Xiuwu — Cultivating Effort脩務訓
或曰：「無為者，寂然無聲，漠然不動，引之不來，推之不往。如此者，乃得道之像。」吾以為不然。嘗試問之矣：「若夫神農、堯、舜、禹、湯，可謂聖人乎？」有論者必不能廢。以五聖觀之，則莫得無為，明矣。古者，民茹草飲水，采樹木之實，食蠃蠬之肉。時多疾病毒傷之害，於是神農乃始教民播種五穀，相土地宜，燥濕肥墝高下，嘗百草之滋味，水泉之甘苦，令民知所辟就。當此之時，一日而遇七十毒。堯立孝慈仁愛，使民如子弟。西教沃民，東至黑齒，北撫幽都，南道交趾。放讙兜於崇山，竄三苗于三危，流共工於幽州，殛鯀於羽山。舜作室，築牆茨屋，辟地樹穀，令民皆知去岩穴，各有家室。南征三苗，道死蒼梧。禹沐浴霪雨，櫛扶風，決江疏河，鑿龍門，辟伊闕，修彭蠡之防，乘四載，隨山刊木，平治水土，定千八百國。湯夙興夜寐，以致聰明，輕賦薄斂，以寬民氓，布德施惠，以振困窮，吊死問疾，以養孤孀。百姓親附，政令流行，乃整兵鳴條，困夏南巢，譙以其過，放之曆山。此五聖者，天下之盛主，勞形盡慮，為民興利除害而不懈。奉一爵酒不知於色，挈一石之尊則白汗交流，又況贏天下之憂，而海內事者乎？其重於尊亦遠也！且夫聖人者，不恥身之賤，而愧道之不行；不憂命之短，而憂百姓之窮。是故禹之為水，以身解于陽盱之河。湯旱，以身禱于桑山之林。聖人憂民，如此其明也，而稱以「無為」，豈不悖哉！
Some say, "One who does nothing is still and without sound, vast and unmoving. Draw him and he does not come, push him and he does not go. Such a one has the very image of a man who has gained the Way." I hold that this is not so. Let me try asking about it. "Can such men as Shennong, Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang be called sages?" Even those who would argue about it cannot set this aside. Looking at the five sages, it is clear that none of them could do nothing. In ancient times the people ate grasses and drank water, gathered the fruit of trees and ate the flesh of snails and clams. In those days there was much harm from sickness and from wounds of poison, and so Shennong first taught the people to sow the five grains. He looked at what soil and land were fit for, whether dry or wet, rich or barren, high or low. He tasted the flavors of the hundred plants and the sweet and the bitter of the spring waters, and let the people know what to shun and what to go toward. In that time he met seventy poisons in a single day. Yao set up filial care, kindness, benevolence and love, and made the people like his own sons and younger brothers. In the west he taught the Wo people, in the east he reached the Black Teeth, in the north he comforted Youdu, in the south he led Jiaozhi. He cast Huandou out to Mount Chong, hid the Three Miao away in Sanwei, sent Gonggong drifting off to Youzhou, and put Gun to death at Mount Yu. Shun made houses, raised walls and thatched roofs, opened the land and planted grain, and let the people all know to leave the caves in the rock, each with a home of his own. He went south to punish the Three Miao, and died on the road at Cangwu. Yu washed his hair in the long rains and combed it in the whirlwind. He opened the Jiang and cleared the He, bored through Longmen and opened Yique, repaired the dikes of Pengli, rode the four conveyances, followed the mountains and felled the trees, brought the waters and the land to order, and settled one thousand eight hundred states. Tang rose early and slept late, and so brought his hearing and his sight to their fullness. He made the levies light and the taking thin, and so gave the people room. He spread virtue and bestowed kindness, and so lifted up the worn and the destitute. He mourned the dead and asked after the sick, and so nourished the orphaned and the widowed. The people drew close to him and his rule and his orders flowed and were carried out. Then he put his troops in order at Mingtiao, hemmed the Xia in at Nanchao, rebuked them for their fault, and banished them to Mount Li. These five sages were the flourishing rulers of all under heaven, and they wore out their bodies and spent their thought, raising up profit for the people and doing away with harm, and never slackening. To hold up one cup of wine does not show in a man's face, but to lift a wine jar of one picul makes the white sweat run and cross. How much more to carry the cares of all under heaven and work at the affairs within the seas! Its weight is far beyond the wine jar. And the sage is not ashamed that his body is lowly, but ashamed that the Way is not carried out. He does not grieve that his life is short, but grieves that the people are destitute. For this reason, when Yu was at work on the waters, he loosed it with his own body at the river of Yangxu. When Tang had drought, he prayed with his own body in the forest of Mount Sang. The sage's care for the people is as plain as this, and to call it "doing nothing" — is that not perverse!
且古之立帝王者，非以奉養其欲也；聖人踐位者，非以逸樂其身也。為天下強掩弱，眾暴寡，詐欺愚，勇侵怯，懷知而不以相教，積財而不以相分，故立天子以齊一之。為一人聰明而不足以遍照海內，故立三公九卿以輔翼之。絕國殊俗、僻遠幽間之處，不能被德承澤，故立諸侯以教誨之。是以地無不任，時無不應，官無隱事，國無遺利。所以衣寒食饑，養老弱而息勞倦也。若以布衣徒步之人觀之，則伊尹負鼎而幹湯，呂望鼓刀而入周，百里奚轉鬻，管仲束縛，孔子無黔𥥍，墨子無暖席。是以聖人不高山，不廣河，蒙恥辱以幹世主，非以貪祿慕位，欲事起天下利，而除萬民之害。蓋聞傳書曰：「神農憔悴，堯瘦臞，舜黴黑，禹胼胝。」由此觀之，則聖人之憂勞百姓甚矣。故自天子以下至於庶人，四胑不動，思慮不用，事治求澹者，未之聞也。
And the setting up of emperors and kings in ancient times was not to serve and nourish their own wants, and the sage's treading of the throne was not to give his own body ease and pleasure. In all under heaven the strong covered the weak, the many were fierce toward the few, the cunning cheated the foolish, the brave encroached upon the timid. Men held knowledge and did not teach one another, heaped up wealth and did not share it with one another, and so the Son of Heaven was set up to make them even and one. One man's hearing and sight are not enough to light all within the seas, and so the three dukes and the nine ministers were set up to be his wings. Cut off countries, strange customs, remote and out of the way places could not receive his virtue or take up his bounty, and so the feudal lords were set up to teach them. In this way there was no land that was not put to use and no season that was not answered, no office with a hidden matter and no state with a profit left behind. This is how the cold are clothed and the hungry fed, the old and the weak nourished, and the worn and the weary rested. If we look at men in hemp clothes who went on foot, Yi Yin carried a cauldron on his back and sought out Tang; Lü Wang beat his knife and entered Zhou; Baili Xi was passed about and sold; Guan Zhong was bound with ropes; Confucius had no time for his chimney to blacken; Mozi had no time for his mat to grow warm. For this reason the sage does not call the mountain high or the He wide, and bears shame and disgrace in going to the rulers of the age. It is not that he covets a stipend or longs for a place, but that he wants to work at raising up the profit of all under heaven and doing away with the harm of the ten thousand people. I have heard that a book handed down says, "Shennong was haggard, Yao was gaunt, Shun was weathered dark, Yu had thick calluses." Looking at it in this way, the sages grieved and toiled for the people very greatly. So from the Son of Heaven down to the common man, one who does not move his four limbs and does not use his thought, and yet has his affairs put in order and his wants met, has never been heard of.
夫地勢，水東流，人必事焉，然後水潦得穀行。禾稼春生，人必加功焉，故五穀得遂長。聽其自流，待其自生，則鯀、禹之功不立，而后稷之智不用。若吾所謂無為者，私志不得入公道，嗜欲不得枉正術，循理而舉事，因資而立，權自然之勢，而曲故不得容者，事成而身弗伐，功立而名弗有，非謂其感而不應，攻而不動者。若夫以火熯井，以淮灌山，此用己而背自然，故謂之有為。若夫水之用舟，沙之用鳩，泥之用輴，山之用蔂，夏瀆而冬陂，因高為田，因下為池，此非吾所謂為之。聖人之從事也，殊體而合於理，其所由異路而同歸，其存危定傾若一，志不忘於欲利人也。何以明之？昔者楚欲攻宋，墨子聞而悼之，自魯趨而十日十夜，足重趼而不休息，裂衣裳裹足，至於郢，見楚王。曰：「臣聞大王舉兵將攻宋，計必得宋而後攻之乎？亡其苦眾勞民，頓兵挫銳，負天下以不義之名，而不得咫尺之地，猶且攻之乎？」王曰：「必不得宋，又且為不義，曷為攻之！」墨子曰：「臣見大王之必傷義而不得宋。」王曰：「公輸，天下之巧士，作雲梯之械，設以攻宋，曷為弗取！」墨子曰：「令公輸設攻，臣請守之。」於是公輸般設攻宋之械，墨子設守宋之備，九攻而墨子九卻之，弗能入。於是乃偃兵，輟不攻宋。段干木辭祿而處家，魏文侯過其閭而軾之。其仆曰：「君何為軾？」文侯曰：「段干木在，是以軾。」其仆曰：「段干木布衣之士，君軾其閭，不已甚乎？」文侯曰：「段干木不趨勢利，懷君子之道，隱處窮巷，聲施千里，寡人敢勿軾乎！段干木光於德，寡人光於勢；段干木富於義，寡人富於財。勢不若德尊，財不若義高。干木雖以己易寡人不為。吾日悠慚於影，子何以輕之哉！」其後秦將起兵伐魏，司馬庾諫曰：「段干木賢者，其君禮之，天下莫不知，諸侯莫不聞，舉兵伐之，無乃妨於義乎！」於是秦乃偃兵，輟不攻魏。
Now in the lie of the land the water flows east, but men must work at it, and only then can the floodwater run through the valleys. The grain is born in spring, but men must add their labor to it, and so the five grains can come to their growth. If you listen for the water to flow of itself and wait for the grain to be born of itself, then the merit of Gun and Yu is not set up and the wisdom of Houji is not used. What I call doing nothing is this: private will cannot enter the public Way, taste and desire cannot bend the upright art, affairs are raised by following the pattern and set up by following what is at hand, the force of what is so of itself is weighed, and crooked old ways find no room. The thing is accomplished and the man does not boast; the merit is set up and he does not hold the name. It does not mean that he is touched and does not answer, or struck and does not move. As for drying up a well with fire, or watering a mountain with the Huai, this is using oneself and turning one's back on what is so of itself, and so it is called doing something. As for using a boat on water, clogs on sand, a sledge on mud, a basket on the mountain, cutting ditches in summer and raising banks in winter, making fields by following the high ground and ponds by following the low, this is not what I call doing something. In the sage's conduct of affairs the bodies differ and yet they agree with the pattern, and the paths they go by are different and yet they come home to the same place. In keeping what is in danger and steadying what is toppling they are as one, and their will never forgets the wish to profit others. How is this made plain? Long ago Chu wished to attack Song. Mozi heard of it and grieved. He hurried from Lu for ten days and ten nights, and though his feet were thick with calluses he did not rest. He tore his clothes to wrap his feet, and he came to Ying and saw the king of Chu. He said, "Your servant hears that the great king has raised troops and is about to attack Song. In your reckoning, will you attack it only if you are sure to gain Song? Or will you attack it even so, wearing out the multitude and toiling the people, blunting your troops and breaking their edge, bearing before all under heaven the name of one without right, and not gaining a foot of land?" The king said, "If I am sure not to gain Song, and it is also without right, why would I attack it!" Mozi said, "Your servant sees that the great king will surely harm right and not gain Song." The king said, "Gongshu is the cleverest craftsman under heaven. He has made the cloud ladder engine. If it is set against Song, why would I not take it!" Mozi said, "Let Gongshu set out his attack. Your servant asks to defend against it." So Gongshu Ban set out his engines for attacking Song and Mozi set out his preparations for defending Song. Nine times Gongshu attacked and nine times Mozi drove him back, and he could not get in. So the king laid down his arms and stopped, and did not attack Song. Duangan Mu declined a stipend and stayed at home, and Marquis Wen of Wei, passing his gate, bowed at the crossbar of his carriage. His driver said, "Why does my lord bow?" Marquis Wen said, "Duangan Mu is there, and that is why I bow." His driver said, "Duangan Mu is a man in hemp clothes. For my lord to bow at his gate, is that not going too far?" Marquis Wen said, "Duangan Mu does not run after power and profit. He holds in his breast the Way of the gentleman. He lives hidden in a poor lane, and his name is spread a thousand miles. How would I dare not bow! Duangan Mu shines in virtue, and I shine in power. Duangan Mu is rich in right, and I am rich in goods. Power is not the equal of virtue in honor, and goods are not the equal of right in height. Even if Duangan Mu were to change places with me, he would not do it. Every day I am ashamed before my own shadow. How can you make light of him!" After this a general of Qin was about to raise troops and strike Wei. Sima Yu remonstrated and said, "Duangan Mu is a worthy man, and his ruler treats him with courtesy. There is no one under heaven who does not know it and no feudal lord who has not heard it. To raise troops and strike, would that not get in the way of right!" So Qin laid down its arms and stopped, and did not attack Wei.
夫墨子跌蹄而趨千里，以存楚、宋；段干木闔門不出，以安秦、魏。夫行與止也，其勢相反，而皆可以存國，此所謂異路而同歸者也。今夫救火者，汲水而趨之，或以甕瓴，或以盆盂，其方員銳橢不同，盛水各異，其於滅火鈞也。故秦、楚、燕、魏之歌也，異轉而皆樂；九夷八狄之哭也，殊聲而皆悲；一也。夫歌者，樂之徵也；哭者，悲之效也。憤于中則應於外，故在所以感。夫聖人之心，日夜不忘於欲利人，其澤之所及者，效亦大矣。
Mozi ran a thousand miles until his heels were blistered, and so kept Chu and Song whole. Duangan Mu shut his gate and did not go out, and so gave peace to Qin and Wei. Going and staying are opposite in their force, and yet both can keep a state whole. This is what is meant by different paths coming home to the same place. Now those who put out a fire draw water and hurry with it. Some use crocks and jugs, some use basins and bowls, and these are not the same in being square or round, pointed or long, and each holds a different amount of water. But in putting out the fire they are equal. So the songs of Qin and Chu and Yan and Wei turn differently and are all merry; the wailing of the nine Yi and the eight Di sounds differently and is all sorrowful. It is one. Song is the sign of joy, and wailing is the showing of sorrow. What is pent up within answers without, and so it lies in what a man is moved by. The sage's heart, day and night, never forgets the wish to profit others, and what his bounty reaches is great in its showing too.
世俗廢衰，而非學者多。「人性各有所修短，若魚之躍，若鵲之駁，此自然者，不可損益。」吾以為不然。夫魚者躍，鵲者駁也，猶人馬之為人馬，筋骨形體，所受於天，不可變。以此論之，則不類矣。夫馬之為草駒之時，跳躍揚蹄，翹尾而走，人不能制，齧咋足以噆肌碎骨，蹶蹄足以破顱陷匈；及至圉人擾之，良禦教之，掩以衡扼，連以轡銜，則雖歷險超塹弗敢辭。故其形之為馬，馬不可化；其可駕禦，教之所為也。馬，聾蟲也，而可以通氣志，猶待教而成，又況人乎！且夫身正性善，發憤而成仁，帽憑而為義，性命可說，不待學問而合於道者，堯、舜、文王也；沉湎耽荒，不可教以道，不可喻以德，嚴父弗能正，賢師不能化者，丹朱、商均也。曼頰皓齒，形誇骨佳，不待脂粉芳澤而性可說者，西施、陽文也；啳𦝢哆噅，籧蒢戚施，雖粉白黛黑弗能為美者，嫫母、仳倠也。夫上不及堯、舜，下不及商均，美不及西施，惡不若嫫母，此教訓之所諭也，而芳澤之所施。且子有弑父者，然而天下莫疏其子，何也？愛父者眾也。儒有邪辟者，而先王之道不廢，何也？其行之者多也。今以為學者之有過而非學者，則是以一飽之故，絕穀不食，以一蹪之難，輟足不行，惑也。
The customs of the age have fallen and grown weak, and many hold that learning is wrong. "Each man's nature has what is long in it and what is short, as the fish leaps and the magpie is speckled. This is what is so of itself, and it cannot be taken from or added to." I hold that this is not so. That the fish leaps and the magpie is speckled is like a man being a man and a horse being a horse. The sinews and bones, the shape and the body, are what is received from heaven, and they cannot be changed. Argued in that way, the cases are not alike. When a horse is a colt in the grass it jumps and throws up its hooves, it lifts its tail and runs, and men cannot control it. Its bite is enough to chew the flesh and break the bone, and a kick of its hoof is enough to crack the skull and stave in the chest. But when the groom breaks it in and a good driver teaches it, when it is covered with yoke and collar and joined with rein and bit, then though it passes rough ground and leaps over trenches, it does not dare refuse. So its shape being that of a horse is what the horse cannot change, but its being fit for yoke and driving is what teaching does. A horse is a deaf creature, and yet its breath and its will can be reached, and even it waits upon teaching to be made. How much more a man! And one whose body is upright and whose nature is good, who rouses himself and completes benevolence, who strives and does what is right, whose nature and lot are a delight, who agrees with the Way without waiting upon study and asking — such were Yao, Shun and King Wen. One who is sunk and drowned in wildness, who cannot be taught with the Way or made to understand with virtue, whom a stern father cannot set straight and a worthy teacher cannot transform — such were Danzhu and Shangjun. One with smooth cheeks and white teeth, of proud shape and fine bone, who is a delight in her nature without waiting upon rouge and powder and fragrant oil — such were Xi Shi and Yangwen. One with squinting eyes and a crooked mouth, humpbacked and bent, who cannot be made beautiful even with white powder and black brow paint — such were Momu and Pisui. Those who do not come up to Yao and Shun above, and are not so low as Shangjun, whose beauty does not come up to Xi Shi and whose ugliness is not the equal of Momu — these are what teaching makes plain to, and what fragrant oil is put upon. And there are sons who have killed their fathers, and yet all under heaven does not keep its sons at a distance. Why? Because those who love their fathers are many. There are Confucians who are crooked and warped, and yet the Way of the former kings is not cast aside. Why? Because those who carry it out are many. To hold now that learners are wrong because a learner has faults is to cut off grain and not eat because of one surfeit, and to stop one's feet and not walk because of one stumble. It is a delusion.
今有良馬，不待策錣而行，駑馬，雖兩錣之不能進，為此不用策錣而禦，則愚矣。夫怯夫操利劍，擊則不能斷，刺則不能入，及至勇武攘卷一搗，則摺肋傷幹，為此棄幹將、鏌邪而以手戰，則悖矣。所謂言者，齊於眾而同於俗。今不稱九天之頂，則言黃泉之底，是兩末之端議，何可以公論乎！夫橘柚冬生，而人曰冬死，死者眾；薺麥夏死，人曰夏生，生者眾。江、河之回曲，亦時有南北者，而人謂江、河東流；攝提鎮星日月東行，而人謂星辰日月西移者；以大氐為本。胡人有知利者，而人謂之駤；越人有重遲者，而人謂之訬；以多者名之。若夫堯眉八彩，九竅通洞，而公正無私，一言而萬民齊；舜二瞳子，是謂重明，作事成法，出言成章；禹耳參漏，是謂大通，興利除害，疏河決江；文王四乳，是謂大仁，天下所歸，百姓所親；皋陶馬喙，是謂至信，決獄明白，察於人情；禹生於石；契生於卵；史皇產而能書；羿左臂修而善射。若此九賢者，千歲而一出，猶繼踵而生。今無五聖之天奉，四俊之才難，欲棄學而循性，是謂猶釋船欲蹍水也。
Now if there is a good horse that goes without waiting for whip and goad, and a poor horse that two goads cannot make go forward, then to drive without using whip and goad on this account is foolish. When a timid man takes a sharp sword, he strikes and cannot cut, he stabs and cannot get in. But when a brave fighter rolls up his sleeve and gives one blow, he breaks the ribs and harms the trunk. To throw away Ganjiang and Moye on this account and fight with the hand is perverse. What is called speech is even with the multitude and the same as the custom. Now if a man does not speak of the top of the nine heavens he speaks of the bottom of the Yellow Springs. This is argument at the two far ends, and how can it be a public judgment! The orange and the pomelo come to life in winter, and yet men say that things die in winter, because the dying are many. Shepherd's purse and barley die in summer, and yet men say that things are born in summer, because the born are many. The bends of the Jiang and the He at times run north and south, and yet men say that the Jiang and the He flow east. Sheti and the Zhen star, the sun and the moon go east, and yet men say that the stars, the sun and the moon move west. They take the general run as the root. Among the Hu there are those who know profit, and yet men call them slow. Among the Yue there are those who are heavy and slow, and yet men call them rash. They name them by what is many. As for Yao, his brows had eight colors and his nine openings ran clear, and he was fair and upright and without private aim, so that one word of his made the ten thousand people even. Shun had two pupils in each eye, which is called doubled brightness, and he did things and made them law, he brought out words and made them patterned. Yu had three openings in his ears, which is called the great passage, and he raised up profit and did away with harm, cleared the He and opened the Jiang. King Wen had four nipples, which is called the great benevolence, and all under heaven came home to him and the people drew close to him. Gao Yao had a mouth like a horse, which is called the utmost good faith, and he decided lawsuits clearly and looked closely into the feelings of men. Yu was born from stone. Xie was born from an egg. Shi Huang could write from birth. Yi had a long left arm and shot well. Worthy men such as these nine come out once in a thousand years, and yet they were born heel to heel. Now a man with neither the heaven-given gifts of the five sages nor even the hard-won talent of the four fine men, who wishes to throw away learning and follow his nature, is said to be like one who leaves the boat and wishes to tread on the water.
夫純鉤、魚腸之始下型，擊則不能斷，刺則不能入，及加之以砥礪，摩其鋒鍔，則水斷龍舟，陸剸犀甲。明鏡之始下型，矇然未見形容，及其粉以玄錫，摩以白旃，鬢眉微豪，可得而察。夫學，亦人之砥錫也，而謂學無益者，所以論之過。知者之所短，不若愚者之所修；賢者之所不足，不若眾人之有餘。何以知其然？夫宋畫吳冶，刻刑鏤法，亂修曲出，其為微妙，堯、舜之聖不能及。蔡之幼女，衛之稚質，梱纂組，雜奇彩，抑墨質，揚赤文，禹、湯之智不能逮。夫天之所覆，地之所載，包於六合之內，托於宇宙之間，陰陽之所生，血氣之精，含牙戴角，前爪後距，奮翼攫肆，蚑行蟯動之蟲，喜而合，怒而鬥，見利而就，避害而去，其情一也。雖所好惡，其與人無以異。然其爪牙雖利，筋骨雖強，不免制於人者，知不能相通，才力不能相一也。各有其自然之勢，無稟受於外，故力竭功沮。
When Chungou and Yuchang first came from the mold, they struck and could not cut, they stabbed and could not get in. But when the whetstone was put to them and their edges were ground, then on the water they cut through a dragon boat and on land they sliced rhinoceros armor. When a bright mirror first comes from the mold it is clouded and no face is seen in it. But when it is polished with black tin and rubbed with white felt, then the finest hairs of temple and brow can be looked at. Learning too is a man's whetstone and tin, and those who say that learning has no profit go too far in their argument. What is short in the wise is not the equal of what is fine in the foolish. What is not enough in the worthy is not the equal of what is more than enough in the common. How do we know this is so? The painters of Song and the smiths of Wu carve shapes and cut patterns, and the work comes out in tangled skill and winding turns, and it is so fine and subtle that the sageliness of Yao and Shun could not reach it. The young girls of Cai and the youthful hands of Wei twist braid and cord and mix rare colors, holding down the black ground and lifting up the red figure, and the wisdom of Yu and Tang could not come up to it. Now what heaven covers and earth bears, wrapped within the six directions and lodged between space and time, born of the dark and the light, the essence of blood and breath, holding fangs and wearing horns, clawed in front and spurred behind, beating wings and snatching at will, the creatures that creep and the creatures that wriggle — they are glad and they join, they are angry and they fight, they see profit and go to it, they avoid harm and go away. In this their feeling is one. Even in what they like and hate they are no different from men. Yet though their claws and fangs are sharp and their sinews and bones are strong, they do not escape being controlled by men, because their knowledge cannot pass between them and their strength cannot be made one. Each has its own force of what is so of itself and receives nothing from without, and so its strength runs out and its work is blocked.
夫雁順風，以愛氣力，銜蘆而翔，以備矰弋。螘知為垤，獾貉為曲穴，虎豹有茂草，野彘有艽莦，槎櫛堀虛，連比以像宮室，陰以防雨，景以蔽日。此亦鳥獸之所以知求合於其所利。今使人生於辟陋之國，長於窮櫩漏室之下，長無兄弟，少無父母，目未嘗見禮節，耳未嘗聞先古，獨守專室而不出門，使其性雖不愚，然其知者必寡矣。昔者，蒼頡作書，容成造曆，胡曹為衣，后稷耕稼，儀狄作酒，奚仲為車，此六人者，皆有神明之道，聖智之跡，故人作一事而遺後世，非能一人而獨兼有之。各悉其知，貴其所欲達，遂為天下備。今使六子者易事，而明弗能見者何？萬物至眾，而知不足以奄之。周室以後，無六子之賢，而皆修其業；當世之人，無一人之才，而知其六賢之道者何？教順施續，而知能流通。由此觀之，學不可已，明矣！
The wild goose follows the wind to spare its breath and strength, and flies holding a reed to be ready for the arrow on the string. The ant knows how to make its mound and the badger makes a winding burrow. Tiger and leopard have their thick grass and the wild boar its bed of straw. They weave branches and dig out hollows, joining and setting them side by side in the likeness of a palace, shading themselves against the rain and screening themselves from the sun. This too is how birds and beasts know how to seek what suits their profit. Now suppose a man is born in a far, mean country and grows up under a poor eave in a leaking room; suppose he grows with no elder or younger brother and has no father or mother when small; his eye has never seen ritual and measure and his ear has never heard of the ancients, and he keeps to one room alone and does not go out the gate. Then even if his nature is not foolish, what he knows will surely be little. Long ago Cang Jie made writing, Rongcheng made the calendar, Hu Cao made clothing, Houji plowed and sowed, Yidi made wine, and Xizhong made the cart. These six men all had the Way of spirit brightness and the tracks of sage wisdom, and so each made one thing and left it to later ages. It was not that one man could have held them all together. Each used his knowledge to the full and honored what he wished to master, and so at last they became the furnishing of all under heaven. Now if the six men were made to change their tasks, their brightness could not see. Why? The ten thousand things are very many, and knowledge is not enough to cover them. After the house of Zhou there were none as worthy as the six, and yet all of them keep to those crafts. The men of this age have not the talent of one of them, and yet they know the way of the six worthies. Why? Teaching is handed on in good order and knowledge flows and passes through. Looking at it in this way, it is clear that learning cannot be given up!
今夫盲者目不能別晝夜，分白黑，然而搏琴撫弦，參彈複徽，攫援摽拂，手若蔑蒙，不失一弦。使未嘗鼓瑟者，雖有離朱之明，攫掇之捷，猶不能屈伸其指。何則？服習積貫之所致。故弓待檠而後能調，劍待砥而後能利。玉堅無敵，鏤以為獸，首尾成形，礛諸之功。木直中繩，揉以為輪，其曲中規，檃括之力。唐碧堅忍之類，猶可刻鏤，揉以成器用，又況心意乎！且夫精神滑淖纖微，倏忽變化，與物推移，雲蒸風行，在所設施。君子有能精搖摩監，砥礪其才，自試神明，覽物之博，通物之壅，觀始卒之端，見無外之境，以逍遙仿佯於塵埃之外，超然獨立，卓然離世，此聖人之所以游心。若此而不能，間居靜思，鼓琴讀書，追觀上古及賢大夫，學問講辯，日以自娛，蘇援世事，分白黑利害，籌策得失，以觀禍福，設儀立度，可以為法則，窮道本末，究事之情，立是廢非，明示後人，死有遺業，生有榮名。如此者，人才之所能逮。然而莫能至焉者，偷慢懈惰，多不暇日之故。夫瘠地之民多有心力者，勞也；沃地之民多不才者，饒也。由此觀之，知人無務，不若愚而好學。自人君公卿至於庶人，不自強而功成者，天下未之有也。《詩》雲：「日就月將，學有緝熙于光明。」此之謂也。名可務立，功可強成，故君子積志委正，以趣明師，勵節亢高，以絕世俗。
Now a blind man's eye cannot tell day from night or divide white from black. Yet he takes up the qin and strokes the strings, plucking and stopping and stopping again at the studs, snatching and drawing, striking and brushing, his hand a blur, and he does not miss one string. Let a man who has never played the se have the sight of Li Zhu and the quickness of a hand that snatches, and still he cannot bend and stretch his fingers. Why? It is what practice and long repetition bring about. So a bow waits upon the frame and only then can be trued, and a sword waits upon the whetstone and only then can be sharp. Jade is hard and has no match, and yet it is carved into beasts with head and tail in full shape. That is the work of the grinding stone. Wood is straight and true to the ink line, and yet it is bent into a wheel whose curve is true to the compass. That is the strength of the press frame. Even things as hard and stubborn as Tangbi stone can still be carved and bent into vessels for use. How much more the heart and the will! And the spirit is slippery and fine and small, changing in a flash, shifting along with things, rising like cloud and moving like wind, and it lies in how it is set to work. A gentleman who can refine and stir and polish and watch, who grinds and whets his talent, who tests his own spirit brightness, who looks upon the breadth of things and opens what is blocked in them, who sees the ends of beginning and finish and looks on the realm that has no outside, who roams and wanders beyond the dust, standing alone above it, towering apart from the age — this is how the sage lets his heart roam. If a man cannot do this, then let him live quietly and think in stillness, play the qin and read books, look back upon high antiquity and the worthy great officers, study and ask, discourse and dispute, and take his pleasure in this day by day. Let him draw in the affairs of the age and divide white from black and profit from harm, and reckon gain and loss with the counting rods, and so look upon misfortune and fortune. Let him set out proper bearing and set up measures that can be made a rule, search out the root and branch of the Way and go to the bottom of the feeling of things, set up what is right and cast aside what is wrong, and show it plainly to those who come after. Then in death he leaves work behind, and in life he has a glorious name. Such a thing the talent of a man can reach. And yet none reaches it, because so many are idle and slack and say that the days are not enough. The people of barren land have much heart and strength, because they toil. The people of rich land are often without talent, because they have plenty. Looking at it in this way, to be wise and not work at it is not the equal of being foolish and loving to learn. From the ruler and the high ministers down to the common man, no one under heaven has ever completed his work without driving himself. The Odes say, "Day by day advance, month by month go forward, and learning, kept unbroken, will shine into the light." This is what is meant. A name can be set up by working at it and merit can be completed by forcing it, and so the gentleman heaps up his will and gives himself to what is upright, and goes toward a bright teacher. He whets his integrity and holds himself high, and so cuts himself off from the customs of the age.
何以明之？昔者南榮疇恥聖道之獨亡於己，身淬霜露，敕蹻趹，跋涉山川，冒蒙荊棘，百舍重跰，不敢休息，南見老聃。受教一言，精神曉泠，純聞條達，欣然七日不食，如饗太牢，是以明照四海，名施後世，達略天地，察分秋豪，稱譽葉語，至今不休。此所謂名可強立者。吳與楚戰，莫囂大心撫其禦之手曰：「今日距強敵，犯白刃，蒙矢石，戰而身死，卒勝民治，全我社稷，可以庶幾乎？」遂入不返，決腹斷頭，不旋踵運軌而死。申包胥竭筋力以赴嚴敵，伏屍流血，不過一卒之才，不如約身卑辭，求于諸侯。於是乃贏糧跣走，跋涉穀行，上峭山，赴深溪，游川水，犯津關，躐蒙籠，蹶沙石，蹠達膝曾繭重胝，七日七夜，至於秦庭。鶴跱而不食，晝吟宵哭，面若死灰，顏色黴墨，涕液交集，以見秦王。曰：「吳為封豨修蛇，蠶食上國，虐始于楚。寡君失社稷，越在草茅，百姓離散，夫婦男女，不遑啟處，使下臣告急。」秦王乃發車千乘，步卒七萬，屬之子虎，逾塞而東，擊吳濁水之上，果大破之，以存楚國。烈藏廟堂，著於憲法。此功之可強成者也。夫七尺之形，心知憂愁勞苦，膚知疾痛寒暑，人情一也。聖人知時之難得，務可趣也，苦身勞形，焦心怖肝，不避煩難，不違危殆。蓋聞子發之戰，進如激矢，合如雷電，解如風雨，員之中規，方之中矩，破敵陷陳，莫能壅禦，澤戰必克，攻城必下。彼非輕身而樂死，務在於前，遺利於後，故名立而不墮。此身強而成功者也。是故田者不強，囷倉不盈；官禦不厲，心意不精；將相不強，功烈不成；侯王懈惰，後世無名。《詩》雲：「我馬唯騏，六轡如絲。載馳載驅，周爰諮謨。」以言人之有所務也。
How is this made plain? Long ago Nanrong Chou was ashamed that the Way of the sages alone was lost to him. His body was soaked in frost and dew, and in straw sandals he crossed mountains and rivers and braved the thorn thickets. A hundred stages he went, his feet blistered over and over, and he did not dare rest, and he went south and saw Lao Dan. He received one word of teaching, and his spirit became clear and cool, what he heard was pure and its threads ran through, and gladly he did not eat for seven days, as though he had feasted on the great sacrifice. In this way he shone brightly over the four seas and his name was spread to later ages. He mastered and ordered heaven and earth and looked closely into the parting of an autumn hair, and the praise and the sayings of him have not stopped to this day. This is what is meant by a name that can be set up by force. When Wu fought with Chu, Moxiao Daxin stroked the hand of his driver and said, "Today we stand against a strong enemy and face the naked blade, we brave arrow and stone. If I fight and my body dies, and the troops win and the people are governed, and our altars of state are kept whole, would that be near enough?" He went in at last and did not come back. His belly was cut open and his head cut off, and he died without turning his heel or wheeling his chariot. Shen Baoxu spent his sinews and strength to go against a stern enemy, and though he lay over corpses and shed blood, it would be no more than the worth of a single soldier, and not so good as binding himself and humbling his words and seeking help from the feudal lords. So he shouldered his provisions and ran barefoot, crossing valleys on foot, climbing sheer mountains and going down deep streams, swimming rivers and braving fords and passes, trampling through thickets and stumbling over sand and stone, until the soles of his feet were blistered and calloused over and over up to the knee. Seven days and seven nights he went, and came to the court of Qin. He stood like a crane and did not eat, moaning by day and wailing by night, his face like dead ashes, his color dark as mold, tears and mucus running together, and so he saw the king of Qin. He said, "Wu has become a great boar and a long snake, eating up the upper states like a silkworm, and the cruelty began with Chu. Our lord has lost his altars of state and is out in the grass and the weeds, his people are scattered, and husbands and wives and men and women have no leisure to settle. He has sent his lowly servant to tell of the danger." The king of Qin then sent out a thousand chariots and seventy thousand foot soldiers, put them under Zihu, and crossed the barrier eastward. He struck Wu on the Zhuo river, and indeed broke it utterly, and so kept the state of Chu. The fierceness of it was stored in the ancestral hall and set down in the statutes. This is merit that can be completed by force. In a body of seven feet, the heart knows care and toil and the skin knows pain and cold and heat. Men's feelings are one. The sage knows that the time is hard to get and that work can be gone toward, and so he wears out his body and toils his shape, burns his heart and shakes his liver. He does not avoid what is troublesome and hard, and he does not turn from danger. I have heard that in Zifa's fighting the advance was like a shot arrow, the closing like thunder and lightning, the loosing like wind and rain. Its round was true to the compass and its square true to the carpenter's rule. He broke the enemy and sank their ranks, and none could dam him or hold him off. Fighting in the marshes he was sure to win, and attacking a city he was sure to bring it down. It was not that he made light of his body and delighted in death. His work was in front and he left the profit behind, and so his name was set up and did not fall. This is completing work by a strong body. For this reason, if the farmer is not strong at it, the granary is not filled; if the officer is not whetted, his heart and will are not fine; if the general and the minister are not strong at it, merit and fierce deeds are not completed; if the lord and the king are slack, later ages hold no name of them. The Odes say, "My horses are dappled gray, and the six reins are like silk. I gallop and I drive, and everywhere I ask and plan." This says that a man has something to work at.
通於物者，不可驚以怪；喻於道者，不可動以奇；察於辭者，不可耀以名；審於形者，不可遯以狀。世俗之人，多尊古而賤今，故為道者必托之于神農、黃帝而後能入說。亂世暗主，高遠其所從來，因而貴之。為學者蔽于論而尊其所聞，相與危坐而稱之，正領而誦之。此見是非之分不明。夫無規矩，雖奚仲不能以定方圓；無準繩，雖魯般不能定曲直。是故鍾子期死而伯牙絕弦破琴，知世莫賞也；惠施死而莊子寢說言，見世莫可為語者也。夫項讬七歲為孔子師，孔子有以聽其言也。以年之少，為閭丈人說，救敲不給，何道之能明也？
One who has passed through to things cannot be startled with the strange. One who understands the Way cannot be moved with the rare. One who looks closely into words cannot be dazzled with a name. One who examines shapes cannot be escaped by an appearance. The men of common custom mostly honor the old and hold the present cheap, and so one who works at the Way must first lodge it with Shennong and the Yellow Emperor, and only then can his saying get in. The dark rulers of a disordered age set the source of a thing high and far, and honor it for that. Learners are blinded by such arguments and honor what they have heard, and they sit up straight together and speak it, and straighten their collars and recite it. This is to see the parting of right and wrong without clearness. Without compass and rule, even Xizhong could not fix square and round. Without level and ink line, even Lu Ban could not fix bent and straight. For this reason, when Zhong Ziqi died Boya cut his strings and broke his qin, for he knew that the age had no one to prize it. When Hui Shi died Zhuangzi laid his sayings to rest, for he saw that the age had no one worth speaking to. Xiang Tuo at seven years old became the teacher of Confucius, because Confucius had it in him to listen to the words. If a man of few years preaches to the elders of the village, he will not have time enough to escape a beating, and what Way could he make plain?
昔者，謝子見於秦惠王，惠王說之，以問唐姑梁，唐姑梁曰：「謝子，山東辯士，固權說以取少主。」惠王因藏怒而待之。後日複見，逆而弗聽也。非其說異也，所以聽者易。夫以徵為羽，非弦之罪；以苦為甘，非味之過。楚國有烹猴而召其鄰人，以為狗羹也，而甘之。後聞其猴也，據地而吐之，盡寫其食。此未始知味者也。邯鄲師有出新曲者，讬之李奇，諸人皆爭學之。後知其非也，而皆棄其曲，此未始知音者也。鄙人有得玉璞者，喜其狀，以為寶而藏之。以示人，人以為石也，因而棄之。此未始知玉者也。故有符於中，則貴是而同今古；無以聽其說，則所從來者遠而貴之耳。此和氏之所以泣血于荊山之下。
Long ago Xiezi had audience with King Hui of Qin, and the king was pleased with him, and asked Tang Guliang about him. Tang Guliang said, "Xiezi is a debater from east of the mountains. He has always weighed his sayings to win over a young ruler." So King Hui stored up his anger and waited for him. On a later day Xiezi saw him again, and the king turned against him and did not listen. It was not that his saying was different. The one who listened had changed. To take the note zhi for the note yu is not the string's crime. To take the bitter for the sweet is not the flavor's fault. In Chu a man boiled a monkey and called in his neighbor, who thought it was dog stew and ate it with relish. Afterward he heard that it was monkey, and he put his hands to the ground and vomited, and poured out everything he had eaten. This is a man who did not yet know flavor. A music master of Handan brought out a new tune and lodged it with the name of Li Qi, and everyone fought to learn it. Afterward they knew it was not his, and they all threw the tune away. These are men who did not yet know sound. A country fellow got a piece of uncut jade, and was pleased with its shape and treasured it as a jewel and stored it away. He showed it to others, and they thought it a stone, and for that he threw it away. This is a man who did not yet know jade. So one who has the tally within honors what is right and makes present and past the same. One with no way to hear the saying merely honors what comes from far off. This is why Mr. He wept blood below Mount Jing.
今劍或絕側羸文，齧缺卷銋，而稱以頂襄之劍，則貴人爭帶之；琴或撥刺枉橈，闊解漏越，而稱為楚莊之琴，側室爭鼓之。苗山之鋋，羊頭之銷，雖水斷龍舟，陸剸兕甲，莫之服帶。山桐之琴，澗梓之腹，雖鳴廉修營，唐牙莫之鼓也。通人則不然。服劍者期於銛利，而不期於墨陽、莫邪；乘馬者期於千里，而不期於驊騮、綠耳；鼓琴者期於鳴廉修營，而不期於濫肋、號鍾；誦《詩》、《書》者期於通道略物，而不期於《洪範》、《商頌》。聖人見是非，若白黑之於目辨，清濁之於耳聽。眾人則不然。中無主以受之，譬若遺腹子之上隴，以禮哭泣之，而無所歸心。故夫孿子之相似者，唯其母能知之；玉石之相類者，唯良工能識之；書傳之微者，惟聖人能論之。今取新聖人書，名之孔、墨，則弟子句指而受者必眾矣。故美人者，非必西施之種；通士者，不必孔、墨之類。曉然意有所通於物，故作書以喻意，以為知者也。誠得清明之士，執玄鑒於心，照物明白，不為古今易意，攄書明指以示之，雖闔棺亦不恨矣。
Now if a sword is broken at the side and thin in its pattern, gapped in its edge and bent, and yet is called a sword of Dingxiang, then men of rank fight to wear it. If a qin is warped and crooked, loose in its joints and leaking in its sound, and yet is called a qin of King Zhuang of Chu, then the side chambers fight to play it. The lances of Mount Miao and the blades of Yangtou may cut a dragon boat on the water and slice rhinoceros armor on land, and no one wears them. A qin of mountain paulownia with a belly of valley catalpa may ring clear and sing long, and Tangya does not play it. One who has passed through is not like this. He who wears a sword looks for a keen edge and does not look for Moyang or Moye. He who rides a horse looks for a thousand miles and does not look for Hualiu or Lü'er. He who plays the qin looks for a clear and long ringing and does not look for Lanxie or Haozhong. He who recites the Odes and the Documents looks to pass through to the Way and to order things, and does not look for the Hong fan or the Shang song. The sage sees right and wrong as the eye tells white from black and the ear hears clear from muddy. The common are not like this. They have no master within to receive it. They are like a posthumous son going up the hill mound and wailing by the rite, with nowhere to send his heart home. So only the mother can tell twins apart when they look alike. Only a good craftsman can know jade and stone when they seem the same. Only the sage can judge what is subtle in books and traditions. Now take the book of a new sage and give it the name of Confucius or Mozi, and the disciples who will follow it line by line will surely be many. So a beautiful person need not be of Xi Shi's stock, and a man who has passed through need not be of the kind of Confucius and Mozi. Clearly he has something in his thought that passes through to things, and so he makes a book to make his thought plain, and takes it as knowing. If one truly gets a clear and bright man who holds a dark mirror in his heart, who lights up things plainly and does not change his thought for present or past, then to spread out a book and make its pointing plain to him is enough. Even when the coffin is shut there is no regret.
昔晉平公令官為鍾。鍾成，而示師曠。師曠曰：「鍾音不調。」平公曰：「寡人以示工，工皆以為調。而以為不調，何也？」師曠曰：「使後世無知音者則已，若有知音者，必知鍾之不調。」故師曠之欲善調鍾也，以為後之有知音者也。三代與我同行，五伯與我齊智，彼獨有聖智之實，我曾無有閭裏之聞，窮巷之知者何？彼並身而立節，我誕謾而悠忽。今夫毛嬙、西施，天下之美人，若使之銜腐鼠，蒙蝟皮，衣豹裘，帶死蛇，則布衣韋帶之人過者，莫不左右睥睨而掩鼻。嘗試使之施芳澤，正娥眉，設笄珥，衣阿錫，曳齊紈，粉白黛黑，佩玉環，揄步，雜芝若，籠蒙目視，冶由笑，目流眺，口曾撓，奇牙出，𩉇酺搖，則雖王公大人，有嚴志頡頏之行者，無不憚悇癢心而悅其色矣。今以中人之才，蒙愚惑之智，被污辱之行，無本業所修，方術所務，焉得無有睥面掩鼻之容哉！
Long ago Duke Ping of Jin had his officers make a bell. The bell was finished and was shown to Shi Kuang. Shi Kuang said, "The bell is out of tune." Duke Ping said, "I showed it to the craftsmen and they all hold it in tune. Why do you hold it out of tune?" Shi Kuang said, "If later ages have no one who knows sound, then it is no matter. But if there is one who knows sound, he will surely know the bell is out of tune." So Shi Kuang's wish to tune the bell well was for the sake of those after him who would know sound. The three dynasties acted as I act, and the five hegemons were level with me in wisdom. Why is it that they alone had the substance of sage wisdom, while I am not even heard of in my lane and not known in my poor street? They gathered themselves and set up their integrity, and I have been false and idle and let the time drift by. Now Mao Qiang and Xi Shi are the beauties of all under heaven. But if they were made to hold a rotten rat in the mouth and to be covered with hedgehog skin, to wear leopard fur and wear a dead snake at the belt, then everyone in hemp clothes and leather belt who passed would look sidelong to left and right and cover his nose. Let them instead put on fragrant oil and set their fine brows straight, put in hairpins and earrings, wear the thin cloth of E and trail the silk of Qi, powder white and paint their brows black, hang jade rings at the belt and step lightly, mix iris and pollia, look with veiled eyes and smile in their charm, let the eye glance sidelong and the mouth curve, show the fine teeth and stir the dimples in the cheek — then even kings and dukes and great men with stern will and proud bearing would all be stirred to an itch at heart and delight in their beauty. Now if a man of middling talent uses a foolish and deluded wisdom and wears a soiled and disgraced conduct, with no root work that he has cultivated and no art that he has worked at, how can he not have the face that men look sidelong at and cover their noses?
今鼓舞者，繞身若環，曾撓摩地，扶旋猗那，動容轉曲，便媚擬神。身若秋藥被風，發若結旌，騁馳若騖；木熙者，舉梧檟，據句枉，蝯自縱，好茂葉，龍夭矯，燕枝拘，援豐條，舞扶疏，龍從鳥集，搏援攫肆，蔑蒙踴躍。且夫觀者莫不為之損心酸足，彼乃始徐行微笑，被衣修擢。夫鼓舞者非柔縱，而木熙者非眇勁，淹浸漬漸摩使然也。是故生木之長，莫見其益，有時而修；砥礪靡堅，莫見其損，有時而薄。藜藿之生，蠕蠕然日加數寸，不可以為櫨棟；楩楠豫章之生也，七年而後知，故可以為棺舟。夫事有易成者名小，難成者功大。君子修美，雖未有利，福將在後至。故《詩》雲：「日就月將，學有緝熙于光明。」此之謂也。
Now those who drum and dance wind their bodies like a ring, bend low and brush the ground, turn holding one another and sway soft and slender, move their looks and roll through the curves, and in their grace and charm they seem like spirits. The body is like an autumn peony taking the wind, the hair is like a knotted banner, the running is like a horse let loose. Those who play in the trees take hold of paulownia and catalpa, grip the crooked places, let themselves go like gibbons, delight in the thick leaves, bend like dragons, catch at branches like swallows, draw in the full boughs, dance in the spreading shade, follow like dragons and gather like birds, grasping and drawing, snatching and doing as they please, leaping in a blur. And there is no one watching who does not lose heart and go cold in the feet for them, and only then do they begin to walk slowly and smile a little, put on their clothes and draw themselves up. It is not that those who drum and dance are soft and loose, nor that those who play in the trees are slight and strong. Steeping and soaking, little by little and by rubbing, made them so. For this reason, when a living tree grows, no one sees it gain, and yet in time it is tall. When a whetstone wears away what is hard, no one sees it lose, and yet in time it is thin. Goosefoot and bean leaves come up wriggling and add several inches a day, and they cannot be made into bracket or ridgepole. The pian, the nan and the yuzhang come up so that only after seven years can they be known, and so they can be made into coffins and boats. In affairs, what is easy to complete has a small name, and what is hard to complete has great merit. When a gentleman cultivates what is fine, though there is no profit yet, good fortune will come to him later. So the Odes say, "Day by day advance, month by month go forward, and learning, kept unbroken, will shine into the light." This is what is meant.