Zhong Shuo (中說) · Volume 6

文中子曰命之立也其稱人事乎【人生天地之間所以立命也是命者因人而稱天有情扵人而命之者也】故君子畏之【孔子畏天命者葢畏人事不修而違天也】無逺近髙深而不應也無洪纎曲直而不當也【易曰其受命如響】故歸之於天【聖人無不應無不當與天合徳故立命則曰天命】易曰乾道變化各正性命【引易以明命因性而稱也】魏徴曰書云惠迪吉從逆兇惟影響詩云不戢不難受福不那彼交匪傲萬福來求其是之謂乎【書大禹謨雲也惠順迪道也順道即吉從逆即防詩桑扈篇注戢聚難難也那多也言不聚法不戒難則福多矣彼賢交非傲即福亦就求之也】子曰徴其能自取矣【自取福】董常曰自取者其稱人耶【明魏徴能自取多福則顯上文其稱人事也】子曰誠哉惟人所召【召亦取也】賈瓊進曰敢問死生有命富貴在天何謂也【何獨死生言命而富貴則言天乎】子曰召之在前命之在後【凡未死世人皆雲命合生也已死矣則世人皆雲命不生也未富貴則世人皆雲命合貧賤也既富貴則世人皆雲命不貧賤是死生富貴皆人先自召之在前而後從而言命其在後也】斯自取也庸非命乎噫吾末如之何也已矣【末莫也言我莫知所如亂世不可自取理矣寧求退藏而已】瓊拜而出謂程元曰吾今而後知元命可作多福可求矣【若周公乞代武王仲尼求為東周皆自作元命終獲多福此知命之大者】程元曰敬佩玉音服之無斁【斁厭也】文中子曰度徳而師【度已不如則師之】易子而教【易互也】今亡矣【亡廢】子曰不以伊尹周公之道康其國非大臣也【以已之道安人之國不以嫌疑惜其身是大臣矣】不以霍光諸葛亮之心事其君者皆具臣也【受先君之顧命保后王之未明盡已之心不苟其位非具臣矣】董常嘆曰善乎顔子之心也三月不違仁矣【日乆不違是仁人矣】子聞之曰仁亦不逺姑慮而行之【上文謂常也時有慮焉亦三月之義】爾無苟羨焉【顔囘曰舜何人也餘何人也有為者亦若是彼顔囘不羨舜也故常亦無羨囘但慮而行之自及矣】惟精惟一誕先登於岸【書云惟精惟一允執厥中言道心精防仁性則一也詩云帝謂文王無然畔援無然歆羨誕先登於岸岸喻仁之地也言仁道不可畔不可羨亦執中而得也】常出曰慮不及精思不及睿【慮即道心也思曰睿】焉能無咎【咎謂貳過也】焉能不違【不違三月】繁師聞董常賢問賈瓊以齒【年齒】瓊曰始冠矣【年二十】師曰籲其幼達也【達謂達道】瓊曰夫子十五為人師焉【夫子謂文中子】陳留王孝逸先達之慠者也【慠謂未甞服人也】然白首北面豈以年乎【達不在年齒】瓊聞之徳不在年【左傳曰年均擇賢是則賢徳為上】道不在位【語曰富與貴是人之所欲不以其道得之不處也】門人有問姚義孔庭之法曰詩曰禮不及四經何也【鯉趨而過庭子曰學詩乎學禮乎】姚義曰嘗聞諸夫子矣【夫子謂文中子】春秋斷物志定而後及也【志在斷】樂以和徳全而後及也【樂象徳】書以製法從事而後及也【事以制立】易以窮理知命而後及也【理性至於命】故不學春秋無以主斷不學樂無以知和不學書無以議制不學易無以通理四者非具體不能及故聖人後之【言孔子不教鯉者待其具而後教之爾此並文中子言姚義志之也】豈養防之具耶或曰然則詩禮何為而先也義曰夫教之以詩則出辭氣斯逺暴慢矣約之以禮則動容貌斯立威嚴矣【此亦小成也】度其言察其志考其行辯其徳【凡師教人量其志行】志定則發之以春秋於是乎斷而能變【不變則斷不適中】徳全則導之以樂於是乎和而知節【不節則蕩】可從事則達之以書於是乎可以立制【事無制不永】知命則申之以易於是乎可與儘性【性與天道合為元命】若驟而語春秋則蕩志輕義【志未定故】驟而語樂則喧徳敗度【徳未全】驟而語書則狎法【狎法猶舞文也】驟而語易則玩神【不知性則以神為虛玩】是以聖人知其必然故立之以宗【宗即統言六經也】列之以次【次謂先詩禮而後次之四經也】先成諸已然後備諸物先濟乎近然後形乎逺【已近謂近取諸身也若出辭氣動容貌是也物逺謂逺取諸物也若斷物和行製法窮理是也】亶其深乎亶其深乎【亶信也信乎孔子先詩禮其教深奧】子聞之曰姚子得之矣【得六經之深故能言此】子曰識寡於亮徳輕於才斯過也已【有亮少識必有大緩之過有才少徳必有太淺之過】子曰治亂運也有乗之者有革之者【治亂皆由運則同也而乗之革之異焉乗之謂舜乗堯之類革之謂湯革夏之類是也】窮達時也【闗氏易傳曰時也者系乎君天下者也君天下得君子之道則時亨得小人之道則時塞】有行之者有遇之者【窮達皆由時然有行非其道而自窮於時者有雖行得道而遇時不明者時則一而行之遇之異焉】吉凶命也有作之者有偶之者【作謂自作孽自求多福皆由人作之者也偶謂庸人偶貴善人偶禍皆偶然者也】一來一往各以數至豈徒雲哉【往來循環數有竒耦人不能逃】遼東之役天下治船子曰林麓盡矣【治船伐盡麓盧谷反】帝省其山其將何辭以對【掌林麓之官何辭對帝】或問續經薛收姚義告子子曰使賢者非耶吾將飾誠以請對【對之以道賢者當悟】愚者非耶吾獨奈之何【愚者不知道不可對】因賦黍離之卒章【雲知我者謂我心憂不知我者謂我何求】入謂門人曰五交三釁劉峻亦知言哉【孝標論曰惟茲五交是生三釁釁許慎反】房齡問善則稱君過則稱已可謂忠乎子曰讓矣【無過而稱已過是隠也隠非忠也葢讓美扵君而已】杜如晦問政子曰推爾誠舉爾類賞一以勸百罰一以懲眾夫為政而何有【未有過此得為政之要者】如晦出謂竇威曰讜人容其訐【雖太訐必容】佞人杜其漸【漸猶不可況深乎】賞罰在其中吾知乎為政矣【容一訐直示賞百善之門絶一佞媚示罰眾惡之柄】文中子曰制命不及黃初【續書帝制公命惟漢有之不及魏矣黃初魏文帝初即位年號】志事不及太熈【續書君志臣事至晉太康而止矣不及惠帝太熈惠帝年號】褒貶不及仁夀【元經至隋開皇而止矣不及仁夀仁夀四年煬帝弒立】叔恬曰何謂也子然曰仁夀大業之際其事忍容言耶【大業煬帝年號事不忍言安所褒貶】賈瓊問富而教之何謂也子曰仁生於歉【歳歉則仁者惻隠歉苦簟反】義生於豐【豐盈則義者制宜】故富而教之斯易也【以豐思歉則為教易】古者聖王在上田裡相距雞犬相聞人至老死不相往來葢自足也【解上文富】是以至治之代【謂三皇時】五典潛五禮措五服不章【天子諸侯卿大夫士五者之服必章明白五章】人知飲食不知葢藏人知群居不知愛敬上如標枝下如野鹿【標枝野鹿自然分上下也】何哉葢上無為下自足故也賈瓊曰淳漓樸散其可歸乎【歸復也】子曰人能宏道苟得其行如反掌爾【人存則道行言亦易爾】昔舜禹繼軌而天下樸夏桀承之而天下詐成湯放桀而天下平殷紂承之而天下陂【陂險也】文武治而幽厲散文景寜而桓靈失斯則治亂相易澆淳有由【由上之所化】興衰資乎人得失在乎教【解上文人道】其曰太古不可復是未知先王之有化也詩書禮樂復何為哉【若言經籍不能復古何為虛設耶】董常聞之謂賈瓊曰孔孟雲亡夫子之道行則所謂綏之斯來動之斯和乎孰雲淳樸不可歸哉【當為決淳漓樸散之疑】子曰以性制情者鮮矣我未見處歧路而不遲迴者【路分二曰歧性感物而動曰情亦二之義也言情之惑性如歧之惑路也能制者鮮矣】易曰直方大不習無不利則不疑其所行也【直方性也不習謂不疑惑】竇威曰大哉易之儘性也門人孰至焉子曰董常近之【近庶防也】或問威與常也何如子曰不知【恐門人輕威而重常故答以不知】子曰大雅或防於道【溫大雅或防猶屢中也】葢隠者也黙而成之不言而信【防道則黙也黙似隠】或問陶元亮【潛字元亮】子曰放人也歸去來有避地之心焉【潛作歸去來辭】五栁先生傳則防於閉關矣【潛種五栁以自號閉關注見上】子曰和大怨者必有餘怨【若舜不怨而慕是也】忘大樂者必有餘樂【若顔回不改其樂是也】天之道也【性與天道相合故能如此】子曰氣為上形為下識都其中【都居也】而三才備矣氣為鬼其天乎識為神其人乎【易曰精氣為物遊魂為變是故知鬼神之情狀鬼者精氣之變也故曰氣為鬼易曰神而明之存乎其人非識則不能神故曰識為神】吾得之理性焉【窮理盡性則能行變化通鬼神】薛收曰敢問天神人鬼何謂也周公其達乎【仲尼曰鬼神之事吾亦難明周公曰不若旦多才多藝能事鬼神故止問周公】子曰大哉周公逺則諸心也心者非他也窮理者也【心謂天理】故悉本於天【悉盡也盡我於天理也孟子盡心章義同】推神於天葢尊而逺之也故以祀禮接焉【此宗祀大神也】近則求諸已也【已謂人倫】已者非他也儘性者也【反已復性】卒歸之人【如父與子性人人一同】推鬼於人葢引而敬之也故以饗禮接焉【此大禘人鬼也】古者觀盥而不薦思過半矣【盥絜貴敬也盥古緩反】薛收曰敢問地祗【既問天神人鬼故又問地祗】子曰至哉百物生焉萬類形焉示之以民斯其義也【古隻字示旁作民】形也者非他也肉之謂也【骨肉屬土】故以祭禮接焉【此既葬則祭於地下也】收曰三者何先子曰三才不相離也措之事業則有主焉圓丘尚祀觀神道也方澤貴祭察物類也宗廟用饗懐精氣也收曰敢問三才之蘊【蘊者精奧之稱】子曰至哉乎問夫天者統元氣焉非止蕩蕩蒼蒼之謂也地者統元形焉非止山川丘陵之謂也人者統元識焉非止圓首方足之謂也【三才取其氣形識不止形而已】乾坤之蘊汝思之乎於是收退而學易【易行乾坤之中故因三才之蘊始悟易】子曰射以觀徳今亡矣古人貴仁義賤勇力子曰棄徳背義而患人之不已親好疑尚詐而患人之不已信則有之矣【譏時】子曰君子服人之心不服人之言【孟子曰七十子之服仲尼中心悅而誠服也】服人之言不服人之身【此其次也】服人之身力加之也君子以義小人以力難矣夫【並譏當世尚力不知義者】子曰太熈之後天子所存者號爾【晉惠帝】烏乎索化列之以政則蕃君化之矣【續詩有政化】元經何以不興乎【詩亡則春秋作】房齡謂薛收曰道之不行也必矣夫子何營營乎【嗟師勤】薛收曰子非夫子之徒歟【不知道】天子失道則諸侯修之【若桓文】諸侯失道則大夫修之【若子產叔向】大夫失道則士修之【若孔孟】士失道則庶人修之【若董仲舒居家推災異】修之之道從師無常誨而不倦窮而不濫【濫謂不苟干祿棄道】死而後已得時則行失時則蟠【蟠屈】此先王之道所以續而不墜也古者謂之繼時【若孔子繼周公孟子繼孔子其適時一也】詩不云乎縱我不往子寧不嗣音【子衿篇刺亂世學校不修也注嗣讀也音謂誦】如之何以不行而廢也齡惕然謝曰其行也如是之逺乎【乃知營營非止身而已繼時之道當逺大】

Wenzhongzi said: The establishment of fate is probably named in terms of human affairs. [Humans are born between Heaven and Earth and so establish fate; this fate is named on account of people, Heaven having feeling for people and so decreeing for them.] So the gentleman reveres it. [Confucius revered the mandate of Heaven, probably revering that when human affairs are not cultivated one goes against Heaven.] There is nothing far or near, high or deep that does not respond, nothing large or fine, bent or straight that does not fit. [The Changes say it receives the mandate like an echo.] So it is attributed to Heaven. [The sage responds to all and fits all, and joins virtue with Heaven, so establishing fate is called the mandate of Heaven.] The Changes say: The way of Qian transforms and changes, each correcting its nature and fate. [He cites the Changes to show that fate is named on account of nature.] Wei Zheng said: The Documents say that following the Way brings good fortune and following the opposite brings ill, like shadow and echo. The Songs say: Neither gather nor fear difficulty, and one receives blessing in abundance; he does not treat others with arrogance, and ten thousand blessings come to seek him. Probably this is what it means. [The first is from the Counsels of Yu the Great in the Documents. Follow means obey, Way means the road. Following the Way is good fortune, following the opposite is ill. The second is from the Sang Hu ode in the Songs; the commentary says gather means accumulate, difficulty means hardship, abundant means many. It means that if one does not gather laws and does not guard against difficulty, blessings are many. If a worthy man associates without arrogance, blessings also come to seek him.] The Master said: Zheng can take it for himself. [Take blessing for himself.] Dong Chang said: What one takes for oneself is probably spoken of in terms of the person? [Making clear that Wei Zheng can take much blessing for himself shows what the above says about human affairs.] The Master said: Indeed. It is only what people call down. [Call down also means take.] Jia Qiong came in and said: May I ask what it means that life and death have fate and wealth and rank lie with Heaven? [Why is it that only life and death are said to be fate, while wealth and rank are said to lie with Heaven?] The Master said: The calling down is first, and the fate comes after. [For anyone not yet dead, everyone says fate was meant for life; once dead, everyone says fate did not intend life. For anyone not yet rich and noble, everyone says fate was meant for poverty and lowliness; once rich and noble, everyone says fate did not intend poverty. This means that in life and death, wealth and rank, people first call it down themselves, and only afterward speak of fate.] This is taking it for oneself, so is it not fate? Alas, I can do nothing about it. [Nothing means none. It says I do not know where to go; in a disordered age one cannot take things for oneself in principle, and it is better simply to withdraw and hide.] Qiong bowed and went out and said to Cheng Yuan: From now on I know that the great fate can be made and abundant blessings sought. [Like the Duke of Zhou begging to take King Wu's place and Zhongni seeking to make an Eastern Zhou, each made a great fate and in the end gained abundant blessing. This is the greatest knowing of fate.] Cheng Yuan said: I revere your jade words and will wear them without weariness. [Weary means tire of.] Wenzhongzi said: Weigh virtue and take a teacher [if one judges oneself not equal, take him as teacher], exchange sons to teach them [exchange means mutually]; now these are lost. [Lost means discarded.] The Master said: One who does not bring peace to his state by the way of Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou is not a great minister. [Using one's own way to secure another's state without sparing oneself for fear of suspicion is a great minister.] Those who do not serve their lord with the heart of Huo Guang and Zhuge Liang are all mere filler ministers. [Receiving the former lord's dying charge and protecting the later king who is not yet wise, exhausting one's heart without clinging to position, is not a filler minister.] Dong Chang sighed and said: How good, the heart of Master Yan! For three months he did not depart from humaneness. [One who does not depart for long is a humane man.] The Master heard of it and said: Humaneness is not far; just reflect and practice it. [The above says that Chang too reflects constantly, which is also the meaning of three months.] Do not envy carelessly. [Yan Hui said, who was Shun and who am I, one who acts will be like him. Yan Hui did not envy Shun, so Chang should not envy Hui, but reflect and practice, and he will naturally catch up.] Be refined and be single; boldly take the first step to the shore. [The Documents say be refined and single, and sincerely hold to the middle. It means the mind of the Way is subtle and the nature of humaneness is single. The Songs say that God said to King Wen: Do not stray, do not covet, boldly be the first to reach the shore. The shore is a metaphor for the ground of humaneness. It means the way of humaneness must not be strayed from nor coveted, and is also obtained by holding the middle.] Chang went out and said: Reflection that does not reach refinement and thought that does not reach insight; how can there be no fault? [Reflection is the mind of the Way, and thought is called insight.] How can one not depart? [Not depart for three months.] Fan Shixuan heard that Dong Chang was worthy and asked Jia Qiong about his age. [Years.] Qiong said: He has just been capped. [Age twenty.] Shixuan said: Oh, how young to have attained! [Attained means reached the Way.] Qiong said: The Master was a teacher of others at fifteen. [The Master means Wenzhongzi.] Wang Xiaoyi of Chenliu was a proud man among the early attained [proud means he had never submitted to anyone], yet in white-haired age he faces north as a disciple; how is it a matter of age? [Attainment does not lie in years.] I have heard: virtue does not lie in age [the Zuo Commentary says when years are equal, choose the worthy, so worthy virtue is above], and the Way does not lie in rank. [The Analects says wealth and rank are what people desire, but if not obtained by their proper way, one does not hold them.] A disciple asked Yao Yi: The teaching in Confucius's courtyard was the Songs and the Rites and did not reach the four other classics; why? [Boyu hurried across the courtyard, and the Master said, have you learned the Songs, have you learned the Rites?] Yao Yi said: I once heard the Master say this. [The Master means Wenzhongzi.] The Spring and Autumn Annals judges things, and one reaches it only after one's will is fixed [the aim lies in judging]; the Music is used for harmony, and one reaches it only after virtue is complete [music resembles virtue]; the Documents is used to make laws, and one reaches it only after one has handled affairs [affairs establish regulation]; the Changes is used to exhaust principle, and one reaches it only after one knows fate [principle and nature reach to fate]. So one who does not learn the Annals has nothing to rely on for judgment, one who does not learn the Music has no way to know harmony, one who does not learn the Documents has no way to deliberate regulations, and one who does not learn the Changes has no way to penetrate principle. The four cannot be reached without a full foundation, so the sage put them later. [This says Confucius did not teach Li these because he waited until he was prepared, and then taught. These are all Wenzhongzi's words, recorded by Yao Yi.] Are they tools for nurturing the young? Someone said: Then why do the Songs and Rites come first? Yi said: Teach with the Songs, and he learns how to put words and tone, and so keeps far from violence and arrogance; restrain with the Rites, and he moves his bearing and looks, and so establishes dignity. [This too is a small achievement.] Measure his words, observe his aims, examine his conduct and distinguish his virtue. [Every teacher measures a student's aims and conduct.] When the will is fixed, open him with the Spring and Autumn Annals, and then he can judge and also adapt [without adapting, judgment does not hit the middle]; when virtue is complete, guide him with Music, and then he is harmonious and knows measure [without measure he is dissolute]; when he can handle affairs, bring him through with the Documents, and then he can set up regulations [affairs without regulation do not last]; when he knows fate, extend him with the Changes, and then he can exhaust his nature together with it [nature and the Way of Heaven join as the great fate]. If one suddenly speaks to him of the Annals, his will will be loose and righteousness light [because his will is not fixed]; if one suddenly speaks to him of Music, virtue will be noisy and measure ruined [virtue not complete]; if one suddenly speaks to him of the Documents, he will treat law lightly [treating law lightly is like playing with words]; if one suddenly speaks to him of the Changes, he will trifle with the spirit [not knowing nature, he treats the spirit as an empty plaything]. So the sage knew this must be so and set up a head [the head means the Six Classics as a whole] and arranged an order [first the Songs and Rites, then the four classics in order]. First complete it in oneself, then provide for things; first help the near, then show in the far. [Oneself and the near means taking from one's own body, like putting words and tone and moving bearing and looks; things and the far means taking from things, like judging things, harmonizing conduct, making laws and exhausting principle.] Truly deep, truly deep! [Truly means it is credible that Confucius put the Songs and Rites first, and his teaching is profound.] The Master heard of it and said: Master Yao has got it. [He got the depth of the Six Classics and so could say this.] The Master said: Whoever has more integrity than insight, or virtue lighter than talent, is at fault. [One with integrity but little insight will surely err by great slackness; one with talent but little virtue will surely err by great shallowness.] The Master said: Order and disorder are fortune; there are those who ride it and those who change it. [Order and disorder both come from fortune and so are the same, but riding and changing differ. Riding is like Shun riding Yao; changing is like Tang changing Xia.] Adversity and success are timing [the Guan commentary on the Changes says timing is tied to whoever rules the world; if the ruler gets the gentleman's way, the time is open, and if he gets the petty man's way, the time is blocked], and there are those who act it and those who meet it. [Adversity and success both come from timing, but some act against the Way and bring adversity on themselves in their time, and some, though they act rightly, meet an unenlightened time. The timing is one, but acting and meeting differ.] Good and ill fortune are fate; some make it and some happen on it. [Making is to make one's own evil or seek one's own blessing, all made by people; happening upon is when a mediocre man happens on rank and a good man happens on harm, all by chance.] Coming and going, each arrives by number; how is this empty talk? [Going and returning circulate, numbers are odd and even, and people cannot escape them.] At the Liaodong campaign, ships were built all over the world. The Master said: The forests and foothills are used up. [They were cut down to build ships.] When the emperor inspects the mountains, with what words will they answer? [The officials in charge of forests and foothills, with what words will they answer the emperor?] Someone asked about continuing the classics. Xue Shou and Yao Yi told the Master. The Master said: If worthy men do not find it difficult, I will adorn my sincerity and ask them to reply. [Replying with the Way, worthy men should understand.] If the foolish do not find it difficult, what can I alone do? [The foolish do not know the Way and cannot be answered.] So he recited the final stanza of Millet Ripening. [Those who know me say my heart is sorrowful; those who do not know me ask what I seek.] He went in and said to his disciples: Five kinds of friendship give rise to three faults; Liu Jun did know how to speak. [Xiaobiao's treatise says that these five friendships give rise to three faults.] Fang Xuanling asked: To attribute good to the ruler and faults to oneself, can that be called loyalty? The Master said: That is yielding. [To call one's own fault when there is none is hiding, and hiding is not loyalty; it is probably only yielding credit to the ruler.] Du Ruhui asked about governance. The Master said: Extend your sincerity, raise your kind, reward one to encourage a hundred, punish one to warn the many. What else is there to governing? [No one has ever got the essentials of governance beyond this.] Ruhui went out and said to Dou Wei: Tolerate the outspoken in their accusations [even if too accusing, tolerate them], and stop flatterers at their beginnings [even the beginning cannot be allowed, how much less when deep]. Reward and punishment are within this. I now know how to govern. [Tolerating one frank accusation shows the gate of rewarding a hundred good deeds; cutting off one flatterer shows the handle of punishing many evils.] Wenzhongzi said: Edicts and decrees do not reach Huangchu [the continued Documents has imperial edicts and ducal decrees only through Han, not reaching Wei; Huangchu is the reign title of Emperor Wen of Wei in his first years]; aims and affairs do not reach Taixi [the continued Documents has rulers' aims and ministers' affairs only to Taikang of Jin, not reaching Taixi of Emperor Hui; Taixi is Emperor Hui's reign title]; praise and blame do not reach Renshou [the Yuan Classic goes to Kaihuang of Sui, not reaching Renshou; in the fourth year of Renshou, Emperor Yang murdered his father and took the throne]. Shu Tian said: What do you mean? The Master said tearfully: Between Renshou and Daye, how can one bear to speak of those matters? [Daye is Emperor Yang's reign title. The affairs are unspeakable, so what is there to praise or blame?] Jia Qiong asked: What does it mean to enrich them and then teach them? The Master said: Humaneness is born of dearth [in a lean year the humane feel compassion], and righteousness is born of plenty [in abundance the righteous regulate what is fitting]. So to enrich and then teach is easy. [From plenty one thinks of dearth, so teaching is easy.] In antiquity when sage kings were above, fields adjoined and one could hear the chickens and dogs from neighbors, yet people grew old and died without visiting each other, probably being self-sufficient. [This explains the above on enriching.] So in an age of perfect order, the five canons were hidden, the five rites set aside, and the five garments not displayed. [The garments of Son of Heaven, feudal lord, minister, senior officer and scholar must be plainly displayed, called the five displays.] People knew eating and drinking but not storing, knew living in groups but not loving and respecting. Those above were like the topmost branches, those below like wild deer. [Topmost branches and wild deer are naturally above and below.] Why? Probably because those above did nothing and those below were self-sufficient. Jia Qiong said: When purity has thinned and simplicity scattered, can one return? [Return means restore.] The Master said: People can broaden the Way; if one obtains its practice, it is only like turning over a hand. [When people are present the Way is practiced; this too says it is easy.] Long ago Shun and Yu followed one track and all under Heaven was simple; Jie of Xia inherited it and all under Heaven was deceitful; Tang of Cheng exiled Jie and all under Heaven was at peace; Zhou of Yin inherited it and all under Heaven was perilous [perilous means treacherous]; Wen and Wu governed and You and Li scattered it; Wen and Jing settled it and Huan and Ling lost it. So order and disorder replace each other and thinness and purity have their causes. [It all comes from what those above transform.] Rise and decline depend on people, gain and loss lie in teaching. [This explains the above on people being able to broaden the Way.] To say that high antiquity cannot be restored is not yet to know that the former kings had transforming influence. What then would the Songs, Documents, Rites and Music be for? [If the classics could not restore antiquity, why would they be set up in vain?] Dong Chang heard this and said to Jia Qiong: Confucius and Mencius are gone, and if the Master's Way is practiced, will it not be what is called: pacify them and they come, stir them and they harmonize? Who says purity and simplicity cannot be restored? [This should settle the doubt on whether thinness and simplicity scattered.] The Master said: Few can govern their feelings with their nature. I have never seen one who stands at a fork in the road and does not hesitate. [A road that splits in two is called a fork; nature moving in response to things is called feeling, which also has the meaning of two. It means that feeling bewildering nature is like a fork bewildering a road, and few can control it.] The Changes say: Straight, square and great, without practice there is nothing that does not profit, so one doubts not what one does. [Straight and square are nature; without practice means without doubt.] Dou Wei said: How great, the Changes' exhaustion of nature! Which disciple reaches it? The Master said: Dong Chang is near. [Near to almost reaching.] Someone asked how Wei and Chang compare. The Master said: I do not know. [He feared his disciples would belittle Wei and exalt Chang, so he answered that he did not know.] The Master said: Da Ya may be near the Way. [Wen Da Ya may be near, as one who often hits the mark.] Probably a hidden man. He completes things in silence and is trusted without speaking. [To be near the Way is to be silent. Silence is like hiding.] Someone asked about Tao Yuanliang. [Qian, styled Yuanliang.] The Master said: A man of release. His Return Home has the heart of avoiding the world. [Qian wrote the Return Home ode.] The Biography of Master Five Willows is almost closing the gate. [Qian planted five willows and took the name for himself. Closing the gate is noted above.] The Master said: One who makes peace with a great grievance must still have some grievance left [like Shun who did not resent but longed], and one who forgets great joy must still have some joy left [like Yan Hui who did not change his joy]. This is the way of Heaven. [Nature joins with the Way of Heaven, so one can be so.] The Master said: Qi is above, form is below, and consciousness resides within them, and the three powers are complete. [Resides means dwells.] Qi is the ghost, probably Heaven? Consciousness is the spirit, probably man? [The Changes say that essence and qi become things and wandering souls change, so one knows the conditions of ghosts and spirits. Ghosts are changes of essential qi, so it says qi is the ghost. The Changes say that to make the spirit bright lies in the person; without consciousness one cannot be spiritual, so it says consciousness is the spirit.] I obtained it through principle and nature. [By exhausting principle and fulfilling nature one can effect transformation and penetrate ghosts and spirits.] Xue Shou said: May I ask what is meant by the heavenly spirits and human ghosts? The Duke of Zhou probably reached it. [Zhongni said that matters of ghosts and spirits are hard for me to explain too. The Duke of Zhou said he was not like Dan with many talents and skills to serve ghosts and spirits, so he asked only about the Duke of Zhou.] The Master said: Great is the Duke of Zhou! Far off, he plumbed it in his heart. The heart is nothing other than exhausting principle. [The heart means the principle of Heaven.] So all is rooted in Heaven. [All means exhausted; exhausting myself in the principle of Heaven; this is the same meaning as Mencius's chapter on exhausting the heart.] He pushed spirits to Heaven, probably honoring and distancing them, so he received them with the rite of sacrifice. [This is honoring the great spirits.] Near at hand, he sought it in himself. The self is nothing other than fulfilling nature. [Turning back to oneself and restoring nature.] In the end he returned it to man. [Like father and son, nature is the same in everyone.] He pushed ghosts to man, probably drawing them near and revering them, so he received them with the rite of feasting. [This is the great sacrifice to human ghosts.] In antiquity, to observe the washing without the offering was enough to grasp more than half. [Washing means cleansing and valuing reverence.] Xue Shou said: May I ask about the earth spirits? [Having asked about heavenly spirits and human ghosts, he asks also about earth spirits.] The Master said: Ultimate! All things are born in it and all kinds take form in it. To show it to the people, this is its meaning. [In the old character for earth spirit, the component meaning show appears; the people in the source refers to showing by the earth.] Form is nothing other than what is called flesh and bone. [Flesh and bone belong to earth.] So he received them with the rite of burial offering. [This is offering below in the ground after burial.] Shou said: Which of the three comes first? The Master said: The three powers are not apart from one another. Set into practice, they have a master. The round mound honors sacrifice to observe the way of the spirits; the square pool values offering to examine kinds of things; the ancestral temple uses feasting to cherish the essential qi. Shou said: May I ask the stored depths of the three powers? [Stored depths means profound mystery.] The Master said: Ultimate is this question! Heaven rules original qi, and is not only the vast blue; Earth rules original form, and is not only mountains, rivers and hills; Man rules original consciousness, and is not only a round head and square feet. [The three powers take qi, form and consciousness, not form only.] Have you thought about the stored depths of Qian and Kun? Then Shou withdrew and studied the Changes. [The Changes run in Qian and Kun, so through the stored depths of the three powers he first understood the Changes.] The Master said: Archery to observe virtue is now lost. The ancients prized humaneness and righteousness and despised courage and strength. The Master said: To abandon virtue and betray righteousness yet fear that people will not be close to oneself, to be suspicious and love deceit yet fear that people will not trust oneself, there are such people. [He criticizes the age.] The Master said: The gentleman wins people's hearts, not their words [Mencius said that the seventy disciples submitted to Zhongni with hearts pleased and sincerely won over]; winning words, he does not win their persons. [This is the next level.] To win a person's body is to apply force. The gentleman uses righteousness, the petty man uses force. How hard! [He also criticizes those of his time who valued force and did not know righteousness.] The Master said: After Taixi, what the Son of Heaven kept was only a title. [Emperor Hui of Jin.] Alas, if you arrange it by government and transformation, then the lords of the borders compare with it. [The continued Songs has governance and transformation.] Why did the Yuan Classic not arise? [When the Songs are lost, the Annals arise.] Fang Xuanling said to Xue Shou: The Way will certainly not be practiced; why must the Master bustle about? [He sighs at the teacher's diligence.] Xue Shou said: Are you not a disciple of the Master? [He did not know the Way.] When the Son of Heaven loses the Way, the feudal lords cultivate it [like Huan and Wen]; when the feudal lords lose the Way, the senior officers cultivate it [like Zichan and Shuxiang]; when the senior officers lose the Way, the scholars cultivate it [like Confucius and Mencius]; when the scholars lose the Way, the commoners cultivate it [like Dong Zhongshu who stayed at home and inferred portents]. The way of cultivating it is: follow teachers without fixed rule, teach without weariness, be in poverty without excess [excess means carelessly seeking salary and abandoning the Way], and continue until death. When the time is right, act; when the time is lost, coil up. [Coil up means bend.] This is how the Way of the former kings continues and does not fall. In antiquity this was called continuing the age. [Like Confucius continuing the Duke of Zhou and Mencius continuing Confucius, fitting the time is one.] Do the Songs not say: Even if I do not go to you, can you not send word? [From the ode Zi Jin, which criticizes a disordered age in which schools are not maintained. The commentary: send means recite, word means chanting.] How can one abandon it because it is not practiced? Xuanling startled and apologized: Does the practice reach so far? [Only then did he know that the Master's bustling was not for his own person only, and the way of continuing the age should be far-reaching.]

或問闗朗子曰魏之賢人也孝文沒而宣武立穆公死闗朗退【並注見上】魏之不振有由哉【國不振由賢人不用】子曰中國失道四夷知之魏徴曰請聞其説子曰小雅盡廢四夷交侵斯中國失道也非其説乎徴退謂薛收曰時可知矣【時煬帝失道可知】薛收問曰今之民胡無詩【因聞古詩乃問今民何不作詩】子曰詩者民之情性也情性能亡乎【情不亡詩不廢】非民無詩職詩者之罪也【職詩謂史官不明變】姚義困於窶【窶貧】房齡曰傷哉窶也盍請乎姚義曰古之人為人請猶以為舍讓也【古冉子為公西赤之母請粟孔子曰君子周急不繼富葢非冉子棄讓也】況為己乎吾不願子聞之曰確哉義也實行古之道矣有以發我也難進易退【儒有難進易退姚義發明於我】子曰雖邇言必有可察求本則逺【舜好察邇言若不察其本則防説殄行至矣逺謂難及】王珪從子求續經子曰叔父【珪字叔玠子之從叔太宗朝為諫議多直言勑中書門下三品入閤使諫臣隨之自珪始也】通何徳以之哉【有何徳以當叔父之求學】珪曰勿辭也當仁不讓於師況無師乎吾聞闗朗之筮矣【事在闗朗傳】積亂之後當生大賢世習禮樂莫若吾族天未亡道振斯文者非子誰歟【珪言直故舉吾族】魏徴問議事以制何如子曰苟正其本刑將措焉如失其道議之何益故至治之代法懸而不犯【畫衣冠為法】其次犯而不繁【三代】故議事以制噫中代之道也【商周已後為中代】如有用我必也無訟乎【此仲尼之志】文中子曰平陳之後龍徳亢矣而卒不悔悲夫【隋文過亢不知故及弒】子曰吾於續書元經也其知天命而著乎【詩書亡然後元經作皆天命也】傷禮樂則述章志【樂章禮志】正厯數則斷南北【南北朝】感帝制而首太熈【書帝制尚不及黃初況太熈乎然元經首於太熈者葢感帝制之絶而特振之也】尊中國而正皇始【晉宋卒不振則厯數斷煬北朝以後魏孝文皇始年都洛歸得中國也】文中子曰動失之繁靜失之寡【不得中】子曰罪莫大於好進【進不以道】禍莫大於多言【言不以中】痛莫大扵不聞過【自蔽】辱莫大扵不知恥【自得】子曰天子之子合冠而議封【年二十成人始封之王】知治而受職【齒冑學古】古之道也【此周制】薛收問政扵仲長子光子光曰舉一綱眾目張弛一機萬事隳【引古語隳翾規反】不知其政也【隠者言放】收告文中子子曰子光得之矣【得為政之要也】文中子曰不知道無以為人臣況君乎【君更須知道】子曰人不里居地不井受終苟道也【秦廢井田開阡陌意在徙豪傑強本國然棄禮義起兼併為苟且之道】雖舜禹不能理矣【如此雖聖人復生難矣】子曰政猛寧若恩【先恩臨之】法速寜若緩【緩寛也】獄繁寧若簡【簡不滋彰】臣主之際其猜也寧信【並譏時】執其中者惟聖人乎【聖人之道不難知能行上四事則執中矣】子曰委任不一亂之媒也監察不止奸之府也【隋由此亡】裴晞聞之曰左右相疑非亂乎上下相伺非奸乎古謂之蛇豕之政噫亡秦之罪也【言王道喪自秦始】杜淹問隠子曰非伏其身而不見也時命大謬則隠其徳矣惟有道者能之故謂之退蔵扵密【有道謂聖人】杜淹曰易之興也天下其可疑乎故聖人得以隠【紂疑文王則文王隠】子曰顯仁蔵用中古之事也【演卦顯也就拘蔵也】淹曰敢問蔵之之説子曰泯其跡閟其心可以神防難以事求斯其説也又問道之防子曰非禮勿動非禮勿視非禮勿聽淹曰此仁者之目也【仲尼言仁】子曰道在其中矣【道在仁中】淹退謂如晦曰瞻之在前忽然在後信顔氏知之矣【知聖人道大不可以語言執也】文中子曰四民不分五等不建六官不職九服不序皇墳帝典不得而識矣【生民不復得而識也】不以三代之法統天下終危邦也【忠敬文相循之法】如不得已其兩漢之制乎【七制】不以兩漢之制輔天下者誠亂也已【制度不立則亂】文中子曰仲尼之述廣大悉備厯千載而不用悲夫【六經示後而後世但習空文不用其道可悲惜】仇璋進曰然夫子今何勤勤於述也子曰先師之職也不敢廢【儒職在祖述】焉知後之不能用也【後必有聖人出而用之】是藨是蓘則有豐年【逸詩譬如農夫是藨是蓘雖有饑饉必有豐年藨悲驕反蓘古夲反】子謂薛收曰元魏以降天下無主矣【無真主】開皇九載人始一【平陳一統】先人有言曰敬其事者大其始慎其位者正其名【先人謂銅川府君】此吾所以建議扵仁夀也【開皇改仁夀】陛下真帝也無踵偽亂【南北朝偽亂相繼】必紹周漢以土襲火【周木徳漢火徳隋當為土徳】色尚黃敷用五除四代之法【四代謂北朝魏周齊南朝陳也】以乗天命【時乗御天】千載一時不可失也髙祖偉之而不能用【偉其文而已不用其道】所以然者吾庶防乎周公之事矣【周公聖人之時者也故仲尼宗之敬其事正其始攝位則進正名則退公其心私其跡此周公之事也文中子謂隋祖必敬其始正其名】故十二策何先必先正始者也【正始策首篇名】魏永為龍門令【永未見】下車而廣公舍子聞之曰非所先也勞人逸已胡寜是營永遽止以謝子子曰不勤不儉無以為人上也【終戒之】門人竇威賈瓊姚義受禮溫彥博杜如晦陳叔達受樂杜淹房喬魏徴受書李靖薛方士裴晞王珪受詩叔恬受元經董常仇璋薛收程元備聞六經之義【中説終】凝常聞不專經者不敢以受也經別有説故著之【此太原府君王凝自記扵中説之後也】太原府君曰【稱府君者凝二子所記也】文中子之教不可不宣也日月逝矣不可使文中之後【後裔】不達於茲也召三子而教之畧例焉【續經畧例】太原府君曰凝常居栗如也子弟非公服不見閨門之內若朝廷焉昔文中子曰賢者凝也權則未而可與立矣府君再拜曰謹受教非禮不動終身焉貞觀中起家監察御史劾奏侯君集有無君之心【天下稱其讜正出為胡蘓令時杜淹為御史大夫王凝為監察上言侯君集有反狀太宗以君集有大功未之信而長孫無忌與君集善乃與杜淹不協而王凝貶出胡蘓令胡蘓漢東莞縣有胡蘓亭隋置縣名今屬州】及退則鄉黨以穆【不得志於時遂退】御家以四教勤儉恭恕正家以四禮冠婚喪祭【士禮】三年之畜備則散之親族【九年耕所儲畜】聖人之書及公服禮器不假【皆自足】垣屋什物必堅樸曰無苟費也門巷果木必方列曰無苟亂也事寡嫂以恭順著【文中子之室】與人不欵曲不受遺非其力非其祿未嘗衣食【力謂自耕桑者】饗食之禮無加物焉曰及禮可矣居家不肉食曰無求飽一布被二十年不易曰無為費天下也鄉人有誣其稅者一歳再輸臨官計日受俸年逾七十手不輟經親朋有非義者必正之曰面譽背毀吾不忍也群居縱言未嘗及人之短常有不可犯之色故小人逺焉杜淹曰續經其行乎太原府君曰王公大人最急也先王之道布在此矣天下有道聖人推而行之天下無道聖人述而蔵之所謂流之斯為川焉塞之斯為淵焉升則雲施則雨濳則潤何往不利也太原府君曰夫子得程仇董薛而六經益明對問之作四生之力也董仇早歿而程薛繼殂文中子之教其未作矣嗚呼以俟來哲【此並隠其意肆其言以傷河汾之教為長孫無忌所抑房魏等不能正之也】

Someone asked about Guan Lang. The Master said: A worthy man of Wei. Emperor Xiaowen died and Xuanwu took the throne, Duke Mu died, and Guan Lang withdrew [with notes above]. There was a reason Wei did not flourish [a state does not flourish because worthy men are not used]. The Master said: When the Middle Kingdom loses the Way, the four barbarian peoples know the Way. Wei Zheng said: May I hear the explanation? The Master said: When the Lesser Odes were entirely abandoned, the four barbarians invaded in turn; was that not the Middle Kingdom losing the Way? Zheng withdrew and said to Xue Shou: The times can now be known [the times: Emperor Yang's loss of the Way is known]. Xue Shou asked: Why do the people of today have no poems [having heard of the ancient poems, he asked why the people do not compose them now]? The Master said: Poetry is the people's feelings and nature. Can feelings and nature be lost [if feeling is not lost, poetry is not abandoned]? It is not that the people have no poems; it is the fault of those in charge of poetry [those in charge of poetry means the historians who did not understand change]. Yao Yi was hemmed in by poverty. Fang Xuanling (the character xuan is lost in transcription) said: What a pity, to be poor! Why not ask for help? Yao Yi said: The ancients, when asking on behalf of others, still thought of it as yielding [in ancient times Ran Zi asked for grain on behalf of Gongxi Chi's mother, and Confucius said a gentleman relieves the needy and does not add to the rich. Probably this was not Ran Zi abandoning yielding]; how much less for oneself? I do not wish to. The Master heard of it and said: Truly, Yi! He really practices the Way of the ancients. He has given me something to learn: hard to advance and easy to retire [a Confucian is hard to advance and easy to retire; Yao Yi has clarified this for me]. The Master said: Even common sayings must have something worth examining, but if you seek the root, it is far [Shun liked to examine common sayings. If one does not examine their root, partisan talk and ruined conduct arrive. "Far" means hard to reach]. Wang Gui asked the Master for the continuation of the Classics. The Master said: Uncle [Gui, courtesy name Shujie, was the Master's paternal cousin once removed. In Taizong's reign he served as remonstrator and spoke much directly. The order that officials of the third rank of the Secretariat and Chancellery should enter the hall with remonstrating ministers began with Gui], what virtue does Tong have to bear this [what virtue has he to meet his uncle's request to study]? Gui said: Do not decline. In matters of benevolence one does not yield even to a teacher, still less when one has no teacher. I have heard of Guan Lang's divination [the matter is in the Biography of Guan Lang]. After long disorder a great worthy should be born. Of those whose families have long practiced the Rites and Music, none surpasses our clan. Heaven has not yet destroyed the Way; who but you will revive this culture [Gui spoke directly, hence he raised the matter of our clan]? Wei Zheng asked: What about deliberating cases by established precedent? The Master said: If one rectifies the root, punishments will be set aside. If one loses the Way, what use is deliberation? So in an age of perfect order the law hangs up and is not violated [law was shown by painted clothing and caps], and the next best is violation without frequency [the Three Dynasties]. Hence cases are deliberated by precedent. Ah, that is the Way of the middle age [Shang and Zhou onward is the middle age]. If I were employed, there would surely be no lawsuits [this was Zhongni's aim]. Wenzhongzi said: After the Chen was pacified, the dragon's virtue overreached, and he never repented. How sad [Emperor Wen of Sui overreached without knowing, so he was assassinated]. The Master said: For the continuation of the Documents and the Yuan Jing, I probably write knowing the mandate of Heaven [after the Songs and Documents were lost, the Yuan Jing was composed, all by the mandate of Heaven]. Grieving over rites and music, I relate the musical chapters and ritual records [music chapters and ritual records]; correcting the calendar and succession, I divide north and south [the Northern and Southern Dynasties]; moved by the imperial institution, I begin with Taixi [the book of imperial institution did not yet even reach Huangchu, much less Taixi. Yet the Yuan Jing begins with Taixi, probably moved by the severing of the imperial institution and especially to revive it]; honoring the Middle Kingdom, I correct at Huangshi [the Jin and Song ended without recovering, so the succession was cut; after the Northern Dynasties, Emperor Xiaowen of Later Wei in the Huangshi years made Luoyang his capital and returned to hold the Middle Kingdom]. Wenzhongzi said: Movement errs in excess and stillness errs in lack [not obtaining the mean]. The Master said: No offense is greater than loving to advance [advancing not by the Way], no calamity is greater than much talk [speaking not to the mean], no pain is greater than not hearing of one's faults [self-concealment], no shame is greater than not knowing shame [self-satisfaction]. The Master said: The son of the Son of Heaven, when he reaches capping age, is discussed for enfeoffment [at twenty he becomes an adult and is first enfeoffed as a prince], and he knows government and receives office [he studies the old ways in the school of heirs]. This is the ancient Way [this is the Zhou system]. Xue Shou asked Zhongzhang Ziguang about government. Ziguang said: Raise one main cord and the many meshes open; loosen one trigger and ten thousand things collapse [quoting an old saying. Pronunciation note: "hui" is read xuan-gui]. He did not know that government [a recluse speaking freely]. Shou told Wenzhongzi. The Master said: Ziguang has got it [he has grasped the essence of government]. Wenzhongzi said: One who does not know the Way cannot be a minister, much less a ruler [a ruler must know the Way even more]. The Master said: If people do not live in neighborhoods and land is not received by the well-field system, it is in the end a shabby way [Qin abolished the well-field system and opened the paths and ridges, intending to move the powerful and strengthen the root of the state, but it abandoned rites and righteousness and started annexation, which is a makeshift way]. Even Shun and Yu could not govern it [so even if sages were reborn it would be hard]. The Master said: Severity in government is better replaced by kindness [first approach with kindness], swiftness in law is better replaced by slowness [slowness means leniency], many lawsuits are better replaced by few [fewness means not making things worse], and between minister and ruler, suspicion is better replaced by trust [all criticizing the times]. Only a sage can hold the mean [the Way of the sage is not hard to know, and one who can practice the four above holds the mean]. The Master said: Divided appointment is the matchmaker of disorder, and unceasing surveillance is the storehouse of treachery [the Sui perished through this]. Pei Xi heard this and said: Left and right suspecting each other, is that not disorder? Above and below spying on each other, is that not treachery? The ancients called it the government of snakes and boars. Ah, that was the fault of the doomed Qin [this says the kingly Way was lost starting with Qin]. Du Yan asked about reclusion. The Master said: It is not hiding one's body and not being seen. When the times and fate are badly wrong, one hides one's virtue. Only one who has the Way can do this, and so it is called withdrawing and hiding in secrecy [one who has the Way refers to a sage]. Du Yan said: When the Changes arose the world was probably doubtful, so the sage could hide [when Zhou doubted King Wen, King Wen hid]. The Master said: Displaying benevolence and hiding use is a matter of the middle antiquity [expounding the hexagrams was display, being imprisoned was hiding]. Yan said: May I ask about hiding it? The Master said: Erase one's traces and seal one's heart; it can be met by spirit and is hard to seek by affairs. That is the explanation. He asked again about the purport of the Way. The Master said: Do not move against ritual, do not look against ritual, do not listen against ritual. Yan said: These are the items of benevolence [Zhongni spoke of benevolence]. The Master said: The Way is in them [the Way is within benevolence]. Yan withdrew and said to Ruhui: Looking up at it, it is in front; suddenly it is behind. Truly the Yan family knew it [he knew the sage's Way is great and cannot be grasped by words]. Wenzhongzi said: The four classes are not divided, the five ranks not established, the six offices not discharged, the nine zones not ordered, and the books of the august and the emperors can no longer be known [the living people can no longer know them]. Not to rule the world by the laws of the Three Dynasties is in the end a perilous state [the method of loyalty, reverence and refinement following one another]. If there is no choice, probably the institutions of the two Han [the seven reigns]. One who does not assist the world with the institutions of the two Han will truly produce disorder [without institutions established, there is disorder]. Wenzhongzi said: Zhongni's narration was broad and complete, yet for a thousand years it has not been used. How sad [the Six Classics were shown to later ages, but later ages only practice empty words and do not use their Way, which is lamentable]. Qiu Zhang came in and said: Then why must the Master now toil so diligently at transmission? The Master said: It is the duty of the former teacher and I dare not abandon it [the Confucian office lies in handing on and honoring the ancestors]. How can one know later people cannot use it [surely a sage will later arise and use it]? Weed it and till it, and there will be a bountiful year [a lost ode: like a farmer, who weeds and tills, though there is famine there will be a plentiful year. Pronunciation notes: "biao" is read bei-jiao, "yi" is read gu-ben; the base text has a variant]. The Master said to Xue Shou: Since the Yuan Wei the world has had no ruler [no true ruler]. In the ninth year of Kaihuang people were first united [the pacification of Chen unified the land]. A forebear said: one who reveres his task enlarges its beginning, and one who is careful of his position rectifies its name [the forebear refers to Lord Tongchuan]. That is why I made my proposal in Renshou [Kaihuang became Renshou]. Your Majesty is a true emperor and should not follow the false and disordered [the false disorders of the Northern and Southern Dynasties succeeding one another]; he must continue the Zhou and the Han, taking Earth in succession to Fire [Zhou held Wood, Han held Fire, and the Sui should hold Earth], honoring yellow in color and using five as the number, and abolishing the methods of the four reigns [the four reigns are the Northern Wei, Zhou and Qi and the Southern Chen; the base text's "fu" is an error for "shu"], so as to ride the mandate of Heaven [riding the time and governing Heaven]. A chance that comes once in a thousand years must not be lost. Gaozu admired it but could not use it [he admired the writing only and did not use the Way]. This is why I come close to the work of the Duke of Zhou [the Duke of Zhou was a sage of the right time, so Zhongni honored him. Revering the task and rectifying the beginning, he advanced when acting as regent and withdrew when the name was rectified, made his heart public and his traces private; this is the Duke of Zhou's work. Wenzhongzi says the founder of the Sui must revere his beginning and rectify his name]. So what comes first in the Twelve Policies? Surely rectifying the beginning first [Rectifying the Beginning is the title of the first policy chapter]. Wei Yong was magistrate of Longmen [Yong's deeds are not seen], and upon taking up office enlarged the official residence. The Master heard of it and said: This is not what should come first. To toil others and ease oneself, why manage this? Yong hurriedly stopped and apologized to the Master. The Master said: Without diligence and thrift one cannot be above others [the final warning]. His disciples Dou Wei, Jia Qiong and Yao Yi received the Rites; Wen Yanbo, Du Ruhui and Chen Shuda received the Music; Du Yan, Fang Qiao and Wei Zheng received the Documents; Li Jing, Xue Fangshi, Pei Xi and Wang Gui received the Songs; Shu Tian received the Yuan Jing; Dong Chang, Qiu Zhang, Xue Shou and Cheng Yuan heard the meaning of all Six Classics [end of the Zhongshuo]. Ning once heard: whatever is not studied in specialty, one does not dare to hand on. The classics have separate explanations, so I set them down [this is Wang Ning, Lord of Taiyuan, recording himself after the Zhongshuo]. Lord of Taiyuan said [those called Lord are recorded by Ning's two sons]: Wenzhongzi's teaching must not fail to be proclaimed. Days and months pass, and it must not be that the descendants of Wenzhongzi do not understand this. He called his three sons and taught them the outline rules [the outline rules for continuing the Classics]. Lord of Taiyuan said: Ning often dwelt in awed reverence. His sons and younger brothers did not appear unless in official dress, and inside the women's quarters it was like a court. Formerly Wenzhongzi said: A worthy man is Ning; in adapting he is not yet there, but he can stand with us. The Lord bowed twice and said: I respectfully receive the instruction. He did not move against ritual for the rest of his life. In the Zhenguan era he began his career as a Censor, and impeached Hou Junji as having no loyalty to his ruler [the world praised his upright speech. He was sent out as magistrate of Husu. At that time Du Yan was Censor-in-Chief and Wang Ning was a Censor, and he said that Hou Junji had signs of rebellion. Taizong, because Junji had great merit, did not believe it, and Changsun Wuji was a friend of Junji, so he fell out with Du Yan and Wang Ning was sent out as magistrate of Husu. Husu was a county of Dongguan in the Han with a Husu pavilion; the Sui established it as a county, and it now belongs to Dizhou ([character lost in transcription])]. When he retired the village was at peace under him [not fulfilling his aims in the times, he withdrew]. He ruled his household with four teachings: diligence, thrift, reverence and reciprocity; and set his family right with four rites: capping, marriage, mourning and sacrifice [the rites of a scholar]. When three years of savings were prepared, he distributed them to relatives [stored from nine years of farming]. The books of the sages and official dress and ritual vessels he did not borrow [all were sufficient to himself]. Walls, houses and utensils had to be sturdy and plain, saying: do not waste carelessly; gateways and fruit trees had to be set in squares and rows, saying: do not be carelessly disordered. He served his widowed sister-in-law with respect and obedience, which was well known [Wenzhongzi's wife]. He did not put on airs with people, and did not accept gifts. He never wore or ate what was not from his own labor or salary [labor refers to his own farming and weaving]. At feast rites there was nothing extra, saying: it is enough to reach the rite. At home he ate no meat, saying: do not seek to be full. One cloth quilt was not changed for twenty years, saying: do not waste the world's resources. When a fellow villager falsely accused him over taxes, he paid twice in one year. In office he took salary by the day. Past seventy, his hands did not leave the classics. When relatives or friends did wrong, he always corrected them, saying: I cannot bear to praise to the face and slander behind the back. In company and free talk he never mentioned others' faults. He always had a look that could not be offended, so petty people kept away. Du Yan said: Can the continuation of the Classics be put into practice? The Lord of Taiyuan said: It is the most urgent matter for kings, dukes and great men. The Way of the former kings is spread out here. When the world has the Way, the sage extends and practices it; when the world lacks the Way, the sage hands it down and hides it. As it is said, when flowing it becomes a river, when blocked it becomes a pool, rising it becomes clouds, spreading it becomes rain, hidden it moistens; where would it not benefit? The Lord of Taiyuan said: The Master gained Cheng, Qiu, Dong and Xue, and the Six Classics grew clearer. The Questions and Answers were the work of four disciples. Dong and Qiu died early, and Cheng and Xue followed. Wenzhongzi's teaching was not yet fully done. Alas, we wait for a later sage [all this hides its meaning and gives free rein to words, to grieve that the teaching of Hefen was suppressed by Changsun Wuji, and Fang, Wei and others were unable to set it right].

文中子之教繼素王之道故以王道篇為首古先聖王俯仰二儀必合其徳故次之以天地篇天尊地卑君臣立矣故次之以事君篇事君法天莫如周公故次之以周公篇周公之道葢神乎易中故次之以問易篇易者教化之原也教化莫大乎禮樂故次之以禮樂篇禮樂彌文著明則史故次之以述史篇興文立制燮理為大惟魏相有焉故次之以魏相篇夫隂陽既燮則理性達矣窮理盡性以至扵命故次之以立命篇通性命之説者非易安能至乎闗氏易之深者也故次之闗朗篇終焉

Wenzhongzi's teaching continues the Way of the uncrowned king (Confucius), so the chapter Kingly Way is placed first. The ancient sage kings looked down and up at the two forms of Heaven and Earth and had to accord with the virtue of Heaven and Earth, so next comes the chapter Heaven and Earth. Heaven is honored and Earth is lowly, and the stations of ruler and minister are set up, so next comes the chapter Serving the Ruler. In serving the ruler and taking Heaven as a model, none compares with the Duke of Zhou, so next comes the chapter Duke of Zhou. The Duke of Zhou's Way has its wonder in the Changes, so next comes the chapter Asking about the Changes. The Changes are the source of transformation, and no transformation is greater than rites and music, so next comes the chapter Rites and Music. When the culture of rites and music becomes bright, it becomes history, so next comes the chapter Narrating History. To raise up culture and teaching, establish institutions, and harmonize yin and yang is a great matter that only Wei Xiang could do, so next comes the chapter Wei Xiang. When yin and yang are harmonized, nature and principle are penetrated; to exhaust principle and fully realize nature in order to reach destiny, so next comes the chapter Establishing Destiny. One who can penetrate the doctrine of nature and destiny, if not through the Changes, how could he arrive? The Guan family were deeply versed in the Changes, so the work closes with the chapter Guan Lang.

文中子王氏諱通字仲淹其先漢徴君霸絜身不仕十八代祖殷雲中太守家於祁以春秋周易訓鄉里為子孫資十四代祖述克播前烈著春秋義統公府闢不就九代祖防遭愍懐之難遂東遷焉防生罕罕生秀皆以文學顯秀生二子長曰謨次曰則謨以將畧升則以儒術進則字彥法即文中子六代祖也仕宋厯太僕國子博士常嘆曰先君所貴者禮樂不學者軍旅兄何為哉遂究道徳考經籍謂功業不可以小成也故卒為洪儒卿相不可以苟處也故終為博士曰先師之職也不可墜故江左號王先生受其道曰王先生業扵是大稱儒門世濟厥美先生生江州府君煥煥生虯虯始北事魏太和中為幷州刺史家河汾曰晉陽穆公穆公生同州刺史彥曰同州府君彥生濟州刺史一曰安康獻公安康獻公生銅川府君諱隆字伯髙文中子之父也傳先生之業教授門人千餘隋開皇初以國子博士待詔雲龍門時國家新有揖讓之事方以恭儉定天下帝從容謂府君曰朕何如主也府君曰陛下聰明神武得之扵天發號施令不盡稽古雖負堯舜之終以不學為累帝黙然曰先生朕之陸賈也何以教朕府君承詔著興衰要論七篇毎奏帝稱善然未甚達也府君出為昌樂令遷猗氏銅川所治著稱秩滿退歸遂不仕開皇四年文中子始生銅川府君筮之遇坤之師獻兆於安康獻公獻公曰素王之卦也何為而來地二化為天一上徳而居下位能以眾正可以王矣雖有君徳非其時乎是子必能通天下之志遂名之曰通開皇九年江東平銅川府君嘆曰王道無敘天下何為而一乎文中子侍側十歳矣有憂色曰通聞古之為邦有長乆之策故夏殷以下數百年四海常一統也後之為邦行苟且之政故魏晉以下數百年九州無定主也上失其道民散乆矣一彼一此何常之有夫子之嘆葢憂皇綱不振生人勞扵聚斂而天下亂乎銅川府君異之曰其然乎遂告以元經之事文中子再拜受之十八年銅川府君宴居歌伐木而召文中子子矍然再拜敢問夫子之志何謂也銅川府君曰爾來自天子至庶人未有不資友而成者也在三之義師居一焉道喪已來斯廢乆矣然何常之有小子勉旃翔而後集文中子於是有四方之志蓋受書扵東海李育學詩扵防稽夏琠問禮扵河東闗子明正樂扵北平霍汲考易扵族父仲華不解衣者六歳其精志如此仁夀三年文中子冠矣慨然有濟蒼生之心西逰長安見隋文帝帝坐太極殿召見因奏太平策十有二策尊王道推霸畧稽今驗古恢恢乎運天下扵指掌矣帝大悅曰得生防晚矣天以生賜朕也下其議扵公卿公卿不悅時將有蕭牆之釁文中子知謀之不用也作東征之歌而歸曰我思國家兮逺逰京畿忽逢帝王兮降禮布衣遂懐古人之心兮將興太平之基時異事變兮志乖願違吁嗟道之不行兮垂翅東歸皇之不斷兮勞身西飛帝聞而再徴之不至四年帝崩大業元年一徴又不至辭以疾謂所親曰我周人也家於祁永嘉之亂蓋東遷焉髙祖穆公始事魏魏周之際有大功扵生人天子錫之地始家扵河汾故有墳隴扵茲四代矣茲土也其人憂深思逺乃有陶唐氏之遺風先君之所懐也有弊廬在茅簷土堦撮如也道之不行欲安之乎退志其道而已乃續詩書正禮樂修元經讃易道九年而六經大就門人自逺而至河南董常太山姚義京兆杜淹趙郡李靖南陽程元扶風竇威河東薛收中山賈瓊清河房齡鉅鹿魏徴太原溫大雅頴川陳叔達等鹹稱師北面受王佐之道焉如往來受業者不可勝數葢千餘人隋季文中子之教興於河汾雍雍如也大業十年尚書召署蜀郡司戸不就十一年以著作郎國子博士徴並不至十三年江都難作子有疾召薛收謂曰吾夢顔回稱孔子之命曰歸休乎殆夫子召我也何必永厥齡吾不起矣寢疾七日而終門弟子數百人防議曰吾師其至人乎自仲尼已來未之有也禮男子生有字所以昭徳死有諡所以易名夫子生當天下亂莫予宗之故續詩書正禮樂修元經讃易道聖人之大防天下之能事畢矣仲尼既沒文不在茲乎易曰黃裳元文在中也請諡曰文中子絲麻設位哀以送之禮畢悉以文中子之書還於王氏禮論二十五篇列為十卷樂論二十篇列為十卷續書一百五十篇列為二十五卷續詩三百六十篇列為十卷元經五十篇列為十五卷賛易七十篇列為十卷並未及行遭時喪亂先夫人藏其書於篋笥東西南北未嘗離身大唐武徳四年天下大定先夫人返扵故居又以書授扵其弟凝文中子二子長曰福郊少曰福畤

Wenzhongzi, of the Wang family, was named Tong and styled Zhongyan. His ancestor was Wang Ba, the Han-dynasty Summoned Scholar, who kept himself pure and did not take office. His eighteenth-generation ancestor Wang Yin had been Governor of Yunzhong and settled in Qi, teaching the villages with the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Changes as the assets of his descendants. His fourteenth-generation ancestor Wang Shu could spread the achievements of earlier generations and wrote the Meaning and Lineage of the Spring and Autumn Annals; the government offices summoned him but he never accepted. His ninth-generation ancestor Wang Yu (the base text has a corrupt character; by genealogy this is the eastward move of the Wang Yu line) met the troubles of Emperors Min and Huai of Jin and so moved east. Wang Yu begat Wang Han, Wang Han begat Wang Xiu, all known for letters. Wang Xiu had two sons, the elder named Wang Xuanmo and the younger Wang Xuanze. Wang Xuanmo advanced through military strategy, and Wang Xuanze through Confucian learning. Wang Xuanze, styled Yanfa, was Wenzhongzi's sixth-generation ancestor and held office under the Song, serving as Grand Coachman and Erudite of the Imperial Academy. He often sighed and said: "What our late father valued was rites and music, and what he did not study was military matters. Why is my elder brother like this?" So he studied the Way and virtue deeply and examined the classics, holding that achievements should not be accomplished in a small way, hence he finally became a great scholar; that high office should not be taken carelessly, hence he ended as an Erudite, saying: "This is the duty of the former teachers and must not be allowed to fall." So the lands east of the river called him Master Wang, and those who received his Way were called the Wang Master's school, and so the Confucian school was greatly praised, and generation after generation completed that excellence. The Master begat Lord Jiangzhou, Wang Huan, and Wang Huan begat Wang Qiu. Wang Qiu first went north to serve the Wei dynasty, became Governor of Bingzhou in the Taihe era, settled at Hefen, and was called Duke Mu of Jinyang. Duke Mu begat Wang Yan, Governor of Tongzhou, called Lord Tongzhou. Wang Yan begat Wang Yi, Governor of Jizhou, called Duke Xian of Ankang. Duke Xian of Ankang begat Lord Tongchuan, named Long, styled Bogao, Wenzhongzi's father. He transmitted the Master's learning and taught more than a thousand disciples. In the early Kaihuang years of the Sui he waited for orders at Yunlong Gate as an Erudite of the Imperial Academy. At that time the state had only just had the abdication and was using respect and thrift to settle the world. Emperor Wen said calmly to the Lord: "What kind of ruler am I?" The Lord said: "Your Majesty is intelligent and divinely martial, obtained from Heaven; but in issuing commands you cannot wholly consult antiquity. Though you have the qualities of Yao and Shun, [character lost in transcription, by sense "zi" or "zi" meaning disposition] you will in the end be burdened by lack of learning." The emperor was silent for a moment and said: "You are my Lu Jia; what will you use to teach me?" The Lord, receiving the edict, wrote seven essays, On the Essentials of Rise and Fall; each time he submitted one, the emperor praised it, but it did not yet fully get through. The Lord went out as magistrate of Changle, moved to Yishi and Tongchuan, and the places he governed were all famous. When his term ended he retired and did not serve again. In the fourth year of Kaihuang, Wenzhongzi was born. Lord Tongchuan divined by the stalks and obtained Kun changing to Shi, and presented the omen to Duke Xian of Ankang. The Duke said: "This is the hexagram of the uncrowned king. Why does it come? Earth two transforms into Heaven one; one with supreme virtue who dwells in a low position and can use the rectitude of the multitude may be king. Though he has the virtue of a ruler, this is perhaps not that time? This child must penetrate the aims of the whole world." So he was named Tong. In the ninth year of Kaihuang, when Jiangdong was pacified, Lord Tongchuan sighed and said: "The kingly Way has no order; why has the world been unified?" Wenzhongzi was attending beside him, already ten years old, with a worried look on his face, and said: "I have heard that in ancient times, when states were governed there were long-lasting plans, so for several hundred years from Xia and Yin onward the four seas were often united; later generations governed with makeshift policies, so for several hundred years from Wei and Jin onward the nine provinces had no fixed ruler. Those above lost the Way and the people were scattered long since; one rises, another falls, what constant rule is there? Your sigh, Father, is probably out of worry that the imperial net is not taut, that the people toil under exactions, and that the world is about to fall into great disorder?" ([character lost in transcription], by sense "jiang", about to.) Lord Tongchuan was astonished and said: "Is it so?" So he told him about the Yuan Jing. Wenzhongzi bowed twice and accepted it. In the eighteenth year, Lord Tongchuan was at leisure and sang the poem "Felling Trees" and summoned Wenzhongzi. Wenzhongzi started, bowed twice and said: "May I ask what the Father's aim is?" Lord Tongchuan said: "Come here. From the Son of Heaven down to the commoner, none accomplishes anything without relying on friends. Among the meanings of the three, the teacher takes one place. Since the Way was lost, this has been neglected for a long time. But what is the constant rule? Child, strive on, and pause only after circling." Wenzhongzi then set his sights on the four quarters: he received the books from Li Yu in the eastern sea region, studied poetry from Xia Dian of Kuaiji, asked about rites from Guan Ziming of Hedong, corrected music with Huo Ji of Beiping, and examined the Changes with his clan uncle Zhonghua; for six years he did not take off his clothes, his sincerity so single-minded. In the third year of Renshou, Wenzhongzi was capped, and with a stirring heart to save the common people, he traveled west to Chang'an and was received by Emperor Wen of Sui. The emperor sat in the Taiji Hall and received him, and he presented the Twelve Policies for Great Peace, honoring the kingly Way and making clear the hegemonic strategy, examining the present and testing the ancient, vast and open, turning the world in the palm of his hand. The emperor was greatly pleased and said: "I have obtained you too late!" (the base text has "de sheng fang wan yi", where fang is an error for zhi.) "Heaven has given you to me." He sent his discussions down to the ministers. The ministers were displeased. At that time there was about to be trouble within the palace walls, and Wenzhongzi knew his plans would not be used; he made the Song of the Eastern Expedition and went home, singing: "I think of the state, and travel far to the capital; suddenly I meet the emperor, who lowers courtesy to a commoner. So I hold the heart of the ancients, and will raise up the foundation of great peace; times change and affairs shift, my aims and wishes part. Alas, the Way cannot be practiced; with drooping wings I return east; the emperor cannot decide, and I toil and fly west." The emperor heard of it and summoned him again, but he did not go. In the fourth year the emperor died. In the first year of Daye he was summoned once, but again did not go, excusing himself with illness. He said to those close to him: "I am a man of Zhou, and my home is in Qi. In the Yongjia troubles my family moved east. My high ancestor Duke Mu began serving the Wei dynasty, and between Wei and Zhou he did great service to the people; the Son of Heaven gave him land, and thus he settled at Hefen, and so there are tombs here, for four generations now. The people of this land have deep worries and far thoughts and still have the legacy of the House of Taotang, which was cherished by my late father. There is an old broken-down cottage, with thatched eaves and earthen steps, as small as that. If the Way cannot be practiced, where else would I go? I shall withdraw and record that Way, that is all." So he continued the Songs and Documents, corrected rites and music, compiled the Yuan Jing, and extolled the Way of the Changes, and in nine years the Six Classics were greatly completed. Disciples came from far away: Dong Chang of Henan, Yao Yi of Taishan, Du Yan of Jingzhao, Li Jing of Zhao Commandery, Cheng Yuan of Nanyang, Dou Wei of Fufeng, Xue Shou of Hedong, Jia Qiong of Zhongshan, Fang Xuanling of Qinghe, Wei Zheng of Julu, Wen Daya of Taiyuan, Chen Shuda of Yingchuan, and others all called him teacher and faced north to receive the Way of assisting a king. Those who came and went to receive instruction were too many to count, about a thousand and more. At the end of the Sui, Wenzhongzi's teaching rose at Hefen, harmonious and solemn. In the tenth year of Daye, the Secretariat summoned him to serve as acting Registrar of Shu Commandery, but he did not go. In the eleventh year he was summoned as Court Writer and Erudite of the Imperial Academy, but did not go to either. In the thirteenth year the troubles of Jiangdu occurred, and the Master fell ill; he summoned Xue Shou and said to him: "I dreamed that Yan Hui, bearing Confucius's command, said: Come back and rest. Probably the Master is calling me. Why prolong that span of years? I cannot rise." He lay ill for seven days and died. Several hundred disciples gathered and discussed it (the base text's "fang yi" should be "ji yi"), saying: "Our teacher was probably a perfect man! There has been none like him since Zhongni. By the rites, a man has a courtesy name at birth to make virtue clear, and a posthumous title at death to replace the name. The Master was born when the world was in great disorder and no one honored him, so he continued the Songs and Documents, corrected rites and music, compiled the Yuan Jing and extolled the Way of the Changes; the great embankments of the sages and the things the world can do were all completed. Since Zhongni died, is culture not here? The Changes say: yellow lower garment, supreme good fortune; culture is within. We ask that he be given the posthumous title Wenzhongzi." They set up a place with silk and hemp and sent him off with sorrow. When the rites were complete, all of Wenzhongzi's books were returned to the Wang family: the Discourse on Rites in twenty-five chapters arranged in ten scrolls, the Discourse on Music in twenty chapters arranged in ten scrolls, the Continuation of the Documents in one hundred and fifty chapters arranged in twenty-five scrolls, the Continuation of the Songs in three hundred and sixty chapters arranged in ten scrolls, the Yuan Jing in fifty chapters arranged in fifteen scrolls, and the Extolling of the Changes in seventy chapters arranged in ten scrolls, none yet put into practice, as the age fell into upheaval. His late wife kept the books in trunks and chests and did not leave them, east, west, south or north. In the fourth year of Wude of the great Tang, when the world was at last settled, his late wife returned to their old home and gave the books to Wenzhongzi's younger brother Wang Ning. Wenzhongzi had two sons, the elder named Fujiao and the younger named Fuzhi.