Forest of Persuasions, Part One說林上

Tang attacked Jie, and fearing that all under heaven would say he was greedy, he thereupon yielded all under heaven to Wuguang. And fearing that Wuguang would accept it, he sent a man to speak to Wuguang: "Tang has killed his lord and wishes to pass the evil name on to you, and therefore he yields all under heaven to you." Wuguang thereupon threw himself into the He River.

King Wu of Qin had Gan Mao choose what he wished between the place of driver and the work of an envoy. Meng Mao said, "You had better be the driver. What you are good at is the envoy's work. Even if you become the driver, the king will still have you do the envoy's work. If you wear the driver's seal and do the envoy's work, this is holding two offices at once."

Ziyu presented Confucius to the grand steward of Shang. When Confucius went out, Ziyu came in and asked about the guest. The grand steward said, "Now that I have seen Confucius, I look on you as something as small as a flea or a louse. I shall now present him to the lord." Ziyu, fearing that Confucius would become honored with the lord, thereupon said to the grand steward, "Once the lord has seen Confucius, he too will look on you as a flea or a louse." The grand steward therefore did not present him again.

King Hui of Wei held the covenant at Jiuli and was about to set up a Son of Heaven again. Peng Xi said to the lord of Zheng, "My lord, do not listen to it. The great states hate having a Son of Heaven, and the small states find it to their profit. If my lord and the great states do not listen, how can Wei set him up with the small states alone?"

The men of Jin attacked Xing, and Duke Huan of Qi was about to save it. Bao Shu said, "It is too early. If Xing does not perish, Jin will not be worn out; if Jin is not worn out, Qi will not weigh heavy. Moreover the merit of holding up what is in danger is not so great as the virtue of preserving what has perished. My lord had better save it late and so wear Jin out; that is truly of profit to Qi. Wait until Xing has perished and then preserve it again, and the name and the substance are both fair." Duke Huan accordingly did not save it.

Wu Zixu was fleeing when a border scout caught him. Zixu said, "What those above seek me for is that I have a fine pearl. Now I have already lost it. I shall say that you took it and swallowed it." The scout thereupon let him go.

Qing Feng made a revolt in Qi and wished to run to Yue. His kinsman said, "Jin is near. Why not go to Jin?" Qing Feng said, "Yue is far, and that is of profit for escaping trouble." The kinsman said, "If you change this heart, you may live in Jin and it will do; if you do not change this heart, though Yue be far, can you be at peace there?"

Zhi Bo sought land from Xuanzi of Wei, and Xuanzi did not give it. Ren Zhang said, "For what reason do you not give it?" Xuanzi said, "He asks for land without reason, and so I do not give it." Ren Zhang said, "If he seeks land without reason, the neighboring states will surely be afraid. If his wants are heavy and never full, all under heaven will surely be in dread. If my lord gives the land, Zhi Bo will surely grow proud and make light of his enemies, and the neighboring states will surely be afraid and draw close to one another. Meet a state that makes light of its enemies with the troops of states drawn close, and the life of Zhi Bo will not be long. The Book of Zhou says, 'If you would ruin him, you must for a while help him; if you would take from him, you must for a while give to him.' My lord had better give it and so make Zhi Bo proud. And why should my lord let go of plotting against the Zhi clan together with all under heaven, and make our state alone the mark for the Zhi clan?" The lord said, "Good." He then gave him a town of ten thousand households. Zhi Bo was greatly pleased, and thereupon sought land from Zhao. It was not given, and so he surrounded Jinyang. Han and Wei turned against him from outside and the Zhao clan answered from within, and by this the Zhi clan perished.

Duke Kang of Qin had been building a terrace for three years. The men of Chu raised troops, meaning to attack Qi with them. Ren Wang said, "Hunger calls up troops, sickness calls up troops, toil calls up troops, disorder calls up troops. My lord has been building a terrace for three years, and now the men of Chu have raised troops and mean to attack Qi. Your servant fears that attacking Qi is only the sound of it, and falling upon Qin is the substance. It would be better to make ready." They set a guard on the eastern border, and the men of Chu stopped their march.

Qi attacked Song, and Song sent Zangsunzi south to Chu to seek rescue. Chu was greatly pleased, promised to rescue them, and urged it strongly. Zangsunzi came back troubled. His driver said, "You sought rescue and got it, and now there is a troubled look on your face. Why?" Zangsunzi said, "Song is small and Qi is great. To rescue small Song and be hated by great Qi is what a man is troubled by, and yet the king of Chu was pleased. He surely means to make us stand firm. That we stand firm and Qi be worn out is what profits Chu." Zangsunzi then went home. The men of Qi took five walled towns from Song, and the rescue from Chu never came.

Marquis Wen of Wei borrowed a road through Zhao to attack Zhongshan, and Marquis Su of Zhao was about to refuse. Zhao Ke said, "My lord is in the wrong. If Wei attacks Zhongshan and cannot take it, Wei will surely be worn out. Worn out, Wei grows light; Wei grown light, Zhao weighs heavy. Even if Wei uproots Zhongshan, it surely cannot reach across Zhao and hold Zhongshan. Thus the one who uses the troops is Wei, and the one who gets the land is Zhao. My lord must allow it. But if you allow it and are greatly delighted, they will know that my lord finds it to his profit and will surely stop their march. My lord had better lend the road and show that you do it unwillingly."

Chiyi Zipi served Tian Chengzi. When Tian Chengzi left Qi and fled to Yan, Chiyi Zipi carried the travel pass and followed him. When they reached Wangyi, Zipi said, "Have you alone not heard of the snakes of the dried-up marsh? The marsh dried up, and the snakes were about to move. A small snake said to a great snake, 'If you go and I follow you, men will think it is only snakes passing, and they will surely kill you. You had better let me bite onto you and carry me as you go, and men will take me for a holy lord.' So they bit onto each other, one carrying the other, and crossed the highroad, and all the men got out of their way, saying, 'It is a holy lord.' Now you are handsome and I am ugly. If I make you my honored guest, I am the sort of lord who has a thousand chariots; if I make you my envoy, I am the sort of minister who has ten thousand. You had better be my servant." Tian Chengzi thereupon carried the travel pass and followed him. When they came to an inn, the master of the inn treated them with great respect and offered them wine and meat.

A man of Wen went to Zhou, and Zhou would not let guests in. They asked him, "Are you a guest?" He answered, "I am a householder." They asked the people of his lane, and none knew him, so the officer put him in prison. The lord sent a man to ask him, "You are not a man of Zhou, and yet you say yourself that you are no guest. Why?" He answered, "When your servant was young he recited the Book of Songs: 'Under the wide heaven there is no land that is not the king's; to the shores of all the earth there is no man who is not the king's subject.' Now my lord is the Son of Heaven, and so I am the Son of Heaven's subject. How should a man be another's subject and also his guest? Therefore I said I was a householder." The lord had a man let him out.

King Xuan of Han said to Jiu Liu, "I wish to use both Gongzhong and Gongshu. May it be done?" He answered, "It may not. Jin used six ministers and the state was divided; Duke Jian used both Tian Cheng and Kan Zhi, and Duke Jian was killed; Wei used both Xishou and Zhang Yi, and the land beyond the Xihe was lost. Now if the king uses both of them, the one with more strength will plant his own faction and the one with less will borrow power from outside. When among the many ministers there is one who plants a faction within and is proud toward his ruler, and one who makes ties outside and pares away the land, then the king's state is in danger."

Shao Jimei got drunk and slept, and lost his fur robe. The lord of Song said, "Is drunkenness enough to lose a fur robe?" He answered, "Jie lost all under heaven by drunkenness. In the Kang gao there is 'Do not drink always,' and to drink always is to make wine a constant thing. He who makes wine a constant thing, if he is the Son of Heaven, loses all under heaven, and if he is a common man, loses his own body."

Guan Zhong and Xi Peng followed Duke Huan to attack Guzhu. They went in spring and came back in winter, and they lost their way and wandered. Guan Zhong said, "The wisdom of an old horse can be used." So they let an old horse loose and followed it, and at last they found the road. As they went in the mountains there was no water. Xi Peng said, "Ants live on the south side of the hill in winter and on the north side in summer. Where the earth of an ant hill is one inch, there is water eight feet below." So they dug the ground, and at last they got water. With the sageness of Guan Zhong and the wisdom of Xi Peng, when they came to what they did not know they did not find it hard to take an old horse and ants for their teachers. Now men do not know how to take the wisdom of the sages for their teacher with their foolish hearts. Is this not going too far?

Someone offered a drug of deathlessness to the king of Chu, and the usher carried it in. An officer of the inner guard asked, "May it be eaten?" He said, "It may." Thereupon he snatched it and ate it. The king was greatly angry and sent a man to kill the officer of the inner guard. The officer of the inner guard sent a man to speak to the king: "Your servant asked the usher, and he said, 'It may be eaten,' and so your servant ate it. Thus your servant has no guilt, and the guilt lies with the usher. Moreover a guest offered a drug of deathlessness, and if the king kills your servant for eating it, then it is a drug of death, and the guest has deceived the king. To kill a guiltless subject and make plain that another has deceived the king is not so good as letting your servant go." The king thereupon did not kill him.

Tian Si deceived the lord of Zou, and the lord of Zou was about to send a man to kill him. Tian Si was afraid and told Huizi. Huizi saw the lord of Zou and said, "Suppose a man now saw my lord and blinked one eye at you. What of it?" The lord said, "I would surely kill him." Huizi said, "A blind man blinks both eyes. Why does my lord not kill him?" The lord said, "Because he cannot help blinking." Huizi said, "Tian Si slighted the lord of Qi in the east and deceived the king of Chu in the south. In deceiving men Tian Si is a blind man. Why should my lord hold it against him?" The lord of Zou then did not kill him.

Duke Mu of Lu had his several noble sons take office, some in Jin and some in Chu. Li Chu said, "If you borrow a man from Yue to save a drowning child, though the men of Yue swim well the child will surely not live. If a fire breaks out and you draw water from the sea, though the sea water be much the fire will surely not be put out, for far water does not put out near fire. Now though Jin and Chu are strong, Qi is near, and the trouble of Lu lies in this, that they will not save it."

Yan Sui was on bad terms with the lord of Zhou and was troubled by it. Feng Ju said, "Yan Sui is prime minister, and Han Kui is honored by the lord. You had better send an assassin against Han Kui, and then the lord will surely take it for the doing of the Yan clan."

Zhang Qian was prime minister of Han, and he fell ill and was about to die. Gongsheng Wuzheng carried thirty pieces of gold in his robe and went to ask after his illness. A day later the lord asked Zhang Qian, "If you die, whom shall I have take your place?" He answered, "Wuzheng holds the law heavy and fears those above him. Even so, he is not the equal of the noble son Shi Wo in winning the people." When Zhang Qian died, the lord thereupon made Gongsheng Wuzheng prime minister.

Yue Yang was a general of Wei and attacked Zhongshan, and his son was in Zhongshan. The lord of Zhongshan boiled his son and sent him the broth, and Yue Yang sat under his tent and drank it, and finished a whole cup. Marquis Wen said to Du Shizan, "Yue Yang ate the flesh of his own son for my sake." He answered, "He ate his own son. Then whose flesh would he not eat?" When Yue Yang had beaten down Zhongshan, Marquis Wen rewarded his merit but doubted his heart. Mengsun hunted and got a fawn, and had Qin Xiba carry it home, and its mother followed them crying. Qin Xiba could not bear it and gave the fawn to her. When Mengsun came home he asked for the fawn. He answered, "I could not bear it and gave it to its mother." Mengsun was greatly angry and drove him out. Three months later he called him back and made him tutor to his son. His driver said, "Before this you meant to punish him, and now you call him back and make him tutor to your son. Why?" Mengsun said, "If he cannot bear to harm a fawn, will he bear to harm my son?" Therefore it is said, "Clever deceit is not so good as clumsy sincerity." Yue Yang was doubted for having merit, and Qin Xiba was the more trusted for having been at fault.

Zeng Congzi was a good judge of swords. The lord of Wei bore a grudge against the king of Wu. Zeng Congzi said, "The king of Wu loves swords, and your servant is a judge of swords. Your servant asks to judge a sword for the king of Wu, and when I have drawn it and am showing it to him, to stab him for my lord." The lord of Wei said, "That you do this is not from following what is right, but for profit. Wu is strong and rich, and Wei is weak and poor. If you must go, I fear that you will be used by the king of Wu to do this to me." So he drove him out.

When the tyrant Zhou made ivory chopsticks, Jizi was afraid. He thought that ivory chopsticks would surely not serve soup in earthen bowls, but would go with cups of rhinoceros horn and jade; that jade cups and ivory chopsticks would surely not hold beans and bean leaves, but the tail of the yak and the unborn young of the elephant and the leopard; and that one who ate the tail of the yak and the unborn young of the elephant and the leopard would surely not wear short hempen clothes and dwell under a thatched roof, but would have silk robes of nine layers, high terraces and broad halls. To seek things to match this, all under heaven would not be enough. The sage sees the small and knows the sprout, sees the beginning and knows the end. Therefore he saw the ivory chopsticks and was afraid, knowing that all under heaven would not be enough.

Dan, the Duke of Zhou, had already overcome Yin and was about to attack Shanggai. Xin Gongjia said, "The great is hard to attack, and the small is easy to subdue. You had better subdue the many small ones and so press the great." So he attacked the Nine Yi, and Shanggai submitted.

The tyrant Zhou held a drinking that ran through the long night, and in his revelling he lost the day. He asked those about him, and none of them knew. So he sent a man to ask Jizi. Jizi said to his followers, "To be master of all under heaven and have the whole state lose the day — all under heaven is in danger. If the whole state does not know it and I alone know it, I am in danger." He begged off, saying that he was drunk and did not know.

There was a man of Lu who himself wove sandals well and whose wife wove white silk well, and he wished to move to Yue. Someone said to him, "You will surely come to want." The man of Lu said, "Why?" He said, "Sandals are for wearing on the feet, and the men of Yue go barefoot; white silk is for making caps, and the men of Yue wear their hair loose. To go with what you are good at into a state where it is not used, and to wish not to come to want — can that be had?"

Chen Zhen became honored with the king of Wei. Huizi said, "You must serve those about him well. Now the willow: plant it sideways and it lives, plant it upside down and it lives, break it and plant it and it lives again. Yet let ten men plant it and one man pull it up, and there is no living willow. That ten men together should plant a thing so easy to keep alive and still not prevail over one man — why is this? Planting is hard and taking away is easy. Though you are skilled at planting yourself with the king, if those who wish to take you away are many, you will surely be in danger."

Jisun of Lu had newly killed his lord, and Wu Qi took office under him. Someone said to Wu Qi, "Now the dead: when first dead there is blood; when the blood is done there is a running sore; when the sore is done there is ash; when the ash is done there is earth. When it has come to earth, there is nothing to be done. Now Jisun has only just come to blood, and how it ends cannot yet be known." Wu Qi thereupon left and went to Jin.

Xi Simi saw Tian Chengzi, and Tian Chengzi went up a terrace with him and looked out on the four sides. On three sides all was open; but looking south, the trees of Xi's house blocked the view. Tian Chengzi said nothing. Xi went home and sent men to cut them down. When the axe had made a few cuts, Xi stopped them. His steward said, "How often you change!" Xi said, "There is an old saying: 'He who knows the fish in the deep is not blessed.' Now Tian is about to do a great thing, and if I show him that I know the small signs, I shall surely be in danger. Not to cut the trees is no crime; but to know what another has not said — that crime is great." So he did not cut them.

Yangzi passed an inn east of Song. There were two concubines, and the ugly one was honored and the beautiful one held cheap. Yangzi asked the reason. The master of the inn answered, "The beautiful one thinks herself beautiful, and I do not know her beauty; the ugly one thinks herself ugly, and I do not know her ugliness." Yangzi said to his disciples, "Act worthily and put away the heart that thinks itself worthy, and where can you go and not be fair?" A man of Wei was marrying off his daughter, and he taught her, saying, "Be sure to gather and store in private. To be another's wife and be sent away is the common thing; to live out your days there is good luck." His daughter accordingly gathered and stored in private, and her mother-in-law thought she kept too much for herself and sent her away. What the daughter brought back was twice what she had taken when she married. Her father did not blame himself for having taught his child wrongly, but only knew that his wealth had grown. Now the ministers who hold office are all of this sort.

Lu Dan spoke three times to the lord of Zhongshan and was not heeded, so he scattered fifty pieces of gold to serve those about him. When he saw the lord again, the lord ate with him before he had spoken a word. Lu Dan went out, and without even returning to his lodging he left Zhongshan. His driver said, "He saw you again and has only now begun to favor us. For what reason do you leave?" Lu Dan said, "He who favors me on another's word will surely punish me on another's word." Before he had crossed the border, a noble son spoke ill of him, saying, "He came to spy on Zhongshan for Zhao." The lord thereupon had him hunted down and punished.

Tian Boding loved men of worth and preserved his lord; Duke Bai loved men of worth and threw Chu into disorder. Their love of men of worth was the same, but what they meant to do by it was different. Gongsun You cut off his own foot and raised up Baili Xi; Shu Diao gelded himself and flattered Duke Huan. Their punishing of themselves was the same, but what they meant to do by punishing themselves was different. Huizi said, "When a madman runs east, the one who chases him also runs east. Their running east is the same, but the reason for their running east is different." Therefore it is said that men who do the same thing cannot but be looked at closely.