Ganxu — False Tales of Heaven Moved感虛篇
儒者傳書言：堯之時，十日并出，萬物焦枯。堯上射十日，九日去，一日常出。此言虛也。夫人之射也，不過百步矢力盡矣。日之行也，行天星度。天之去人以萬里數，堯上射之，安能得日？使堯之時，天地相近不過百步，則堯射日，矢能及之；過百步，不能得也。假使堯時天地相近，堯射得之，猶不能傷日。傷日何肯去？何則？日，火也。使在地之火附一把矩，人從旁射之，雖中，安能滅之？地火不為見射而滅，天火何為見射而去？此欲言堯以精誠射之，精誠所加，金石為虧，蓋誠無堅則亦無遠矣。夫水與火，各一性也。能射火而滅之，則當射水而除之。洪水之時，流濫中國，為民大害。堯何不推精誠射而除之？堯能射日，使火不為害，不能射河，使水不為害。夫射水不能卻水，則知射日之語虛非實也。或曰：日，氣也。射雖不及，精誠滅之。夫天亦遠，使其為氣，則與日月同；使其為體，則與金石等。以堯之精誠滅日虧金石，上射日則能穿天乎？世稱桀、紂之惡，射天而地；譽高宗之德，政消桑谷。今堯不能以德滅十日，而必射之；是德不若高宗，惡與桀、紂同也。安能以精誠獲天之應也？
The scholars hand down a book that says: in the time of Yao ten suns came out side by side, and the ten thousand things were scorched and withered. Yao shot upward at the ten suns, and nine suns went away, and one sun came out always. This saying is empty. Now when a man shoots, the force of the arrow is spent before a hundred paces. The sun in its going goes by the degrees of the stars of Heaven. Heaven is away from man by a count of ten thousand li; though Yao shot upward, how could he reach the sun? If in the time of Yao Heaven and earth were near each other, not more than a hundred paces apart, then when Yao shot at the sun the arrow could reach it; but beyond a hundred paces it could not. Suppose that in the time of Yao Heaven and earth were near and Yao shot and hit it, he still could not have harmed the sun. If it was not harmed, why would it be willing to go away? Why? The sun is fire. Suppose a fire on the ground has caught on a handful of hemp stalks, and a man shoots at it from the side: though he hit it, how could he put it out? Fire on the ground is not put out because it is shot; how would fire in Heaven go away because it is shot?
This means to say that Yao shot with sincerity, and that where sincerity is added even metal and stone are broken, for if sincerity finds nothing too hard then it finds nothing too far either. Now water and fire are each of one nature. If one can shoot fire and put it out, then one ought to be able to shoot water and take it away. In the time of the great flood the waters ran over and spread across the Middle Kingdom and were a great harm to the people. Why did Yao not push out his sincerity and shoot the waters and take them away? Yao could shoot the sun and keep fire from doing harm, but he could not shoot the He and keep water from doing harm. Since shooting water cannot drive water back, it is known that the saying about shooting the sun is empty and not real.
Someone says, "The sun is breath. Though the shot did not reach it, sincerity put it out." Now Heaven too is far. If Heaven is breath, it is the same as the sun and the moon; if it is body, it is the same as metal and stone. If the sincerity of Yao put out a sun and broke metal and stone, then by shooting upward at the sun could he pierce Heaven? When the world speaks of the wickedness of Jie and Zhou, it says they shot at Heaven and beat the earth; when it praises the virtue of Gaozong, it says his government made the mulberry and the paper mulberry go away. Now if Yao could not put out the ten suns by virtue and had to shoot them, then his virtue was less than the virtue of Gaozong and his wickedness was the same as the wickedness of Jie and Zhou. How could he have got an answer from Heaven by sincerity?
傳書言：武王伐紂，渡孟津，陽侯之波逆流而擊，疾風晦冥，人馬不見。於是武王左操黃鉞，右執白旄，目而麾之曰：「余在，天下誰敢害吾意者。」於是風霽波罷。此言虛也。武王渡孟津時，士眾喜樂，前歌後舞。天人同應，人喜天怒，非實宜也。前歌後舞，未必其實。麾風而止之，跡近為虛。夫風者，氣也；論者以為天地之號令也。武王誅紂是乎，天當安靜以佑之；如誅紂非乎，而天風者，怒也。武王不奉天令，求索己過，目言曰「余在，天下誰敢害吾者」，重天怒、增己之惡也，風何肯止？父母怒，子不改過，目大言，父母肯貰之乎？如風天所為，禍氣自然，是亦無知，不可目麾之故止。夫風猶雨也，使武王目以旄麾雨而止之乎！武王不能止雨，則亦不能止風。或時武王適麾之，風偶自止，世褒武王之德，則謂武王能止風矣。
It is handed down in a book that when King Wu attacked Zhou (紂) and crossed at Mengjin, the waves of Yanghou ran backward and struck them, and a swift wind darkened the sky so that men and horses could not be seen. Then King Wu took a yellow axe in his left hand and a white banner in his right, and glared and waved it and said, "I am here. Who in the world dares to harm my purpose?" Then the wind cleared and the waves stopped. This saying is empty. When King Wu crossed at Mengjin, the soldiers were glad and joyful, singing in front and dancing behind. Heaven and man answer together, and that men should be glad and Heaven angry does not fit the truth. That they sang in front and danced behind is not surely real either. That he waved at the wind and stopped it is a trace close to empty.
Now wind is breath, and those who discuss it hold it to be the command of Heaven and earth. If it was right of King Wu to cut down Zhou, Heaven ought to have been still and helped him; if it was wrong of him to cut down Zhou, then the wind of Heaven was anger. If King Wu did not receive the command of Heaven and did not look for his own fault, but glared and said, "I am here. Who in the world dares to harm me?" then he made the anger of Heaven heavier and added to his own wickedness, and why would the wind be willing to stop? When father and mother are angry and the son does not mend his fault but glares and speaks big, are father and mother willing to forgive him? If the wind is what Heaven does, then the breath of disaster is so of itself, and this too has no knowing, and it does not stop because a man glares and waves at it. Now wind is like rain. Could King Wu have glared and waved his banner at the rain and stopped it? If King Wu could not stop rain, then neither could he stop wind. Perhaps King Wu happened to wave and the wind happened to stop of itself, and the world, praising the virtue of King Wu, then said that King Wu could stop the wind.
傳書言：魯（襄）〔陽〕公與韓戰，戰酣日暮，公援戈而麾之，日為之反三舍。
It is handed down in a book that the Duke of Luyang was at war with Han, and when the fighting was at its height the sun went down, and the duke took up his halberd and waved it, and the sun went back three lodges for him.
此言虛也。凡人能以精誠感動天，專心一意，委務積神，精通於天，天為變動，然尚未可謂然。（襄）〔陽〕公志在戰，為日暮一麾，安能令日反？使聖人麾日，日終之反。（襄）〔陽〕公何人，而使日反乎！《鴻范》曰：「星有好風，星有好雨。日月之行，則有冬有夏。月之從星，則有風雨。」夫星與日月同精，日月不從星，星輒復變。明日月行有常度，不得從星之好惡也，安得從（襄）〔陽〕公之所欲？星之在天也，為日月舍，猶地有郵亭，為長吏廨也。二十八舍有分度，一舍十度，或增或減。
This saying is empty. Now if a man can stir Heaven by sincerity, he makes his mind single and his purpose one, gives himself over to the work and heaps up his spirit, so that his essence reaches through to Heaven and Heaven changes for him; and even then it cannot yet be said to be so. The Duke of Luyang had his mind on the fighting and gave one wave because the sun was going down; how could he make the sun go back? If a sage waved at the sun, the sun would still not go back in the end. What man was the Duke of Luyang, that he should make the sun go back? The Hongfan says, "There are stars that love wind, and there are stars that love rain. In the going of the sun and the moon there is winter and there is summer. When the moon follows the stars, there is wind and rain." Now the stars have the same essence as the sun and the moon, and when the sun and the moon do not follow the stars, the stars change again. It is clear that the going of the sun and the moon has a fixed measure and cannot follow what the stars like and dislike; how then could it follow what the Duke of Luyang wanted? The stars in Heaven are the lodges of the sun and the moon, as on earth there are post stations that are the offices of the magistrates. The twenty-eight lodges have their share of degrees, ten degrees to a lodge, some more and some less.
言日反三舍，乃三十度也。日，日行一度。一麾之間，反三十日時所在度也。如謂舍為度，三度亦三日行也。一麾之間，令日卻三日也。宋景公推誠，出三善言，熒惑徙三舍。實論者猶謂之虛。（襄）〔陽〕公爭斗，惡日之暮，以此一戈麾，無誠心善言，日為之反，殆非其意哉！且日，火也，聖人麾火，終不能卻；（襄）〔陽〕公麾日，安能使反？或時戰時日正卯，戰迷，謂日之暮，麾之轉左，曲道日若卻。世好神怪，因謂之反，不道所謂也。
To say that the sun went back three lodges is thirty degrees. The sun goes one degree in a day. In the space of one wave it went back to the degree where it stood thirty days before. If a lodge is taken for a degree, three degrees is still three days of going. In the space of one wave he made the sun draw back three days. When Duke Jing of Song pushed out his sincerity and uttered three good sayings, Yinghuo moved three lodges; and even that, those who discuss the truth call empty. The Duke of Luyang was fighting in a quarrel and hated the sun going down, and with this one wave of a halberd, with no sincere heart and no good saying, the sun went back for him. Surely that was not its meaning. Besides, the sun is fire, and a sage waving at fire cannot drive it back in the end; how then could the Duke of Luyang wave at the sun and make it go back? Perhaps at the time of the fighting the sun stood at the mao position, and they were lost in the fighting and said the sun was going down, and when they waved and turned to the left the road bent and the sun seemed to draw back. The world loves the spirit-like and the strange, and so said it went back, and did not say what was meant.
傳書言：荊軻為燕子謀刺秦王，白虹貫日。衛先生為秦畫長平之事，太白蝕昴。此言精感天，天為變動也。夫言白虹貫日，太白蝕昴，實也。言荊軻之謀，衛先生之畫，感動皇天，故白虹貫日，太白蝕昴者，虛也。夫以箸撞鐘，以算擊鼓，不能鳴者，所用撞擊之者，小也。今人之形不過七尺，以七尺形中精神，欲有所為，雖積銳意，猶箸撞鐘、算擊鼓也，安能動天？精非不誠，所用動者小也。且所欲害者人也，人不動，天反動乎！問曰：「人之害氣，能相動乎？」曰：「不能！」「豫讓欲害趙襄子，襄子心動。貫高欲篡高祖，高祖亦心動。二子懷精，故兩主振感。」曰：「禍變且至，身自有怪，非適人所能動也。何以驗之？時或遭狂人於途，以刃加己，狂人未必念害己身也，然而己身先時已有妖怪矣。由此言之，妖怪之至，禍變自凶之象，非欲害己者之所為也。且凶之人卜得惡兆，筮得凶卦，出門見之吉，占危睹禍氣，禍氣見於面，猶白虹太白見於天也。變見於天，妖出於人，上下適然，自相應也。」
It is handed down in a book that when Jing Ke planned for the crown prince of Yan to stab the king of Qin, a white rainbow pierced the sun; and that when Master Wei laid the plan of Changping for Qin, Taibai ate into the Mao stars. This says that the essence stirred Heaven, and Heaven changed for it. Now that a white rainbow pierced the sun and that Taibai ate into the Mao stars is real. That the plan of Jing Ke and the design of Master Wei stirred august Heaven, and that therefore a white rainbow pierced the sun and Taibai ate into the Mao stars, is empty. Now when a man strikes a bell with a chopstick or beats a drum with a counting rod and they do not sound, it is because what he strikes and beats with is small. The body of a man is no more than seven feet, and when the spirit within that seven-foot body wants to do something, then though he heap up a sharp will it is still like striking a bell with a chopstick or beating a drum with a counting rod; how could it move Heaven? It is not that the essence is not sincere; it is that what he moves it with is small. And what he wanted to harm was a man. The man was not moved; would Heaven be moved instead?
It is asked, "Can the harming breath of one man move another?" The answer is, "It cannot." "Yu Rang wanted to harm Xiangzi of Zhao, and the heart of Xiangzi was moved. Guan Gao wanted to seize the throne from Gaozu, and the heart of Gaozu was moved too. The two men held essence in them, and so the two lords were shaken and felt it." The answer is, "When disaster and change are about to come, there are strange things in the body of itself, and it is not that the other man can move it. How is this tested? A man may meet a madman on the road who puts a blade to him. The madman has not surely thought of harming his body, and yet that body already had its monstrous sign before the time. Speaking from this, the coming of a monstrous strangeness is a sign that disaster and change are ill of themselves, and it is not the doing of the one who wants to harm him. Besides, a man of ill fortune divines and gets a bad omen and casts the yarrow and gets an ill hexagram; he goes out of his gate and sees what is lucky, and divines about danger and sees the breath of disaster. The breath of disaster showing in his face is like the white rainbow and Taibai showing in Heaven. The change shows in Heaven and the monstrous sign comes out in man; above and below happen to be so, and answer each other of themselves."
傳書言：燕太子丹朝於秦，不得去，從秦王求歸。秦王執留之，與之誓曰：「使日再中，天雨粟，令烏白頭，馬生角，廚門木象生肉足，乃得歸。」當此之時，天地佑之，日為再中，天雨粟，烏白頭，馬生角，廚門木象生肉足。秦王以為聖，乃歸之。此言虛也。燕太子丹何人，而能動天？聖人之拘，不能動天，太子丹賢者也，何能致此！夫天能佑太子，生諸瑞以免其身，則能和秦王之意以解其難。見拘一事而易，生瑞五事而難。舍一事之易，為五事之難，何天之不憚勞也？湯困夏台，文王拘里，孔子厄陳、蔡。三聖之困，天不能佑，使拘之者睹佑知聖，出而尊厚之。或曰：「拘三聖者不與（三）〔之〕誓，三聖心不願，故佑聖之瑞無因而至。天之佑人，猶借人以物器矣。人不求索，則弗與也。」曰：「太子願天下瑞之時，豈有語言乎！」心願而已。然湯閉於夏台，文王拘於里，時心亦願出；孔子厄陳、蔡，心願食。天何不令夏台、里關鑰毀敗，湯、文涉出；雨粟陳、蔡，孔子食飽乎？太史公曰：「世稱太子丹之令天雨粟、馬生角，大抵皆虛言也。」太史公書漢世實事之人，而云虛言，近非實也。
It is handed down in a book that Dan, the crown prince of Yan, went to court in Qin and could not leave, and asked the king of Qin to let him go home. The king of Qin held him and kept him, and swore with him, saying, "When the sun stands at noon a second time, and Heaven rains grain, and the heads of crows turn white, and horses grow horns, and the wooden elephant at the kitchen gate grows feet of flesh, then you may go home." At that time Heaven and earth helped him: the sun stood at noon a second time, Heaven rained grain, the heads of crows turned white, horses grew horns, and the wooden elephant at the kitchen gate grew feet of flesh. The king of Qin took him for a sage and sent him home. This saying is empty. What man was Dan, the crown prince of Yan, that he could move Heaven? A sage shut up cannot move Heaven, and the crown prince Dan was a worthy man and no more; how could he come to this? Now if Heaven could help the crown prince and bring out all these signs to free his body, then it could have evened the mind of the king of Qin and loosed his trouble. To see his being shut up is one matter and easy; to bring out signs is five matters and hard. To leave aside the one easy matter and do the five hard ones: how is it that Heaven does not shrink from the labor? Tang was in straits at Xiatai, King Wen was shut up at Youli, and Confucius was in want between Chen and Cai. In the straits of these three sages Heaven could not help them, could not make those who shut them up see the help and know them for sages and let them out and honor them richly.
Someone says, "Those who shut up the three sages did not swear with them, and the three sages did not wish it in their hearts, and so the signs that help a sage had no way by which to come. Heaven helping a man is like lending a man a thing or a vessel. If a man does not ask for it, it is not given." The answer is, "When the crown prince wished for the signs of the world, was there any speech in it? He wished in his heart, and that is all. Yet when Tang was shut in at Xiatai and King Wen was shut up at Youli, they too wished in their hearts to get out; and when Confucius was in want between Chen and Cai, he wished in his heart to eat. Why did Heaven not make the bolts and bars of Xiatai and Youli fall to pieces so that Tang and King Wen could walk out, and rain grain on Chen and Cai so that Confucius could eat his fill?" The Grand Historian said, "The world says that the crown prince Dan made Heaven rain grain and made a horse grow horns, but on the whole these are all empty words." The Grand Historian was a man who wrote down the real matters of the age of Han, and he called them empty words; this is close to their not being real.
傳書言：杞梁氏之妻向城而哭，城為之崩。
It is handed down in a book that the wife of the Qi Liang clan wept facing the city wall, and the wall fell down for her.
此言杞梁從軍不還，其妻痛之，向城而哭，至誠悲痛，精氣動城，故城為之崩也。夫言向城而哭者，實也。城為之崩者，虛也。夫人哭悲莫過雍門子。雍門子哭對孟嘗君，孟嘗君為之於邑。蓋哭之精誠，故對向之者淒愴感動也。夫雍門子能動孟嘗之心，不能感孟嘗衣者，衣不知惻怛，不以人心相關通也。今城，土也。土猶衣也，無心腹之藏，安能為悲哭感動而崩？使至誠之聲能動城土，則其對林木哭，能折草破木乎？向水火而泣，能涌水滅火乎？夫草木水火與土無異，然杞梁之妻不能崩城，明矣。或時城適自崩，杞梁妻適哭。下世好虛，不原其實，故崩城之名，至今不滅。
This means that Qi Liang followed the army and did not come back, and his wife grieved for him and wept facing the wall, and that her utmost sincerity and bitter grief, the breath of her essence, moved the wall, and so the wall fell down for her. Now that she wept facing the wall is real. That the wall fell down for her is empty. In weeping for grief no man goes beyond Yongmenzi. Yongmenzi wept facing Lord Mengchang, and Lord Mengchang choked with sobbing for it. It was the sincerity of the weeping, and so the one who faced him was chilled and stirred. Yet Yongmenzi could move the heart of Lord Mengchang and could not make the clothes of Lord Mengchang feel it, because clothes know no sorrow and are not joined to the heart of a man. Now a wall is earth. Earth is like clothes; it has no heart or belly stored within, so how could it be stirred by grieving weeping and fall down? If a voice of utmost sincerity could move the earth of a wall, then would weeping before a wood of trees break the grass and split the trees? Would weeping before water and fire make the water well up and put the fire out? Now grass and trees and water and fire are no different from earth, and so it is clear that the wife of Qi Liang could not bring a wall down. Perhaps the wall happened to fall of itself and the wife of Qi Liang happened to weep. Later ages love what is empty and do not search out the truth of it, and so the name of bringing a wall down is not lost even now.
傳書言：鄒衍無罪，見拘於燕，當夏五月，仰天而嘆，天為隕霜。此與杞梁之妻哭而崩城，無以異也。言其無罪見拘，當夏仰天而嘆，實也。言天為之雨霜，虛也。
It is handed down in a book that Zou Yan was shut up in Yan though he had done no wrong, and in the fifth month of summer he looked up to Heaven and sighed, and Heaven let down frost for him. This is no different from the wife of Qi Liang weeping and bringing down the wall. To say that he was shut up without wrong and looked up to Heaven and sighed in summer is real; to say that Heaven rained frost for him is empty.
夫萬人舉口并解吁嗟，猶未能感天，皺衍一人冤而壹嘆，安能下霜？鄒衍之冤不過曾子、伯奇。曾子見疑而吟，伯奇被逐而歌。疑、〔逐〕與拘同。吟、歌與嘆等。曾子、伯奇不能致寒，鄒衍何人，獨能雨霜？被逐之冤，尚未足言。申生伏劍，子胥刎頸。實孝而賜死，誠忠而被誅。且臨死時皆有聲辭，聲辭出口，與仰天嘆無異。天不為二子感動，獨為鄒衍動，豈天痛見拘，不悲流血哉！
Now if ten thousand men raised their mouths together and sighed, they still could not stir Heaven; how could Zou Yan alone, wronged and sighing once, bring frost down? The wrong of Zou Yan was no greater than the wrong of Zengzi and Boqi. Zengzi was suspected and hummed; Boqi was driven out and sang. Being suspected and being driven out are the same as being shut up, and humming and singing are the same as sighing. Zengzi and Boqi could not bring on cold; what man was Zou Yan, that he alone could rain down frost? The wrong of being driven out is not even worth speaking of. Shensheng fell on his sword and Zixu cut his own throat. Truly filial, he was given death; truly loyal, he was put to death. And at the hour of death both had voice and words, and voice and words coming out of the mouth are no different from looking up to Heaven and sighing. If Heaven was not stirred for these two men and was stirred for Zou Yan alone, does Heaven then grieve at a man being shut up and not sorrow at blood being shed?
（伯奇）〔何其〕冤痛相似而感動不同也？夫一炬火一鑊水，終日不能熱也；倚一尺冰置庖廚中，終夜不能寒也。何則？微小之感不能動大巨也。今鄒衍之嘆，不過如一炬尺冰，而皇天巨大，不徒鑊水庖廚之丑類也。一仰天嘆，天為隕霜。何天之易感，霜之易降也？夫哀與樂同，喜與怒均。衍興怨痛，使天下霜。使衍蒙非望之賞，仰天而笑，能以冬時使天熱乎？變復之家曰：「人君秋賞則溫，夏罰則寒。」寒不累時則霜不降，溫不兼日則冰不釋。一夫冤而一嘆，天輒下霜，何氣之易變，時之易轉也！寒溫自有時，不合變復之家。且從變復之說，或時燕王好用刑，寒氣應至；而衍囚拘而嘆，嘆時霜適自下。世見適嘆而霜下，則謂鄒衍嘆之致也。
How is it that the wrong and the pain are alike and the stirring is not the same? Now one torch cannot make a cauldron of water hot in a whole day, and a foot of ice set in the kitchen cannot make it cold in a whole night. Why? A slight and small working cannot move what is great and huge. Now the sigh of Zou Yan is no more than one torch or a foot of ice, while august Heaven is huge and is not merely of the sort of a cauldron of water or a kitchen. At one look up to Heaven and one sigh, Heaven let down frost. How easily is Heaven stirred, and how easily does frost come down! Now grief and joy are the same, and gladness and anger are even. If Zou Yan raised up his bitterness and made Heaven frost, then if Zou Yan had met with a reward beyond his hope and had looked up to Heaven and laughed, could he have made Heaven hot in winter? Those who speak of turning back a change say, "When the ruler rewards in autumn it grows warm, and when he punishes in summer it grows cold." If cold does not pile up through several seasons frost does not come down, and if warmth does not run together through several days ice does not melt. If one man is wronged and sighs once and Heaven at once lets down frost, how easily does the breath change and how easily does the season turn! Cold and warmth have their own seasons, and they do not fit with those who speak of turning back a change. Besides, following the words of turning back a change, perhaps the king of Yan was fond of using punishments and the cold breath answered and came, and while Zou Yan was shut up and sighing the frost happened to come down of itself. The world saw that he happened to sigh and the frost came down, and so said that the sigh of Zou Yan brought it on.
傳書言：師曠奏《白雪》之曲，而神物下降，風雨暴至。平公因之癃病，晉國赤地。或言師曠《清角》之曲，一奏之，有云從西北起：再奏之，大風至，大雨隨之，裂帷幕，破俎豆，墜廊瓦，坐者散走。平公恐懼，伏乎廊室；晉國大旱，赤地三年；平公癃病。夫《白雪》與《清角》，或同曲而異名，其禍敗同一實也。傳書之家，載以為是；世俗觀見，信以為然。原省其實，殆虛言也。夫《清角》，何音之聲而致此？《清角》，木音也，故致風（而）〔雨），如木為風，雨與風俱。三尺之木，數弦之聲，感動天地，何其神也！此復一哭崩城、一嘆下霜之類也。師曠能鼓《清角》，必有所受，非能質性生出之也。其初受學之時，宿昔習弄，非直一再奏也。審如傳書之言，師曠學《清角》時，風雨當至也。
It is handed down in a book that Shi Kuang played the tune Baixue, and spirit things came down and wind and rain came suddenly. Duke Ping fell into a crippling sickness through it, and the land of Jin was left bare. Some say that Shi Kuang played the tune Qingjue: at the first playing there were clouds rising from the northwest; at the second playing a great wind came and a great rain followed it, tearing the curtains, breaking the stands and dishes, and throwing down the tiles of the gallery, so that those who sat there scattered and ran. Duke Ping was afraid and lay down in a room of the gallery; there was a great drought in Jin and the land was left bare for three years, and Duke Ping fell into a crippling sickness. Now Baixue and Qingjue are perhaps one tune under two names, and their disaster and ruin are one and the same fact. Those who hand down books set it down as so, and the common world looks at it and believes it to be so. When the truth of it is searched out, it is likely an empty saying. Now what sound and note is Qingjue, that it should come to this? Qingjue is the note of wood, and so it is said to bring on wind and rain; and if wood becomes wind, then rain goes together with wind. That three feet of wood and the sound of a few strings should stir Heaven and earth, how spirit-like is that! This again is of the kind of one weeping bringing down a wall and one sigh bringing down frost. If Shi Kuang could play Qingjue, he must have received it from someone and did not bring it out of his own stuff and nature. When he first received the teaching of it, he practiced and handled it night and day, and did not play it merely once or twice. If it were truly as the handed-down book says, then wind and rain ought to have come when Shi Kuang was learning Qingjue.
傳書言：瓠芭鼓瑟，淵魚出聽；師曠鼓琴，六馬仰秣。或言：師曠鼓《清角》，一奏之，有玄鶴二八自南方來，集於廊門之危；再奏之而列；三奏之，延頸而鳴，舒翼而舞，音中宮商之聲，聲吁於天。平公大悅，坐者皆喜。《尚書》曰：「擊石拊石，百獸率舞。」此雖奇怪，然尚可信。何則？鳥獸好悲聲，耳與人耳同也。禽獸見人（欲）〔之〕食，亦欲食之；聞人之樂，何為不樂？然而魚聽、仰秣、玄鶴延頸、百獸率舞，蓋且其實。風雨之至、晉國大旱、赤地三年、平公癃病，殆虛言也。或時奏《清角》時，天偶風雨、風雨之後，晉國適旱；平公好樂，喜笑過度，偶發癃病。傳書之家，信以為然，世人觀見，遂以為實。實者樂聲不能致此。何以驗之？風雨暴至，是陰陽亂也。樂能亂陰陽，則亦能調陰陽也。王者何須修身正行，擴施善政？使鼓調陰陽之曲，和氣自至，太平自立矣。
It is handed down in a book that when Hu Ba played the zither the fish in the deep came out to listen, and when Shi Kuang played the lute six horses looked up from their fodder. Some say that Shi Kuang played Qingjue: at the first playing sixteen black cranes came from the south and gathered on the ridge of the gallery gate; at the second playing they stood in rows; at the third playing they stretched their necks and cried and spread their wings and danced, and the sound matched the notes gong and shang and rang out to Heaven. Duke Ping was greatly pleased, and all who sat there were glad. The Shangshu says, "The stone was struck and the stone was tapped, and the hundred beasts danced in following." This is strange and wonderful, and yet it may still be believed. Why? Birds and beasts love a grieving sound, and their ears are the same as the ears of men. When birds and beasts see men eating, they too wish to eat; and when they hear the music of men, why should they not be glad? So the fish listening, the horses looking up from their fodder, the black cranes stretching their necks, and the hundred beasts dancing in following are likely near the truth. That wind and rain came, that there was a great drought in Jin and the land was left bare for three years, and that Duke Ping fell into a crippling sickness, is likely an empty saying. Perhaps when Qingjue was played Heaven happened to send wind and rain, and after the wind and rain Jin happened to be dry; and Duke Ping loved music and laughed for gladness beyond measure and happened to fall into a crippling sickness. Those who hand down books believed it to be so, and the men of the world looked at it and at last took it for real. In truth the sound of music cannot bring this on. How is this tested? That wind and rain come suddenly is the disorder of yin and yang. If music can throw yin and yang into disorder, then it can also make yin and yang even. Why then should a king need to mend himself and set his conduct straight and spread out good government widely? Let him have a tune played that evens yin and yang, and the even breath will come of itself and great peace will stand of itself.
傳書言：湯遭七年旱，以身禱於桑林，自責以六過，天乃雨。或言：五年。禱辭曰：余一人有罪，無及萬夫。萬夫有罪，在余一人。（天）〔無〕以一人不敏，使上帝鬼神傷民之命。於是剪其髪，麗其手，自以為牲，用祈福於上帝。上帝甚說，時雨乃至。言湯以身禱於桑林自責，若言剪髪麗手，自以為牲，用祈福於上帝，實也。言雨至，為湯自責以身禱之故，殆虛言也。孔子疾病，子路請禱。孔子曰：「有諸？」子路曰：「有之。
It is handed down in a book that Tang met a drought of seven years and prayed with his own body at the mulberry grove, blaming himself with six faults, and that Heaven then sent rain. Some say five years. The words of the prayer were: If I, the one man, have sinned, let it not reach the ten thousand men. If the ten thousand men have sinned, the sin rests on me, the one man. Do not, because one man is not clever, let the Lord on High and the ghosts and spirits harm the lives of the people. Then he cut his hair and bound his hands and made himself the victim, and with this he prayed for blessing from the Lord on High. The Lord on High was greatly pleased, and the timely rain then came. To say that Tang prayed with his own body at the mulberry grove and blamed himself, and to say that he cut his hair and bound his hands and made himself the victim and prayed for blessing from the Lord on High, is real. To say that the rain came because Tang blamed himself and prayed with his own body is likely an empty saying. When Confucius was gravely ill, Zilu asked leave to pray. Confucius said, "Is there such a thing?" Zilu said, "There is.
誄曰：禱爾於上下神祗。」孔子曰：「丘之禱久矣。」聖人修身正行，素禱之日久，天地鬼神知其無罪，故曰禱久矣。《易》曰：「大人與天地合其德，與日月合其明，與四時合其敘，與鬼神合其吉凶。」此言聖人與天地、鬼神同德行也。即須禱以得福，是不同也。湯與孔子俱聖人也，皆素禱之日久。孔子不使子路禱以治病，湯何能以禱得雨？孔子素禱，身猶疾病。湯亦素禱，歲猶大旱。然則天地之有水旱，猶人之有疾病也。疾病不可以自責除，水旱不可以禱謝去，明矣。湯之致旱，以過乎？是不與天地同德也。今不以過致旱乎？自責禱謝，亦無益也。人形長七尺，形中有五常，有癉（一作瘴）熱之病，深自克責，猶不能愈，況以廣大之天，自有水旱之變。湯用七尺之形，形中之誠，自責禱謝，安能得雨邪？人在層台之上，人從層台下叩頭，求請台上之物。台上之人聞其言，則怜而與之；如不聞其言，雖至誠區區，終無得也。夫天去人，非徒層台之高也，湯雖自責，天安能聞知而與之雨乎？夫旱，火變也；湛，水異也。堯遭洪水，可謂湛矣。堯不自責以身禱祈，必舜、禹治之，知水變必須治也。除湛不以禱祈，除旱亦宜如之。由此言之，湯之禱祈不能得雨。或時旱久，時當自雨；湯以旱久，亦適自責。世人見雨之下，隨湯自責而至，則謂湯以禱祈得雨矣。
The dirge says, 'We pray for you to the spirits above and below.'" Confucius said, "I have prayed a long time." The sage mends himself and sets his conduct straight, and the days of his plain praying are long, and Heaven and earth and the ghosts and spirits know that he has done no wrong, and so he said that he had prayed a long time. The Yi says, "The great man joins his virtue with Heaven and earth, his brightness with the sun and the moon, his order with the four seasons, and his good and ill fortune with the ghosts and spirits." This says that the sage is one with Heaven and earth and the ghosts and spirits in virtue and in conduct. If he had to pray in order to get blessing, then he would not be one with them. Tang and Confucius were both sages, and for both the days of plain praying were long. Confucius did not send Zilu to pray and cure his sickness; how then could Tang get rain by praying? Confucius prayed plainly, and his body still fell sick. Tang too prayed plainly, and the year was still greatly dry. That being so, Heaven and earth having flood and drought is like a man having sickness. It is clear that sickness cannot be taken away by blaming oneself, and that flood and drought cannot be driven off by praying and begging pardon. Did Tang bring on the drought by a fault? Then he was not one in virtue with Heaven and earth. And if he did not bring on the drought by a fault, then blaming himself and praying and begging pardon were of no use either. The body of a man is seven feet long, and within the body are the five constants; and when he has the sickness of jaundice and fever and blames himself deeply, he still cannot be healed. How much more when Heaven is wide and great and has changes of flood and drought of its own. With a body of seven feet and the sincerity within that body, how could Tang blame himself and pray and beg pardon and get rain? Suppose a man is on top of a high terrace and another man knocks his head on the ground below the terrace and asks for a thing on the terrace. If the man on the terrace hears his words, he pities him and gives it; if he does not hear his words, then though his sincerity be utmost and earnest, in the end he gets nothing. Now Heaven is away from man by more than the height of a terrace; though Tang blamed himself, how could Heaven hear and know and give him rain? Now drought is a change of fire, and flood is a strangeness of water. The great flood that Yao met may be called a flood. Yao did not pray with his own body and blame himself, but had Shun and Yu put it in order, for he knew that a change of water must be put in order. Since he did not use praying to take away flood, taking away drought ought to be the same. Speaking from this, the praying of Tang could not get rain. Perhaps the drought had lasted long and the season was of itself due for rain, and Tang, because the drought had lasted long, happened also to blame himself. The men of the world saw the rain come down following upon Tang blaming himself, and so said that Tang got rain by praying.
傳書言：「倉頡作書，天雨粟，鬼夜哭。」此言文章興而亂漸見，故其妖變，致天雨粟、鬼夜哭也。夫見天雨粟、鬼夜哭，實也。言其應倉頡作書，虛也。夫河出圖，洛出書，聖帝明王之瑞應也。
It is handed down in a book: "Cangjie made writing, and Heaven rained grain and the ghosts wept by night." This says that when letters arose disorder slowly showed itself, and so their monstrous change came to Heaven raining grain and the ghosts weeping by night. Now that Heaven was seen to rain grain and the ghosts to weep by night is real. To say that this answered the making of writing by Cangjie is empty. Now the He sending forth the chart and the Luo sending forth the writing were the lucky answers to sagely emperors and bright kings.
圖書文章與倉頡所作字畫何以異？天地為圖書，倉頡作文字，業與天地同，指與鬼神合，何非何惡而致雨粟（神）〔鬼〕哭之怪？使天地、鬼神惡人有書，則其出圖書，非也；天不惡人有書，作書何非而致此怪？或時倉頡適作書，天適雨粟，鬼偶夜哭，而雨粟、鬼神哭自有所為。世見應書而至，則謂作書生亂敗之象，應事而動也。天雨谷，論者謂之從天而下，〔應〕變而生。
How does the writing of the chart and the writing differ from the letters and strokes that Cangjie made? Heaven and earth made the chart and the writing and Cangjie made letters, so the work is the same as the work of Heaven and earth and the purpose agrees with the ghosts and spirits. What was wrong in it and what was hateful, that it should come to the strangeness of grain raining down and the ghosts weeping? If Heaven and earth and the ghosts and spirits hate men having writing, then their sending forth the chart and the writing was wrong; and if Heaven does not hate men having writing, what was wrong in making letters, that it should come to this strangeness? Perhaps Cangjie happened to make letters and Heaven happened to rain grain and the ghosts happened to weep by night, and the raining of grain and the weeping of the ghosts had causes of their own. The world saw that they came answering the letters, and so said that making letters gave birth to a sign of disorder and ruin and moved in answer to the matter. Those who discuss Heaven raining grain say that it came down from Heaven and was born in answer to a change.
如以雲雨論之，雨谷之變，不足怪也。何以驗之？夫雲（雨）〔氣〕出於丘山，降散則為雨矣。人見其從上而墜，則謂之天雨水也。夏日則雨水，冬日天寒則雨凝而為雪，皆由雲氣發於丘山，不從天上降集於地，明矣。夫谷之雨，猶復雲（布）〔雨〕之亦從地起，因與疾風俱飄，參於天，集於地。人見其從天落也，則謂之天雨谷。建武三十一年中，陳留雨谷，谷下蔽地。案視谷形，若茨而黑，有似於稗實也。此或時夷狄之地，生出此谷。夷狄不粒食，此谷生於草野之中，成熟垂委於地，遭疾風暴起，吹揚與之俱飛，風衰谷集，墜於中國。中國見之，謂之雨谷。
If it is discussed by clouds and rain, the change of grain raining down is not to be wondered at. How is this tested? Now the breath of the clouds comes out of the hills and mountains, and when it comes down and scatters it becomes rain. Men see it falling from above and say that Heaven rains water. In summer it rains water, and in winter, when Heaven is cold, the rain freezes and becomes snow; and it is clear that all of this comes from the breath of the clouds rising from the hills and mountains, and does not come down from above Heaven and gather on the earth. Now the raining of grain is also like clouds and rain, rising from the earth; it is blown up together with a swift wind, mounts into Heaven, and gathers on the earth. Men see it falling from Heaven and say that Heaven rains grain. In the thirty-first year of Jianwu, grain rained in Chenliu, and the grain came down and covered the ground. When the shape of the grain was looked at, it was like caltrop and black, and had the look of the seed of barnyard grass. Perhaps this grain grows in the land of the barbarians. The barbarians do not eat grain, and this grain grew in the midst of grass and wild land and ripened and hung down to the ground; and a swift wind rose suddenly and blew it up and it flew along with the wind, and when the wind slackened the grain gathered and fell in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom saw it and said that grain had rained.
何以效之？野火燔山澤，山澤之中，草木皆燒，其葉為灰，疾風暴起，吹揚之，參天而飛，風衰葉下，集於道路。夫天雨谷者，草木葉燒飛而集之類也。而世以為雨谷，作傳書者以〔為〕變怪。天主施氣，地主產物。有葉、實可啄食者，皆地所生，非天所為也。今谷非氣所生，須土以成。雖雲怪變，怪變因類。生地之物，更從天集，生天之物，可從地出乎？地之有萬物，猶天之有列星也。星不更生於地，谷何獨生於天乎？傳書又言：伯益作井，龍登玄雲，神栖昆侖。言（龍）井有害，故龍神為變也。
How is this shown? When a wild fire burns the hills and marshes, the grass and trees in the hills and marshes are all burned and their leaves become ashes; and when a swift wind rises suddenly and blows them up, they mount to Heaven and fly, and when the wind slackens the leaves come down and gather on the roads. Now Heaven raining grain is of the kind of the leaves of grass and trees being burned and flying and gathering. Yet the world holds it to be grain raining down, and those who make handed-down books hold it to be a change and a strangeness. Heaven has charge of giving out breath, and earth has charge of bearing things. Whatever has leaves and fruit that can be pecked and eaten is borne by earth and is not made by Heaven. Now grain is not born of breath; it needs earth to be made. Though it be called a strange change, a strange change follows its kind. If a thing born of earth gathers again out of Heaven, can a thing born of Heaven come out of the earth? Earth having the ten thousand things is like Heaven having the ranks of stars. Stars are not born again out of the earth; how then should grain alone be born out of Heaven?
A handed-down book also says that when Boyi (伯益) made wells the dragons rose to the dark clouds and the spirits went to dwell on Kunlun. This says that there was harm in wells, and so the dragons and the spirits made a change.
夫言龍登玄雲，實也。言神栖昆侖，又言為作井之故，龍登神去，虛也。夫作井而飲，耕田而食，同一實也。伯益作井，致有變動。始為耕耘者，何故無變？神農之橈木為耒，教民耕，民始食谷，谷始播種。耕土以為田，鑿地以為井。井出水以救渴，田出谷以拯飢，天地、鬼神所欲為也，龍何故登雲？神何故栖昆侖？夫龍之登玄雲，古今有之，非始益作井而乃登也。方今盛夏，雷雨時至，龍多登雲。雲龍相應，龍乘雲雨而行，物類相致，非有為也。堯時，五十之民擊壤於塗。觀者曰：「大哉，堯之德也！」擊壤者曰：「吾日出而作，日入而息，鑿井而飲，耕田而食。堯何等力？」堯時已有井矣。唐、虞之時，豢龍御龍，龍常在朝。夏末政衰，龍乃隱伏。
Now to say that the dragons rose to the dark clouds is real. To say that the spirits went to dwell on Kunlun, and to say further that because wells were made the dragons rose and the spirits went away, is empty. Now making wells and drinking, and plowing fields and eating, are one and the same thing. If the making of wells by Boyi brought a change, why was there no change for the one who first plowed and weeded? Shennong bent wood into a plow and taught the people to plow, and the people first ate grain and grain was first sown and planted. Earth is plowed to make fields, and the ground is dug to make wells. The well sends out water and saves men from thirst, and the field sends out grain and rescues men from hunger, and this is what Heaven and earth and the ghosts and spirits wish for; why then should the dragons rise to the clouds and why should the spirits go to dwell on Kunlun? Now dragons rising to the dark clouds is a thing of old and of today, and it was not that they first rose when Boyi made wells. Right now, in high summer, when thunder and rain come in their season, dragons often rise to the clouds. Clouds and dragons answer each other, and the dragon rides on cloud and rain and goes; things of a kind draw one another, and there is no doing about it. In the time of Yao a man of fifty was beating the ground in play on the road. One who watched said, "Great is the virtue of Yao!" The one beating the ground said, "I work when the sun comes up and rest when the sun goes down; I dig a well and drink, and plow a field and eat. What strength has Yao in it?" So in the time of Yao there were already wells. In the times of Tang and Yu dragons were reared and dragons were driven, and dragons were always at court. At the end of Xia the government grew weak, and the dragons then hid themselves.
非益鑿井，龍登雲也。所謂神者，何神也？百神皆是。百神何故惡人為井？使神與人同，則亦宜有飲之欲。有飲之欲，憎井而去，非其實也。夫益殆之鑿井，龍不為鑿井登雲，神不栖於昆侖。傳書意妄，造生之也。
It was not that Boyi dug wells and the dragons rose to the clouds. What spirits are these so-called spirits? All the hundred spirits are they. Why should the hundred spirits hate men making wells? If the spirits are the same as men, then they too ought to have the wish to drink. To have the wish to drink and yet to hate wells and go away is not the truth. Now Boyi dug wells, and the dragons did not rise to the clouds because wells were dug, and the spirits did not go to dwell on Kunlun. The minds of those who hand down books are reckless, and they made this up.
傳書言：梁山崩，壅河三日不流，晉君憂之。晉伯宗以輦者之言，令景公素縞而哭之，河水為之流通。
It is handed down in a book that Mount Liang fell and blocked the He so that it did not flow for three days, and the lord of Jin was troubled by it. Bo Zong of Jin, on the word of a cart-puller, had Duke Jing of Jin put on plain white and weep for it, and the waters of the He flowed through because of it.
此虛言也。夫山崩壅河，猶人之有癰腫，血脈不通也。治癰腫者，可復以素服哭泣之聲治乎？堯之時，洪水滔天，懷山襄陵。帝堯吁嗟，博求賢者。水變甚於河壅，堯憂深於景公，不聞以素縞哭泣之聲能厭勝之。堯無賢人若輦者之朮乎？將洪水變大，不可以聲服除也？如素縞而哭，悔過自責也，堯、禹之治水以力役，不自責。梁山，堯時山也；所壅之河，堯時河也。山崩河壅，天雨水踊，二者之變無以殊也。堯、禹治洪水以力役，輦者治壅河用自責。變同而治異，人鈞而應殊，殆非賢聖變復之實也。凡變復之道，所以能相感動者，以物類也。有寒則復之以溫，溫復解之以寒。故以龍致雨，以刑逐（暑）〔景〕，皆緣五行之氣用相感勝之。山崩壅河，素縞哭之，於道何意乎？此或時何壅之時，山初崩，土積聚，水未盛。三日之後，水盛土散，稍坏沮矣。坏沮水流，竟注東去。遭伯宗得輦者之言，因素縞而哭，哭之因流，流時謂之河變，起此而復，其實非也。何以驗之？使山恆自崩乎，素縞哭無益也。使其天變應之，宜改政治。素縞而哭，何政所改而天變復乎？
This is an empty saying. Now a mountain falling and blocking the He is like a man having a boil so that the blood and the veins do not run through. Can one who treats a boil treat it with plain clothes and the sound of weeping? In the time of Yao the great flood reached to Heaven and wrapped the hills and rose over the mounds. The emperor Yao sighed and sought widely for a worthy man. The change of the water was worse than the blocking of the He, and the trouble of Yao was deeper than the trouble of Duke Jing of Jin; yet it is not heard that plain white and the sound of weeping could hold it down and overcome it. Had Yao no worthy man with the art of the cart-puller? Or was the change of the great flood so big that it could not be taken away by sound and clothes? If putting on plain white and weeping is repenting of a fault and blaming oneself, then Yao and Yu put the waters in order by the labor of men and did not blame themselves. Mount Liang was a mountain of the time of Yao, and the He that was blocked was the He of the time of Yao. A mountain falling and blocking the He, and Heaven sending rain so that the waters rose, are two changes with nothing to tell them apart. Yao and Yu put the great flood in order by the labor of men, and the cart-puller put the blocked He in order by blaming oneself. The change is the same and the ordering different, the men are even and the answer different; this is likely not the truth of how a worthy man and a sage turn back a change. Now the way of turning back a change can stir things because of kinds. Where there is cold it is turned back with warmth, and warmth is loosed again with cold. So rain is brought on with a dragon and heat is driven off with punishment, and all of this follows the breath of the five elements, which are used to stir and overcome one another. When a mountain falls and blocks the He, what meaning is there in the way of it that one should put on plain white and weep? Perhaps at the time the He was blocked the mountain had just fallen and the earth was heaped up and the water was not yet strong; and after three days the water grew strong and the earth scattered and it slowly broke and crumbled. It broke and crumbled and the water flowed and poured away eastward at last. Bo Zong got the word of the cart-puller and therefore put on plain white and wept, and when he wept the water flowed, and at the time of the flowing they said that the change of the He was turned back from this; but that is not the truth of it. How is this tested? If the mountain always falls of itself, plain white and weeping are of no use. If a change of Heaven answered it, then the government ought to have been mended. What government was mended by putting on plain white and weeping, that a change of Heaven should be turned back?
傳書言：曾子之孝，與母同氣。曾子出薪於野，有客至而欲去，曾母曰：「願留，參方到。」即以右手扼其左臂。曾子左臂立痛，即馳至問母：「臂何故痛？」母曰：「今者客來欲去，吾扼臂以呼汝耳。」蓋以至孝，與父母同氣，體有疾病，精神輒感。曰：此虛也。夫孝悌之至，通於神明，乃謂德化至天地。俗人緣此而說，言孝悌之至，精氣相動。如曾母臂痛，曾子臂亦輒痛，曾母病（乎），曾子亦病〔乎〕？曾母死，曾子輒死乎？考事，曾母先死，曾子不死矣。此精氣能小相動，不能大相感也。世稱申喜夜聞其母歌，心動，開關問歌者為誰，果其母。蓋聞母聲，聲音相感，心悲意動，開關而問，蓋其實也。今曾母在家，曾子在野，不聞號呼之聲，母小扼臂，安能動子？疑世人頌成，聞曾子之孝天下少雙，則為空生母扼臂之說也。
It is handed down in a book that the filial piety of Zengzi was of one breath with his mother. Zengzi had gone out to the wild to gather firewood, and a guest came and wished to leave. The mother of Zengzi said, "Please stay. Shen will be here soon," and at once gripped her own left arm with her right hand. The left arm of Zengzi hurt him at once, and he ran back and asked his mother, "Why does your arm hurt?" His mother said, "Just now a guest came and wished to leave, and I gripped my arm to call you." This is to say that by utmost filial piety he was of one breath with his father and mother, so that when their body had a sickness his spirit felt it at once. The answer is: this is empty. Now that the utmost of filial piety and brotherly love reaches through to the spirits means that the teaching of virtue reaches to Heaven and earth. Common men take this up and say that at the utmost of filial piety and brotherly love the breath of the essence moves between them. If the arm of Zengzi hurt at once when the arm of his mother hurt, then when the mother of Zengzi fell sick would Zengzi fall sick, and when the mother of Zengzi died would Zengzi die at once? Looking into the matter, the mother of Zengzi died first and Zengzi did not die. This is that the breath of the essence can move between them a little and cannot feel between them greatly. The world says that Shen Xi heard his mother singing by night and his heart was moved, and he opened the gate and asked who was singing, and it was indeed his mother. He heard the voice of his mother, and the sounds felt one another, and his heart grieved and his purpose was moved, and he opened the gate and asked; this is likely the truth. Now the mother of Zengzi was at home and Zengzi was in the wild, and he did not hear the sound of a call; how could his mother gripping her arm a little move her son? It is likely that the men of the world, having praised him into fullness, heard that the filial piety of Zengzi had few equals in the world, and so gave birth for nothing to the saying that his mother gripped her arm.
世稱：南陽卓公為緱氏令，蝗不入界。
The world says that when Master Zhuo of Nanyang was magistrate of Goushi, the locusts did not come into his borders.
蓋以賢明至誠，災蟲不入其縣也。此又虛也。夫賢明至誠之化，通於同類，能相知心，然後慕服。蝗蟲，閩虻之類也，何知何見而能知卓公之化？使賢者處深野之中，閩虻能不入其舍乎？閩虻不能避賢者之舍，蝗蟲何能不入卓公之縣？如謂蝗蟲變與閩虻異，夫寒溫亦災變也，使一郡皆寒，賢者長一縣，一縣之界能獨溫乎？夫寒溫不能避賢者之縣，蝗蟲何能不入卓公之界？夫如是，蝗蟲適不入界，卓公賢名稱於世，世則謂之能卻蝗蟲矣。何以驗之？夫蝗之集於野，非能普博盡蔽地也，往往積聚多少有處。
This is to say that by his worth and brightness and utmost sincerity the plague insects did not come into his county. This too is empty. Now the teaching of worth and brightness and utmost sincerity reaches through to its own kind, and they can know one another's hearts, and only then do they admire and submit. Locusts are of the kind of gnats and gadflies. What do they know and what do they see, that they can know the teaching of Master Zhuo? If a worthy man is set in the midst of a deep wild, can gnats and gadflies keep out of his house? If gnats and gadflies cannot avoid the house of a worthy man, how can locusts keep out of the county of Master Zhuo? And if it is said that the change of locusts is different from gnats and gadflies, then cold and warmth are changes of disaster too: if a whole province is cold and a worthy man is head of one county, can the borders of that one county alone be warm? If cold and warmth cannot avoid the county of a worthy man, how can locusts keep out of the borders of Master Zhuo? This being so, the locusts happened not to come into the borders, and the worthy name of Master Zhuo was praised in the world, and the world then said that he could drive the locusts back. How is this tested? Now when locusts gather in the wild they cannot cover the whole ground everywhere; commonly there are places where they heap up more and places where they heap up less.
非所積之地，則盜蹠所居；所少之野，則伯夷所處也。集過有多少，不能盡蔽覆也。夫集地有多少，則其過縣有留去矣。多少，不可以驗善惡；有無，安可以明賢不肖也？蓋時蝗自過，不謂賢人界不入，明矣。
The land where they do not heap up is where Robber Zhi lives, and the wild where they are few is where Bo Yi (伯夷) dwells. In their gathering and passing there is more and less, and they cannot cover it all. Now if there is more and less in the land where they gather, then in passing a county there is a staying and a going. More and less cannot be used to test good and evil; how then can having and not having make clear who is worthy and who is not? It is likely that at the time the locusts passed by of themselves, and it is clear that it is not to be said that they did not come in because the borders were a worthy man's.