Safety and Danger安危
安術有七，危道有六。
The methods of safety are seven, and the roads of danger are six.
安術：一曰賞罰隨是非，二曰禍福隨善惡，三曰死生隨法度，四曰有賢不肖而無愛惡，五曰有愚智而無非譽，六曰有尺寸而無意度，七曰有信而無詐。
These are the methods of safety. First, that reward and punishment follow right and wrong. Second, that misfortune and good fortune follow good and evil. Third, that death and life follow law and measure. Fourth, that there are the worthy and the unworthy, but no loving and hating. Fifth, that there are the foolish and the wise, but no blaming and praising. Sixth, that there are the foot and the inch, but no gauging by whim. Seventh, that there is good faith, but no deceit.
危道：一曰斵削於繩之内，二曰斷割於法之外，三曰利人之所害，四曰樂人之所禍，五曰危人於所安，六曰所愛不親、所惡不䟽。如此，則人失其所以樂生，而忘其所以重死。人不樂生，則人主不尊；不重死，則令不行也。
These are the roads of danger. First, to cut away inside the marking line. Second, to sever and divide outside the law. Third, to take as gain what harms others. Fourth, to delight in what brings others to ruin. Fifth, to endanger others where they were at ease. Sixth, not to hold close those one loves, and not to keep at a distance those one hates. When it is like this, people lose what made them glad to live and forget what made them hold death heavy. If people are not glad to live, the ruler is not honored. If they do not hold death heavy, his orders are not carried out.
使天下皆極智能於儀表，盡力於權衡，以動則勝，以靜則安。治世使人樂生於爲是，愛身於爲非，小人少而君子多。故社稷長立，國家久安。奔車之上無仲尼，覆舟之下無伯夷。故號令者，國之舟車也。安則智廉生，危則爭鄙起。故安國之法，若饑而食、寒而衣，不令而自然也。先王寄理於竹帛，其道順，故後世服。今使人去饑寒，雖賁、育不能行；廢自然，雖順道而不立。強勇之所不能行，則上不能安。上以無厭責已盡，則下對「無有」，無有則輕法。法所以爲國也而輕之，則功不立、名不成。
Make all the world spend its wits and ability upon the standard and spend its strength upon the balance, and then in motion it wins and in stillness it is safe. A well-ordered age makes people glad to live by doing right and careful of themselves in doing wrong, so that small men are few and gentlemen many. Therefore the altars of the land stand long and the country is long at peace. There is no Zhongni on a runaway cart, and no Bo Yi under a capsizing boat. Therefore commands and orders are the boat and the cart of a country. Where there is safety, wisdom and honesty are born. Where there is danger, strife and meanness spring up. Therefore the law that makes a country safe is like eating when hungry and dressing when cold. It is so of itself, without being ordered. The former kings entrusted their principles to bamboo and silk, and their way went with the grain, so later ages submitted to it. Now if people were made to be rid of hunger and cold, not even Meng Ben and Xia Yu could do it. If what is so of itself is set aside, then even a way that goes with the grain will not stand. What the strong and the brave cannot carry out, the ruler cannot make safe. If the ruler, never satisfied, demands more from those already spent, then below they answer, "There is none." When there is none, they make light of the law. Law is what a country is made by, and when it is made light of, merit is not established and name is not accomplished.
聞古扁鵲之治其病也，以刀刺骨；聖人之救危國也，以忠拂耳。刺骨，故小痛在體而長利在身；拂耳，故小逆在心而久福在國。故甚病之人利在忍痛，猛毅之君以福拂耳。忍痛，故扁鵲盡巧；拂耳，則子胥不失，壽安之術也。病而不忍痛，則失扁鵲之巧；危而不拂耳，則失聖人之意。如此，長利不遠垂，功名不久立。
I have heard that when Bian Que of old treated a sickness, he pierced the bone with a knife, and that when a sage saves a country in danger, he crosses the ear with loyal words. Because he pierces the bone, a small pain is in the flesh and a long benefit is in the body. Because he crosses the ear, a small offense is in the heart and a lasting blessing is in the country. Therefore for a gravely sick man the benefit lies in bearing the pain, and for a fierce and firm ruler the blessing lies in words that cross the ear. Because the pain is borne, Bian Que gives all his skill. Because the ear is crossed, Wu Zixu is not lost. This is the method of long life and safety. If a man is sick and will not bear the pain, he loses the skill of Bian Que. If a ruler is in danger and will not have his ear crossed, he loses the sage's intent. When it is like this, the long benefit does not reach far and merit and name do not stand long.
人主不自刻以堯而責人臣以子胥，是幸殷人之盡如比干；盡如比干，則上不失、下不亡。不權其力而有田成，而幸其身盡如比干，故國不得一安。廢堯、舜而立桀、紂，則人不得樂所長而憂所短。失所長，則國家無功；守所短，則民不樂生。以無功御不樂生，不可行於齊民。如此，則上無以使下，下無以事上。
For a ruler not to carve himself into a Yao, and yet to demand of his ministers that they be a Wu Zixu, is to hope that the men of Yin were all like Bi Gan. If all were like Bi Gan, the ruler above would lose nothing and those below would not perish. He does not weigh his own strength, he keeps a Tian Cheng at hand, and still he hopes that they will all be like Bi Gan, and so his country never once gets peace. If Yao and Shun are cast aside and Jie and Zhou are set up, then people cannot delight in what they are good at and must fret over what they are poor at. When what they are good at is lost, the country has no merit. When they are held to what they are poor at, the people are not glad to live. To drive men who are not glad to live, and with nothing achieved, cannot be done with a common people. When it is like this, the ruler has no way to employ those below, and those below have no way to serve the ruler.
安危在是非，不在於強弱；存亡在虚實，不在於衆寡。故齊，萬乘也，而名實不稱，上空虚於國，内不充滿於名實，故臣得奪主。桀，天子也，而無是非，賞於無功，使讒諛以詐僞爲貴；誅於無罪，使傴以天性剖背。以詐僞爲是，天性爲非，小得勝大。
Safety and danger lie in right and wrong, not in strength and weakness. Survival and ruin lie in emptiness and fullness, not in many and few. Qi was a state of ten thousand chariots, yet name and substance did not match. Above, the ruler was empty in his own country, and within, name and substance were not filled out, and so a minister was able to take the state from his lord. Jie was Son of Heaven, yet he had no right and wrong. He rewarded where there was no merit, so that slanderers and flatterers grew noble by fraud and falsehood. He put to death where there was no crime, so that a hunchback had his back cut open for the nature he was born with. Fraud and falsehood were held to be right and inborn nature to be wrong, and so the small overcame the great.
明主堅内，故不外失。失之近而不亡於遠者無有。故周之奪殷也，拾遺於庭。使殷不遺於朝，則周不敢望秋毫於境，而況敢易位乎？
The enlightened ruler makes the inside firm, and so he does not lose what is outside. There has never been a man who lost what was near and did not perish at a distance. When Zhou took Yin, it was like picking up what had been dropped in the courtyard. Had Yin dropped nothing in its court, Zhou would not have dared to look at so much as an autumn hair on its borders. How much less would it have dared to change places with it?
明主之道忠法，其法忠心，故臨之而治，去之而思。堯無膠漆之約於當世而道行，舜無置錐之地於後世而德結。能立道於往古而垂德於萬世者之謂明主。
The way of the enlightened ruler is faithful to law, and his law is faithful to the heart. Therefore while he is there, all is in order, and when he is gone, he is longed for. Yao had no bond of glue and lacquer in his own age, and yet his way was carried out. Shun had no ground to plant an awl in for later ages, and yet his virtue held fast. One who can set up a way in the ages past and let his virtue hang down to ten thousand generations is what is called an enlightened ruler.