The Five Vermin五蠹

In the world of high antiquity the people were few and the birds and beasts were many, and the people could not overcome the birds and the beasts and the insects and the snakes. A sage arose who wove wood into nests so that they might avoid the many harms, and the people were glad at him and made him king over all under heaven and called him Youchao. The people ate fruits and mussels and clams, and the rank and foul smell hurt their bellies and their stomachs, and the people were often sick. A sage arose who bored the fire drill and took fire and cooked away what was rank and foul, and the people were glad at him and made him king over all under heaven and called him Suiren. In the world of middle antiquity there was a great flood under heaven, and Gun and Yu opened the channels. In the world of near antiquity Jie and Zhou were violent and disorderly, and Tang and King Wu struck them. Now if a man were to weave wood and bore the fire drill in the age of Xiahou, he would surely be laughed at by Gun and Yu; if a man were to open channels in the age of Yin and Zhou, he would surely be laughed at by Tang and King Wu. Then if there is a man today who calls the way of Yao and Shun and Tang and King Wu and Yu beautiful in the present age, he will surely be laughed at by the new sages. For this reason the sage does not look to cultivate what is old and does not model himself on what is always held right; he weighs the affairs of his age and makes his provision to match. Among the men of Song there was one who plowed a field, and in the field was a stump. A rabbit ran and struck the stump and broke its neck and died, and so he laid down his plow and kept watch on the stump, hoping to get a rabbit again. The rabbit could not be had again, and he himself became the laughingstock of Song. To wish to govern the people of the present age with the government of the former kings is all of a kind with keeping watch on the stump.

In old times the man did not plow, for the fruits of grass and tree were enough to eat; the woman did not weave, for the skins of birds and beasts were enough to wear. They did not toil with their strength, and their keep was enough; the people were few and goods were more than enough, and so the people did not quarrel. For this reason thick rewards were not handed out and weighty punishments were not used, and the people were in order of themselves. Now a man with five sons is not thought to have many, and each son has five sons of his own, so that before the grandfather dies there are twenty-five grandsons. For this reason the people are many and goods are scarce, and men toil hard with their strength and their keep is thin, and so the people quarrel. Though rewards be doubled and punishments piled up, disorder is not escaped.

When Yao was king over all under heaven, the thatch of his roof was not trimmed and the oak rafters were not shaped; he ate coarse grain and a broth of goosefoot and bean leaves; in winter he wore a fawnskin coat and in summer a coat of hemp cloth. Even the clothing and keep of a gatekeeper is no poorer than this. When Yu was king over all under heaven, he took plow and spade in his own hands and went before the people; there was no flesh on his thighs and no hair grew on his shins. Even the toil of a servant or a slave is no more bitter than this. Speaking from this, the men of old who yielded up the throne of the Son of Heaven were putting away the keep of a gatekeeper and leaving behind the toil of a servant, and to hand on all under heaven in old times is not enough to be thought much of. Now a district magistrate may die in a single morning, and his sons and grandsons ride in carriages for generations, and so men hold the office heavy. For this reason, in the matter of yielding, men step back lightly from the throne of the Son of Heaven of old but find it hard to give up the magistracy of today. The substance of thin and thick is different. A man who lives in the hills and draws water from the valley sends water as a gift at the sacrifices; a man who lives by the marsh and suffers from water hires a laborer to open a ditch. So in the spring of a hungry year a man does not feed even his little brother, and in the autumn of a full year he feeds even a distant guest. It is not that he holds his own flesh and blood far off and loves the passing guest; the substance of much and little is different. For this reason to think goods light in old times was not benevolence but plenty of goods, and to snatch and contend today is not meanness but scarcity of goods. To step back lightly from the throne of the Son of Heaven was not loftiness but thin power, and to fight over an office is not baseness but weighty power. Therefore the sage weighs much and little and discusses thin and thick, and makes his government from it. So a thin punishment is not called kindness and a stern execution is not called cruelty; he acts to fit the custom. So affairs follow the age, and provision is fitted to affairs.

In old times King Wen dwelt between Feng and Hao, and his land was a hundred li square; he practiced benevolence and righteousness and drew the Western Rong to him, and at last was king over all under heaven. King Yan of Xu dwelt east of the Han, and his land was five hundred li square; he practiced benevolence and righteousness, and the states that cut off land and came to his court were thirty-six. King Wen of Chu feared that he would do him harm, raised troops and struck Xu, and wiped it out. So King Wen practiced benevolence and righteousness and was king over all under heaven, and King Yan practiced benevolence and righteousness and lost his state. This is because benevolence and righteousness were used in old times and are not used today. Therefore it is said: when the age is different, affairs are different. In the time of Shun the Youmiao would not submit, and Yu was about to strike them. Shun said, "It cannot be done. To use arms when the virtue above is not thick is not the way." So he cultivated instruction for three years and danced holding shield and axe, and then the Youmiao submitted. In the war of Gong Gong the man whose iron spearhead was short was reached by the enemy, and the man whose armor was not firm was wounded in the body. This is because shield and axe were used in old times and are not used today. Therefore it is said: when affairs are different, provision changes. In high antiquity men strove in the way and in virtue; in the middle age they chased after wit and scheming; today they fight with breath and strength. Qi was about to attack Lu, and Lu sent Zi Gong to talk them out of it. The man of Qi said, "Your words are not without skill, but what I want is land, and it is not what these words speak of." At last he raised troops and struck Lu and made a boundary ten li from the city gate. So King Yan was benevolent and righteous and Xu perished; Zi Gong was skilled in speech and wise and Lu was cut away. Speaking from this, benevolence and righteousness and skill in speech and wisdom are not what holds a state. Had they put away King Yan's benevolence and stopped Zi Gong's wit, and followed the strength of Xu and of Lu to face a state of ten thousand chariots, then the wishes of Qi and of Chu would not have been carried out in those two states.

Old times and today have different customs, and the new and the old have different provisions. To wish to govern the people of an urgent age with a loose and easy government is like driving a wild horse with no reins and no whip; this is the trouble of not knowing. Now the Confucians and the Mohists all say that the former kings loved all under heaven alike, so that they looked on the people as on a father and a mother. How do they make it clear that this was so? They say, "When the minister of justice carried out a punishment, the lord would have no music for it, and when he heard the report of a death sentence, the lord shed tears for it." These are the former kings they hold up. They say that if lord and minister are as father and son there will surely be order; and pushing this saying out, it means there are no disordered fathers and sons. In the feelings and the nature of man nothing comes before father and mother, and all are loved and yet are not surely in order. Though the love be thick, how does that keep them from disorder? Now the love of the former kings for the people did not go beyond the love of a father and a mother for a son, and a son is not surely free of disorder; how then will the people surely be in order? Moreover, to carry out punishment by the law and to shed tears for it is to show benevolence, not to make government. To let the tears fall and not wish to punish is benevolence; and yet not to be able to leave off punishing is law. The former kings let their law win and did not listen to their own weeping, and so it is plain enough that benevolence cannot be made into government.

Moreover the people submit to power of themselves, and few are drawn by righteousness. Zhongni was a sage of all under heaven. He cultivated his conduct and made the way clear and traveled within the seas, and within the seas those who were glad at his benevolence and thought his righteousness beautiful and submitted to serve him were seventy men. For those who hold benevolence precious are few, and to be able in righteousness is hard. So in all the greatness of all under heaven those who submitted and served were seventy men, and the benevolent and righteous one was a single man. Duke Ai of Lu was a lowly ruler, yet he faced south and was lord of the state, and within his borders not one of the people dared not be his subject. The people submit to power of themselves, and power truly makes it easy to make men submit; so Zhongni turned out to be the subject and Duke Ai turned out to be the lord. Zhongni was not drawn by his righteousness; he submitted to his power. So by righteousness Zhongni would not submit to Duke Ai, but riding on power Duke Ai made Zhongni his subject. Now the learned men, speaking to the ruler of men, say that if he does not ride on the power that must win but works at practicing benevolence and righteousness, he can be king. This is to ask that the ruler of men must come up to Zhongni and that all the common people of the age be like his followers. It is a reckoning that surely cannot be had.

Now here is a son without ability. His father and mother grow angry at him and he does not mend; the men of his village scold him and he does not stir; his teacher and elder instruct him and he does not change. The love of father and mother, the conduct of the villagers, the wisdom of teacher and elder, three fine things laid on him, and in the end he does not stir, and not a hair on his shin is changed. But when the clerks of the district take up the arms of the office and push the public law and search out the wicked, then he is afraid and alters his bearing and mends his conduct. So the love of father and mother is not enough to teach a son, and the stern punishment of the district must be waited for. The people are proud against love of themselves and obedient to awe. A wall ten ren high Lou Ji cannot get over, because it is sheer; on a hill a thousand ren high a lame ewe is easily pastured, because it is level. So the enlightened king makes his law sheer and his punishments stern. Eight feet of cloth and silk the common man will not let go; a hundred yi of molten gold Robber Zhi will not pick up. Where there is no sure harm he will not let go the eight feet; where the hand is surely harmed he will not pick up the hundred yi. So the enlightened ruler makes his executions sure. For this reason there is nothing like making rewards thick and trustworthy, so that the people think them a gain; nothing like making punishments weighty and sure, so that the people fear them; nothing like making the law one and firm, so that the people know it. So when the ruler hands out rewards and does not shift them, carries out executions and grants no pardon, when praise seconds his rewards and blame follows his punishments, then the worthy and the unworthy alike spend all their strength.

Now it is not so. They give a man rank because he has merit, and yet they hold his holding of office low; they reward him because he plows and works, and yet they make little of his household trade; they push him away because he will not be taken into service, and yet they call his slighting of the world lofty; they punish him because he breaks a prohibition, and yet they think much of his having courage. What blame and praise, reward and punishment are laid on runs contrary to itself, and so law and prohibition break down and the people grow more disorderly. Now when a brother is set upon, to strike without fail is called integrity; when a friend one knows is shamed, to go after the enemy is called uprightness. When the conduct of integrity and uprightness is made, the law of the lord above is broken. The ruler of men honors upright and honest conduct and forgets the crime of breaking prohibitions, and so the people vie in courage and the clerks cannot hold them down. He who is clothed and fed without toiling with his strength is called able; he who is honored without merit in battle is called worthy. When the conduct of the worthy and the able is made, the soldiers grow weak and the land runs wild. When the ruler of men is glad at the conduct of the worthy and the able and forgets the ruin of weak soldiers and wild land, then private conduct stands up and the public gain is destroyed.

The Confucians with their letters throw the law into disorder, and the knights with their arms break prohibitions, and the ruler of men gives honor to both. This is why there is disorder. He who departs from the law is guilty, and yet the various masters are taken up for their letters; he who breaks a prohibition is put to death, and yet the crowd of knights are kept for their private swords. So what the law condemns the lord takes up, and what the clerks put to death the one above keeps. Law and aim, above and below, these four run against each other and nothing is settled; though there were ten Yellow Emperors, they could not bring order. So those who practice benevolence and righteousness are not to be praised; praise them and merit is harmed. Those with letters are not to be used; use them and the law falls into disorder. In Chu there was a man called Zhi Gong. His father stole a sheep, and he reported it to the clerk. The prime minister of Chu said, "Kill him." He held that the man was upright toward his lord and crooked toward his father, and had him seized and punished. Looking at it this way, the upright subject of the lord is the harsh son of the father. A man of Lu followed his lord to war, and three times he fought and three times he ran. Zhongni asked him the reason, and he answered, "I have an old father, and if I die there is no one to keep him." Zhongni thought this filial and raised him up. Looking at it this way, the filial son of the father is the subject who turns his back on the lord. So when the prime minister put a man to death, the wickedness of Chu was no longer heard of above; when Zhongni gave a reward, the people of Lu surrendered and ran away easily. The gains of above and below are as different as this, and the ruler of men holds up the conduct of the common man and looks to bring the blessing of the altars of the state. It surely cannot be hoped for.

In old times, when Cang Jie made the writing, he called what circles around itself private, si (私), and what turns its back on the private public, gong (公). That public and private turn their backs on each other Cang Jie already knew. To think today that their gains are the same is the trouble of not looking closely. Then for the man who reckons for a commoner there is nothing like cultivating conduct and righteousness and practicing letters. When conduct and righteousness are cultivated he is trusted, and being trusted he is given affairs; when letters are practiced he becomes an enlightened teacher, and becoming an enlightened teacher he is shown honor. This is the fine thing for a commoner. But then affairs are given without merit and honor is shown without rank, and if the government is like this the state must fall into disorder and the ruler must be in danger. So things that do not hold each other cannot stand together. The man who cuts down an enemy receives a reward, and yet kindly and generous conduct is held high; the man who takes a city receives rank and salary, and yet the talk of integrity and love is trusted; armor is made firm and weapons are sharpened against trouble, and yet the finery of the sash and the tablet is thought beautiful; the state is made rich by farming and the enemy is kept off by soldiers, and yet the knights of letters and learning are held precious; the people who respect the one above and fear the law are cast aside, and the wandering knights and the men of the private sword are kept. When the conduct of a state is like this, order and strength cannot be had. When the state is at peace it feeds Confucians and swordsmen; when trouble comes it uses armored soldiers. Those it favors are not those it uses, and those it uses are not those it favors. For this reason those who serve in their tasks slight their work, and those who wander and learn grow more numerous by the day. This is why the age is in disorder.

Moreover what the age calls worth is upright and trustworthy conduct, and what it calls wisdom is subtle and fine words. Subtle and fine words are hard even for the highest wisdom to know. To make laws for the multitude now out of what the highest wisdom finds hard to know is to leave the people no way to know them. So a man who cannot fill himself with dregs and bran does not work for fine grain and meat, and a man whose short hemp coat is not whole does not wait for figured embroidery. In the business of governing an age, if the urgent thing is not had, then the slow thing is not what should be worked at. Now if in the government he rules with and in the affairs among the people what husband and wife plainly know is not used, and the reasonings of the highest wisdom are longed for, that is the reverse of governing. So subtle and fine words are not the people's business. As for the man who calls upright and trustworthy conduct worthy, he will surely hold precious the officer who does not deceive; but the officer who does not deceive has no technique for keeping others from deceiving. When men in plain cloth deal with each other, they have no wealth and thickness to gain each other with and no awe and power to frighten each other with, and so they seek the officer who does not deceive. Now the ruler of men sits in the power that controls others and holds the thickness of a whole state; he can grasp the handles of weighty reward and stern execution, and if he cultivates what the enlightened technique lights up, then though he had ministers like Tian Chang and Zi Han they would not dare deceive him. Why should he wait for the officer who does not deceive? Now upright and trustworthy officers do not come to ten, and the offices within his borders are counted by the hundred. If he must give them to upright and trustworthy officers, there are not men enough for the offices; and when there are not men enough for the offices, those who bring order are few and those who bring disorder are many. So the way of the enlightened ruler is to make the law one and not seek wisdom, to make his technique firm and not long for trustworthiness; and so the law does not fail and the crowd of officials are without wickedness and deceit.

Now the ruler of men, in the matter of words, is glad at their skill and does not look for their fitness; in putting them to use in action, he thinks their sound beautiful and does not hold them to their merit. For this reason, among the multitude of all under heaven, those who talk work at skill and do not go round to use, and so those who hold up the former kings and speak of benevolence and righteousness fill the court, and the government does not escape disorder. Those who conduct themselves vie at being lofty and do not match it with merit, and so wise officers withdraw to dwell in caves in the rock and hand back their salary and will not take it, and the soldiers do not escape weakness. The soldiers do not escape weakness and the government does not escape disorder. What is the reason for this? What the people praise and what the one above honors is the technique of a disordered state. Now all the people within the borders speak of government, and those who keep the laws of Shang Yang and Guan Zhong are in every house, and yet the state grows poorer, because those who speak of plowing are many and those who take hold of the plow are few. Within the borders all speak of soldiering, and those who keep the books of Sun Wu and Wu Qi are in every house, and yet the soldiers grow weaker, because those who speak of war are many and those who put on armor are few. So the enlightened ruler uses their strength and does not listen to their words; he rewards their merit and surely forbids what is of no use. So the people spend their dying strength in following the one above. Plowing is toilsome in its use of strength, and yet the people do it, saying that by it they may grow rich. War is a dangerous business, and yet the people do it, saying that by it they may grow honored. Now if by cultivating letters and practicing talk a man may have the substance of wealth without the toil of plowing and the honor of rank without the danger of war, who would not do it? For this reason a hundred men work at wisdom and one man uses his strength. When those who work at wisdom are many the law fails, and when those who use their strength are few the state is poor. This is why the age is in disorder.

So in the state of an enlightened ruler there is no writing on bamboo slips, and the law is the teaching; there are no words of the former kings, and the clerks are the teachers; there is no fierceness of the private sword, and cutting off heads is courage. Then among the people within his borders those who talk keep to the track of the law, those who act turn to merit, and those who are brave give themselves wholly in the army. For this reason, when there is no business the state is rich, and when there is business the soldiers are strong. This is called the stuff of a king. Having stored up the stuff of a king and taken the crack in an enemy state, to pass the Five Emperors and stand level with the Three Kings, it is surely by this law.

Now it is not so. The officers and the people are unbridled within, and those who talk make power outside; inside and outside are alike bad, and with this they face a strong enemy. Is it not perilous? So among the crowd of ministers those who speak of outside affairs either have a share in the parties of the Vertical and the Horizontal alliances, or have a grudge to pay and borrow the strength of the state for it. The north-south alliance joins many weak states to attack one strong one, and the Horizontal alliance serves one strong state to attack many weak ones. Neither is the way to hold a state. Now those ministers who speak for the Horizontal alliance all say, "If we do not serve the great, we shall meet the enemy and take the harm." Serving the great does not surely have substance in it, and yet they hold up the maps and hand them over and give up the seal and ask for troops. Offer the maps and the land is cut away; give up the seal and the name is lowered. When the land is cut away the state is cut away, and when the name is lowered the government is in disorder. Serving the great for the Horizontal alliance, they have not seen its gain and have already lost land and thrown the government into disorder. Those ministers who speak for the Vertical alliance all say, "If we do not save the small and strike the great, we lose all under heaven; lose all under heaven and the state is in danger; and when the state is in danger the ruler is lowered." Saving the small does not surely have substance in it, and yet they raise troops and face the great. Saving the small cannot surely keep it standing, and striking the great cannot surely be without a gap, and where there is a gap they are controlled by the strong state. Send out troops and the army is beaten; draw back and hold and the walls are taken. Saving the small for the Vertical alliance, they have not seen its gain and have already lost land and had their army beaten. For this reason, serving the strong, they use power from outside to hold office within; saving the small, they use weight within to seek gain outside. Before the gain of the state stands up, fiefs of land and thick salaries have come; though the ruler above is lowered, the minister is honored; though the land of the state is cut away, the private house is rich. If the business succeeds, they use their power to make their weight last; if the business fails, they take their riches and withdraw to live at ease. When the ruler of men listens to his ministers' talk, their rank and salary are already high before the business succeeds, and when the business fails they are not put to death. Then among the officers who wander and talk, who would not use words like a stringed arrow and trust to luck for what comes after? So states are broken and rulers are lost by listening to the floating talk of those who speak. What is the reason for this? It is that the lord of men is not clear about public and private gain, does not look closely at whether words are fitting, and does not make punishment sure afterward. They all say, "Do well with outside affairs, and at most you become king, at least you are safe." Now a king is one who can attack others, and to be safe is not to be open to attack. Being strong, one can attack others; being in order, one is not open to attack. Order and strength cannot be sought from outside; they lie in the government within. Now if a ruler does not practice law and technique within and works at wisdom outside, he will not come to order and strength.

A common saying runs, "Long sleeves are good for dancing, much money is good for trade." This says that with much to work with it is easy to do well. So where there is order and strength it is easy to scheme, and where there is weakness and disorder it is hard to reckon. So those used in Qin change ten times and their schemes seldom go wrong, and those used in Yan change once and their reckoning seldom comes right. It is not that those used in Qin are surely wise and those used in Yan are surely foolish; it is that the stuff of order and disorder is different. So Zhou left Qin for the Vertical alliance, and within a year it was taken; Wey broke from Wei for the Horizontal alliance, and within half a year it was gone. Thus Zhou was destroyed by the Vertical alliance and Wey perished by the Horizontal alliance. Had Zhou and Wey slowed their reckoning over the two alliances and made the government within their borders stern, made their laws and prohibitions clear and their rewards and punishments sure, spent the strength of their land to make their stores many and brought their people to face death so as to make the holding of their walls firm, then all under heaven would have gained little by taking their land and been greatly hurt by attacking their states. No state of ten thousand chariots would have dared to wear itself out beneath firm walls and let a strong enemy cut away at its weariness. This is the technique by which a state surely does not perish. To put away the technique by which a state surely does not perish and to speak for what surely destroys it is the fault of the man who governs a state. When wisdom is hard pressed outside and the government is in disorder within, the ruin cannot be shaken off.

The people's reckoning in their affairs is all to go toward safety and gain and to keep away from danger and want. Now if they are made to attack and fight, going forward they die at the enemy's hand and drawing back they die by execution; that is danger. They cast aside the business of their own house and must do the toil that sweats the horses, and their house is hard pressed while the one above takes no account of it; that is want. Where want and danger lie, how can the people not avoid them? So they serve the private houses and make their release from service whole, and when the release is whole they are far from war, and being far from war they are safe. They hand out goods and bribes and attach themselves to the men who hold the road, and then what they seek is had; when what they seek is had they are safe in private; and where they are safe in private, there the gain lies, so how can they not go toward it? For this reason the public people are few and the private men are many.

Now the government by which an enlightened king rules a state makes his merchants and artisans and the people who wander and eat few and low in name, so that few turn toward the root work and fewer run to the branch trades. Now when the requests of those close and familiar in the age are carried out, office and rank can be bought; and when office and rank can be bought, merchants and artisans are not low. When wicked goods and trading can be used in the market, merchants are not few. When what is gathered in is double the farmer's and the honor reached goes past that of the knights who plow and fight, then firm and upright officers are few and the trading people are many.

For this reason the customs of a disordered state are these. Its learned men call up the way of the former kings and lean on benevolence and righteousness; they make their looks and their robes grand and dress up their skilled talk, so as to cast doubt on the law of the present age and make the ruler's heart two. Its talkers set up lies and make false claims and borrow strength from outside to bring about their own private ends, and throw away the gain of the altars of the state. Its sword bearers gather bands of followers and set up a bearing of honor so as to make their names shine, and they break the prohibitions of the five offices. Its men who dread service pile up in the private houses and spend all their goods and bribes and use the pleading of ministers of heavy power, and so put off the toil that sweats the horses. Its merchants and artisans make coarse and bad vessels and gather up wasteful goods, and store them up and wait for the season, and take away the farmer's gain. These five are the moths of the state. If the ruler of men does not clear away these five moth-like kinds of people and does not keep firm and upright officers, then though within the seas there be broken and ruined states and courts cut away and wiped out, it is nothing to wonder at.