Wushi — The Forces of Things物勢篇
儒者論曰：「天地故生人。」此言妄也。夫天地合氣，人偶自生也。猶夫婦合氣，子則自生也。夫婦合氣，非當時欲得生子；情欲動而合，合而生子矣。且夫婦不故生子，以知天不故生人也。然則人生於天地也，猶魚之於淵，飢虱之於人也。因氣而生，種類相產，萬物生天地之間，皆一實也。傳曰：「天地不故生人，人偶自生。」
The scholars discuss it and say, "Heaven and earth gave birth to men on purpose." These words are wild. Now Heaven and earth join their breath, and men are born of themselves by chance, as a husband and wife join their breath and a child is born of itself. When a husband and wife join their breath, it is not that at that time they wish to get a child; desire stirs and they join, and joining, they bear a child. And since a husband and wife do not bear a child on purpose, it may be known that Heaven does not bear men on purpose. This being so, the birth of men from Heaven and earth is like fish from a deep pool and lice from a man. They are born by the breath, and kind gives birth to kind, and the ten thousand things born between Heaven and earth are all one and the same. It is handed down, "Heaven and earth do not bear men on purpose; men are born of themselves by chance."
若此，論事者何故云天地為爐，萬物為銅，陰陽為火，造化為工乎？案陶冶者之用爍銅燔器，故為之也。而云天地不故生人，人偶自生耳，可謂陶冶者不故為器而器偶自成乎？夫比不應事，未可謂喻；文不稱實，未可謂是也。曰：「是喻人稟氣不能純一，若爍銅之下形，燔器之得火也，非謂天地生人與陶冶同也。」興喻，人皆引人事，人事有體，不可斷絕。以目視頭，頭不得不動；以手相足，足不得不搖。目與頭同形，手與足同體。今夫陶冶者初埴作器，必模范為形，故作之也；燃炭生火，必調和爐灶，故為之也。及銅爍不能皆成，器燔不能盡善，不能故生也。
If this is so, on what ground do those who discuss affairs say that Heaven and earth are the furnace, the ten thousand things the bronze, yin and yang the fire, and the making and shaping the workman? Look at it. When the potter and the smith melt bronze and bake vessels, they do it on purpose. But if it is said that Heaven and earth do not bear men on purpose and that men are only born of themselves by chance, may one then say that the potter and the smith did not make the vessel on purpose and that the vessel came out of itself by chance? Now if a likeness does not answer to the affair, it may not be called a likeness, and if writing does not match the truth, it may not be called right.
The answer is this. "It is a likeness for men receiving a breath that cannot be pure and single, as bronze is melted and poured into the mold and a vessel is baked and gets its fire. It is not to say that Heaven and earth bearing men is the same as the potter and the smith." When men raise a likeness they all draw on the affairs of men, and the affairs of men have a body and cannot be cut apart. Look at the head with the eyes and the head cannot but move; feel the foot with the hand and the foot cannot but stir. Eyes and head are of one shape; hand and foot are of one body. Now when the potter and the smith first work the clay into a vessel, they must take a pattern and make a shape, and so they make it on purpose; and when they burn charcoal and raise a fire, they must set the furnace and the stove right, and so they do it on purpose. Yet the melted bronze cannot all come out, and the baked vessels cannot all be good, and so there is no bearing on purpose.
夫天不能故生人，則其生萬物，亦不能故也。天地合氣，物偶自生矣。夫耕耘播種，故為之也；及其成與不熟，偶自然也。
Now if Heaven cannot bear men on purpose, then in bearing the ten thousand things it cannot do it on purpose either. Heaven and earth join their breath, and things are born of themselves by chance. Now plowing and weeding and sowing the seed are done on purpose; but as for the grain filling out or not ripening, that is of itself so by chance.
何以驗之？如天故生萬物，當令其相親愛，不當令之相賊害也。或曰：「五行之氣，天生萬物。以萬物含五行之氣，五行之氣更相賊害。」
How is it proved? If Heaven bore the ten thousand things on purpose, it ought to have made them love one another as kin, and ought not to have made them harm one another. Someone says, "Heaven bore the ten thousand things with the breath of the five elements. Since the ten thousand things hold the breath of the five elements in them, the breath of the five elements harms one another turn by turn."
曰：「天自當以一行之氣生萬物，令之相親愛，不當令五行之氣反使相賊害也。」或曰：「欲為之用，故令相賊害，賊害相成也。故天用五行之氣生萬物，人用萬物作萬事。不能相制，不能相使，不相賊害，不成為用。金不賊木，木不成用。火不爍金，金不成器。故諸物相賊相利，含血之蟲相勝服、相嚙噬、相啖食者，皆五行氣使之然也。」曰：「天生萬物欲令相為用，不得不相賊害也。則生虎狼蝮蛇及蜂蠆之蟲，皆賊害人，天又欲使人為之用邪？且一人之身，含五行之氣，故一人之行，有五常之操。五常，五行之道也。五藏在內，五行氣俱。如論者之言，含血之蟲，懷五行之氣，輒相賊害。一人之身，胸懷五藏，自相賊也；一人之操，行義之心，自相害也。且五行之氣相賊害，含血之蟲相勝服，其驗何在？」曰：「寅木也，其禽虎也；戍土也，其禽犬也；丑未亦土也，丑禽牛，未禽羊也。木勝土，故犬與牛羊為虎所服也。亥水也，其禽豕也；巳火也，其禽蛇也；子亦水也，其禽鼠也；午亦火也，其禽馬也。水勝火，故豕食蛇；火為水所害，故馬食鼠屎而腹脹。」曰：「審如論者之言，含血之蟲，亦有不相勝之效。午馬也，子鼠也，酉雞也，卯兔也。水勝火，鼠何不逐馬？金勝木，雞何不啄兔？亥豕也，丑牛也。土勝水，牛羊何不殺豕？巳蛇也，申猴也。火勝金，蛇何不食獼猴？獼猴者，畏鼠也。嚙噬猴者，犬也。鼠水，獼猴金也。水不勝金，獼猴何故畏鼠也？戍土也，申猴也。土不勝金，猴何故畏犬？東方木也，其星倉龍也。西方金也，其星白虎也。南方火也，其星朱鳥也。
The answer is this. "Heaven ought to have borne the ten thousand things with the breath of one element and made them love one another as kin, and ought not to have made the breath of the five elements harm one another instead."
Someone says, "They were made to harm one another so that they might be of use, and the harming makes them serve one another. So Heaven bears the ten thousand things with the breath of the five elements, and men make the ten thousand affairs out of the ten thousand things. If they could not hold one another down, could not set one another to work, and did not harm one another, they would be of no use. If metal did not harm wood, wood would be of no use; if fire did not melt metal, metal would not become a vessel. So all things harm one another and profit one another, and the creatures that hold blood in them overcome and subdue one another, bite one another, and eat one another, and all this the breath of the five elements makes so."
The answer is this. "If Heaven bore the ten thousand things and wished them to be of use to one another, and so could not but make them harm one another, then it bore the tiger and the wolf, the viper, the bee and the scorpion, and these all harm men. Did Heaven then wish men to be of use to them? And the body of one man holds the breath of the five elements in it, and so the conduct of one man has the bearing of the five constants. The five constants are the way of the five elements. The five organs are within, and the breath of the five elements is complete in them. If it is as the one who discusses this says, the creatures that hold blood in them bear the breath of the five elements and at once harm one another; then in the body of one man the five organs borne in the breast would harm one another, and in the bearing of one man the heart that does what is right would harm itself. And where is the proof that the breath of the five elements harms one another and that the creatures holding blood overcome and subdue one another?"
It is said, "Yin (寅) is wood, and its beast is the tiger; Xu (戌) is earth, and its beast is the dog; Chou (丑) and Wei (未) are earth too, and the beast of Chou is the ox and the beast of Wei is the sheep. Wood overcomes earth, and so the dog, the ox, and the sheep are subdued by the tiger. Hai (亥) is water, and its beast is the pig; Si (巳) is fire, and its beast is the snake; Zi (子) is water too, and its beast is the rat; Wu (午) is fire too, and its beast is the horse. Water overcomes fire, and so the pig eats the snake; fire is harmed by water, and so when the horse eats rat dung its belly swells."
The answer is this. "If it is truly as the one who discusses this says, there is also proof among the creatures that hold blood that they do not overcome one another. Wu is the horse, Zi is the rat, You (酉) is the cock, Mao (卯) is the hare. If water overcomes fire, why does the rat not drive the horse? If metal overcomes wood, why does the cock not peck the hare? Hai is the pig, Chou is the ox. If earth overcomes water, why do the ox and the sheep not kill the pig? Si is the snake, Shen (申) is the monkey. If fire overcomes metal, why does the snake not eat the monkey? The monkey fears the rat, and what bites the monkey is the dog. The rat is water and the monkey is metal. Water does not overcome metal, so on what ground does the monkey fear the rat? Xu is earth and Shen is the monkey. Earth does not overcome metal, so on what ground does the monkey fear the dog? The east is wood, and its star is the Azure Dragon (倉龍); the west is metal, and its star is the White Tiger (白虎); the south is fire, and its star is the Vermilion Bird (朱鳥),
北方水也，其星玄武也。天有四星之精，降生四獸之體。含血之蟲，以四獸為長，四獸含五行之氣最較著。案龍虎交不相賊，鳥龜會不相害。以四獸驗之，以十二辰之禽效之，五行之蟲以氣性相刻，則尤不相應。凡萬物相刻賊，含血之蟲則相服，至於相啖食者，自以齒牙頓利，筋力優劣，動作巧便，氣勢勇桀。若人之在世，勢不與適，力不均等，自相勝服。以力相服，則以刃相賊矣。夫人以刃相賊，猶物以齒角爪牙相觸刺也。力強角利，勢烈牙長，則能勝；氣微爪短（誅）〔銖〕，膽小距頓，則服畏也。
and the north is water, and its star is the Dark Warrior (玄武). Heaven has the essence of the four stars, and it comes down and is born in the bodies of the four beasts. Among the creatures that hold blood in them the four beasts are the chief, and in the four beasts the holding of the breath of the five elements is plainest of all. Look at it: the dragon and the tiger meet and do not harm each other, the bird and the tortoise come together and do not harm each other. Proved by the four beasts and tested by the beasts of the twelve branches, the saying that the creatures of the five elements cut one another down by breath and nature answers less well still.
Now that the ten thousand things cut one another down and harm one another, that the creatures holding blood subdue one another and even eat one another, follows of itself from the bluntness or sharpness of their teeth and tusks, the strength or weakness of their sinews, the quickness of their movement, and the fierceness of their force. It is as men in the world are not matched in their standing and are not even in their strength, and so overcome and subdue one another of themselves. Where they subdue by strength, they harm one another with the blade. Now men harming one another with the blade is like things butting and stabbing one another with tooth and horn and claw and tusk. Where the strength is great and the horn sharp, the force fierce and the tusk long, there is the power to overcome; where the breath is faint and the claws short and blunt, the gall small and the spur dull, there is subjection and fear.
人有勇怯，故戰有勝負，勝者未必受金氣，負者未必得木精也。孔子畏陽虎，卻行流汗，陽虎未必色白，孔子未必面青也。鷹之擊鳩雀，之啄鵠雁，未必鷹、生於南方而鳩雀、鵠雁產於西方也，自是筋力勇怯相勝服也。」
Men have their boldness and their cowardice, and so in battle there is winning and losing; but the winner has not always received the breath of metal, and the loser has not always got the essence of wood. Confucius feared Yang Hu, and drew back and streamed with sweat, yet Yang Hu was not necessarily white of face and Confucius was not necessarily blue of face. When the hawk strikes the dove and the sparrow, and the eagle pecks the swan and the wild goose, it is not necessarily that the hawk and the eagle are born in the south and the dove, the sparrow, the swan, and the wild goose are born in the west. It is of itself that sinew and strength, boldness and cowardice, overcome and subdue one another."
一堂之上，必有論者。一鄉之中，必有訟者。訟必有曲直，論必有是非。非而曲者為負，是而直者為勝。亦或辯口利舌，辭喻橫出為勝；或詘弱綴，蹇不比者為負。
In one hall there will surely be those who argue; in one village there will surely be those who go to law. In going to law there must be the crooked and the straight; in arguing there must be the right and the wrong. He who is wrong and crooked loses, and he who is right and straight wins. Or again, he whose mouth turns well and whose tongue is sharp, whose words and likenesses come pouring out, wins; and he who is bent and weak and stammers, whose words are not ordered, loses.
以舌論訟，猶以劍戟斗也。利劍長戟，手足健疾者勝；頓刀短矛，手足緩留者負。夫物之相勝，或以筋力，或以氣勢，或以巧便。小有氣勢，口足有便，則能以小而制大；大無骨力，角翼不勁，則以大而服小。鵲食蝟皮，博勞食蛇，蝟蛇不便也。蚊虻之力不如牛馬，牛馬困於蚊虻，蚊虻乃有勢也。鹿之角足以觸犬，獼猴之手足以博鼠，然而鹿制於犬，獼猴服於鼠，角爪不利也。故十年之牛，為牧豎所驅；長仞之象，為越僮所鉤，無便故也。故夫得其便也，則以小能勝大；無其便也，則以強服於羸也。
To argue and go to law with the tongue is like fighting with sword and halberd. With a sharp sword and a long halberd, he whose hand and foot are firm and quick wins; with a blunt blade and a short spear, he whose hand and foot are slow and lagging loses. Now things overcome one another some by sinew and strength, some by force, some by quickness. What is small but has force, and has quickness of mouth and foot, can hold down the great with the small; what is great but has no strength of bone, whose horn and wing are not stout, is subdued by the small for all its greatness.
The magpie eats the hedgehog's hide and the shrike eats the snake, because the hedgehog and the snake are not quick. The strength of the gnat and the gadfly is less than that of the ox and the horse, yet the ox and the horse are worn down by the gnat and the gadfly, for the gnat and the gadfly have the standing for it. The deer's horn is enough to butt the dog and the monkey's hand is enough to seize the rat, yet the deer is held down by the dog and the monkey is subdued by the rat, because horn and claw are not sharp. So an ox of ten years is driven by a herdboy, and an elephant of a man's height is led by the hook by a boy of Yue, for they have no quickness. So where quickness is got, the small can overcome the great; where quickness is wanting, the strong is subdued by the weak.