Outer Collection of Sayings, Left, Part Two外儲說左下

One. When a man is put to death for his crime, he does not resent the one above; so the man whose foot had been cut off saved Zigao's life. When a man is rewarded for his merit, the minister does not count it a favor from his ruler; so Zhai Huang held the right half of the tally and rode in a high carriage. King Xiang did not understand this, and so Zhao Mao was given five chariots and wore straw sandals. When the one above does not go beyond what he entrusts and the minister does not lie about his ability, then the minister becomes like that Shaoshi Zhou.

Two. To trust in power and not in good faith: so Donguo Ya raised his question about Guan Zhong. To trust in technique and not in good faith: so Hun Xuan held Duke Wen to be wrong. Therefore a ruler who has technique rewards faithfully, so that ability is fully spent, and punishes without fail, so that what is crooked is forbidden; and though there be mixed conduct, he is sure to get what profits him. Lord Jian making Yang Hu his prime minister, and Duke Ai asking about "one foot," are the cases.

Three. Lose the proper relation of minister and ruler, and King Wen ties his own stocking and makes a boast of it. Do not keep the place of court and the place of the feast apart, and Ji Sun is grave all his life and still meets with bandits.

Four. Make profitable what is forbidden and forbid what is made profitable, and even a spirit could not carry it through; praise the man you have punished and slander the man you have rewarded, and even Yao could not govern. To make a gate and not let men come in, to lay out profit and not let men come forward, is how disorder is born. If the lord of Qi did not listen to those about him and the ruler of Wei did not listen to the men who praised, but looked clearly and lit up the whole body of ministers, then Ju would not waste his gold and coin and Chan would not spend his jade disc. Ximen Bao asking to govern Ye again is enough to show it. It is like the thief's child boasting of the fur coat and the son of the man whose foot had been cut off taking pride in his clothes. Zizhuo draws with the left hand and the right, takes ants away with meat and drives flies off with fish. How then could there fail to be Duke Huan's worry that men were seeking office and Lord Xuan's trouble over his lean horses?

Five. When ministers make lowliness and thrift their conduct, rank is not enough to show a reward; when favor and glory have no measure, ministers encroach and press upon the ruler. The explanation lies in Miao Benhuang holding Xianbo to be wrong, and in Confucius arguing the case of Yan Ying. So Zhongni discussed Guan Zhong and Sunshu Ao. There are also the change in a man's bearing as he goes out and comes in, and Yang Hu's words showing what his men were; and Lord Jian's answer to his minister lost the ruler's technique. When cliques are in accord with one another and ministers get what they want, the ruler stands alone; when the body of ministers put men forward for the public good and those below are not in accord with one another, the ruler sees clearly. Yang Hu was about to bring about Zhao Wu's worth and Xie Hu's fairness, yet Lord Jian took him for thorn orange and bramble; this is not the way to teach a state.

Six. When the ducal house is low, straight words are shunned; when private conduct prevails, public merit grows scarce. The explanation lies in Wenzi's straight words and Wuzi's use of the staff; in Zichan remonstrating in loyalty and Ziguo scolding him in anger; in Liang Che applying the law and Marquis Cheng taking back his seal; and in Guan Zhong acting for the public good while the people of the state slandered and resented him.

One. When Confucius was prime minister of Wei, his disciple Zigao became a prison officer and cut off a man's foot, and the man whose foot was cut off kept the gate. Someone spoke ill of Confucius to the lord of Wei, saying, "Zhongni means to raise a revolt." The lord of Wei wished to seize Confucius. Confucius fled, and all his disciples ran away. Zigao followed them out of the gate, and the man whose foot had been cut off drew him aside and hid him in a room below the gate, so that the officers gave chase but could not take him. In the middle of the night Zigao asked the man whose foot had been cut off, "I could not break the ruler's law, and with my own hand I cut off your foot. This was your time to take revenge. Why then were you willing to hide me? How have I earned this from you?" The man whose foot had been cut off said, "My foot was cut off because my crime deserved it, and there was nothing to be done. Yet when you were trying my case, you turned the law this way and that, and before and after you spoke for me, wishing very much that I might get off; and I knew it. When the case was settled and the crime fixed, you were grieved and took no pleasure in it, and it showed in your face; I saw it and I knew that too. It was not that you favored me and so acted thus; it is that the benevolent heart given you by nature is simply so. This is why I am glad and count you my benefactor."

Confucius said, "He who is good at being an officer plants virtue; he who cannot be an officer plants resentment. The leveling stick is what makes a measure even; the officer is what makes the law even. He who governs a state must not lose evenness."

Tian Zifang was going from Qi to Wei when he saw from afar Zhai Huang riding out in a high carriage with horsemen. Taking him for Marquis Wen, he turned his cart aside to another road to get out of the way; but it was only Zhai Huang. Zifang asked, "How is it that you ride in this carriage?" He said, "When the ruler was planning to attack Zhongshan, I put Zhai Jue forward and the plan bore fruit. When he was about to attack it, I put Yue Yang forward and Zhongshan was taken. When he had got Zhongshan and was troubled about governing it, I put Li Ke forward and Zhongshan was governed. For this the ruler gave me this carriage." Zifang said, "For the favor to match the merit it is still thin."

Qin and Han attacked Wei, and Zhao Mao went west and spoke, and Qin and Han withdrew. Qi and Chu attacked Wei, and Mao went east and spoke, and Qi and Chu withdrew. King Xiang of Wei kept him with five chariots. Mao said, "Bo Yi was buried below Mount Shouyang with a general's rites, and all under heaven said, 'With Bo Yi's worth and his repute for benevolence, to bury him with a general's rites is not even to cover his hands and feet.' Now I have turned back the armies of four states, and the king gives me five chariots. For this to match the merit is like winning the fight and then wearing straw sandals."

Shaoshi Zhou was a man of old, upright and incorrupt, clean and honest, and he was a strongman to Lord Xiang of Zhao. He wrestled with Xuzi of Zhongmou and was not his match, and he went in and spoke of him to Lord Xiang, wishing him to take his own place. Lord Xiang said, "Your post is what men want. Why do you speak of Xuzi and wish him to take your place?" He said, "Your servant serves his ruler by strength. Now Xuzi has more strength than your servant. If I do not have him take my place, I am afraid another will speak of it and it will be counted my crime."

One account says: Shaoshi Zhou rode at Lord Xiang's side. When they came to Jinyang there was a strongman, Niu Zigeng, and Zhou wrestled with him and did not win. Zhou said to his lord, "What made you have your servant ride at your side is that your servant has much strength. Now there is one who has more strength than your servant, and I ask that he be brought forward."

Two. Duke Huan of Qi was about to set up Guan Zhong, and he gave an order to the body of his ministers, saying, "I am about to set up Guan Zhong as Zhongfu. Let those who think it good come in the gate and stand to the left, and those who think it not good come in the gate and stand to the right." Donguo Ya stood in the middle of the gate. The duke said, "I am setting up Guan Zhong as Zhongfu, and I gave the order, 'Those who think it good to the left, those who think it not good to the right.' Now why do you stand in the middle of the gate?" Ya said, "With Guan Zhong's wisdom, is he able to plan for all under heaven?" The duke said, "He is able." "With his decision, does he dare to carry out great affairs?" The duke said, "He dares." Ya said, "If you know that he can plan for all under heaven and that he decides and dares to carry out great affairs, and you then hand over to him alone the handle of the state, then with Guan Zhong's ability riding on your power to govern Qi, will you not be in danger?" The duke said, "Good." Then he had Xi Peng govern within and Guan Zhong govern without, so that the two were set against each other.

When Duke Wen of Jin was fleeing the state, Ji Zheng carried a jar of food and followed him. He lost his way and went astray and was parted from the duke, and though he was hungry and wept on the road, he went starving and did not dare to eat. When Duke Wen came back to his state, he raised an army and attacked Yuan, overcame it and took it. Duke Wen said, "A man who makes light of the trouble of hunger and is sure to keep a jar of food whole will not use Yuan to revolt." So he raised him up and made him magistrate of Yuan. The great officer Hun Xuan heard of it and held it wrong, saying, "To trust, because he did not touch a jar of food, that he will not use Yuan to revolt, is this not to be without technique?" Therefore an enlightened ruler does not rely on men not revolting against him but on his not being open to revolt; he does not rely on men not deceiving him but on his not being open to deception.

Yang Hu argued and said, "If the ruler is worthy and clear-sighted, serve him with all your heart; if he is unworthy, dress up your wickedness and try him." He was driven out of Lu and suspected in Qi, and he fled and went to Zhao, and Lord Jian of Zhao met him and made him his prime minister. Those about him said, "Yang Hu is good at stealing the government of another man's state. Why do you make him prime minister?" Lord Jian said, "Yang Hu works to take it, and I work to keep it." Then he took hold of technique and drove him, and Yang Hu did not dare do wrong. He served Lord Jian well and raised his lord's strength, so that he came near to being hegemon.

Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius, "I have heard that in old times there was one Kui (夔) who had one foot. Did he truly have one foot?" Confucius answered, "No. Kui did not have one foot. Kui was angry and harsh and ill of heart, and most men did not delight in him. Even so, what let him escape harm from men was his good faith. Men all said, 'This one thing alone is enough.' It is not that Kui had one foot; it is that one thing in him was enough." Duke Ai said, "If on looking into it that is so, then indeed it is enough."

One account says: Duke Ai asked Confucius, "I have heard that Kui had one foot. Is it true?" He said, "Kui was a man. How should he have one foot? He had nothing else out of the common, but he alone had a command of sound. Yao said, 'One Kui is enough,' and made him master of music. So the gentleman says, 'Kui had one thing, and it was enough.' It does not mean that he had one foot."

Three. King Wen attacked Chong, and when he came to the mound of Fenghuang his stocking tie came loose, and he tied it himself. Taigong Wang said, "Why do you do it yourself?" The king said, "At the highest, all those a ruler dwells among are his teachers; in the middle, all are his friends; at the lowest, all are men he may send on errands. Now these are all the former ruler's ministers, and so there is none I may send."

One account says: Duke Wen of Jin was fighting Chu, and when he came to the hill of Huangfeng his sandal tie came loose, and he tied it himself. Those about him said, "Can you not have a man do it?" The duke said, "I have heard that at the highest, all those a ruler dwells among are men he holds in awe; in the middle, all are men he loves; at the lowest, all are men he slights. Though I am unworthy, the former ruler's men are all here, and for this reason I find it hard."

Ji Sun loved gentlemen, and all his life he was grave; his dwelling and his clothes were always as though he were at court. But Ji Sun happened to slacken and was at fault, and he could not keep it up for long. So his guests thought that he was tired of them and made light of them, and together they resented him, and in the end they killed Ji Sun. Therefore the gentleman puts away what is too much and puts away what is extreme.

One account says: Nangong Jingzi asked Yan Zhuoju, "Ji Sun kept the followers of Confucius, and those who sat with him in court robes were counted by tens, yet he met with bandits. Why was it?" He said, "Of old King Cheng of Zhou kept jesters and dwarfs near him to give play to his fancy, but he settled affairs with gentlemen, and so he was able to get what he wanted in all under heaven. Now Ji Sun kept the followers of Confucius, and those who sat with him in court robes were counted by tens, but he settled affairs with jesters and dwarfs, and for this he met with bandits. So it is said: it does not lie in those you dwell among, it lies in those you plan with."

Confucius was sitting in attendance on Duke Ai of Lu, and Duke Ai gave him a peach and some millet. Duke Ai said, "Please eat." Zhongni ate the millet first and the peach after, and all those about them covered their mouths and laughed. Duke Ai said, "The millet is not to be eaten; it is to wipe the peach with." Zhongni answered, "I know it. Now millet is the head of the five grains, and in sacrifice to the former kings it is the highest offering. Of fruits there are six kinds, and the peach is the lowest; in sacrifice to the former kings it may not come into the temple. What I have heard is that the gentleman wipes what is noble with what is base, and I have not heard of wiping what is base with what is noble. Now to wipe the lowest of fruits with the head of the five grains is to wipe the lower with the higher. I take it to injure righteousness, and so I did not dare set it before an offering of the ancestral temple."

Lord Jian said to those about him, "The mat of this carriage is too fine. A cap may be cheap, but the head must wear it; shoes may be costly, but the feet must tread in them. Now the mat of the carriage is like this, too fine. What straw sandals am I to tread on it with? To make the lower fine and wear down the higher is the root of injury to righteousness."

Fei Zhong said to Zhou, "Chang, the Earl of the West, is worthy; the hundred families delight in him and the feudal lords attach themselves to him. He cannot but be put to death. If he is not put to death, he will surely be the ruin of Yin." Zhou said, "By your own words he is a ruler of righteousness. How can he be put to death?" Fei Zhong said, "A cap may be worn through and ragged, but it must be worn on the head; shoes may be of five colors, but they must tread on the ground. Now Chang, the Earl of the West, is a subject, yet he cultivates righteousness and men turn toward him. The one who will in the end be the trouble of all under heaven is surely Chang. A subject who does not use his worth for his own ruler cannot but be put to death. And when a ruler puts a subject to death, where is the fault?" Zhou said, "Benevolence and righteousness are what those above use to urge on those below. Now Chang loves benevolence and righteousness, and he may not be put to death." Three times Fei Zhong spoke and was not used, and so he perished.

King Xuan of Qi asked Kuang Qian, "Do the Confucians play at dice?" He said, "They do not." The king said, "Why?" Kuang Qian answered, "In the game the owl piece is held noble, and the winner must kill the owl. To kill the owl is to kill what is held noble. The Confucians take it to harm righteousness, and so they do not play at dice." He asked again, "Do the Confucians shoot with the corded arrow?" He said, "They do not. Shooting with the corded arrow is harming what is above from below; this is wounding the ruler from below. The Confucians take it to harm righteousness, and so they do not shoot." He asked again, "Do the Confucians play the zither?" He said, "They do not. The zither makes a great sound with its small strings and a small sound with its great strings; this is great and small changing their order and noble and base changing their places. The Confucians take it to harm righteousness, and so they do not play it." King Xuan said, "Good." Zhongni said, "Rather than make the people fawn on those below, I would make the people fawn on those above."

Four. Ju was a retired scholar of Qi; Chan was a retired scholar of Wei. The rulers of Qi and of Wei were not clear-sighted; they could not light up what lay within their own borders, and they listened to the words of those about them. So the two men spent gold and jade discs to seek entry into office.

Ximen Bao was magistrate of Ye. He was pure and strict, clean and honest, and took no private profit even to the tip of an autumn hair, but he was very offhand with those about the ruler. So they joined together in a clique and spoke ill of him. At the end of a year he sent up his accounts, and the ruler took back his seal. Bao asked for himself, saying, "In the past your servant did not know how to govern Ye; now your servant has it. I ask for the seal, to govern Ye again. If I do not do well, I ask to lie under the axe and the block." Marquis Wen could not bear to refuse and gave it back to him. Bao then levied heavily on the hundred families and was quick to serve those about the ruler. At the end of a year he sent up his accounts, and Marquis Wen met him and bowed to him. Bao answered, "Last year your servant governed Ye for his ruler, and the ruler took away your servant's seal. This year your servant governed Ye for those about the ruler, and the ruler bows to your servant. Your servant cannot govern." Then he handed in the seal and would have gone. Marquis Wen would not take it and said, "In the past I did not know you; now I know you. I ask you to make an effort and govern it for me." And he would not take it.

In Qi the son of a dog thief and the son of a man whose foot had been cut off were playing together and boasting to each other. The thief's son said, "My father's fur coat alone has a tail." The son of the man whose foot had been cut off said, "My father alone does not lose his trousers in winter."

Zizhuo said, "No man can draw a square with his left hand and a circle with his right. Take ants away with meat and the ants grow more; drive flies off with fish and the flies come the more."

Duke Huan said to Guan Zhong, "Offices are few and those who seek them are many. I am troubled by it." Guan Zhong said, "If you do not listen to the requests of those about you, but give pay according to ability and give office by the record of merit, then none will dare to seek office. What have you to be troubled about?"

Xuanzi of Han said, "My horses have beans and grain in plenty, yet they are very lean. Why is it? I am troubled by it." Zhou Shi answered, "If you make the groom feed them all the grain, then though they wished not to grow fat they could not. If in name much is given them and in fact little, then though they wished not to grow lean they also could not. If you do not look into the real state of the matter, and sit and be troubled by it, the horses will still not grow fat."

Duke Huan asked Guan Zhong about the placing of officers, and Guan Zhong said, "For discerning and examining words, for being clean in matters of goods, and for being versed in men's feelings, Yiwu is not the equal of Xian Shang; I ask that he be set up as chief judge. For going up and down and yielding with gravity, and for meeting guests with ritual, your servant is not the equal of Xi Peng; I ask that he be set up as chief usher. For breaking new ground and filling the towns, for opening the land and making grain grow, your servant is not the equal of Ning Qi; I ask that he be made chief of the fields. When the three armies have formed their ranks, for making the soldiers look on death as a going home, your servant is not the equal of Prince Chengfu; I ask that he be made grand marshal. For braving the ruler's face and remonstrating to the end, your servant is not the equal of Donguo Ya; I ask that he be set up as remonstrating minister. To govern Qi these five men are enough; but if you would be hegemon and king, Yiwu is here."

Five. When Meng Xianbo was prime minister of Jin, bean leaves and pigweed grew below his hall and thorn bushes grew tall outside his gate; his food had not two flavors and he did not sit on doubled mats; in Jin he had no concubine clothed in silk; at home he did not feed his horses grain, and when he went out no carriage followed him. Shu Xiang heard of it and told Miao Benhuang. Benhuang held it wrong and said, "This is putting out the ruler's rank and pay in order to attach those below to himself."

One account says: Meng Xianbo was appointed high minister, and Shu Xiang went to congratulate him. At his gate there was a driver, and the horses were not eating grain. Xiang said, "You have not two horses and two carriages. Why is it?" Xianbo said, "I see that the people of the state still have a hungry look, and so I do not feed my horses grain; and the grey-haired mostly go on foot, and so I do not keep two carriages." Xiang said, "At first I came to congratulate you on being made a minister; now I congratulate you on your thrift." Xiang went out and said to Miao Benhuang, "Help me to congratulate Xianbo on his thrift." Miaozi said, "What is there in it to congratulate? Rank and pay, banners and insignia are what set merit apart and mark off the worthy from the unworthy. So by the law of Jin a high great officer has two carriages and two teams, a middle great officer two carriages and one team, and a low great officer a single team; this makes the grades clear. And a minister must have military affairs, and so he keeps his carriages and horses in order and musters his foot soldiers and chariots to be ready for war. If there is trouble, this provides against the unforeseen; if all is quiet, it serves the business of the court. Now he throws the government of Jin into disorder and leaves the provision against the unforeseen wanting, and by this he perfects his integrity and keeps his private name clean. Can Xianbo's thrift do? And what is there to congratulate?"

Guan Zhong became prime minister of Qi and said, "Your servant is honored, yet your servant is poor." Duke Huan said, "I will let you have the house of the three returns." He said, "Your servant is rich, yet your servant is low." Duke Huan set him above the Gao and the Guo. He said, "Your servant is exalted, yet your servant is distant." So he set him up as Zhongfu. Confucius heard of it and held it wrong, saying, "Too extravagant; he presses upon the one above."

One account says: when Guan Zhongfu went out there were red canopies and blue robes, and drums were set up as he came home; in his courtyard cauldrons were ranged, and in his house he had the three returns. Confucius said, "He is a good great officer, but his extravagance presses upon the one above."

When Sunshu Ao was prime minister of Chu, he had a plank cart and a mare, coarse cakes and vegetable broth, dried fish for his dish, a lambskin coat in winter and hemp clothes in summer, and a hungry look on his face. He was a good great officer. But his thrift pressed upon those below.

Yang Hu left Qi and fled to Zhao, and Lord Jian asked, "I have heard that you are good at planting men." Hu said, "When your servant lived in Lu he planted three men, and all became chief ministers; and when Hu fell into crime in Lu, all of them searched for Hu. When your servant lived in Qi he put three men forward: one came to be near the king, one became a magistrate, and one became a scout officer. When your servant fell into crime, the one near the king would not see your servant, the magistrate met your servant and bound him, and the scout officer chased your servant to the border and stopped when he could not catch him. Hu is not good at planting men." The lord bowed his head and laughed and said, "He who plants mandarin and pomelo, when he eats of them they are sweet and when he smells them they are fragrant; he who plants thorn orange and bramble, when they are grown they prick men. Therefore the gentleman is careful about what he plants."

Zhongmou had no magistrate. Duke Ping of Jin asked Zhao Wu, "Zhongmou is the arm and leg of our state and the shoulder and thigh of Handan. I wish to get a good magistrate for it. Whom can I send?" Wu said, "Xing Bozi will do." The duke said, "Is he not your enemy?" He said, "A private enmity does not come in at the public gate." The duke asked again, "As for the officer of the inner treasury, whom can I send?" He said, "Your servant's son will do." So it is said, "In raising men outside he does not avoid his enemy, and in raising men within he does not avoid his son." Zhao Wu put forward forty-six men, and when Wu died each of them went to the place of a guest; so free was he of private favor.

Duke Ping asked Shu Xiang, "Which of the body of ministers is worthy?" He said, "Zhao Wu." The duke said, "You take the side of your own teacher." Xiang said, "When Zhao Wu stands he seems unable to bear his clothes, and when he speaks the words seem not to come out of his mouth; yet the gentlemen he has put forward are some tens of men, and all of them have found their purpose, and the ducal house leans on them greatly. Zhao Wuzi in his life did not enrich his own house, and in his death he did not leave his orphan in another's charge. Your servant dares to hold him worthy."

Xie Hu put his own enemy forward to Lord Jian to be prime minister. The enemy thought that he had been fortunate enough to be let off, and so he went to bow and give thanks. Hu then drew his bow and met him with an arrow, saying, "Putting you forward was a public matter; I did it because you are equal to the post. Holding you my enemy is my private grudge; I did not, for the sake of a private grudge against you, block you from my ruler." Therefore a private grudge does not come in at the public gate.

One account says: Xie Hu raised Xing Boliu to be governor of Shangdang. Liu went to thank him and said, "You have let go my offense. Dare I not bow twice?" He said, "Raising you was a public matter; resenting you is a private one. Go your way. I resent you as I did at first."

A man of Zheng county was selling a pig, and someone asked his price. He said, "The road is long and the day is late. What leisure have I to tell you?"

Six. Fan Wenzi loved straight words, and Wuzi struck him with his staff and said, "One who argues straight is not borne with by men, and one who is not borne with puts himself in danger. Not only does he put himself in danger; he will put his father in danger too."

Zichan was the son of Ziguo. Zichan was loyal to the ruler of Zheng, and Ziguo scolded him in anger and said, "Among the ministers you set yourself apart from other men and alone are loyal to the ruler. If the ruler is worthy and clear-sighted, he can listen to you; if he is not clear-sighted, he will not listen to you. Whether he listens or does not listen cannot be known for certain, and you have already cut yourself off from the body of ministers. Cut off from the body of ministers, you will surely put yourself in danger. Not only do you put yourself in danger; you put your father in danger too."

Liang Che had newly become magistrate of Ye. His elder sister went to see him, and being late at dusk she found the gate shut, and so she climbed the wall and came in. Che thereupon cut off her foot. Marquis Cheng of Zhao held this to be without kindness, took away his seal and removed him from the post of magistrate.

Guan Zhong, bound as a prisoner, was going from Lu to Qi. On the road he was hungry and thirsty, and passing the border guard of Qiwu he begged for food. The guard of Qiwu knelt and fed him, and was very respectful. Then the guard said to him quietly, "If by good fortune you reach Qi and are not put to death but are used by Qi, how will you repay me?" He said, "If it is as you say, I shall use the worthy, employ the able, and take account of those who have toiled. With what should I repay you?" The border guard resented him.