The Eight Sayings八說
爲故人行私謂之「不弃」，以公財分施謂之「仁人」，輕祿重身謂之「君子」，枉法曲親謂之「有行」，弃官寵交謂之「有俠」，離世遁上謂之「高傲」，交爭逆令謂之「剛材」，行惠取衆謂之「得民」。不弃者，吏有姦也；仁人者，公財損也；君子者，民難使也；有行者，法制毁也；有俠者，官職曠也；高傲者，民不事也；剛材者，令不行也；得民者，君上孤也。此八者，匹夫之私譽，人主之大敗也。反此八者，匹夫之私毁，人主之公利也。人主不察社稷之利害，而用匹夫之私譽，索國之無危亂，不可得矣。
To act privately for an old friend is called "not casting him off." To share out the common goods and give them away is called "a benevolent man." To hold salary light and one's own person heavy is called "a gentleman." To bend the law and lean toward one's kin is called "having conduct." To throw up office and cherish one's friendships is called "having chivalry." To leave the world and shun the one above is called "lofty and proud." To wrangle and go against orders is called "stout timber." To hand out favors and win the crowd is called "gaining the people." But the man who casts no friend off means treachery among the clerks; the benevolent man means the common goods are eaten away; the gentleman means the people are hard to employ; the man of conduct means the laws and the regulations are broken down; the man of chivalry means the offices stand empty; the lofty and proud man means the people do not work; the stout timber means orders are not carried out; the man who gains the people means the lord above stands alone. These eight are the private praise of common men and the great undoing of the lord of men. Turn these eight about, and they are the private reviling of common men and the common profit of the lord of men. When the lord of men does not look into what profits and harms the altars of the land and grain, and uses the private praise of common men, then to seek that the state be without peril and disorder cannot be had.
任人以事，存亡治亂之機也，無術以任人，無所任而不敗。人君之所任，非辯智則修潔也。任人者，使有勢也。智士者未必信也，爲多其智，因惑其信也。以智士之計，處乘勢之資而爲其私急，則君必欺焉。爲智者之不可信也，故任修士者，使斷事也。修士者未必智，爲潔其身、因惑其智。以愚人之所惽，處治事之官而爲其所然，則事必亂矣。故無術以用人，任智則君欺，任修則君事亂，此無術之患也。明君之道，賤德議貴，下必坐上，決誠以參，聽無門户，故智者不得詐欺。計功而行賞，程能而授事，察端而觀失，有過者罪，有能者得，故愚者不任事。智者不敢欺，愚者不得斷，則事無失矣。
To give men charge of business is the hinge of surviving and perishing, of order and disorder. Give men charge without method, and there is nothing given in charge that does not come to grief. Those whom the lord of men gives charge are either the eloquent and wise or the cultivated and clean. To give a man charge is to let him have power. The wise knight is not surely to be trusted, but because his wisdom is great, men are deluded about his trustworthiness as well. If with the schemes of a wise knight he sits on the resources of power and presses his own private ends, the lord is sure to be deceived. Because the wise man cannot be trusted, charge is given to the cultivated knight and he is made to decide business. The cultivated knight is not surely wise, but because his person is clean, men are deluded about his wisdom as well. If a stupid man, in the dark about the matter, sits in the office that orders affairs and does as he himself thinks right, business is sure to fall into disorder. So to use men without method is to be deceived when the wise are given charge and to have one's business thrown into disorder when the cultivated are given charge. This is the affliction of being without method. The way of the enlightened lord is to hold virtue cheap and to weigh what is honored, to have those below answer with those above, to settle what is true by matching accounts, and to hear without private doors; so the wise man cannot cheat him. He reckons merit and hands out reward, he measures ability and hands out business, he looks into the beginnings and watches for the failures; the man with a fault is punished and the man with ability gains, and so the stupid man is not given charge of business. When the wise dare not cheat and the stupid cannot decide, business goes without failure.
察士然後能知之，不可以爲令，夫民不盡察。賢者然後能行之，不可以爲法，夫民不盡賢。楊朱、墨翟，天下之所察也，干世亂而卒不決，雖察而不可以爲官職之令。鮑焦、華角，天下之所賢也，鮑焦木枯，華角赴河，雖賢不可以爲耕戰之士。故人主之所察，智士盡其辯焉；人主之所尊，能士能盡其行焉。今世主察無用之辯，尊遠功之行，索國之富強，不可得也。博習辯智如孔、墨，孔、墨不耕耨，則國何得焉？修孝寡欲如曾、史，曾、史不戰攻，則國何利焉？匹夫有私便，人主有公利。不作而養足，不仕而名顯，此私便也；息文學而明法度，塞私便而一功勞，此公利也。錯法以道民也，而又貴文學，則民之所師法也疑；賞功以勸民也，而又尊行修，則民之産利也惰。夫貴文學以疑法，尊行修以貳功，索國之富強，不可得也。
What only a discerning knight can know cannot be made into an order, for not all the people are discerning. What only a worthy man can carry out cannot be made into a law, for not all the people are worthy. Yang Zhu and Mo Di were held the discerning men of all under heaven, yet they went through the disorder of their age and in the end decided nothing; discerning as they were, they cannot be made the rule for holding office. Bao Jiao and Hua Jiao were held the worthy men of all under heaven, yet Bao Jiao withered like a tree and Hua Jiao threw himself into the river; worthy as they were, they cannot be made knights who plow and fight. So where the lord of men is discerning, the wise knights spend all their eloquence; where the lord of men gives honor, the able knights spend all their conduct. Now the lord of the age is discerning about useless eloquence and honors conduct that is far from merit, and then seeks wealth and strength for the state; it cannot be had. Let a man be as widely learned, as eloquent and wise as Confucius and Mozi; if Confucius and Mozi do not plow and weed, what does the state gain from them? Let a man cultivate filial duty and have as few wants as Zeng Shen and Shi Qiu; if Zeng Shen and Shi Qiu do not fight and attack, what profit is there for the state? The common man has his private convenience and the lord of men has the common profit. To be kept in plenty without working and to have a name shine without holding office is private convenience. To put an end to letters and learning and make the laws and measures clear, to block private convenience and make merit and labor one, is the common profit. Laws are set up to lead the people, and yet if letters and learning are held in honor too, then what the people take as their master and model is in doubt. Reward is given for merit to urge the people on, and yet if cultivated conduct is honored too, then the people grow slack in producing profit. To honor letters and learning and so throw the law into doubt, and to honor cultivated conduct and so make merit a second thing, and then to seek wealth and strength for the state, cannot be had.
搢笏干戚，不適有方鐵銛；登降周旋，不逮日中奏百；《貍首》射侯，不當強弩趨發；干城距衝，不若堙穴伏櫜。古人亟於德，中世逐於智，當今爭於力。古者寡事而備簡，樸陋而不盡，故有珧銚而推車者。古者人寡而相親，物多而輕利易讓，故有揖讓而傳天下者。然則行揖讓，高慈惠，而道仁厚，皆推政也。處多事之時，用寡士之器，非智者之備也；當大爭之世，而循揖讓之軌，非聖人之治也。故智者不乘推車，聖人不行推政也。
To thrust the tablet in the belt and take up shield and axe is no match for a sharp iron point. To go up and down and turn about in the rites does not come up to a hundred advances at midday. To shoot at the target to the tune of the Lishou is no match for a stiff crossbow shot off quickly. To hold off the ram with shield and city wall is not so good as filling the tunnel and lying low with the sack. The men of old were quick about virtue, the middle age chased after wisdom, and men today fight with strength. In old days affairs were few and gear was simple, plain and rough and never finished off, and so there were men who pushed a cart with a clamshell hoe. In old days men were few and close to one another, things were many and profit was held light and readily yielded, and so there were men who bowed and gave way and handed over all under heaven. Then to practice bowing and giving way, to hold kindness and grace high, and to speak of benevolence and generosity, is all the government of the pushed cart. To sit in a time of many affairs and use the tools of a time of few affairs is not the gear of a wise man; to meet an age of great struggle and follow the track of bowing and giving way is not the rule of a sage. So the wise man does not ride the pushed cart, and the sage does not practice the pushed government.
法所以制事，事所以名功也。法有立而有難，權其難而事成，則立之；事成而有害，權其害而功多，則爲之。無難之法，無害之功，天下無有也。是以拔千丈之都，敗十萬之衆，死傷者軍之乘，甲兵折挫，士卒死傷，而賀戰勝得地者，出其小害、計其大利也。夫沐者有弃髪，除者傷血肉。爲人見其難，因釋其業，是無術之士也。先聖有言曰：「規有摩而水有波，我欲更之，無奈之何！」此通權之言也。是以說有必立而曠於實者，言有辭拙而急於用者。故聖人不求無害之言，而務無易之事。人之不事衡石者，非貞廉而遠利也，石不能爲人多少，衡不能爲人輕重，求索不能得，故人不事也。明主之國，官不敢枉法，吏不敢爲私利，貨賂不行，是境内之事盡如衡石也。此其臣有姦者必知，知者必誅。是以有道之主，不求清潔之吏，而務必知之術也。
Law is that by which affairs are controlled, and affairs are that by which merit is named. A law that is set up has its difficulty; weigh that difficulty, and if the business is thereby accomplished, set the law up. A business accomplished has its harm; weigh that harm, and if the merit is greater, do it. A law without difficulty and a merit without harm are nowhere under heaven. This is why, when a walled town of a thousand fathoms is taken and a host of a hundred thousand is broken, when the dead and the wounded are many in the army, armor and weapons are shattered and the soldiers are killed and hurt, men still give thanks for the victory and the ground won. They set out the small harm and reckon the great profit. Now the man who washes his hair loses some hair, and the man who treats a sore wounds blood and flesh. If a man sees the difficulty of a thing and lets go of the work on that account, he is a knight without method. A sage of old said: "The compass wears down and the water has its waves. I would change it, but what can be done!" This is the saying of a man who understands weighing. So there are doctrines that surely stand up and yet are far from the facts, and there are words clumsily put that are pressing in their use. Therefore the sage does not look for words without harm; he works at what cannot be changed. That men do not court the scales and the weight stone is not because they are upright and honest and keep far from profit. The stone cannot make a thing more or less for a man and the scales cannot make a thing light or heavy for a man; ask of them and nothing can be got, and so men do not court them. In the state of an enlightened ruler the offices dare not bend the law, the clerks dare not work for private profit, and bribes do not pass. That is, the affairs within the borders are all like the scales and the weight stone. If among his ministers there is a treacherous man, he is surely known, and being known he is surely cut down. This is why the ruler who has the Way does not look for clean and honest clerks but works at the method by which he is sure to know.
慈母之於弱子也，愛不可爲前。然而弱子有僻行，使之隨師；有惡病，使之事醫。不隨師則陷於刑，不事醫則疑於死。慈母雖愛，無益於振刑救死，則存子者非愛也。子母之性，愛也；臣主之權，筴也。母不能以愛存家，君安能以愛持國？明主者通於富强，則可以得欲矣。故謹於聽治，富强之法也。明其法禁，察其謀計。法明則内無變亂之患，計得則外無死虜之禍。故存國者，非仁義也。仁者，慈惠而輕財者也；暴者，心毅而易誅者也。慈惠則不忍，輕財則好與。心毅則憎心見於下，易誅則妄殺加於人。不忍則罰多宥赦，好與則賞多無功。憎心見則下怨其上，妄誅則民將背叛。故仁人在位，下肆而輕犯禁法，偷幸而望於上；暴人在位，則法令妄而臣主乖，民怨而亂心生。故曰：仁暴者，皆亡國者也。
For a loving mother toward her small child there is nothing to put before love. Yet if the small child has a crooked way with him she makes him follow a teacher, and if he has a bad sickness she makes him wait on a doctor. If he does not follow a teacher he falls into punishment, and if he does not wait on a doctor he comes near death. Though the loving mother loves him, love is no help toward shaking off punishment and saving him from death; so what keeps the child alive is not love. The nature of child and mother is love; the weighing between minister and lord is policy. A mother cannot keep a household alive by love, so how can a lord hold a state by love? The enlightened ruler, once he is versed in wealth and strength, can get what he wants. So to listen carefully to the business of rule is the law of wealth and strength. He makes his laws and prohibitions clear and looks closely into his plans and schemes. When the law is clear there is no affliction of upheaval and disorder within; when the plans hit their mark there is no calamity of death and capture without. So what keeps a state alive is not benevolence and righteousness. The benevolent man is kind and gracious and holds goods light; the violent man is stern in heart and cuts men down lightly. Being kind and gracious, he cannot bear to act; holding goods light, he loves to give. Stern in heart, his hating heart shows to those below; cutting men down lightly, he lays reckless killing on men. Not bearing to act, his punishments are full of pardons and amnesties; loving to give, his rewards go often to the meritless. When the hating heart shows, those below resent the one above; when he cuts men down recklessly, the people will turn their backs and rebel. So it is said: the benevolent and the violent both bring a state to ruin.
不能具美食而勸餓人飯，不爲能活餓者也；不能辟草生粟而勸貸施賞賜，不能爲富民者也。今學者之言也，不務本作而好末事，知道虚聖以說民，此勸飯之說。勸飯之說，明主不受也。
To urge a starving man to eat when you cannot set out good food is not the way to keep a starving man alive, and to urge lending and giving and handing out rewards when you cannot clear the weeds and make the millet grow is not the way to make the people rich. Now the words of the learned do not work at the root, which is production, but love the affairs of the branch; they know a Way that is hollow and holy and speak of it to the people. This is the doctrine of urging a man to eat, and the doctrine of urging a man to eat is one the enlightened ruler does not accept.
書約而弟子辯，法省而民訟簡，是以聖人之書必著論，明主之法必詳盡事。盡思慮，揣得失，智者之所難也；無思無慮，挈前言而責後功，愚者之所易也。明主慮愚者之所易，不責智者之所難，故智慮力勞不用而國治也。
When the writing is brief the disciples argue; when the law is spare the people's lawsuits are many. This is why the writing of a sage must set out the argument, and the law of an enlightened ruler must go through affairs in full. To spend all one's thought and weigh gain and loss is what even the wise man finds hard; to have neither thought nor reckoning, to hold up the earlier word and hold a man to account for the later merit, is what even the stupid man finds easy. The enlightened ruler reckons by what the stupid man finds easy and does not hold men to what the wise man finds hard; so wisdom and reckoning and the toil of strength go unused, and the state is in order.
酸甘鹹淡，不以口斷而決於宰尹，則廚人輕君而重於宰尹矣。上下清濁，不以耳斷而決於樂正，則瞽工輕君而重於樂正矣。治國是非，不以術斷而決於寵人，則臣下輕君而重於寵人矣。人主不親觀聽，而制斷在下，託食於國者也。
If sour and sweet, salt and bland are not settled by the lord's own mouth but decided by the steward of the kitchen, then the cooks will hold the lord light and the steward heavy. If high and low, clear and muddy are not settled by the lord's own ear but decided by the music master, then the blind musicians will hold the lord light and the music master heavy. If right and wrong in the ruling of the state are not settled by method but decided by a favorite, then the ministers will hold the lord light and the favorite heavy. A lord of men who does not look and listen himself, and whose control and decision lie with those below, is a man taking his board from the state.
Interlinear notes 1
The base text has 瞽工, a blind musician; it is rendered so. — translator
使人不衣不食而不饑不寒，又不惡死，則無事上之意。意欲不宰於君，則不可使也。今生殺之柄在大臣，而主令得行者，未嘗有也。虎豹必不用其爪牙而與鼷鼠同威，萬金之家必不用其富厚而與監門同資。有土之君，說人不能利，惡人不能害，索人欲畏重己，不可得也。
Make men go unclothed and unfed and yet neither hunger nor freeze, and make them not hate death besides, and they will have no mind to serve the one above. If their will and their wants are not held by the lord, they cannot be employed. Now there has never yet been a case where the handle of life and death lay with the great ministers and the lord's orders were still carried out. If the tiger and the leopard do not use their claws and teeth, their awe is the same as a field mouse's; if a house of ten thousand pieces of gold does not use its wealth, its means are the same as a gatekeeper's. When a lord who holds land can please a man without being able to profit him and hate a man without being able to harm him, and still seeks that men fear him and hold him heavy, it cannot be had.
人臣肆意陳欲曰俠，人主肆意陳欲曰亂；人臣輕上曰驕，人主輕下曰暴。行理同實，下以受譽，上以得非。人臣大得，人主大亡。
When a minister follows his own will and sets out his wants it is called chivalry; when the lord of men follows his own will and sets out his wants it is called disorder. When a minister holds the one above light it is called pride; when the lord of men holds those below light it is called violence. The principle of the act and the fact of it are the same, and yet those below receive praise for it while the one above is found at fault for it. The minister gains greatly and the lord of men loses greatly.
明主之國，有貴臣，無重臣。貴臣者，爵尊而官大也；重臣者，言聽而力多者也。明主之國，遷官襲級，官爵受功，故有貴臣。言不度行而有僞，必誅，故無重臣也。
In the state of an enlightened ruler there are honored ministers and no heavy ministers. An honored minister is one whose rank is high and whose office is great; a heavy minister is one whose words are listened to and whose strength is great. In the state of an enlightened ruler office is changed by climbing the grades and office and rank are received for merit, and so there are honored ministers. Words that do not measure up to conduct have falsehood in them and are surely cut down, and so there are no heavy ministers.