Objections on Positional Power難勢
慎子曰：飛龍乘雲，騰蛇遊霧，雲罷霧霽，而龍蛇與螾螘同矣，則失其所乘也。賢人而詘於不肖者，則權輕位卑也；不肖而能服於賢者，則權重位尊也。堯爲匹夫，不能治三人；而桀爲天子，能亂天下，吾以此知勢位之足恃而賢智之不足慕也。夫弩弱而矢高者，激於風也；身不肖而令行者，得助於衆也。堯教於隸屬而民不聽，至於南面而王天下，令則行，禁則止。由此觀之，賢智未足以服衆，而勢位足以屈賢者也。
Shenzi said, "The flying dragon rides the clouds and the soaring serpent roams in the mist. When the clouds break up and the mist clears, dragon and serpent are the same as earthworm and ant, for they have lost what they rode. When a worthy man bends before an unworthy one, it is because his power is light and his position low. When an unworthy man can make the worthy submit, it is because his power is heavy and his position honored. Yao as a common man could not govern three men, and Jie as Son of Heaven could throw the world into disorder. By this I know that positional power is enough to be relied on and that worth and wisdom are not enough to be longed for. When the crossbow is weak and the arrow flies high, it is borne up by the wind. When a man is unworthy and his orders are carried out, it is because he has help from the multitude. When Yao taught among his servants the people did not listen; when he came to face south and rule the world as king, he ordered and it was done, he forbade and it stopped. Seen from this, worth and wisdom are not enough to make the multitude submit, and positional power is enough to bend the worthy."
應慎子曰：飛龍乘雲，騰蛇遊霧，吾不以龍蛇爲不託於雲霧之勢也。雖然，夫釋賢而專任勢，足以爲治乎？則吾未得見也。夫有雲霧之勢而能乘遊之者，龍蛇之材美也；今雲盛而螾弗能乘也，霧醲而螘不能遊也，夫有盛雲醲霧之勢而不能乘遊者，螾螘之材薄也。今桀、紂南面而王天下，以天子之威爲之雲霧，而天下不免乎大亂者，桀、紂之材薄也。
In answer to Shenzi I say this. He tells of the flying dragon riding the clouds and the soaring serpent roaming in the mist, and I do not hold that dragon and serpent lean on no power of cloud and mist. Even so, if one sets worth aside and entrusts all to power alone, is that enough to make order? I have not been able to see it. To have the power of cloud and mist and be able to ride and roam on it is because the stuff of dragon and serpent is fine. Now though the clouds are thick the earthworm cannot ride them, and though the mist is dense the ant cannot roam in it. To have the power of thick cloud and dense mist and yet not be able to ride and roam is because the stuff of earthworm and ant is thin. Now Jie and Zhou faced south and ruled the world as kings, and they made the awe of the Son of Heaven their cloud and mist, yet the world did not escape great disorder, because the stuff of Jie and Zhou was thin.
且其人以堯之勢以治天下也，其勢何以異桀之勢也、亂天下者也？夫勢者，非能必使賢者用之而不肖者不用之也。賢者用之則天下治，不肖者用之則天下亂。人之情性，賢者寡而不肖者衆，而以威勢之利濟亂世之不肖人，則是以勢亂天下者多矣，以勢治天下者寡矣。夫勢者，便治而利亂者也。故《周書》曰：「毋爲虎傅翼，將飛入邑，擇人而食之。」夫乘不肖人於勢，是爲虎傅翼也。桀、紂爲高臺深池以盡民力，爲炮烙以傷民性，桀、紂得成肆行者，南面之威爲之翼也。使桀、紂爲匹夫，未始行一而身在刑戮矣。勢者，養虎狼之心而成暴亂之事者也，此天下之大患也。勢之於治亂，本未有位也，而語專言勢之足以治天下者，則其智之所至者淺矣。
Moreover that man says he would govern the world with the power of Yao. How does that power differ from the power of Jie, who threw the world into disorder? Power is not a thing that can make certain that the worthy use it and the unworthy do not. If the worthy use it, the world is ordered; if the unworthy use it, the world is in disorder. In the feelings and the nature of men the worthy are few and the unworthy many, and if the benefit of awe and power is used to carry across the unworthy men of a disordered age, then those who throw the world into disorder by power are many and those who order the world by power are few. Power is convenient for order and useful for disorder alike. So the Book of Zhou says, "Do not fasten wings on a tiger. It will fly into the towns and pick out men to eat." To mount an unworthy man on power is to fasten wings on a tiger. Jie and Zhou made high terraces and deep ponds to use up the strength of the people, and made the roasting punishment to injure the nature of the people. That Jie and Zhou could work their will unchecked was because the awe of facing south was their wings. Had Jie and Zhou been common men, they would have been under punishment and death before they had done one such thing. Power nurtures the heart of tiger and wolf and brings cruel and disorderly deeds to pass, and this is the great affliction of the world. In order and disorder power has no fixed place of its own, and yet the speaker says that power alone is enough to govern the world. Then his wisdom has reached only a shallow place.
夫良馬固車，使臧獲御之則爲人笑，玉良御之而日取千里。車馬非異也，或至乎千里，或爲人笑，則巧拙相去遠矣。今以國位爲車，以勢爲馬，以號令爲轡，以刑罰爲鞭筴，使堯、舜御之則天下治，桀、紂御之則天下亂，則賢不肖相去遠矣。夫欲追速致遠，不知任王良；欲進利除害，不知任賢能，此則不知類之患也。夫堯、舜亦治民之王良也。
Now a good horse and a strong carriage: let a slave drive them and he becomes the laughingstock of men; let Wang Liang drive them and he takes a thousand li a day. The carriage and the horse are not different, yet the one reaches a thousand li and the other becomes the laughingstock of men, so skill and clumsiness stand far apart. Now take the position of the state for the carriage, power for the horses, commands for the reins, and punishments for whip and goad. Let Yao and Shun drive and the world is ordered; let Jie and Zhou drive and the world is in disorder. So the worthy and the unworthy stand far apart. To wish to chase speed and reach far and not know to entrust it to Wang Liang, to wish to advance benefit and remove harm and not know to entrust it to the worthy and able, this is the affliction of not knowing kinds. Yao and Shun are the Wang Liang of governing the people.
Interlinear notes 1
The base text has 玉良; it is taken as an error for 王良, Wang Liang. — translator
復應之曰：其人以勢爲足恃以治官；客曰「必待賢乃治」，則不然矣。夫勢者，名一而變無數者也。勢必於自然，則無爲言於勢矣。吾所爲言勢者，言人之所設也。夫堯、舜生而在上位，雖有十桀紂不能亂者，則勢治也；桀、紂亦生而在上位，雖有十堯舜而亦不能治者，則勢亂也。故曰：「勢治者則不可亂，而勢亂者則不可治也。」此自然之勢也，非人之所得設也。若吾所言，謂人之所得設也而已矣，賢何事焉？何以明其然也？客曰：「人有鬻矛與楯者，譽其楯之堅：『物莫能陷也。』俄而又譽其矛曰：『吾矛之利，物無不陷也。』人應之曰：『以子之矛，陷子之楯，何如？』其人弗能應也。」以爲不可陷之楯，與無不陷之矛，爲名不可兩立也。夫賢之爲道不可禁，而勢之爲道也無不禁，以不可禁之賢與無不禁之勢，此矛楯之說也。夫賢勢之不相客亦明矣。
Again I answer this. That man holds that power is enough to be relied on for governing office, and the guest says, "One must wait for a worthy man, and only then is there order." That is not so. Power is one in name but numberless in its changes. If power came of itself and could not be otherwise, there would be nothing to say about power. What I mean when I speak of power is what men set up. If Yao and Shun are born and are in the high place, then though there were ten Jies and Zhous they could not bring disorder, and that is power that orders. If Jie and Zhou are born and are in the high place, then though there were ten Yaos and Shuns they could not bring order, and that is power that disorders. So it is said, "Where power orders there can be no disorder, and where power disorders there can be no order." This is power that is so of itself, not what men can set up. What I speak of is only what men can set up, and what work is there in it for worth? How do I make this clear? The guest said, "There was a man who sold spears and shields. He praised the hardness of his shield and said, 'Nothing can pierce it.' Presently he praised his spear as well and said, 'My spear is so sharp that there is nothing it does not pierce.' A man answered him, 'What if you pierce your shield with your spear?' The man could not answer." He took it that a shield nothing can pierce and a spear that pierces everything are names that cannot stand together. Worth as a way cannot be forbidden, and power as a way forbids everything. Worth that cannot be forbidden and power that forbids everything are the tale of the spear and the shield. That worth and power do not take each other in is also clear.
且夫堯、舜、桀、紂千世而一出，是比肩隨踵而生也。世之治者不絶於中，吾所以爲言勢者，中也。中者，上不及堯、舜，而下亦不爲桀、紂。抱法處勢則治，背法去勢則亂。今廢勢背法而待堯、舜，堯、舜至乃治，是千世亂而一治也。抱法處勢而待桀、紂，桀、紂至乃亂，是千世治而一亂也。且夫治千而亂一，與治一而亂千也，是猶乘驥、駬而分馳也，相去亦遠矣。夫弃隱栝之法，去度量之數，使奚仲爲車，不能成一輪。無慶賞之勸，刑罰之威，釋勢委法，堯、舜户說而人辨之，不能治三家。夫勢之足用亦明矣，而曰「必待賢」，則亦不然矣。
Moreover Yao and Shun and Jie and Zhou come forth once in a thousand generations, and that is as if they were born shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel. Those who govern the world are unbroken in the middle, and what I speak of when I speak of power is the middle. The middle does not reach up to Yao and Shun, and does not sink down to Jie and Zhou either. Hold to the law and stand in power, and there is order. Turn your back on the law and cast off power, and there is disorder. Now if power is abolished and the law turned from and Yao and Shun are awaited, so that there is order only when Yao and Shun come, that is a thousand generations of disorder and one of order. If the law is held to and power is stood in and Jie and Zhou are awaited, so that there is disorder only when Jie and Zhou come, that is a thousand generations of order and one of disorder. And a thousand ordered with one disordered, set beside one ordered with a thousand disordered, is like riding Qiji and Lu'er and galloping apart, and they stand far from each other. Cast away the law of the straightening frame and put aside the numbers of measure, and though Xizhong were set to make a carriage he could not finish one wheel. Without the urging of praise and reward and the awe of punishment, if power is let go and the law abandoned, then though Yao and Shun spoke at every door and argued it out with every man, they could not govern three households. That power is enough to use is also clear, and yet he says, "One must wait for a worthy man." That too is not so.
且夫百日不食以待粱肉，餓者不活；今待堯、舜之賢乃治當世之民，是猶待粱肉而救餓之說也。夫曰「良馬固車，臧獲御之則爲人笑，王良御之則日取乎千里」，吾不以爲然。夫待越人之善海遊者以救中國之溺人，越人善遊矣，而溺者不濟矣。夫待古之王良以馭今之馬，亦猶越人救溺之說也，不可亦明矣。夫良馬固車，五十里而一置，使中手御之，追速致遠，可以及也，而千里可日致也，何必待古之王良乎？且御，非使王良也，則必使臧獲敗之；治，非使堯、舜也，則必使桀、紂亂之。此味非飴蜜也，必苦萊、亭歴也。此則積辯累辭，離理失術，兩末之議也，奚可以難夫道理之言乎哉？客議未及此論也。
Moreover, if a man goes a hundred days without eating while he waits for fine grain and meat, the starving man will not live. To wait for the worth of Yao and Shun in order to govern the people of the present age is like the tale of waiting for fine grain and meat to save the starving. As for the saying, "A good horse and a strong carriage: let a slave drive them and he becomes the laughingstock of men, and let Wang Liang drive them and he takes a thousand li a day," I do not hold it so. If one waits for a man of Yue who swims well in the sea in order to save a drowning man of the Central Plain, the man of Yue swims well but the drowning man is not brought out. To wait for the Wang Liang of old to drive the horses of today is likewise the tale of the man of Yue saving the drowning, and that it will not do is also clear. Set a good horse and a strong carriage at every fifty li and let a middling hand drive them, and he can reach to chasing speed and arriving far, and a thousand li can be reached in a day. Why must one wait for the Wang Liang of old? Again, to say that driving, if it is not given to Wang Liang, must be given to a slave who ruins it, and that governing, if it is not given to Yao and Shun, must be given to Jie and Zhou who bring disorder, is to say that if the taste is not malt candy and honey it must be bitter greens and pepperweed. This is piling up argument and heaping up words, leaving reason and losing method, the debate of the two ends. How can it refute the words of the true way? The guest's debate has not reached this argument.