundred; sending off those departing and welcoming those arriving, there was no month without such days. Some stayed in attendance for a year and could not remember all their names. At each parting the Master often sighed and said: "Though you gentlemen part, you do not go beyond heaven and earth, and if we share this aspiration, I can also forget physical likeness." Whenever the students left after a lecture, they invariably leapt and exclaimed in delight. I once heard from senior fellow students: "Before Nanjing, although many friends studied with him, there was none as flourishing as in Yue. Though this was because the lecturing had gone on for a long time and trust had gradually broadened, it was also because the Master's learning advanced daily, and the occasions for stirring and summoning, and divine transformation without limit, were also different." What follows was recorded by the later disciple Huang Yifang.

○黃以方問：「『博學於文」為隨事學存此天理，然則謂『行有餘力，則以學文』，其說似不相合。」先生曰：「《詩》、《書》、六藝皆是天理之發見，文字都包在其中，考之《詩》、《書》、六藝，皆所以學存此天理也，不特發見於事為者方為文耳。「餘力學文」，亦只「博學於文』中事。」或問「學而不思」二句。曰：「此亦有為而言，其實思即學也。學有所疑，便須恩之。『思而不學』者，蓋有此等人，只懸空去思，要想出一個道理，卻不在身心上宜用其力，以學存此天理：思與學作兩事做，故有『罔」與「殆」之病。其穴思只是思其所學，原非兩事也。」

Huang Yifang asked: "'Study the culture broadly' means to learn according to affairs to preserve this heavenly principle; but then 'when one has strength left over after conduct, study the culture' seems not to fit." The Master said: "The Odes, the Documents and the Six Arts are all manifestations of heavenly principle, and writing is all contained in them. To study the Odes, the Documents and the Six Arts is all to learn to preserve this heavenly principle; it is not only what appears in affairs that counts as culture. 'Studying culture with spare strength' is also just a matter within 'studying the culture broadly.'" Someone asked about the two sentences on "learning without thinking." He said: "This too was said for a purpose; in truth thinking is learning. When learning has doubt, one must think about it. As for 'thinking without learning,' there are such people who only think in the void, wanting to think up a principle, but do not truly apply effort on body and mind to learn to preserve this heavenly principle. They make thinking and learning two things, and so have the faults of 'being lost' and 'being in peril.' In fact thinking is just thinking about what one has learned, and they were never two things."

○先生曰：「先儒解「格物」為『格天下之物」，天下之物如何格得？且謂一草一木亦皆有理，今如何去格？縱格得草木來，如何反來誠得自家意？我解『格』作『正』字義，『物』作『事』字義。（大學》之所謂『身』，即耳、目、口、鼻、四肢是也。欲修身便是要目非禮勿視，耳非禮勿聽，口非禮勿言，四肢非禮勿動。要修這個身，身上如何用得工夫？心者身之主宰，目雖視而所以視者心也，耳雖聽而所以聽者心也，口與四肢雖言、動而所以言、動者心也，故欲修身在於體當自家心愷，常令廓然大公，無有些子不正處。主宰一正，則發竅於目，自無非禮之視；發竅於耳，自無非禮之聽；發竅於口與四肢，自無非禮之言、動；此便是修身在正其心。然至善者，心之本體也，心之本體那有不善？如今要正心，本體上何處用得功？必就心之援動處才可著力也。心之發動不能無不善，故須就此處著力，便是在誠意。如一念發在好善上，便實實落落去好善，一念發在惡惡上，便實實落落去惡惡，意之所發，既無不誠，則其本體如何有不正的？故欲正其心在誠意。工夫到誠意，始有著落處。然誠意之本，又在於致知也。斫謂人雖不知而已所獨知者，此正是吾心良知處。然知得善，卻不依這個良知便做去，知得不善，卻不依這個真知便不去做，則這個真知便遮蔽了，是不能致知也。吾心良知既不得擴充到底，則善雖知好，不能著實好了，惡雖知惡，不能著實惡了，如何得意誠？故致知者，意誠之本也。然亦不是孫空的致知，致知在實事上格。如意在於為善，便就這件事上去為，意在於去惡，便就這件事上去不為；去惡固是格不正以歸於正，為善則不善正了，亦是格不正以歸於正也。如此，則吾心良知無私慾蔽了，得以致其極，而意之所發，好善、去惡，無有不誠矣。誠意工夫實下手處在挌物也。

The Master said: "Earlier Confucians explained 'investigating things' as 'investigating all the things under Heaven.' But how can all the things under Heaven be investigated? And they say that every blade of grass and every tree has its principle; how would one investigate them now? Even if one did investigate the grass and trees, how could that in turn make one's own intention sincere? I explain 'investigate' as meaning 'rectify,' and 'thing' as meaning 'affair.' What the Great Learning calls 'the person' is just the ears, eyes, mouth, nose and four limbs. To cultivate the person is to look at nothing improper with the eyes, listen to nothing improper with the ears, say nothing improper with the mouth, and do nothing improper with the four limbs. But to cultivate this person, how can one apply effort to the body? The mind is the master of the body. Although the eyes see, it is the mind that makes them see; although the ears hear, it is the mind that makes them hear; although the mouth and limbs speak and move, it is the mind that makes them speak and move. So to cultivate the person lies in embodying one's own mind and intention, always keeping it open, vast and impartial, without the slightest point that is not upright. When the master is upright, then in its opening through the eyes there is naturally no improper seeing; in its opening through the ears, no improper hearing; in its opening through the mouth and limbs, no improper speech or movement. This is what is meant by cultivating the person lying in rectifying the mind. But the highest good is the original substance of the mind. How could the original substance of the mind be anything but good? Now, to rectify the mind, where can effort be applied on the original substance? One must apply strength at the point where the mind begins to stir. The stirring of the mind cannot be without some that is not good, so one must apply strength right there, and that is making the intention sincere. If a thought arises toward loving the good, one loves the good in truth and substance; if a thought arises toward hating evil, one hates evil in truth and substance. When what the intention puts forth is nowhere insincere, how could its original substance be anything but upright? So to rectify the mind lies in making the intention sincere. Only when effort reaches making the intention sincere does it have something to rest on. Yet the root of sincere intention lies in extending knowing. What is meant by 'what others do not know, but one alone knows' is precisely the place of the innate knowing of my mind. But if one knows what is good and yet does not act according to this innate knowing, or knows what is not good and yet does not refrain according to this innate knowing, then this innate knowing is obscured and one cannot extend knowing. When the innate knowing of my mind cannot be expanded to the end, then although I know good is to be liked, I cannot truly like it; although I know evil is to be hated, I cannot truly hate it; how can the intention be made sincere? So extending knowing is the root of sincere intention. But it is not an empty, hanging extension of knowing; extending knowing is investigated in actual affairs. If the intention is to do good, then one does it in this very matter; if the intention is to remove evil, then one refrains in this very matter. To remove evil is of course to rectify what is not upright and return it to uprightness; and to do good is to make what was not good upright, which is also rectifying what is not upright and returning it to uprightness. In this way the innate knowing of my mind is not obscured by selfish desires and can be extended to its limit, and what the intention puts forth, in loving good and removing evil, is nowhere insincere. The actual place to begin making the intention sincere is investigating things."

若如此格物，人人便做得：人皆可以為堯、舜，正在此也。」

(The Master continued:) "If investigating things is done this way, everyone can do it. That everyone can become a Yao or a Shun lies precisely here."

○先生曰：「眾人只說「格物」要依晦翁，何曾把他的說去用！我著實曾用來。初年與錢友同論做聖賢要格天下之物，如今安得這等大的力量：因指亭前竹子，令去挌看。錢子早夜去窮格竹子的道理，竭其心思至於三日，便致勞神成疾。當初說他這是精力不足，某因自去箬格，早夜不得其理，到七日，亦以勞思致疾，遂相與嘆聖賢是做不得的他大力量去格物了。及在夷中三年，頗見得此意思，方知天下之物本無可格者；其格物之功，只在身心上做；決然以聖人為人人可到，便自有擔當了。這裡意思，卻要說與諸公知道。」

The Master said: "People only say that 'investigating things' must follow Master Zhu, but when have they ever actually put his teaching to use! I truly did use it. In my early years, I discussed with my friend Qian that to become a sage or worthy one must investigate all the things under Heaven, and said, where would one now find such great strength? Then I pointed to the bamboo in front of the pavilion and told him to go investigate it. Qian investigated the principle of the bamboo from morning to night, exhausting his mind and thought for three days, until he fell ill from overwork. At first I said he lacked the strength, so I went myself to investigate it, but from morning to night I could not get its principle, and by the seventh day I too fell ill from overthinking; so together we sighed that being a sage or worthy is not for us, for we lack the great strength to investigate things. Later, after three years among the barbarians, I came to see this meaning fairly well, and only then knew that there was originally nothing among the things under Heaven that could be investigated; the work of investigating things is done only on the body and mind. I became firmly convinced that everyone can reach the state of a sage, and so I had something to take on as my own responsibility. I want to tell you all this meaning."

○門人有言邵端峰論童子不能格物，只教以儷掃、應對之說。先生曰：「儷掃、應對就是一件物。童子良知只到此便教去儷掃、應對，就是致他這一點頁知了。又如童子知畏先生長者，此亦是他良知了。故雖嬉戲中見了先生長者，便去作揖恭敬，是他能格物以致敬師長之頁知了。童子自有童子的挌物致知。」又曰：「我這裡言挌物，自童子以至聖人，皆是此等工夬：但聖人格物，便更熟得些子，不消費力如此格物，雖賣柴人亦是做得，雖公卿大夫以至天子，皆是如此做。」

A disciple mentioned that Shao Duanfeng, discussing how a child cannot investigate things, taught them only sweeping and answering. The Master said: "Sweeping and answering are themselves a thing. The child's innate knowing reaches only this far, so teaching him to sweep and answer is extending this little bit of innate knowing. Likewise, a child knows to fear teachers and elders, and this too is his innate knowing. So even in the midst of play, when he sees a teacher or elder, he bows and is respectful, which means he can investigate things to extend his innate knowing of respect for teachers and elders. A child has his own investigating of things and extending of knowing." He added: "The investigating of things I speak of here is the same kind of effort from the child up to the sage. Only the sage's investigating of things is somewhat more practiced and takes no effort. Investigating things in this way can be done even by a woodcutter, and even by ministers, senior officers and up to the Son of Heaven; all do it this way."

○或疑知行不合一，以「知之匪艱」二句為問。先生曰：「良知自知，原是容易的；只是不能致那良知，便是『知之匪艱，行之惟艱』；」

Someone doubted that knowing and acting are not unified, and asked about the two sentences beginning 'Knowing is not hard.' The Master said: "Innate knowing knows by itself; that is originally easy. It is only the failure to extend that innate knowing that makes it 'knowing is not hard, acting is what is hard.'"

○門人問曰：「知、行如何得合一？且如《中庸》言『博學之」，又說個「篤行之」，分明知、行是兩件。」先生曰：「博學只是事事學存此天理，篤行只是學之不已之意。」又問：「《易》『學以聚之』，又言『仁以行之』，此是如何？」先生曰：「也是如此。事事去學存此天理，則此心更無放矢時，故曰：「學以聚之。」然常常學存此天理，更無私慾間斷，此即是此心不息處，故曰「仁以行之」。」又問：「孔子言『知及之，仁不能守之」，知行卻是兩個了。」先生曰：「說「及之」，已是行了，但不能常常行，已為私慾間斷，便是「仁不能守」。」又問：「心郥理之說，程子云『在物為理」，如何謂心即理？」先生曰：「在物為理，在字上當添一心字：此心在物則為理，如此心在事父則為孝，在事君則為忠之類。」先生因謂之曰：「諸君要識得我立言宗旨。我如今說個心即理是如何，只為世人分心與理為二，故便有許多病痛。如五伯掇夷狄，弅周室，都是一個私心，使不當理，人卻說他做得當理，只心有未純，往往悅慕其所為，要來外面做得好看，卻與心全不相干。分心與理為二，其流至於伯道之偽而不自知。故我說個心即理，要使知心理是一個？便來心上做工夫，不去英義於外，便是王道之真。此我立言宗旨。」又問：「聖賢言語許多，如何卻要打做一個？」曰：「我不是要打做一個，如日「夫道一而已矣。』又曰「其為物不二，則其生物不測。」天地聖人皆是一個，如何二得？」

A disciple asked: "How can knowing and acting be unified? For example, the Doctrine of the Mean says 'study it broadly,' and also says 'practice it earnestly,' so clearly knowing and acting are two things." The Master said: "Studying broadly is only studying in every matter to preserve this heavenly principle, and practicing earnestly is only the meaning of never ceasing to study." He asked again: "The Book of Changes says 'gather it through learning' and also says 'practice it through humaneness'; what is that?" The Master said: "It is the same. Studying in every matter to preserve this heavenly principle means this mind is never lost, so it is said 'gather it through learning.' But constantly studying to preserve this heavenly principle, with no interruption by selfish desires, is the place where this mind does not cease, so it is said 'practice it through humaneness.'" He asked again: "Confucius said 'knowing may reach it, but humaneness cannot hold it,' so knowing and acting are two." The Master said: "To say 'reach it' is already acting, but if one cannot act constantly and it is interrupted by selfish desires, that is 'humaneness cannot hold it.'" He asked again: "On the teaching that the mind is principle, Master Cheng said 'principle is in things'; how can one say the mind is principle?" The Master said: "In 'principle is in things,' the word 'in' should have the word 'mind' added: this mind in things is principle. For example, this mind in serving one's father is filial piety, in serving one's ruler is loyalty, and so on." The Master then said to them: "All of you must know the main point of my teaching. Why do I now say the mind is principle? It is only because people of the world divide the mind and principle into two, and so have many ailments. For example, when the Five Hegemons repelled the barbarians and honored the Zhou house, it was all one selfish mind and did not accord with principle. People say he did what accords with principle, but only because their own minds are not pure, they often admire what he did and want to make things look good outside, which has nothing at all to do with the mind. Dividing the mind and principle into two leads at last to the falseness of the way of hegemony without one's knowing it. So I say the mind is principle, so that people know the mind and principle are one and come to work on the mind, and do not borrow righteousness from outside, which is the truth of the kingly way. This is the main point of my teaching." He asked again: "The sages and worthies said so many things; why must they be made into one?" He said: "It is not that I want to make them into one. As it says 'the Way is one and that is all,' and also 'in being a thing it is not two, so its giving birth to things is unfathomable.' Heaven, Earth and the sages are all one, so how can they be two?"

○「心不是一塊血肉，凡知覺處便是心；如耳目之知視聽，手足之知痛癢，此知覺便是心也。」

"The mind is not a lump of blood and flesh; wherever there is awareness, that is the mind. For example, the ears and eyes know seeing and hearing, and the hands and feet know pain and itching; this awareness is the mind."

○以方問曰：「先生之說「格物」，凡《中庸》之「慎獨」及「集義」「博約」等說，皆為『格物」之事。」先生曰：「非也，格物即慎擉，即戒懼；至於『集義』『博約』，工夫只一般，不是以那數件都做『格物』底事。」

Huang Yifang asked: "As to your teaching on 'investigating things,' the Doctrine of the Mean's 'being watchful when alone,' and the teachings on 'accumulating righteousness' and 'broad learning and restraint' are all matters of 'investigating things.'" The Master said: "Not so. Investigating things is itself being watchful when alone, which is itself being cautious and apprehensive; as to 'accumulating righteousness' and 'broad learning and restraint,' the work is just the same, and it is not that those several items are all made into matters of 'investigating things.'"

○以方問「咠德性」一條。先生曰：「『道問學』即所以「尊德性』也。晦翁言子靜以『尊德性』晦人，某教人豈不是『道問學」處多了些子，是分『尊德性氣道問學』作兩件且如今講習討論下許多工夫，無非只是存此心，不失其德性而已：豈有『尊德性』只空空去尊，更不去問學，問學只是空空去問學，更與德性無關涉？如此，則不知今之所以講習討論者，更學何事！」問「致廣大」二句。曰：「『盡精微』即所以「致廣大」也，「道中庸」郥所以『極高明』也。蓋心之本體自是廣大底，人不能『盡精微』，則便為私慾所蔽，有不勝其小者矣。故能細微曲折，無所不盡，則私意不足以蔽之，自無許多障礙遮隔處，如何廣大不致？」又問：「精微還是念慮之精微，事理之精微？」曰：「念慮之精微，即事理之精微也。」

Huang Yifang asked about the passage on 'honoring the virtuous nature.' The Master said: "'Following the path of inquiry and study' is itself how one 'honors the virtuous nature.' Master Zhu said that Zijing taught people by 'honoring the virtuous nature,' while my teaching of people has somewhat more on 'following the path of inquiry and study,' which divides 'honoring the virtuous nature' and 'following the path of inquiry and study' into two things. But all the effort now put into lecturing, studying and discussing is nothing but preserving this mind and not losing its virtuous nature. How could 'honoring the virtuous nature' be only an empty honoring without any inquiry and study, and inquiry and study be an empty inquiry and study with nothing to do with the virtuous nature? If so, I do not know what else we would study in our present lecturing, studying and discussing!" He asked about the two sentences beginning 'reach the broad and great.' He said: "'Exhausting the fine and subtle' is itself how one 'reaches the broad and great,' and 'following the Mean' is itself how one 'reaches the lofty and bright.' The original substance of the mind is naturally broad and great, but if a person cannot 'exhaust the fine and subtle,' then he is obscured by selfish desires and is overcome by petty things. So if one can be fine and subtle and go through every turn, exhausting everything, then selfish intentions are not enough to obscure it, and naturally there are not so many obstructions and barriers, so how could the broad and great not be reached?" He asked again: "Is the fine and subtle the fineness of thought, or the fineness of affairs and principles?" He said: "The fineness of thought is itself the fineness of affairs and principles."

○先生曰：「今之論性者，紛紛異同，皆是說性，非見性也。見性者無異同之可言矣。」

The Master said: "Those who now discuss human nature differ in countless ways, but they are all speaking about nature and have not seen nature. For those who have seen nature, there is no difference or similarity left to speak of."

○問：「聲、色、貨、利，恐良知亦不能無。」先生曰：「固然。但初學用功，卻須掃除盪滌，勿使留積，則適然來遇，始不為累，自然順而應之。良知只在聲、色、貨、利上用功。能致得良知精精明明，毫髮無蔽，則聲、色、貨、利之交，無非天則流行矣。」

Someone asked: "As for sound, form, wealth and profit, I fear that innate knowing cannot be without them." The Master said: "Certainly. But when a beginner applies effort, he must sweep and wash them away and not let them accumulate; then when they happen to come he is not burdened by them and naturally responds in accord. Innate knowing is applied just in sound, form, wealth and profit. If one can extend innate knowing until it is clear and bright, without a hair's obscuring, then in the interactions with sound, form, wealth and profit, everything is the flow of the heavenly norm."

○先生曰：「吾與諸公講『致知』『格物』，日日是此，講一二十年俱是如此。諸君聽吾言，實去用功，見吾講一番，自覺長進一番；否則只怍一場話說，雖聽之一同用。」

The Master said: "When I discuss 'extending knowing' and 'investigating things' with you, it is this every day, and for ten or twenty years it has been just this. If you listen to my words and actually apply effort, then each time you hear me discuss it you will feel you have progressed; otherwise it is only a talk, and hearing it is no different from not hearing it."

○先生曰：「人之本體，常常是寂然不動的，常常是感而遂通的。未應不是先，已應不是後。」

The Master said: "The original substance of a person is always still and unmoving, and is always responsive and comprehending when stirred. Before responding is not earlier, and after responding is not later."

○一友舉佛家以手指顯出，問曰，「眾曾見否」？眾曰，「見之」。復以手指入袖。問曰，「眾還見否」？眾曰，「不見」。佛說還未見性。此義未明。先生曰，「手指有見有不見。爾之見性，常在人之心神。只在有睹有聞上馳騖。不在不睹不聞上著實用功。盡不睹不聞，實良知本體。戒慎恐懼，是致良知的功夫。學者時時刻刻常睹其所不睹，常聞其所不聞，功夫方有個實落處。久久成熟後，則不須著力，不待防檢，而真性自不息亦。豈以在外者之聞見為累哉」？

A friend cited the Buddhists' showing of a finger and asked: "Have you all seen it?" The assembly said: "We have seen it." Then the finger was put into the sleeve and he asked: "Do you still see it?" The assembly said: "We do not." The Buddha said they had not yet seen their nature. The meaning was unclear. The Master said: "The finger can be seen or not seen. Your seeing of the nature is always present. People's mind and spirit only gallop in having seen and having heard, and do not apply real effort in not seeing and not hearing. For not seeing and not hearing is truly the original substance of innate knowing. Being cautious and apprehensive is the effort of extending innate knowing. When learners at every moment constantly see what is not seen and constantly hear what is not heard, then effort has a place to land. After long maturing it requires no strength, no guarding or checking, and the true nature naturally does not cease. How could it be burdened by what is seen and heard outside?"

○問：「先儒謂鳶飛魚躍，與『必有事焉」，同一活潑潑地。」先生曰：「亦是。天地閒活潑潑地，無非此理，便是吾良知的流行不息，『致良知」便是『必有事」的工夫。此理非惟不可離，實亦不得而離也。無往而非道，無往而非工夫。」

Someone asked: "Earlier Confucians said that the kite flying and the fish leaping are the same lively place as 'there must be work to be done.'" The Master said: "Yes. The liveliness between Heaven and Earth is nothing but this principle, which is the unceasing flow of my innate knowing. 'Extending innate knowing' is the work of 'there must be work to be done.' This principle not only must not be left, it really cannot be left. There is nowhere that is not the Way, and nowhere that is not effort."

○先生曰：「諸公在此，務要立個必為聖人之心，時時刻刻須是一棒一條痕，一摑一拳血，方能聽吾說話，句句得力。若茫茫蕩蕩度日，譬如一塊死肉，打也不知得痛症，恐終不濟事，回家只尋得舊時伎倆而已，豈不惜哉？」

The Master said: "All of you here must establish a mind resolved to become a sage. At every moment it must be a stripe for each blow and blood for each slap, and only then can you listen to my words and have every sentence take effect. If you drift through the days vaguely and idly, like a lump of dead flesh that cannot feel pain or itch when struck, I fear it will never help. You will go home and find only your old tricks; is that not a pity?"

○問：「近來妄念也覺少，亦覺不曾著想定要如何用功，不知此是工夫否？」先生曰：「汝且去著實用功，便多這些著想也不妨，久久自會妥帖；若才下得些功，便說效驗，何足為恃！」

Someone asked: "Recently I find I have fewer deluded thoughts, and I also feel I have not been deliberately thinking about how to apply effort. I do not know if this is effort." The Master said: "Just go and apply real effort, and even having a bit more deliberation does no harm; with time it will settle properly. If you apply a little effort and immediately speak of its effect, what is there to rely on!"

○一友自嘆：「私意萌時，分明自心知得，只是不能使他即去。」先生曰：「你萌時，這一知處便是你的命根，當下即去消磨，便是立命工夫。」

A friend lamented: "When a selfish intention sprouts, my own mind clearly knows it, but I cannot make it leave at once." The Master said: "At the moment of sprouting, this place of knowing is your life-root. To wear it away right then is the work of establishing one's destiny."

○「夫子說「性相近』，即孟子說「性善』，不可專在氣質上說。若說氣質，如剛與柔對，如何相近得，惟性善則同耳。人生初時善，原是同的，但剛的習於善則為剛善，習於惡則為剛惡，柔的習於善則為柔善，習於惡則為柔惡，便日相遠了。」

"The Master said 'By nature people are close,' which is Mencius's saying that 'nature is good,' and it should not be spoken of in terms of physical temperament alone. If speaking of temperament, firm is opposed to soft, so how could they be close? Only nature being good makes them the same. At birth people are good and originally the same. But the firm one who becomes habituated to good is firm and good, and if habituated to evil is firm and evil; the soft one who becomes habituated to good is soft and good, and if habituated to evil is soft and evil; so they grow further apart day by day."

○先生嘗語學者曰：「心禮上著不得一念留滯，就如眼著不得些子塵沙，些子能得幾多；滿眼便昏天黑地了。」又曰：「這一念不但是私念；便好的念頭亦著不得些子如眼中放些金玉屑，眼亦開不得了。」

The Master once said to his students: "On the substance of the mind one cannot allow a single thought to linger, just as the eye cannot allow a speck of dust or sand. How much can a speck be? Yet if the whole eye is full, everything is dark. He also said: "This thought is not only a selfish thought; even a good thought cannot be allowed to linger a bit. It is like putting a bit of gold or jade dust in the eye, and the eye cannot open either."

○問：「人心與物同體，如吾身原是血氣流通的，所以謂之同體：若於人便異體了，禽、獸、草、木益遠矣。而何謂之同體？」先生曰：「你只在感應之几上看；豈但禽、獸、草、木，雖天、地也與我同體的，鬼、神也與我同體的。」請問。先生曰：「你看這個天、地中間，甚麼是天、地的心？」對曰：「嘗聞人是天地的心。」曰：「人又甚麼叫做心？」對曰：「只是一個靈明。」「可妯充天塞地中間，只有這個靈明。人只為形體自問隔了。我的靈明，便是天、地、苨、神的主宰。天沒有我的靈明，誰去仰地高？地沒有我的靈明，誰去俯他深？鬼、神沒有我的靈明，誰去辯他吉、兇、災、祥？天、地、鬼、神、萬物，離卻我的靈明，便沒有天、地、鬼、神、萬物了；我的亞明，離卻天、地、鬼、神、萬物，亦沒有我的靈明。如此，便是一氣流通的，如何與他間隔得？」又問：「天、地、鬼、神、萬物，千古見在，何沒了我的靈明，便俱無了？」曰：「今看死的人，他這些精靈遊散了，他的天、地、鬼、神、萬物尚在何處？」

Someone asked: "A person's mind is of one body with things. Like my own body, which is originally filled with flowing blood and breath, and so is called one body; but with other people it is a different body, and with birds, beasts, grass and trees it is even farther. Why is it called one body?" The Master said: "Just look at the point of stimulus and response. Not only birds, beasts, grass and trees, even Heaven and Earth are of one body with me, and ghosts and spirits are of one body with me." He asked for an explanation. The Master said: "Look at what is between this Heaven and Earth: what is the mind of Heaven and Earth?" He answered: "I have heard that a person is the mind of Heaven and Earth." He said: "And what is the mind of a person?" He answered: "It is just a spiritual brightness." "You can see that filling Heaven and Earth there is only this spiritual brightness. People are separated only by their physical forms. My spiritual brightness is the master of Heaven, Earth, ghosts and spirits. If Heaven did not have my spiritual brightness, who would look up to its height? If Earth did not have my spiritual brightness, who would look down at its depth? If ghosts and spirits did not have my spiritual brightness, who would discern their good and ill fortune, disasters and omens? Heaven, Earth, ghosts, spirits and the myriad things, apart from my spiritual brightness, would not be Heaven, Earth, ghosts, spirits and the myriad things; and my spiritual brightness, apart from Heaven, Earth, ghosts, spirits and the myriad things, would also not be my spiritual brightness. In this way it is one qi flowing through, so how can I be separated from them?" He asked again: "Heaven, Earth, ghosts, spirits and the myriad things have existed through the ages; why would they all vanish once my spiritual brightness is gone?" He said: "Look now at a dead person. His spirit has wandered and scattered, so where are his Heaven, Earth, ghosts, spirits and the myriad things?"

○先生起行徵思田，德洪與汝中追送嚴灘，汝中舉佛家寅相幻相之說。先生曰：「有心俱是實，無心俱是幻；無心俱是實，有心俱是幻。」汝中曰：「有心俱是穴，無心俱是幻，是本體上說工夫：無心俱是寅，有心俱是幻，是工夫上說本體。」先生然其言。洪於是時尚未了達，數年用功，始信本體、工夫合一。但先生是時因問偶談，若吾儒指點人處，不必藉此立言耳。」

When the Master set out to campaign against Sien and Tianzhou, Dehong and Ruzhong saw him off as far as Yan Rapids. Ruzhong raised the Buddhist teaching of real form and illusory form. The Master said: "If there is mind, all is real; if there is no mind, all is illusion. If there is no mind, all is real; if there is mind, all is illusion." Ruzhong said: "'If there is mind, all is real; if no mind, all is illusion' speaks of effort in terms of original substance; 'if no mind, all is real; if mind, all is illusion' speaks of original substance in terms of effort." The Master agreed. At that time Hong still did not understand fully, and only after several years of effort did he come to believe that original substance and effort are unified. But the Master at that time spoke only in answer to a casual question; in the places where we Confucians point people to the Way, there is no need to borrow this to set up a teaching."

○嘗見先生送二三耆宿出門，退坐於中軒，若有憂色。德洪趨進請問。先生曰：「頃與諸老論及此學，真員鑿方柄。此道坦如道路，世儒往往自加荒塞，終身陷荊棘之場而不悔，吾不知其何說也？」德洪退謂朋友曰：「先生誨人，不擇衰朽，仁人憫物之心也。」

I once saw the Master see two or three elders to the door, then withdraw and sit in the central hall, looking as if he had some worry. Dehong went forward and asked about it. The Master said: "Just now I discussed this learning with the old gentlemen, and it was truly like a round peg in a square hole. This Way is as level as a road, but worldly Confucians often block and overgrow it themselves, and spend their whole lives trapped among brambles without regret; I do not know what they would say." Dehong withdrew and said to his friends: "The Master teaches people without picking out the old and decrepit, which is the heart of a humane man who pities others."

○先生曰：「人生大病，只是一傲字。為子而傲必不孝，為臣而傲必不忠，為父而傲必不慈，為友而傲必不信。故象與丹朱俱不肖，亦只一傲字，便結果了此生。諸君常要體此人心本是天然之理，精精明明，無致介染著，只是一無我而已：胸中切不可有，有即傲也。古先聖人許多好處，也只是無我而已，無我自能謙。謙者眾善之基，傲者眾惡之魁。」

The Master said: "The great ailment of human life is just the one word pride. A son who is proud is surely unfilial, a minister who is proud is surely disloyal, a father who is proud is surely unkind, and a friend who is proud is surely untrustworthy. So Xiang and Danzhu were both unworthy, and just the single word pride brought their lives to ruin. All of you should always reflect on this. The human mind is originally the natural principle, clear and bright, without the slightest stain, and is only a matter of having no self. One must never have anything in the chest; to have it is pride. The many good qualities of the ancient sages were also only having no self. Having no self, one is naturally humble. Humility is the foundation of all good, and pride is the chief of all evil."

○又曰：「此道至簡至易的，亦至精至微的。孔子曰：『其如示諸掌乎：』且人於掌何日不見，及至問他掌中多少文理，卻便不知，即如我良知二字，一講便明，誰不知得：若欲的見良知，卻誰能見得？」問曰：「此知恐是無方體的，最離捉摸。」先生曰，二真知即是《易》，『其為道也屢遷，變動不居，周流六虛，上下無常，剛柔相易，不可為典要，惟變所適。』此知如何捉摸得？見得透時便是聖人。」

(The Master continued:) "This Way is extremely simple and easy, and also extremely fine and subtle. Confucius said: 'It would be like looking at the palm of one's hand!' Yet which day do people not see their palms, but when asked how many lines are in the palm, they do not know. As with my two words 'innate knowing,' once explained they are clear, and who does not know them? But if one wishes to see innate knowing truly, who can see it?" He asked: "I fear that this knowing has no fixed form and is hardest to grasp." The Master said: "Innate knowing is the Changes: 'As a way it shifts often, with changes that do not dwell, flowing through the six empty places, going up and down without constancy, with firm and soft exchanging, so that it cannot be made a fixed rule, and only follows change.' How can this knowing be grasped? When one sees through it, one is a sage."

○問：「孔子曰：『回也非助我者也。』是聖人果以相助望門弟子否？」先生曰：「亦是實話。此道本無窮盡，問難愈多，則精微愈顯。聖人之言本自周遍，但有問難的人胸中窒礙，聖人被他一難，發揮得愈加精神。若顏子聞一知十，胸中瞭然，如何得問難：故聖人亦寂然不動，無所發揮，故日非助。」

Someone asked: "Confucius said: 'Hui is not one who helps me.' Does the sage really hope for help from his disciples?" The Master said: "It is true. This Way is originally without limit, and the more questions and objections there are, the more its fineness is revealed. The sage's words are originally all-encompassing, but when there is someone with objections whose chest is blocked, the sage, challenged by him, elaborates with even more spirit. If it were Yan Zi, who heard one thing and understood ten, whose chest was clear, how could he have objections? So the sage was also still and unmoving and had nothing to elaborate, hence the saying 'not one who helps.'"

○鄒謙之嘗語德洪曰：「舒國裳曾持一張紙，請先生寫『拱把之恫梓』一章。先生懸筆為書到『至於身而不知所以養之者』，顧而笑曰：『國裳讀書，中過狀元來豈誠不知身之所以當養，還須誦此以求警。』一時在侍諸友皆惕然。」

Zou Qianzhi once said to Dehong: "Shu Guoshang once held a sheet of paper and asked the Master to write the chapter 'A tree of one or two handbreadths.' The Master wrote with his brush raised, and when he reached 'but as for the body, they do not know how to nurture it,' he looked around and laughed, saying: 'Guoshang has read books and passed the exam as top scholar; is it that he truly does not know how the body should be nurtured? He still must recite this to seek a warning.' All the friends attending at the time were struck with awe."

嘉靖戊子冬德洪與王汝中奔師喪至廣信，訃告同門，約三年收錄遺言。後同門各以所記遺。洪擇其於問正者，合所私錄，得若干條。居吳時，將與文錄並刻矣。適以憂去，未遂當是時也，方講學日眾，師門宗旨既明，若無事於贅刻者，故不復縈念。去年，同門曾子漢得洪手抄復傍為採輯，名曰遺言，以刻行於荊。洪誑之，覺當時採錄精，力為刪其重，削去蕪蔓存其三分之一，名曰《傳習續錄》，復刻於寧國之水西精舍。今年夏，洪來遊蘄，沉君思長曰：「師門之教久行於四方，而獨未及於蘄。蘄之士得讀遺言若親，夫子之教，指見良知，若重靚日月之光。惟恐傳習之不博，而未以重複之為繁也，請哀其所逸者增刻之。若何？」洪曰：「然師門致知格物之旨，開示來學，學者躬修默悟，不敢以知解承，而惟以實體得，故吾師終日言是而不憚其煩，學者終日聽是而不厭其數。蓋指示專一，則皚悟日精，幾迎於言前，神發於言外，感遇之誠也。今吾師之沒未及三紀，而格言微旨漸覺淪晦，豈非吾黨身踐之不力，多言有以病之耶？學者之趨不一，師門之教不宣也。」乃復取逸稿，採其語之不背者，得一卷。其餘影響不真，與文錄既載者，皆削之。並易中卷為問答語，以付黃梅尹張君增刻之。庶幾誑者不以知解承而惟以實體得，則無疑於是錄矣。各靖丙辰夏四月，門人錢德洪拜古於斬之崇正書院。

In the winter of the wuzi year of Jiajing, Dehong and Wang Ruzhong hurried to the Master's funeral and reached Guangxin, and sent notice to fellow disciples, agreeing to collect his remaining words over three years. Later fellow disciples each sent what they had recorded. Hong selected those that were correct in their questions, combined them with what he had privately recorded, and obtained a number of entries. While living in Wu, I was going to print them together with the Collected Writings, but I happened to leave because of mourning and it was not done. At that time lecturing was becoming more and more popular, and since the main point of the Master's teaching was already clear, it seemed no one needed redundant printing, so I no longer thought of it. Last year, my fellow disciple Zeng Zihan obtained my handwritten copy and further collected more beside it, called it Remaining Words, and printed it in Jing. When I read it, I felt that the selection at that time was not careful, so I worked to remove the repetitions and trim the weeds, keeping a third, and called it the Continued Record of Instruction and Practice, and printed it again at the Shuixi Study in Ningguo. This summer, I came to travel in Qi. Mr. Shen Siwei said: "The Master's teaching has long been practiced in all directions, but has not yet reached Qi. If the scholars of Qi could read the Remaining Words, it would be like personally receiving the Master's teaching; pointing to innate knowing, it would be like seeing the light of the sun and moon again. I fear only that the transmission and practice is not broad enough, and do not mind repetition as burdensome. May I ask you to take pity on what was left out and print it additionally?" Hong said: "Yes. The Master's main point of extending knowing and investigating things was shown to later learners, and learners cultivated it personally and understood it silently, not daring to take it up through intellectual understanding but only to attain it by embodiment. So my teacher spoke of this all day without fear of burden, and learners listened to this all day without tiring of its frequency. For when the pointing is single-minded, awakening grows finer day by day, the subtle sign meets before the words, and the spirit is released beyond the words, which is the sincerity of stimulus and encounter. Now it has not yet been thirty-six years since my teacher's death, and his maxims and subtle meanings gradually seem to sink into obscurity; is it not that our group did not practice it vigorously and that too much talk has harmed it? Learners head in different directions, and the Master's teaching is not proclaimed." So I again took the left-out drafts and selected from them the words that did not go against it, and obtained one fascicle. The rest, whose echoes were not true, and those already recorded in the Collected Writings, I all removed. I also changed the middle fascicle into question-and-answer form and handed it to Magistrate Zhang of Huangmei to print additionally. May readers not take it up through intellectual understanding but attain it only by embodiment, and then they will have no doubt about this record. In the fourth month of summer in the bingchen year of Jiajing, written with a bow by the disciple Qian Dehong at the Chongzheng Academy in Qi.