The Ten Faults十過

These are the ten faults. First, to practice small loyalty is the ruin of great loyalty. Second, to look to small profit is the harm of great profit. Third, to act perversely and follow one's own will, and to show no propriety to the feudal lords, is the shortest road to destroying oneself. Fourth, not to work at hearing and governing but to love the five tones is what brings a man's person to want. Fifth, to be greedy and stubborn and fond of gain is the root of wiping out the state and killing oneself. Sixth, to sink into women and music and not look to the government of the state is the disaster of losing the state. Seventh, to leave the inner court and roam far, and to slight the officers who remonstrate, is the way to endanger oneself. Eighth, to have a fault and not listen to a loyal minister, and to follow one's own will alone, is the beginning of wiping out a high name and becoming the laughingstock of others. Ninth, not to measure one's strength within and to rely on the feudal lords without is the trouble that whittles a state away. Tenth, for a state to be small and without propriety and not to use ministers who remonstrate is the situation in which a line is cut off.

What is meant by small loyalty? In days past King Gong of Chu fought Duke Li of Jin at Yanling. The army of Chu was beaten, and King Gong was wounded in the eye. At the height of the fighting the marshal Zifan was thirsty and asked for something to drink, and the page Guyang took a goblet of wine and brought it to him. Zifan said, "Ah, take it away. That is wine." Guyang said, "It is not wine." Zifan took it and drank it. Now Zifan was a man who loved wine, and once he found it sweet he could not keep it from his mouth, and so he grew drunk. When the fighting was over King Gong wished to fight again, and he sent a man to summon the marshal Zifan, but the marshal Zifan excused himself, saying his heart ailed him. King Gong drove out and went himself, and he entered the tent, and he smelled the reek of wine and turned back, saying, "In today's fighting I was wounded myself. The one I relied on was the marshal, and the marshal is drunk like this. This is to ruin the altars of the land and grain of Chu and to have no care for my multitude. I shall not fight again." With that he turned his army about and went away, and he beheaded the marshal Zifan and made of him a great execution. So the page Guyang's offering of the wine was not done to take revenge on Zifan. His heart was loyal and loved him, and yet it was just enough to kill him. Therefore it is said: to practice small loyalty is the ruin of great loyalty. What is meant by looking to small profit? In days past Duke Xian of Jin wished to borrow a road through Yu in order to attack Guo. Xun Xi said, "Let my lord take the jade disc of Chuiji and the team of four horses bred at Qu and offer them to the duke of Yu, and ask to borrow the road. He is certain to lend us the road." The ruler said, "The jade disc of Chuiji is the treasure of my late lord, and the team from Qu are my own fine horses. If he takes my gifts and does not lend the road, what then?" Xun Xi said, "If they are not going to lend us the road, they will surely not dare to take our gifts. And if they take our gifts and lend us the road, then it is as though the treasure were taken from an inner storehouse and set in an outer storehouse, and the horses taken from an inner stable and tied in an outer stable. Let my lord not trouble himself." The ruler said, "Do it." So he sent Xun Xi with the jade disc of Chuiji and the team from Qu to offer them to the duke of Yu and to ask to borrow the road. The duke of Yu coveted the profit of the disc and the horses and wished to grant it. Gong Zhiqi remonstrated, saying, "It must not be granted. Now Yu has Guo as a cart has its side-boards. The side-boards lean on the cart and the cart leans on the side-boards, and such is the standing of Yu and Guo. If you lend them the road, Guo will fall in the morning and Yu will follow it that evening. It must not be. I beg you not to grant it." The duke of Yu would not listen, and in the end he lent the road. Xun Xi attacked Guo and took it, and he came back, and after three years he raised an army and attacked Yu and took that as well. Xun Xi led the horses and carried the disc and reported to Duke Xian, and Duke Xian was pleased and said, "The disc is as it was. Even so, the horses' teeth have grown longer." Why was it, then, that the troops of the duke of Yu came to grief and his land was whittled away? He loved a small profit and did not consider the harm in it. Therefore it is said: to look to small profit is the harm of great profit.

What is meant by acting perversely? In days past King Ling of Chu held the meeting at Shen. The crown prince of Song came late, and the king seized him and shut him up; he treated the lord of Xu with contempt; and he laid hold of Qing Feng of Qi. The officer of the inner guard remonstrated, saying, "When the feudal lords are gathered there must be propriety, for this is the pivot on which survival and ruin turn. In days past Jie held the meeting at Yourong and Youmin revolted against him, and Zhou Xin held the hunting muster at Liqiu and the Rong and the Di revolted against him, and it was because there was no propriety. Let my lord think on it." The ruler would not listen and in the end followed his own will. Before a full year had passed, King Ling roamed to the south, and his many ministers followed him and seized him. King Ling starved and died on the bank of the Ganxi. Therefore it is said: to act perversely and follow one's own will, and to show no propriety to the feudal lords, is the shortest road to destroying oneself.

What is meant by loving music? In days past Duke Ling of Wei was about to go to Jin. He reached the bank of the Pu, and he unyoked his carts and turned out his horses and set up a lodging to pass the night. In the middle of the night he heard someone playing a new music, and he was delighted. He sent a man to ask those about him, and all reported that they had heard nothing. So he summoned the music master Juan and told him, "There is someone playing a new music. I sent a man to ask those about me, and all report that they heard nothing. It sounds like the work of a ghost or a spirit. Listen to it for me and set it down." The music master Juan said, "I will." Then he sat quietly and stroked the zither and set it down. The next day the music master Juan reported, "Your servant has got it, but he has not yet made it his own. He asks to stay one more night and practice it." Duke Ling said, "Do so." So they stayed another night. The next day he had it by heart, and they left and came to Jin. Duke Ping of Jin feasted him on the terrace of Shiyi. When the wine was at its height, Duke Ling rose. He said, "I have a new music, and I ask leave to show it to you." Duke Ping said, "Good." So he summoned the music master Juan and had him sit beside Shi Kuang and draw up the zither and play it. Before it was finished, Shi Kuang laid his hand on the strings and stopped him, saying, "This is the music of a fallen state. It must not be carried through." Duke Ping said, "Where does it come from?" Shi Kuang said, "This was made by the music master Yan, who made the loose and wanton music for Zhou Xin. When King Wu attacked Zhou Xin, the music master Yan fled eastward, and he came to the Pu and threw himself in.

Therefore whoever hears this music hears it on the bank of the Pu. The state that first hears this music is sure to be whittled away. It must not be carried through." Duke Ping said, "What I love is music. Have him carry it through." The music master Juan played it to the end. Duke Ping asked Shi Kuang, "What music is this called?" Shi Kuang said, "This is what is called qingshang." The duke said, "Is qingshang indeed the saddest of all?" Shi Kuang said, "It is not equal to qingzhi." The duke said, "May I hear qingzhi?" Shi Kuang said, "You may not. Those who heard qingzhi in ancient times were all rulers who had virtue and right. Now my lord's virtue is thin, and it is not enough for him to hear it." Duke Ping said, "What I love is music. I wish to try to hear it." Shi Kuang could not refuse, and he drew up the zither and played. At the first strain sixteen black cranes came from the south and settled on the broken wall of the Lang gate. At the second strain they drew up in ranks. At the third strain they stretched their necks and cried, and spread their wings and danced, and the sound fell in with the notes gong and shang, and the sound was heard up in heaven. Duke Ping was greatly delighted, and all who sat there were glad. Duke Ping raised his cup and rose and drank to Shi Kuang's long life, and he came back to his seat and asked, "Is there no music sadder than qingzhi?" Shi Kuang said, "It is not equal to qingjue." Duke Ping said, "May I hear qingjue?" Shi Kuang said, "You may not.

In days past, when the Yellow Emperor gathered the ghosts and spirits on Mount Tai, he rode an elephant chariot and drove six jiao dragons, and Bifang held the linchpin beside him, and Chiyou was in front, and the Earl of Wind went ahead and swept the way, and the Master of Rain sprinkled the road, and tigers and wolves were in front and the ghosts and spirits behind, and the soaring serpent lay flat on the ground and the phoenix covered them above; and he gathered the ghosts and spirits in a great assembly and made qingjue. Now my lord's virtue is thin, and it is not enough for him to hear it. If he hears it, I fear there will be ruin." Duke Ping said, "I am old. What I love is music. I wish to hear it to the end." Shi Kuang could not refuse and played it. At the first strain black clouds rose in the northwest. At the second strain a great wind came, and a great rain came after it, and it tore the curtains and broke the sacrificial vessels and threw down the tiles of the gallery. Those who sat there scattered and fled, and Duke Ping was afraid and lay flat in a room off the gallery. The state of Jin suffered a great drought, and the land was scorched red for three years, and Duke Ping's own body fell into a wasting sickness. Therefore it is said: not to work at hearing and governing, and never to have done with loving the five tones, is what brings a man's person to want.

What is meant by greed and stubbornness? In days past Zhi Bo Yao led Zhao and Han and Wei and attacked the Fan and the Zhonghang and wiped them out. He came back, and he rested his troops some years, and then he sent a man to ask land of Han. Kangzi of Han wished not to give it, and Duan Gui remonstrated, saying, "It cannot be withheld. Now Zhi Bo is a man who loves gain and is fierce and stubborn. If he comes asking for land and it is not given, he will surely move his troops against Han. Let my lord give it. If he is given it, he will grow bold with it and go on to ask land of another state, and among the other states there will be one that does not listen, and when it does not listen Zhi Bo will surely bring his troops against it. In this way Han can escape trouble and wait for the turn of affairs." Kangzi said, "Do it." So he sent an envoy to hand over to Zhi Bo one district of ten thousand households. Zhi Bo was pleased, and he sent a man to ask land of Wei. Xuanzi wished not to give it, and Zhao Jia remonstrated, saying, "He asked land of Han, and Han gave it. Now he asks land of Wei, and if Wei does not give it, this is Wei making itself strong within and angering Zhi Bo without. If it is not given, he will surely set his troops against Wei. It is better to give it." Xuanzi said, "Do it." So he sent a man to hand over one district of ten thousand households to Zhi Bo. Zhi Bo then sent a man to Zhao to ask for the lands of Cai and Gaolang, and Viscount Xiang (襄子) of Zhao would not give them. Zhi Bo thereupon made a secret compact with Han and Wei to attack Zhao. Viscount Xiang summoned Zhang Mengtan and told him, "Now Zhi Bo is a man close on the outside and distant within. Three times he has sent to Han and to Wei, and I have had no part in it. He will surely set his troops against me.

Now where should I stay?" Zhang Mengtan said, "Now Dong Yanzi was an able minister of Lord Jian, and he governed Jinyang, and Yin Duo carried on after him, and what he taught still remains. Let my lord settle himself in Jinyang, and that is all." The ruler said, "Do it." So he summoned Yanling Sheng and had him lead the chariots and horsemen ahead to Jinyang, and the ruler followed after. When the ruler arrived, he went round the walls and the storehouses of the five offices. The walls were not kept up; there was no grain laid by in the granary, there was no money stored in the treasury, there were no armor and weapons in the arsenal, and the town had no gear for a defense. Viscount Xiang was afraid, and he summoned Zhang Mengtan and said, "I have gone round the walls and the storehouses of the five offices, and nothing is ready. With what shall I meet the enemy?" Zhang Mengtan said, "Your servant has heard that the government of a sage stores in the people and does not store in the treasuries, and works at cultivating his teaching and does not work at the walls. Let my lord send out an order: let the people keep back three years' food and put the grain above that into the granary; let them keep back three years' spending and put the money above that into the treasury; and let any household with hands to spare be set to the mending of the walls." The ruler sent out the order in the evening, and the next day the granary would not hold the grain, and the treasury had no room to pile the money, and the arsenal could not take in all the armor and weapons. In five days the walls were in order and the defense was ready. The ruler summoned Zhang Mengtan and asked him, "My walls are in order and my defense is ready, my money and grain are enough and my armor and weapons are more than enough. But what shall I do for want of arrows?" Zhang Mengtan said, "Your servant has heard that when Dongzi governed Jinyang he walled the courts of the ducal palace all about with reed and mugwort and bush clover, and some of the bush clover stands a full ten feet high. Let my lord take it out and use it." So he took it out and tried it, and for stiffness not even the strongest bamboo could better it. The ruler said, "My arrows are enough now. What shall I do for want of metal?" Zhang Mengtan said, "Your servant has heard that when Dongzi governed Jinyang the halls of the ducal palace and of the offices all had pillars and plinths of refined copper. Let my lord take it out and use it." So he took it out and used it, and there was metal to spare. The word of command was settled and the defense was ready.

The troops of the three states did come. When they came they went up against the wall of Jinyang and fought, and in three months they could not pull it down. So they spread their army and ringed it about, and they breached the waters of Jinyang and flooded it. They ringed Jinyang about for three years. Inside the city the people lived up high as in nests and hung their cauldrons to cook, and their goods and their food were almost gone, and the officers and great men grew thin and sick. Viscount Xiang said to Zhang Mengtan, "The grain is spent and our strength is spent, and the officers and great men are thin and sick. I fear we cannot hold. I wish to give up the city and submit. To which state would it be well to submit?" Zhang Mengtan said, "Your servant has heard it said that if a man cannot preserve what is perishing and cannot make safe what is in danger, then there is no reason to prize wisdom. Let my lord put this plan aside. Your servant asks leave to try to slip out and see the rulers of Han and of Wei." Zhang Mengtan saw the rulers of Han and of Wei and said, "Your servant has heard that when the lips are gone the teeth are cold. Now Zhi Bo leads you two rulers and attacks Zhao, and Zhao is about to fall. When Zhao falls, you two rulers are next." The two rulers said, "We know that it is so. Even so, Zhi Bo is a man coarse within and with little kindness. If we plot and it is found out, the disaster will surely come upon us. What is to be done about that?" Zhang Mengtan said, "The plan has gone out of the mouths of you two rulers and into your servant's ears. No one else knows of it." So the two rulers made a compact with Zhang Mengtan that the three armies should turn, and they fixed the day with him. By night they sent Mengtan into Jinyang to report that the two rulers would turn. Viscount Xiang met Mengtan and bowed twice to him, in fear and in gladness at once. The two rulers, having made the compact, sent Zhang Mengtan away, and then they went to court before Zhi Bo and came out, and met Zhi Guo outside the camp gate. Zhi Guo thought their looks strange, and he went in and saw Zhi Bo and said, "The faces of the two rulers say there will be a change." The ruler said, "How so?" "Their walk is stiff and their bearing is high; it is not their manner at other times. My lord had better strike first." The ruler said, "I have made a careful compact with the two lords: that we break Zhao and divide its land in three. This is why I am close to them, and they will surely not encroach or deceive. The troops have been fixed at Jinyang for three years, and now, any morning or evening, we shall pull it down and enjoy the gain of it. How should they have another mind?

It surely is not so. Let it be, and do not trouble yourself, and do not let it out of your mouth." The next morning the two lords again went to court and came out, and again met Zhi Guo at the camp gate. Zhi Guo went in and saw him and said, "Did my lord tell the two lords what your servant said?" The ruler said, "How do you know?" He said, "Today the two lords came out from court, and they saw your servant and their faces moved, and their eyes stayed on your servant. There is surely a change coming. My lord had better kill them." The ruler said, "Let it be, and speak of it no more." Zhi Guo said, "It cannot be. You must kill them. If you cannot kill them, then make them close to you." The ruler said, "How am I to make them close?" Zhi Guo said, "The minister who plans for Xuanzi of Wei is called Zhao Jia, and the minister who plans for Kangzi of Han is called Duan Gui, and these are men who can turn the counsel of their rulers. Let my lord make a compact with the two rulers that when Zhao is broken these two men shall each be enfeoffed with a district of ten thousand households. In this way the minds of the two lords need not change." Zhi Bo said, "To break Zhao and divide its land in three, and then to enfeoff these two men with a district of ten thousand households each, would leave me little. It cannot be." Zhi Guo saw that his words were not heeded, and he went out and changed his clan name to Fu. When the night of the appointed day came, the house of Zhao killed the officer who guarded the dike and breached the water and flooded Zhi Bo's army. Zhi Bo's army fell into confusion holding back the water, and Han and Wei closed on them like wings and struck them, and Viscount Xiang led his soldiers against their front, and they broke Zhi Bo's army utterly and took Zhi Bo. Zhi Bo's body was killed and his army broken, and his state was divided into three, and he became the laughingstock of all under heaven.

Therefore it is said: to be greedy and stubborn and fond of gain is the root of wiping out the state and killing oneself.

What is meant by sinking into women and music? In days past the king of the Rong sent You Yu on a mission to Qin. Duke Mu asked him, "I have heard of the Way before now, but I have never seen it with my eyes. I should like to hear by what it was that the enlightened rulers of old won a state and lost a state." You Yu answered, "Your servant has heard of it. It is always by frugality that they won it and by extravagance that they lost it." Duke Mu said, "I have put shame aside and asked you about the Way, and you answer me with frugality. Why is that?" You Yu answered, "Your servant has heard this. In days past, when Yao held all under heaven, he ate from an earthen bowl and drank from an earthen cup. His land reached Jiaozhi in the south and Youdu in the north, and east and west it reached the places where the sun and moon rise and set, and there was none that did not come as a guest and submit. Yao handed all under heaven on, and Yu Shun received it, and he made eating vessels: he cut trees on the hills and worked them for timber, and he pared and sawed and smoothed the marks, and he let lacquer flow and blackened the surface, and he had them carried into the palace to serve as eating vessels. The feudal lords held this to be more extravagant, and there were thirteen states that did not submit. Shun handed all under heaven on and passed it to Yu, and Yu made sacrificial vessels: he dyed the outside black and painted the inside red, and he made cushions of plain silk and bound the edges of the rush mats, and the cups had colors on them and the wine jars and stands had ornament. This was more extravagant still, and there were thirty-three states that did not submit. The house of Xiahou passed away and the men of Yin received it, and they made the great chariot and set up a banner of nine streamers, and their eating vessels were carved and cut and their cups were engraved and pierced, and they had white walls and steps plastered white, and their cushions and mats had figures carved in them. This was more extravagant still, and there were fifty-three states that did not submit. The gentlemen all knew ornament, and those who wished to submit were fewer still. Therefore your servant says that frugality is the Way." When You Yu had gone out, Duke Mu summoned the inner scribe Liao and told him, "I have heard that when there is a sage in a neighboring state it is the trouble of the rival state.

Now You Yu is a sage, and I am troubled by it. What am I to do?" The inner scribe Liao said, "Your servant has heard that the place where the king of the Rong lives is out of the way and narrow, and the road is long, and he has never heard the music of the Middle Kingdom. Let my lord send him women musicians, to throw his government into disorder, and after that ask that You Yu be kept for an audience, so as to put his remonstrance far off. Only when there is a rift between that ruler and his minister can anything be planned." The ruler said, "Do it." So he sent the inner scribe Liao with sixteen women musicians to the king of the Rong, and asked a term for You Yu. The king of the Rong consented, and he saw the women musicians and was delighted with them, and he set out wine and spread a feast, and day after day he listened to the music, and to the end of the year he did not move, and half his cattle and horses died. You Yu came back and remonstrated with the king of the Rong, and the king of the Rong would not listen, and so You Yu left him and went to Qin. Duke Mu of Qin met him and made him the highest minister, and asked him the strength of the Rong troops and the lay of their land. Having got it, he raised an army and attacked them, and he annexed twelve states and opened a thousand li of land. Therefore it is said: to sink into women and music and not look to the government of the state is the disaster of losing the state. What is meant by leaving the inner court and roaming far? In days past Duke Jing of Qi roamed on the sea and was delighted with it, and he gave out an order to his many great officers, "Whoever speaks of going back shall die." Yan Zhuoju said, "My lord roams on the sea and is delighted with it, but what if there is one among the ministers who plots for the state? Though my lord is delighted, how shall he keep it?" Duke Jing of Qi said, "I gave out the order, 'Whoever speaks of going back shall die,' and now you have broken my order." He took up a halberd and was about to strike him. Yan Zhuoju said, "In days past Jie killed Guan Longfeng and Zhou Xin killed Prince Bigan. Now though my lord kill your servant's body and make a third with it, it may be so. What your servant spoke was for the state and not for himself." He stretched out his neck and came forward and said, "Let my lord strike." The ruler then laid down the halberd and hurried his carriage and went back. Within three days he heard that there were men of the state who had plotted not to let Duke Jing of Qi in. That Duke Jing of Qi came to hold the state of Qi in the end was by the strength of Yan Zhuoju.

Therefore it is said: to leave the inner court and roam far is the way to endanger oneself.

What is meant by having a fault and not listening to a loyal minister? In days past Duke Huan of Qi gathered the feudal lords nine times and set all under heaven right at a stroke, and became the chief of the five hegemons, and Guan Zhong helped him. Guan Zhong grew old and could not attend to affairs, and he withdrew and rested at home. Duke Huan went to him and asked, "Zhongfu is at home and is ill. If by misfortune you should not rise from this illness, where is the government to be handed?" Guan Zhong said, "Your servant is old, and not fit to be asked. Even so, your servant has heard that none knows a minister like his ruler, and none knows a son like his father. Let my lord try to settle it in his own mind." The ruler said, "What of Bao Shuya?" Guan Zhong said, "He will not do. Bao Shuya is a man hard and stubborn and fierce besides. Being hard, he will fall upon the people with violence; being stubborn, he will not win the hearts of the people; being fierce, those below will not let themselves be used. His heart knows no fear. He is not the helper of a hegemon." The duke said, "Then what of Shu Diao?" Guan Zhong said, "He will not do. Now there is no man whose feeling is not to love his own body. My lord is jealous and fond of the inner palace, and Shu Diao gelded himself in order to manage the inner palace. He does not love his own body; how then can he love his lord?" The duke said, "Then what of Kaifang, the noble son of Wei?" Guan Zhong said, "He will not do. Between Qi and Wei is no more than ten days' journey, and Kaifang, saying that he serves his lord, has wished to fall in with his lord's mind, and for fifteen years he has not gone back to see his father and mother. This is not human feeling. He is not close to his own father and mother; can he then be close to his lord?" The duke said, "Then what of Yi Ya?" Guan Zhong said, "He will not do. Now Yi Ya has charge of flavors for his lord, and the one thing my lord had never tasted was human flesh, and Yi Ya steamed his own son's head and presented it, as my lord knows. There is no man whose feeling is not to love his own child, and now he steamed his own child and set it before his lord as a dish. He does not love his own child; how then can he love his lord?" The duke said, "Then who will do?" Guan Zhong said, "Xi Peng will do. He is a man firm within and clean without, of few wants and much good faith. Now being firm within, he is enough to serve as a model; being clean without, he can be given great charge; having few wants, he can stand over the multitude; having much good faith, he can be close to the neighboring states. This is the helper of a hegemon. Let my lord use him." The ruler said, "I will." A year and more passed, and Guan Zhong died, and in the end the ruler did not use Xi Peng but gave it to Shu Diao. Diao had been in office three years when Duke Huan roamed south to Tangfu, and Shu Diao led Yi Ya and Kaifang the noble son of Wei and the great ministers in revolt. Duke Huan died of thirst and hunger in the guard's room of the sleeping chamber inside the south gate, and for three months after his body was dead it was not taken up, and the maggots came out of the door. Why was it, then, that Duke Huan's troops crossed all under heaven and he became the chief of the five hegemons, and yet in the end he was murdered by his own minister, and his high name was wiped out, and he became the laughingstock of all under heaven? It was the fault of not using Guan Zhong. Therefore it is said: to have a fault and not listen to a loyal minister, and to follow one's own will alone, is the beginning of wiping out one's high name and becoming the laughingstock of others.

What is meant by not measuring one's strength within? In days past, when Qin attacked Yiyang, the house of Han was hard pressed. Gongzhong Peng said to the ruler of Han, "An allied state cannot be relied on. How much better to make peace with Qin through Zhang Yi! Offer a famous city as a bribe and join Qin in attacking Chu to the south, and thus the trouble is loosed with Qin and the harm is passed to Chu." The ruler said, "Good." So he made ready Gongzhong's journey, and was about to go west and make peace with Qin. The king of Chu heard of it and was afraid, and he summoned Chen Zhen and told him, "Peng of Han is about to go west and make peace with Qin. What is to be done now?" Chen Zhen said, "If Qin gets one city of Han and drives its trained troops, and Qin and Han become one and turn south against Chu, this is what the king of Qin has prayed for in his ancestral temple, and it is certain to be the harm of Chu. Let my king hasten to send a trusted minister, with many chariots and heavy gifts, to wait upon Han, and say, 'Small as my state is, its soldiers are already fully raised. I hope the great state will make its mind firm against Qin. And I hope the great state will send an envoy into my borders to see that Chu has raised its soldiers.'" Han sent a man to Chu, and the king of Chu thereupon sent out chariots and horsemen and drew them up on the lower road, and said to the envoy of Han, "Report to the ruler of Han, and say that the troops of my poor town are now entering the borders." The envoy went back and reported to the ruler of Han, and the ruler of Han was greatly pleased and held Gongzhong back. Gongzhong said, "It cannot be. Now what harms us in fact is Qin, and what saves us in name is Chu. To listen to the empty words of Chu and make light of the real disaster of strong Qin is the root of endangering the state." The ruler of Han would not listen. Gongzhong was angry and went home, and for ten days he did not come to court. Yiyang grew harder pressed, and the ruler of Han sent envoys to press Chu for soldiers, and caps and canopies were within sight of one another on the road, and yet no soldiers came. Yiyang was indeed pulled down, and he became the laughingstock of the feudal lords. Therefore it is said: not to measure one's strength within and to rely on the feudal lords without is the trouble of a state whittled away.

What is meant by a state being small and without propriety? In days past Chong'er, the noble son of Jin (晉), fled into exile and passed through Cao, and the ruler of Cao had him stripped to the waist and looked at him. Li Fuji and Shu Zhan were in attendance before him. Shu Zhan said to the ruler of Cao, "Your servant has looked at the noble son of Jin, and he is no common man. My lord has treated him without propriety, and if in time he goes back to his state and raises troops, I fear it will be a hurt to Cao. My lord had better kill him." The ruler of Cao would not listen. Li Fuji went home and was not glad, and his wife asked him, "My lord has come from outside with an unhappy look. Why is that?" Fuji said, "I have heard that good fortune does not reach us, but disaster comes and is joined to us. Today our ruler summoned the noble son of Jin and treated him without propriety, and I too was there before him, and so I am not glad." His wife said, "I have looked at the noble son of Jin, and he is the lord of ten thousand chariots, and those who attend him at his side are the ministers of ten thousand chariots. Now he is in straits and flees into exile and passes through Cao, and Cao has treated him without propriety. If this man goes back to his state, he will surely punish those who were without propriety, and Cao will be the first of them. Why do you not set yourself apart beforehand?" Fuji said, "I will." He filled a jar with yellow gold and covered it with food and laid a jade disc on top, and by night he had a man carry it to the noble son. The noble son saw the messenger and bowed twice, and took the food and declined the jade disc. The noble son went from Cao into Chu, and from Chu into Qin. Three years after he entered Qin, Duke Mu of Qin summoned his many ministers and laid a plan before them, saying, "In days past Duke Xian of Jin was a friend of mine, as there is no feudal lord who has not heard. By misfortune Duke Xian left his many ministers, and ten years have come and gone. His heir is not good, and I fear this will leave his ancestral temple unswept and the altars of the land and grain without blood offerings. If it stands so and is not settled, that is not the way of friendship with a man. I wish to support Chong'er and bring him into Jin. What do you say?" The many ministers all said, "Good." So the duke raised soldiers, five hundred leather war chariots, two thousand horsemen, and fifty thousand foot soldiers, and supported Chong'er and brought him into Jin, and set him up as the ruler of Jin. In the third year after Chong'er ascended the throne he raised an army and attacked Cao. Then he sent a man to tell the ruler of Cao, "Hang up Shu Zhan and send him out. I shall kill him and make of him a great execution." And he sent a man to tell Li Fuji, "The army draws near the wall, and I know that you will not cross me. Set a mark on your ward. I shall make it my order, and my troops shall not dare to touch it." The men of Cao heard of it, and those who led their kin and took refuge in Li Fuji's ward were more than seven hundred households. This is where propriety is of use. So Cao was a small state, and it was pressed between Jin and Chu, and its ruler's peril was like a pile of eggs, and yet he met men without propriety. This is why its line was cut off. Therefore it is said: for a state to be small and without propriety, and not to use ministers who remonstrate, is the situation in which a line is cut off.