Miucheng — Profound Precepts繆稱訓
道至高無上，至深無下，平乎准，直乎繩，圓乎規，方乎矩，包裹宇宙而無表裏，洞同覆載而無所礙。是故體道者，不哀不樂，不喜不怒，其坐無慮，其寢無夢，物來而名，事來而應。主者，國之心，心治則百節皆安，心擾則百節皆亂。故其心治者，支體相遺也；其國治者，君臣相忘也。黃帝曰：「芒芒昧昧，從天之道，與元同氣。」故至德者，言同略，事同指，上下一心，無岐道旁見者，遏障之於邪，開道之於善，而民鄉方矣。故《易》曰：「同人於野，利涉大川。」道者，物之所導也；德者，性之所扶也；仁者，積恩之見證也；義者，比于人心而合於眾適者也。故道滅而德用，德衰而仁義生。故上世體道而不德，中世守德而弗壞也，末世繩繩乎唯恐失仁義。君子非仁義無以生，失仁義，則失其所以生；小人非嗜欲無以活，失嗜欲，則失其所以活。故君子懼失仁義，小人懼失利。觀其所懼，知各殊矣。《易》曰：「即鹿無虞，惟入于林中，君子幾不如舍，往吝。」其施厚者其報美，其怨大者其禍深。薄施而厚望，畜怨而無患者，古今未之有也。是故聖人察其所以往，則知其所以來者。聖人之道，猶中衢而致尊邪：過者斟酌，多少不同，各得其所宜。是故得一人，所以得百人也。人以其所願於上，以交其下，誰弗戴？以其所欲於下，以事其上，誰弗喜？《詩》雲：「媚茲一人，應侯慎德。」慎德大矣，一人小矣。能善小，其能善大矣。
The Way is so high that nothing is above it and so deep that nothing is below it. It is level as a water level, straight as a plumb line, round as a compass, square as a carpenter's square. It wraps up heaven and earth and has no outside and no inside. It is open and the same in what it covers and what it carries, and nothing stands in its way. So the man who makes the Way his body is neither grieved nor delighted, neither pleased nor angry. In his sitting there is no scheming. In his sleep there is no dream. When a thing comes he names it. When an affair comes he answers it. The ruler is the heart of the state. When the heart is well governed the hundred joints are all at ease. When the heart is troubled the hundred joints are all in disorder. So in the man whose heart is well governed the limbs forget one another, and in the state that is well governed ruler and minister forget one another. The Yellow Emperor said, "Vast and dim, follow the way of Heaven and share one breath with the primal source." So in the highest power words share one aim and affairs share one direction. High and low are of one heart, and no one turns aside to look down a branching road. They dam off what is wicked and open a road to what is good, and the people face the right quarter. So the Book of Changes says, "He joins with men in the open country. It is well to cross the great river." The Way is what things are led by. Power is what the nature is held up by. Benevolence is the proof of kindness stored up. Rightness is what measures against the heart of man and fits what suits the many. So when the Way perished, power was put to use, and when power waned, benevolence and rightness were born. So the high age made the Way its body and did not count it as power. The middle age kept its power and did not let it break. The last age goes carefully and fearfully, dreading only that it lose benevolence and rightness. The gentleman cannot live without benevolence and rightness, and when he loses them he loses that by which he lives. The small man cannot live without his relish and his wanting, and when he loses them he loses that by which he lives. So the gentleman fears to lose benevolence and rightness, and the small man fears to lose gain. Look at what each of them fears and you know that they differ. The Book of Changes says, "He chases the deer with no forester, and only goes into the middle of the wood. The gentleman sees the sign, and it is better to let go. To go on brings shame." Where the giving is thick the repaying is fair, and where the grudge is great the ruin is deep. To give thinly and hope thickly, to store up grudges and have no trouble, has never been from old times until now. So the sage looks into why a thing went and then knows why it comes. The way of the sage is like setting a wine jar in the middle of a crossroads. Those who pass ladle it out, and much and little are not the same, and each gets what suits him. So winning one man is the way to win a hundred men. If a man deals with those below him as he would have those above him deal with him, who will not hold him up? If he serves those above him as he would have those below him serve him, who will not be glad? The Odes says, "They love this one man, and answering the lord they are careful of power." To be careful of power is great, and one man is small. He who can do well by the small can do well by the great too.
君子見過忘罰，故能諫；見賢忘賤，故能讓；見不足忘貧，故能施。情系於中，行形於外。凡行戴情，雖過無怨；不戴其情，雖忠來惡。后稷廣利天下，猶不自矜。禹無廢功，無廢財，自視猶觖如也。滿如陷，實如虛，盡之者也。凡人各賢其所說，而說其所快。世莫不舉賢，或以治，或以亂，非自遁，求同乎己者也。己未必得賢，而求與己同者，而欲得賢，亦不幾矣！使堯度舜則可，使桀度堯，是猶以升量石也。今謂狐狸，則必不知狐，又不知狸。非未嘗見狐者，必未嘗見狸也。狐、狸非異，同類也。而謂狐狸，則不知狐、狸。是故謂不肖者賢，則必不知賢；謂賢者不肖，則必不知不肖者矣。
The gentleman, when he sees a fault, forgets the punishment, and so he can remonstrate. When he sees a worthy man, he forgets his own low place, and so he can yield to him. When he sees want, he forgets his own poverty, and so he can give. When feeling is tied fast within, conduct takes shape without. Whenever conduct carries the feeling there is no grudge, even if there is a fault. When it does not carry the feeling, hatred comes, even with loyalty. Houji brought wide profit to all under Heaven and still did not praise himself. Yu wasted no work and wasted no goods, and still looked on himself as one who fell short. Full as though hollow, filled as though empty, he is the man who has gone all the way. Every man calls worthy the one he is pleased with, and is pleased by what gives him ease. There is no age that does not raise up worthy men, yet one age is well governed and another falls into disorder. This is not because men deceive themselves. It is because they look for men who are the same as themselves. A man who has not got a worthy man himself looks for one like himself, and then he wants to get a worthy man. That is hopeless. Set Yao to measure Shun and it will do. Set Jie to measure Yao and it is like measuring out a picul of grain with a peck. Now if a man speaks of the fox-wildcat, he surely does not know the fox and does not know the wildcat either. If he is not a man who has never seen a fox, then he is surely a man who has never seen a wildcat. Fox and wildcat are not different. They are of one kind. Yet if he speaks of the fox-wildcat, he knows neither the fox nor the wildcat. So if a man calls the unworthy worthy, he surely does not know the worthy, and if he calls the worthy unworthy, he surely does not know the unworthy.
聖人在上，則民樂其治；在下，則民慕其意。小人在上位，如寢關曝纊，不得須臾寧。故《易》曰：「乘馬班如，泣血漣如。」言小人處非其位，不可長也。物莫無所不用，天雄烏喙，藥之凶毒也，良醫以活人；侏儒鼓師，人之困慰者也，人主以備樂。是故聖人制其剟材，無所不用矣。勇士一呼，三軍皆辟，其出之也誠。故倡而不和，意而不戴，中心必有不合者也。故舜不降席而王天下者，求諸己也。故上多故，則民多詐矣，身曲而景直者，未之聞也。說之所不至者，容貌至焉；容貌之所不至者，感忽至焉。感乎心，明乎智，發而成形，精之至也。可以形勢接，而不可以昭誋。戎、翟之馬，皆可以馳驅，或近或遠，唯造父能盡其力；三苗之民，皆可使忠信，或賢或不肖，唯唐、虞能齊其美。必有不傳者。中行繆伯手搏虎，而不能生也，蓋力優而克不能及也。用百人之所能，則得百人之力；舉千人之所愛，則得千人之心。辟若伐樹而引其本，千枝萬葉則莫得弗從也。慈父之愛子，非為報也，不可內解於心；聖人之養民，非求用也，性不能已。若火之自熱，冰之自寒。夫有何修焉！及恃其力，賴其功者，若失火舟中。故君子見始，其知終矣。媒妁譽人，而莫之德也；取庸而強飯之，莫之愛也。雖親父慈母，不加於此，有以為，則恩不接矣。故送往者，非所以迎來也；施死者，非專為生也。誠出於己，則所動者遠矣。錦繡登廟，貴文也；圭璋在前，尚質也。文不勝質，之謂君子。故終年為車，無三寸之鎋，不可以驅馳；匠人斫戶，無一尺之楗，不可以閉藏。故君子行斯乎其所結。心之精者，可以神化，而不可以導人；目之精者，可以消澤，而不可以昭誋。在混冥之中，不可諭於人。故舜不降席而天下治，桀不下陛而天下亂，蓋情甚乎叫呼也。無諸己，求諸人，古今未之聞也。
When the sage is above, the people delight in his rule. When he is below, the people long for his mind. When a small man is in a high place, it is like sleeping at a mountain pass or drying silk floss in the sun. Not a moment of peace can be had. So the Book of Changes says, "They ride their horses and turn about, and they weep blood in streams." This says that when a small man sits in a place that is not his own he cannot last. There is no thing that has no use. Tianxiong and wuhui are the fierce poisons among drugs, yet the good doctor brings men to life with them. The dwarf and the drum master are among the hard-pressed and the pitied, yet the ruler of men keeps them ready for his music. So the sage rules over the scraps and the leavings, and there is nothing he does not use. When a brave warrior gives one shout, the three armies all fall back, because what came out of him was true. So when a man calls and none answer, when he means a thing and others do not carry it, there must be something in the middle of his heart that does not fit. So Shun was king over all under Heaven without coming down from his mat, because he looked for it in himself. So when those above have many devices the people have many tricks, and that the body should be bent and the shadow straight has never been heard of. Where speech does not reach, the look of the face reaches. Where the look of the face does not reach, feeling reaches in a flash. To feel it in the heart, to be clear in the wit, to send it out and give it shape, that is the utmost of the essence. It can be met by shape and force, but it cannot be made plain in words. The horses of the Rong and the Di can all be made to gallop, some near and some far, but only Zaofu could draw out all their strength. The people of Sanmiao can all be made loyal and true, some worthy and some unworthy, but only Tang and Yu could make their goodness even. There is surely something that cannot be handed on. Zhonghang Mubo caught a tiger with his bare hands but could not keep it alive, for his strength was more than enough while his winning could not reach so far. Use what a hundred men can do and you get the strength of a hundred men. Raise up what a thousand men love and you get the hearts of a thousand men. It is like felling a tree and dragging it by the trunk. The thousand branches and the ten thousand leaves cannot help but follow. The loving father's love for his child is not for any repaying. It cannot be untied inside his heart. The sage's nursing of the people is not a seeking for their use. His nature cannot leave off. It is like fire being hot of itself and ice being cold of itself. What cultivation is there in it? But when a man trusts in their strength and leans on their merit, it is like fire breaking out in a boat. So the gentleman sees the beginning and knows the end. The matchmaker praises people and no one counts it as kindness. A man hires a laborer and presses food on him and no one loves him for it. Even a man's own father, even a loving mother, does nothing more than this, yet where there is something to be got by it, the kindness does not join. So sending off the one who goes is not the way to greet the one who comes, and giving to the dead is not done only for the living. When the truth comes out of oneself, what it moves is far off. Brocade and embroidery go up into the ancestral hall, for the pattern is held precious. The gui and zhang jades are set in front, for the plain stuff is honored. When the pattern does not overcome the plain stuff, that is what is called a gentleman. So a man may make a cart all year long, but without the three inches of the linchpin it cannot be driven, and a carpenter may hew a door, but without the foot-long bolt it cannot be shut and hold. So the gentleman's conduct lies in what he fastens. The essence of the heart can work a change like a spirit but cannot lead another man. The essence of the eye can melt and soften but cannot make a thing plain in words. It lies in the midst of what is mixed and dark, and it cannot be told to another. So Shun did not come down from his mat and all under Heaven was well governed, and Jie did not come down from his steps and all under Heaven fell into disorder, because feeling goes deeper than shouting. To have nothing in oneself and look for it in others has never been heard of from old times until now.
同言而民信，信在言前也；同令而民化，誠在令外也。聖人在上，民遷而化，情以先之也。動于上，不應於下者，情與令殊也。故《易》曰：「亢龍有悔。」三月嬰兒，未知利害也，而慈母之愛諭焉者，情也。故言之用者，昭昭乎小哉！不言之用者，曠曠乎大哉！身君子之言，信也；中君子之意，忠也。忠信形于內，感動應於外，故禹執干戚，舞於兩階之間，而三苗服。鷹翔川，魚鱉沈，飛鳥揚，必遠害也。子之死父也，臣之死君也，世有行之者矣，非出死以要名也，恩心之藏於中，而不能違其難也。故人之甘甘，非正為蹠也，而蹠焉往。君子之慘怛，非正為偽形也，諭乎人心。非從外入，自中出者也。義正乎君，仁親乎父。故君之於臣也，能死生之，不能使為苟簡易；父之于子也，能發起之，不能使無憂尋。故義勝君，仁勝父，則君尊而臣忠，父慈而子孝。聖人在上，化育如神。太上曰：「我其性與！」其次曰：「微彼，其如此乎！」故《詩》曰：「執轡如組。」《易》曰：「含章可貞。」運于近，成文於遠。
The same words, and the people trust them, because the trust was there before the words. The same order, and the people are changed by it, because the truth was there outside the order. When the sage is above, the people move and are changed, because he puts feeling first. When there is a stir above and no answer below, it is because feeling and order are two different things. So the Book of Changes says, "The dragon that flies too high will have cause to repent." A child of three months does not yet know gain from harm, yet the loving mother's love reaches him. That is feeling. So the use of speech is clear and bright, and how small it is! The use of not speaking is wide and open, and how great it is! To take the gentleman's words as one's own body is trust. To meet the gentleman's mind is loyalty. Loyalty and trust take shape within, and the stirring they make answers without. So Yu took shield and axe and danced between the two stairways, and the Sanmiao submitted. When the hawk flies over the stream, fish and turtle sink and the flying birds go up, for they must put harm far from them. That a son dies for his father and a minister dies for his lord has been done by men in this world. They do not go out to die in order to get a name. The heart of kindness is stored within, and they cannot turn away from his trouble. So when a man finds the sweet sweet, it is not done for the heel, yet the heel goes there. The gentleman's grief and pain is not put on for a false shape, yet it reaches the hearts of men. It does not come in from outside. It comes out from within. Rightness is straighter than a lord and benevolence is closer than a father. So a lord can put his minister to death or let him live, but he cannot make him careless and slack, and a father can raise his son up, but he cannot make him free of care. So when rightness overcomes the lord and benevolence overcomes the father, then the lord is honored and the minister loyal, the father loving and the son dutiful. When the sage is above, his changing and nursing are like a spirit. The highest say, "Is this not my own nature?" The next say, "But for that man, would it be like this?" So the Odes says, "He holds the reins as though weaving a braid." And the Book of Changes says, "He holds the pattern within and may keep straight." He moves in what is near and makes a pattern far off.
夫察所夜行，周公慚乎景，故君子慎其獨也。釋近斯遠，塞矣。聞善易，以正身難。夫子見禾之三變也，滔滔然曰：「狐向丘而死，我其首禾乎！」故君子見善則痛其身焉。身苟正，懷遠易矣。故《詩》曰：「弗躬弗親，庶民弗信。」小人之從事也，曰苟得，君子曰苟義。所求者同，所期者異乎！擊舟水中，魚沈而鳥揚，同聞而殊事，其情一也。僖負羈以壺餐表其閭。趙宣孟以束脯免其軀，禮不隆，而德有餘，仁心之感恩接而憯怛生。故其入人深。俱之叫呼也，在家老則為恩厚，其在責人則生爭鬥。故曰：兵莫憯于意志，莫邪為下；寇莫大於陰陽，枹鼓為小。聖人為善，非以求名，而名從之。名不與利期，而利歸之。故人之憂喜，非為蹗，蹗焉往生也。故至人不容。故若眯而撫，若跌而據。聖人之為治，漠然不見賢焉，終而後知其可大也。若日之行，騏驥不能與之爭遠。
When he looked into what he had done in the night, the Duke of Zhou was ashamed before his own shadow. So the gentleman is careful when he is alone. To let go what is near and speak of what is far is to be blocked. To hear of goodness is easy. To set one's own body straight is hard. When the Master saw the grain change three times, he said with a full heart, "Even the fox turns toward his own hill to die. Shall I then set my head toward the grain?" So when the gentleman sees goodness he feels the ache of it in his own body. If the body is truly straight, it is easy to draw in those who are far off. So the Odes says, "If he does not do it himself, if he is not there in person, the common people will not trust him." When the small man goes about his business he says, let me somehow get it. The gentleman says, let it somehow be right. What they seek is the same, but what they look for differs! Strike a boat in the middle of the water, and the fish sink and the birds go up. They hear the same thing and do different things, but the feeling in them is one. Xi Fuji, with a pot of food, had his village gate marked out with honor. Zhao Xuanmeng, with a bundle of dried meat, was saved in his own body. The rite was not grand, but the power in it ran over, and the benevolent heart, stirred by the kindness it met, gave birth to a keen pity. So it goes deep into a man. The same shout, if it is at an elder of the house, becomes thick kindness, and if it is at the blaming of another man, it gives birth to a fight. So it is said that among weapons none cuts deeper than the will, and the sword Moye comes below it, and that among robbers none is greater than yin and yang, and the drum and the drumstick are a small matter. The sage does good, and not to seek a name, yet the name follows him. The name does not make an appointment with gain, yet gain comes home to him. So a man's sorrow and joy are not for the heel, yet the heel goes and they are born. So the man who has come all the way does not put on a face. He is like a man who rubs his eye when dust gets into it, like a man who props himself up when he stumbles. When the sage governs, he is quiet and no worth is seen in him, and only at the end can men know how great it was. It is like the going of the sun, which even the horse Qiji cannot race for distance.
今夫夜有求，與瞽師併，東方開，斯照矣。動而有益，則損隨之。故《易》曰：「剝之不可遂盡也。故受之以複。」積薄為厚，積卑為高，故君子日孳孳以成輝，小人日怏怏以至辱。其消息也，離朱弗能見也。文王聞善如不及，宿不善如不祥。非為日不足也，其憂尋推之也。故《詩》曰：「周雖舊邦，其命維新。」懷情抱質，天弗能殺，地弗能霾也。聲揚天地之間，配日月之光，甘樂之者也。苟向善，雖過無怨；苟不向善，雖忠來患。故怨人不如自怨，求諸人不如求諸己得也。聲自召也，貌自示也，名自命也，文自官也，無非己者。操銳以刺，操刃以擊，何怨乎人？故管子文錦也，雖醜登廟；子產練染也，美而不尊。虛而能滿，淡而有味，被褐懷玉者。故兩心不可以得一人，一心可以得百人。男子樹蘭，美而不芳，繼子得食，肥而不澤，情不相與往來也。
Now when a man searches in the night he is no better off than a blind music master, but when the east opens, then there is light. When a stir brings gain, loss follows after it. So the Book of Changes says, "Stripping away cannot go on to the very end, and so it is followed by Returning." Pile up the thin and it becomes thick. Pile up the low and it becomes high. So the gentleman toils day by day and comes to shine, and the small man frets day by day and comes to shame. Their waning and waxing not even Li Zhu could see. King Wen heard of good as though he could not catch up with it, and passed a night with what was not good as though it were an ill omen. It was not that the day was too short for him. It was that his care drove him on. So the Odes says, "Zhou is an old land, but its mandate is new." Hold feeling in your breast and keep the plain stuff in your arms, and Heaven cannot kill you and Earth cannot bury you. To have one's sound ring out between Heaven and Earth and be matched with the light of the sun and the moon, that is the man who took sweet delight in it. If a man truly faces toward the good, there is no grudge against him even when he is at fault. If he truly does not face toward the good, trouble comes to him even when he is loyal. So to bear a grudge against others is not so good as to find fault with oneself, and to seek in others is not so good as to seek in oneself and find. The sound calls itself up. The face shows itself. The name names itself. The pattern gives itself its office. There is none of it that is not oneself. You take something sharp and stab with it, you take a blade and strike with it. What grudge can you have against others? So Guanzi was figured brocade, and ugly as he was he went up into the ancestral hall, and Zichan was boiled silk and dyed, and fair as he was he was not honored. To be empty and yet able to fill, to be bland and yet have a taste, that is the man who wears coarse cloth and holds jade in his breast. So with two hearts you cannot win even one man, and with one heart you can win a hundred. When a man plants an orchid it is fair but not fragrant, and when a stepchild gets his food he grows fat but does not shine, because feeling does not come and go between them.
生所假也，死所歸也。故宏演直仁而立死，王子閭張掖而受刃，不以所托害所歸也。故世治則以義衛身，世亂則以身衛義。死之日，行之終也，故君子慎一用之。無勇者，非先懾也，難至而失其守也；貪婪者，非先欲也，見利而忘其害也。虞公見垂棘之璧，而不知虢禍之及己也。故至道之人，不可遏奪也。人之欲榮也，以為己也，于彼何益？聖人之行義也，其憂尋出乎中也，於己何以利？故帝王者多矣，而三王獨稱；貧賤者多矣，而伯夷獨舉。以貴為聖乎？則聖者眾矣；以賤為仁乎？則賤者多矣。何聖人之寡也。獨專之意樂哉！忽乎日滔滔以自新，忘老之及己也。始乎叔季，歸乎伯孟，必此積也。不身遁，斯亦不遁人。故若行獨梁，不為無人不兢其容。故使人信己者易，而蒙衣自信者難。情先動，動無不得；無不得，則無莙，發莙而後快。故唐、虞之舉錯也，非以偕情也，快己而天下治；桀、紂非正賊之也，快己而百事廢。喜憎議而治亂分矣。
Life is a thing borrowed and death is a thing gone home to. So Hong Yan, straight in his benevolence, stood and died, and Prince Lü spread his arms and took the blade. They would not let what was lent them harm what they were going home to. So when the age is well governed a man guards his body with rightness, and when the age is in disorder he guards rightness with his body. The day of a man's death is the ending of his conduct, so the gentleman is careful and spends it once. The man who has no courage did not take fright beforehand. He loses his hold when the hard thing comes. The man who is greedy did not want it beforehand. He sees the gain and forgets the harm in it. The duke of Yu saw the jade disc of Chuiji and did not know that the ruin of Guo would reach him too. So the man of the utmost Way cannot be blocked or robbed. A man wants glory for his own sake, and what good is it to him? The sage does what is right because his care comes out of his middle, and how is he the better for it? So there have been many emperors and kings and only the Three Kings are named, and there have been many poor and lowly men and only Bo Yi (伯夷) is raised up. Is a man a sage because he is noble? Then sages are many. Is a man benevolent because he is low? Then the low are many. Why then are sages so few? How glad is the mind that keeps to itself alone! In a flash, day after day, he makes himself new and forgets that old age is reaching him. To begin at the youngest and come home to the eldest must be this piling up. A man who does not cheat himself does not cheat others either. So it is like walking a single log bridge. There is no man who does not take care of his bearing because no one is there. So it is easy to make others trust you and hard to pull a robe over your head and trust yourself. When feeling stirs first, there is nothing the stirring does not get. When there is nothing it does not get, there is no care left, and only when the care is let out is a man at ease. So the ways of Tang and Yu were not a sharing of feeling. They put themselves at ease and all under Heaven was well governed. Jie and Zhou did not set out to harm men. They put themselves at ease and the hundred affairs were undone. Weigh what they liked and what they hated, and order and disorder are told apart.
聖人之行，無所合，無所離，譬若鼓，無所與調，無所不比。絲管金石，小大修短有敘，異聲而和；君臣上下，官職有差，殊事而調。夫織者日以進，耕者日以卻，事相反，成功一也。申喜聞乞人之歌而悲，出而視之，其母也。艾陵之戰也，夫差曰：「夷聲陽，句吳其庶乎！」同是聲而取信焉異。有諸情也。故心哀而歌不樂，心樂而哭不哀。夫子曰：「弦則是也，其聲非也。」文者，所以接物也，情系於中而欲發外者也。以文滅情，則失情；以情滅文，則失文。文情理通，則鳳麟極矣。言至德之懷遠也。輸子陽謂其子曰：「良工漸乎矩鑿之中。」矩鑿之中，固無物而不周。聖王以治民，造父以治馬，醫駱以治病。同材而各自取焉。上意而民載，誠中者也。未言而信，弗召而至，或先之也，忣於不己知者，不自知也。矜怛生於不足，華誣生於矜。誠中之人，樂而不忣，如鴞好聲，熊之好經。夫有誰為矜。春女思，秋士悲，而知物化矣。號而哭，嘰而哀，而知聲動矣；容貌顏色，理詘𠈐倨佝，徇知情偽矣。故聖人栗栗乎其內，而至乎至極矣。
The conduct of the sage joins with nothing and leaves nothing. It is like a drum. There is nothing it is tuned to, and there is nothing it does not fit. Silk and pipe and metal and stone have their order of great and small, long and short, so they sound differently and are in harmony. Lord and minister, high and low, have their grades of office and duty, so they do different work and are in tune. Now the weaver goes forward day by day and the plowman goes backward day by day. The work is the opposite, and the merit they make is one. Shen Xi heard a beggar singing and was grieved, and he went out and looked, and it was his mother. At the battle of Ailing, Fuchai said, "The sound of the Yi is bright. Gouwu will nearly have it!" The sound is the same, and what men take on trust from it differs. It is because of what is in the feeling. So when the heart is grieved, a man sings and it is not merry, and when the heart is merry, a man wails and it is not sad. The Master said, "The strings are right, but the sound of them is wrong." Pattern is the means of meeting things. It is feeling tied within and wanting to come out. Put out the feeling with pattern and you lose the feeling. Put out the pattern with feeling and you lose the pattern. When pattern and feeling run through by their own principle, the phoenix and the unicorn come at their utmost. This says that the highest power draws in those far off. Shu Ziyang said to his son, "The good workman is steeped in the middle of square and chisel." The middle of square and chisel goes all the way around every thing there is. The sage king governs the people with it, Zaofu governs horses with it, the doctor Luo governs sickness with it. From the same stuff each takes his own. When those above mean a thing and the people carry it, it is because the middle is true. To be trusted before speaking and to have men come without calling them is because something went before. To be in a hurry about those who do not know you is because you do not know yourself. Boasting and fretting are born of falling short, and showy lying is born of boasting. The man whose middle is true is glad and not in a hurry, as the owl loves its own cry and the bear loves to hang and stretch. What is there in him to boast of? The girl of spring longs and the scholar of autumn grieves, and by this one knows that things change. A man calls out and wails, he sobs and is sad, and by this one knows that sound is stirred. By the look of the face and the color of it, by the lines of it, by bending and haughtiness and stooping, one knows all through whether the feeling is true or false. So the sage is careful and watchful in his inside, and so he reaches the utmost of the utmost.
功名遂成，天也；循理受順，人也。太公望、周公旦，天非為武王造之也；崇侯、惡來，天非為紂生之也；有其世，有其人也。教本乎君子，小人被其澤；利本乎小人，君子享其功。昔東戶季子之世，道路不拾遺，耒耜餘糧宿諸畮首，使君子小人各得其宜也。故一人有慶，兆民賴之。凡高者貴其左，故下之于上曰左之，臣辭也；下者貴其右，故上之於下曰右之，君讓也。故上左遷，則失其所尊也；臣右還，則失其所貴矣。小快害道，斯須害儀。子產騰辭，獄繁而無邪，失諸情者，則塞於辭矣。成國之道，工無偽事，農無遺力，士無隱行，官無失法。譬若設網者，引其綱而萬目開矣。舜、禹不再受命，堯、舜傳大焉，先形乎小也。刑于寡妻，至於兄弟，禪于家國，而天下從風。故戎兵以大知小，人以小知大。君子之道，近而不可以至，卑而不可以登，無載焉而不勝，大而章，遠而隆，知此之道，不可求於人，斯得諸己也。釋己而求諸人，去之遠矣。
That merit and name are at last made whole is Heaven. That a man follows the principle of things and meets with compliance is man. Taigong Wang and Dan, the Duke of Zhou, were not made by Heaven for King Wu. The lord of Chong and Wulai were not born by Heaven for King Zhou. There was that age, and there were those men. Teaching is rooted in the gentleman, and the small man is wetted by its bounty. Profit is rooted in the small man, and the gentleman enjoys the merit of it. In the age of Donghu Jizi, men did not pick up what was dropped on the road, and plows and grain left over were left overnight at the head of the furrow, so that gentlemen and small men each got what suited them. So when one man has a blessing, the myriad people lean on it. Now the high hold their left side precious, so when those below speak of those above they say, to his left, and that is a minister's word. The low hold their right side precious, so when those above speak of those below they say, to his right, and that is a lord's yielding. So when a man above is moved to the left, he loses what was honored in him, and when a minister turns to the right, he loses what was precious in him. A little ease harms the Way, and a moment harms good bearing. Zichan let words fly, and the lawsuits were many and yet there was no wickedness in them. The man who loses hold of the feeling is blocked in his words. The way to make a state whole is this. The workmen have no false work, the farmers leave no strength unspent, the scholars have no hidden conduct, the officers lose no law. It is like a man setting a net. He pulls the head rope and the ten thousand meshes open. Shun and Yu did not receive the mandate twice, and that Yao and Shun handed on the great thing was because they had first given shape to the small. He was a model to his own wife, it reached his brothers, and he gave over house and state, and all under Heaven followed like the wind. So in war men know the small by the great, and with men they know the great by the small. The way of the gentleman is near and yet cannot be arrived at, low and yet cannot be climbed. Nothing is laid on it that it cannot bear. It is great and shines, it is far off and stands high. Knowing this way is not something to be sought in others. It is got in oneself. Let go of yourself and seek in others, and you are far away from it.
君子者，樂有餘而名不足，小人樂不足而名有餘。觀于有餘不足之相去，昭然遠矣。含而弗吐，在情而不萌者，未之聞也。君子思義而不慮利，小人貪利而不顧義。子曰：「鈞之哭也，曰：『子予奈何兮乘我何』其哀則同，其所以哀則異。」故哀樂之襲人情也深矣。鑿地漂池，非止以勞苦民也。各從其蹠而亂生焉。其載情一也，施人則異矣。故唐、虞日孳孳以致于王，桀、紂日怏怏以致於死，不知後世之譏己也。凡人情，說其所苦即樂，失其所樂則哀。故知生之樂，必知死之哀。有義者不可欺以利，有勇者不可劫以懼，如饑渴者不可欺以虛器也。人多欲虧義，多憂害智，多懼害勇。嫚生乎小人，蠻夷皆能之；善生乎君子，誘然與日月爭光，天下弗能遏奪。故治國樂其所以存，亡國亦樂其所以亡也。金錫不消釋則不流刑，上憂尋不誠則不法民。憂尋不在民，則是絕民之系也。君反本，而民系固也。至德小節備，大節舉。齊桓舉而不密，晉文密而不舉。晉文得之乎閨內，失之乎境外；齊桓失之乎閨內，而得之乎本朝。
The gentleman has gladness to spare and falls short in name. The small man falls short in gladness and has name to spare. Look at how far apart the sparing and the falling short are, and it is plainly a long way. To hold a thing in and not spit it out, to have it in the feeling and have it never sprout, has never been heard of. The gentleman thinks of rightness and does not reckon up gain. The small man is greedy for gain and does not look back at rightness. The Master said, "In wailing that is all alike, one says, 'My child, what shall I do, what will become of me?' The grief is the same, but what they grieve for differs." So the way that grief and gladness soak into the feelings of men is deep. To dig the ground and raise a pond is not merely to wear the people out with toil. Each man follows his own heel, and disorder is born of it. The feeling they carry is one, but in the giving to others it differs. So Tang and Yu toiled day by day and came to be kings, and Jie and Zhou fretted day by day and came to their deaths, and they did not know that later ages would mock them. Now in the feelings of men, to be glad about what one suffers is at once gladness, and to lose what one is glad in is grief. So he who knows the gladness of life must know the grief of death. A man who has rightness cannot be cheated with gain, and a man who has courage cannot be cowed with fear, just as a man who is hungry and thirsty cannot be cheated with an empty bowl. When a man wants much he wears rightness away, when he frets much he harms his wit, when he fears much he harms his courage. Idleness is born of the small man, and the Man and the Yi can all manage that. Goodness is born of the gentleman, and it shines out and races the sun and the moon for light, and all under Heaven cannot block it or rob it. So a state that is well governed delights in what keeps it alive, and a state that perishes delights in what makes it perish. Metal and tin that do not melt do not run into the mold, and when the care of those above is not true the people do not take them for a rule. When the care is not on the people, this is to cut the tie that binds the people. When the lord turns back to the root, the people's tie holds fast. In the highest power the small points of conduct are all in place and the great points are raised up. Duke Huan of Qi raised them up and was not close in the small things. Duke Wen of Jin was close in the small things and did not raise them up. Duke Wen of Jin got it within his own chambers and lost it beyond his borders. Duke Huan of Qi lost it within his own chambers and got it in his own court.
水下流而廣大，君下臣而聰明。君不與臣爭功，而治道通矣。管夷吾、百里奚經而成之，齊桓、秦穆受而聽之。照惑者，以東為西，惑也；見日而寤矣。衛武侯謂其臣曰：「小子無謂我老而羸我，有過必謁之。」是武侯如弗羸之必得羸。故老而弗舍，通乎存亡之論者也。人無能作也，有能為也；有能為也，而無能成也。人之為，天成之。終身為善，非天不行；終身為不善，非天不亡。故善否，我也；禍福，非我也。故君子順其在己者而已矣。性者，所受於天也；命者，所遭于時也。有其材，不遇其世，天也。太公何力，比干何罪，循性而行指，或害或利。求之有道，得之在命。故君子能為善，而不能必其得福；不忍為非，而未能必免其禍。君，根本也；臣，枝葉也。根本不美，枝葉茂者，未之聞也。有道之世，以人與國；無道之世，以國與人。堯王天下而憂不解，授舜而憂釋。憂而守之，而樂與賢終，不私其利矣。
Water flows downward and so is wide and great. The lord puts himself below his ministers and so is keen of ear and eye. When the lord does not strive with his ministers for merit, the way of governing runs clear. Guan Yiwu and Baili Xi laid the plans and brought them about, and Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Mu of Qin took them and listened. Shine a light on a man who is dazed, and taking east for west is the daze. He sees the sun and wakes from it. Marquis Wu of Wei said to his ministers, "You there, do not think me old and cast me aside. If I have a fault, you must come and tell me." In this Marquis Wu, by not being cast aside, was sure to have got the casting aside. So not to throw a man away when he is old is to run through the reckoning of what lives and what perishes. A man cannot make a thing, but he can do a thing. He can do a thing, but he cannot bring it to completion. Man does it and Heaven completes it. A man may do good all his life, but without Heaven it does not go forward. A man may do what is not good all his life, but without Heaven he does not perish. So the good and the not good are mine, and ruin and blessing are not mine. So the gentleman follows what lies in himself, and that is all. The nature is what is received from Heaven. The decree is what is met with in one's time. To have the talent and not meet with the age for it is Heaven. What strength had Taigong, what crime had Bi Gan? They followed their natures and went where they pointed, and one was harmed and one was helped. There is a way to seek a thing, and the getting of it lies with the decree. So the gentleman can do good but cannot make sure of getting the blessing, and cannot bear to do wrong and yet cannot make sure of escaping the ruin. The lord is the root, the ministers are the branches and the leaves. That the root should not be fair and the branches and leaves be thick has never been heard of. In an age that has the Way, men are given to the state. In an age without the Way, the state is given to a man. Yao was king over all under Heaven and his care was not undone, and he gave it to Shun and his care was loosed. He kept it with care and ended gladly with a worthy man, and he did not keep its profit for himself.
凡萬物有所施之，無小不可；為無所用之，碧瑜糞土也。人之情，於害之中爭取小焉，於利之中爭取大焉。故同味而嗜厚膊者，必其甘之者也；同師而超群者，必其樂之者也。弗甘弗樂，而能為表者，未之聞也。君子時則進，得之以義，何幸之有！不時則退，讓之以義，何不幸之有！故伯夷餓死首陽之下，猶不自悔，棄其所賤，得其所貴也。福之萌也綿綿，禍之生也分分。禍福之始萌微，故民嫚之。唯聖人見其始而知其終。故傳曰：「魯酒薄而邯鄲圍，羊羹不斟而宋國危。」明主之賞罰，非以為己也，以為國也。適於己而無功于國者，不施賞焉；逆于己便於國者，不加罰焉。故楚莊謂共雍曰：「有德者受吾爵祿，有功者受吾田宅。是二者，女無一焉，吾無以與女。」可謂不逾於理乎！其謝之也，猶未之莫與。周政至，殷政善，夏政行。行政善，善未必至也。至至之人，不慕乎行，不慚乎善。含德履道，而上下相樂也，不知其所由然。有國者多矣，而齊桓、晉文獨名；泰山之上有七十壇焉，而三王獨道。君不求諸臣，臣不假之君，修近彌遠，而後世稱其大。不越鄰而成章，而莫能至焉。故孝己之禮可為也，而莫能奪之名也。必不得其所懷也。
Now among the ten thousand things, where there is a place to use a thing, even a small thing will do, and where there is no use for it, fine jade is dung and dirt. In the feelings of men, among harms they strive to take the small one, and among gains they strive to take the great one. So when the taste is the same and a man relishes the thick slice of dried meat, it is surely because he finds it sweet, and when the teacher is the same and a man goes beyond the crowd, it is surely because he delights in it. A man who does not find it sweet and does not delight in it and can still be a mark for others has never been heard of. When it is his time the gentleman goes forward, and he gets it by rightness, so what luck is there in it? When it is not his time he draws back, and he yields it by rightness, so what bad luck is there in it? So Bo Yi starved to death below Mount Shouyang and still did not repent of it, for he threw away what he held cheap and got what he held precious. A blessing sprouts thin and fine, and ruin is born in a tangle. The first sprouting of ruin and blessing is very small, and so the people are idle about it. Only the sage sees the beginning and knows the end. So the tradition says, "The wine of Lu was thin and Handan was besieged. The sheep broth was not ladled out and the state of Song was in danger." The rewards and punishments of a bright ruler are not for himself. They are for the state. A man who suits him but has done no work for the state gets no reward. A man who goes against him but is good for the state has no punishment laid on him. So King Zhuang of Chu said to Gong Yong, "The man who has power receives my rank and stipend. The man who has merit receives my fields and house. Of these two you have not one, so I have nothing to give you." This may be called not stepping beyond the principle of things! Yet his refusing was still not so good as giving nothing at all. The rule of Zhou was at the utmost, the rule of Yin was good, the rule of Xia was carried out. A rule that is carried out is good, but the good does not have to be the utmost. The man of the utmost of the utmost does not long to be carried out and is not ashamed before what is good. He holds power in his mouth and treads the Way, and high and low delight in one another and do not know why it is so. Many men have held a state, and only Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin have a name. There are seventy altars on Mount Tai, and only the Three Kings are spoken of. The lord does not seek from his ministers and the minister does not borrow from his lord. They mend what is near and it fills the far places, and later ages tell of their greatness. They do not step past their own neighbors, and a pattern is made, and no one can come up to it. So the ritual conduct of Xiaoji can be done, but no one can take his name away from him. It is because they cannot get what he held in his breast.
義載乎宜之謂君子，宜遺乎義之謂小人。通智得而不勞，其次勞而不病，其下病而不勞。古人味而弗貪也，今人貪而弗味。歌之修其音也，音之不足於其美者也。金石絲竹，助而奏之，猶未足以至於極也。人能尊道行義，喜怒取予，欲如草之從風。召公桑蠶耕種之時，馳獄出拘，使百姓皆得反業修職。文王辭千里之地，而請去炮烙之刑。故聖人之舉事也，進退不失時，若夏就絺綌，上車授綏之謂也。老子學商容，見舌而知守柔矣；列子學壺子，觀景柱而知持後矣。故聖人不為物先，而常制之，其類若積薪樵，後者在上。人以義愛，以黨群，以群強。是故德之所施者博，則威之所行者遠；義之所加者淺，則武之所制者小矣。鐸以聲自毀，膏濁以明自鑠，虎豹之文來射，猿狖之捷來措。故子路以勇死，萇弘以智困。能以智知，而未能以智不知也。故行險者不得履繩，出林者不得直道，夜行瞑目而前其手，事有所至，而明有所害。人能貫冥冥入於昭昭，可與言至矣。鵲巢知風之所起，獺穴知水之高下，暉目知晏，陰諧知雨，為是謂人智不如鳥獸，則不然。故通於一伎，察於一辭，可與曲說，未可與廣應也。甯戚擊牛角而歌，桓公舉以大政；雍門子以哭見孟嘗君，涕流沾纓。歌哭，眾人之所能為也，一發聲，入人耳，感人心，情之至者也。故唐、虞之法可效也。其諭人心，不可及也。簡公以懦殺，子陽以猛劫，皆不得其道者也。故歌而不比於律者，其清濁一也；繩之外與繩之內，皆失直者也。紂為象箸而箕子嘰，魯以偶人葬而孔子歎，見所始則知所終。故水出於山，入於海；稼生乎野，而藏乎倉。聖人見其所生，則知其所歸矣。
When rightness is carried in what is fitting, he is called a gentleman. When what is fitting throws away rightness, he is called a small man. The man who runs through to wisdom gets it and is not worn out. The next is worn out and does not fall sick. The lowest falls sick and is not worn out. Men of old tasted and were not greedy. Men of today are greedy and do not taste. That a song works at its notes is because the notes fall short of its beauty. Metal and stone and silk and bamboo help it and play it, and still it is not enough to reach the utmost. When a man can honor the Way and do what is right, then his joy and his anger, his taking and his giving and his wanting are like grass following the wind. Duke Shao, in the season of mulberry and silkworms and plowing and planting, hurried through the prisons and let out those who were held, so that the people could all go back to their work and mend their duties. King Wen gave up a thousand miles of land and asked that the roasting pillar punishment be done away with. So when the sage takes up an affair, his going forward and his drawing back do not lose the season. It is like putting on hemp cloth in summer, like handing up the mounting cord when a man climbs into a cart. Laozi studied under Shang Rong, and seeing his tongue he knew how to keep to what is soft. Liezi studied under Huzi, and watching the shadow of a pillar he knew how to hold to the rear. So the sage does not go before things, and yet he always rules them. His kind is like piled up firewood, where the later pieces lie on top. Men love by rightness, they gather into a company, and by the company they are strong. So when power is given out widely, awe reaches far, and when rightness is laid on thinly, arms rule over little. The bell wears itself away with its own sound, and oil melts itself away with its own light. The markings of tiger and leopard bring the arrow, and the quickness of the monkey brings the trap. So Zilu died of his courage and Chang Hong was brought low by his wisdom. He could know by wisdom, but he could not use wisdom to not know. So the man who walks a rough place cannot tread a plumb line, and the man who comes out of a wood cannot find a straight road, and a man walking at night shuts his eyes and puts his hands out in front. Where the affair reaches far, the light is harmed. When a man can pierce the dark and the dark and enter the bright and the bright, one may speak with him of the utmost. The magpie's nest knows where the wind rises, the otter's burrow knows the high and low of the water, the huimu knows when it will clear, and the yinxie knows the rain. To say by this that the wit of man is not equal to the birds and beasts is not so. So a man who runs through one craft and looks closely into one saying may be spoken with about a narrow doctrine, but he cannot answer broadly. Ning Qi struck an ox horn and sang, and Duke Huan raised him up to the great government. Yongmenzi came before Lord Mengchang with weeping, and the tears ran down and wet his hat strings. Singing and wailing are what the crowd can do, but to send out one sound that goes into a man's ear and stirs a man's heart is the utmost of feeling. So the laws of Tang and Yu can be copied. The way they woke the hearts of men cannot be reached. Duke Jian was killed by his weakness and Ziyang was seized by his fierceness, and neither of them had got the Way of it. So when a man sings and does not measure against the pitch pipes, his clear notes and his muddy notes are all one. What is outside the plumb line and what is inside the plumb line have both lost the straight. When King Zhou made chopsticks of ivory, Jizi sobbed, and when Lu buried the dead with wooden figures, Confucius sighed. They saw what was begun and knew where it would end. So water comes out of the hills and goes into the sea, and grain is born in the field and is stored in the barn. The sage sees where a thing is born and knows where it goes home.
水濁者魚噞，令苛者民亂。城峭者必崩，岸青者必陀。故商鞅立法而支解，吳起刻削而車裂。治國譬若張瑟，大絃絚，則小絃絕矣。故急轡數策者，非千里之禦也。有聲之聲，不過百里；無聲之聲，施于四海。是故祿過其功者損，名過其實者蔽。情行合而名副之，禍福不虛至矣。身有醜夢，不勝正行；國有妖祥，不勝善政。是故前有軒冕之賞，不可以無功取也；後有斧鉞之禁，不可以無罪蒙也。素修正者，弗離道也。君子不謂小善不足為也而舍之，小善積而為大善；不謂小不善為無傷也而為之，小不善積而為大不善。是故積羽沈舟，群輕折軸。故君子禁于微。壹快不足以成善，積快而為德；壹恨不足以成非，積恨而成怨。故三代之稱，千歲之積譽也；桀、紂之謗，千歲之積毀也。
When the water is muddy the fish gape at the surface, and when orders are harsh the people fall into disorder. A wall that is too steep must come down, and a bank that is too steep must slide. So Shang Yang set up laws and was torn limb from limb, and Wu Qi pared men down and was torn apart by carts. Governing a state is like stringing a zither. Draw the great string tight and the small strings snap. So a man who pulls the reins hard and uses the whip often is not one who drives a thousand miles. A sound that has sound does not carry past a hundred miles, but a sound that has no sound is spread over the four seas. So a man whose stipend goes beyond his work is worn down, and a man whose name goes beyond what is in him is put in the shade. When feeling and conduct fit together and the name matches them, then ruin and blessing do not come for nothing. A man may have an ugly dream, and it does not overcome straight conduct. A state may have a strange omen, and it does not overcome good government. So the reward of carriage and cap lies in front, and it cannot be taken without merit, and the ban of axe and battle-axe lies behind, and it cannot be brought down on a man without a crime. The man who has always mended what is straight does not leave the Way. The gentleman does not say that a small good is not worth doing and throw it aside, for small goods pile up and become a great good, and he does not say that a small wrong does no harm and go and do it, for small wrongs pile up and become a great wrong. So piled up feathers will sink a boat and a crowd of light things will snap an axle. So the gentleman forbids it while it is still small. One moment of ease is not enough to make a good, but ease piled up becomes power. One grudge is not enough to make a wrong, but grudges piled up become hatred. So the praise of the Three Dynasties is a thousand years of piled up praising, and the blame of Jie and Zhou is a thousand years of piled up blaming.
天有四時，人有四用。何謂四用？視而形之，莫明於目；聽而精之，莫聰於耳；重而閉之，莫固於口；含而藏之，莫深於心。目見其形，耳聽其聲，口言其誠，而心致之精，則萬物之化鹹有極矣。地以德廣，君以德尊，上也；地以義廣，君以義尊，次也；地以強廣，君以強尊，下也。故粹者王，駁者霸，無一焉者亡。昔二皇鳳皇至於庭，三代至乎門，周室至乎澤。德彌粗，所至彌遠；德彌精，所至彌近。君子誠仁，施亦仁，不施亦仁；小人誠不仁，施亦不仁，不施亦不仁。善之由我，與其由人若，仁德之盛者也，故情勝欲者昌，欲勝情者亡。欲知天道，察其數；欲行地道，物其樹；欲知人道，從其欲。勿驚勿駭，萬物將自理；勿撓勿攖，萬物將自清。
Heaven has the four seasons and man has four uses. What are the four uses? For seeing and giving shape to a thing, nothing is brighter than the eye. For hearing and taking it in finely, nothing hears better than the ear. For weighing a thing down and shutting it in, nothing is firmer than the mouth. For holding a thing in and hiding it, nothing is deeper than the heart. When the eye sees the shape of a thing, the ear hears the sound of it, the mouth speaks the truth of it, and the heart brings the fineness of it, then the changes of the ten thousand things all have their utmost. That the earth is wide by power and the lord honored by power is the highest. That the earth is wide by rightness and the lord honored by rightness is the next. That the earth is wide by strength and the lord honored by strength is the lowest. So the man who is pure becomes a king, the man who is mixed becomes an overlord, and the man who has none of it perishes. In the old days, under the Two August Ones the phoenix came into the courtyard, under the Three Dynasties it came to the gate, and under the house of Zhou it came to the marshes. The coarser the power, the farther off the phoenix came. The finer the power, the nearer it came. When the gentleman is truly benevolent he is benevolent when he gives and benevolent when he does not give. When the small man is truly not benevolent he is not benevolent when he gives and not benevolent when he does not give. To have good come from me as though it came from another is the fullness of benevolent power. So the man in whom feeling overcomes wanting flourishes, and the man in whom wanting overcomes feeling perishes. If you would know the way of Heaven, look into its numbers. If you would walk the way of Earth, inquire into its trees. If you would know the way of man, follow what he wants. Do not startle them and do not frighten them, and the ten thousand things will set themselves in order. Do not shake them and do not meddle with them, and the ten thousand things will make themselves clear.
察一曲者，不可與言化；審一時者，不可與言大。日不知夜，月不知晝，日月為明而弗能兼也，唯天地能函之。能包天地，曰唯無形者也。驕溢之君無忠臣，口慧之人無必信。交拱之木，無把之枝；尋常之溝，無吞舟之魚。根淺則末短，本傷則枝枯。福生於無為，患生於多欲，害生於弗備，穢生於弗耨。聖人為善若恐不及，備禍若恐不免。蒙塵而欲毋眯，涉水而欲無濡，不可得也。是故知己者不怨人，知命者不怨天。福由己發，禍由己生。
A man who has looked into one bend of the road cannot be spoken with about change, and a man who has looked into one season cannot be spoken with about what is great. The sun does not know the night and the moon does not know the day. Sun and moon make the light and cannot hold both at once, and only Heaven and Earth can hold them. What can wrap Heaven and Earth is only that which has no shape. A proud and overflowing lord has no loyal ministers, and a man whose mouth is quick is not to be trusted. A tree that takes two arms to span has no branch of a single handful, and a ditch a few feet across has no fish that could swallow a boat. When the root is shallow the tip is short, and when the trunk is hurt the branches wither. Blessing is born of doing nothing, trouble is born of wanting much, harm is born of not being ready, and filth is born of not weeding. The sage does good as though he feared he could not catch up with it, and makes ready for ruin as though he feared he could not escape it. To take dust on yourself and want nothing in your eye, to wade a river and want to stay dry, is not to be had. So the man who knows himself does not bear a grudge against others, and the man who knows the decree does not bear a grudge against Heaven. Blessing sets out from oneself, and ruin is born of oneself.
聖人不求譽，不辟誹，正身直行，眾邪自息。今釋正而追曲，倍是而從眾，是與俗儷走，而內無繩，故聖人反己而弗由也。道之有篇章形埒者，非至者也。嘗之而無味，視之而無形，不可傳於人。大戟去水，亭曆愈張，用之不節，乃反為病。物多類之而非，唯聖人知其微。善禦者不忘其馬，善射者不忘其弩，善為人上者不忘其下。誠能愛而利之，天下可從也。弗愛弗利，親子叛父。天下有至貴而非勢位也，有至富而非金玉也，有至壽而非千歲也。原心反性，則貴矣；適情知足，則富矣；明死生之分，則壽矣。言無常是，行無常宜者，小人也；察于一事，通於一伎者，中人也；兼覆蓋而並有之，度伎能而裁使之者，聖人也。
The sage does not seek praise and does not shun blame. He sets his body straight and acts straight, and the crowd of wicked things dies down of itself. Now to let go the straight and run after the crooked, to turn your back on what is right and follow the crowd, is to run alongside the common world with no plumb line inside you. So the sage turns back to himself and does not go that way. What has chapters and shapes and boundaries in it is not the utmost of the Way. Taste it and it has no taste, look at it and it has no shape, and it cannot be handed on to another. Daji drives out water and tingli heals swelling, but if they are used without measure they turn into sickness. Among things there are many that look like a thing and are not it, and only the sage knows the small difference. The good driver does not forget his horse, the good archer does not forget his crossbow, and the man who is good at standing above others does not forget those below him. If he can truly love them and do them good, all under Heaven can be made to follow him. If he does not love them and does not do them good, even his own son turns against his father. All under Heaven there is the utmost nobility, and it is not power and position. There is the utmost wealth, and it is not gold and jade. There is the utmost long life, and it is not a thousand years. Go back to the source of the heart and turn back to the nature, and you are noble. Fit your feelings and know when you have enough, and you are rich. Be clear about the parting of death and life, and you are long lived. The man whose words have no settled rightness and whose conduct has no settled fitness is a small man. The man who looks closely into one affair and runs through one craft is a middling man. The man who covers all of it and holds it all together, who weighs each man's craft and skill and cuts out his use for him, is a sage.