Daning — Answers on Flatterers答佞篇
或問曰：「賢者行道，得尊官厚祿矣；何心為佞，以取富貴？」曰：佞人知行道可以得富貴，必以佞取爵祿者，不能禁欲也；知力耕可以得谷，勉貿可以得貨，然而必盜竊，情欲不能禁者也。以禮進退也，人莫之貴，然而違禮者眾，尊義者希，心情貪欲，志慮亂溺也。夫佞與賢者同材，佞以情自敗；偷盜與田商同知，偷盜以欲自劾也。
Someone asks, "When the worthy man walks in the Way, he gains high office and rich pay. With what mind does a man flatter in order to seize wealth and rank?" The answer: the flatterer knows that walking in the Way can bring wealth and rank, yet he must take office and pay by flattery, because he cannot forbid his desires. He knows that hard plowing can bring grain and diligent trading can bring goods, yet he must steal, because his passions and desires are what he cannot forbid. There is no man who does not honor advancing and withdrawing by ritual, yet many break ritual and few hold righteousness high, because the heart is greedy and the will is troubled and sunk. Now the flatterer and the worthy man are of the same stuff, but the flatterer ruins himself through his passions; the thief and the farmer and the merchant have the same knowledge, but the thief brings the charge upon himself through his desires.
問曰：「佞與賢者同材，材行宜鈞，而佞人曷為獨以情自敗？」曰：「富貴皆人所欲也，雖有君子之行，猶有飢渴之情。君子則以禮防情，以義割欲，故得循道，循道則無禍。小人縱貪利之欲，逾禮犯義，故進得苟佞，苟佞則有罪。」夫賢者，君子也；佞人，小人也。君子與小人本殊操異行，取舍不同。
Someone asks, "The flatterer and the worthy man are of the same stuff, so their stuff and their conduct ought to be level. Why does the flatterer alone ruin himself through his passions?" The answer: "Wealth and rank are what all men want. Even a man with the conduct of a gentleman still has the passions of hunger and thirst. The gentleman blocks his passions with ritual and cuts away his desires with righteousness, so he can follow the Way, and following the Way he meets no ruin. The small man lets loose his desire for gain and oversteps ritual and offends against righteousness, so in advancing he stoops to flattery, and stooping to flattery he incurs guilt." Now the worthy man is a gentleman, and the flatterer is a small man. Gentleman and small man differ in bearing and differ in conduct from the root, and what they take and what they cast off are not the same.
問曰：「佞與讒者同道乎？有以異乎？」曰：「讒與佞，俱小人也，同道異材，俱以嫉妒為性，而施行發動之異。」讒以口害人，佞以事危人；讒人以直道不違，佞人依違匿端；讒人無詐慮，佞人有術數。故人君皆能遠讒親仁，莫能知賢別佞。難曰：「人君皆能遠讒親仁，而莫能知賢別佞，然則佞人意不可知乎？」曰：佞可知，人君不能知。庸庸之君，不能知賢，不能知賢，不能知佞。唯聖賢之人，以九德檢其行，以事效考其言。行不合於九德，言不驗於事效，人非賢則佞矣。夫知佞以知賢，知賢以知佞，知賢則賢智自覺，知賢則奸佞自得。賢佞異行，考之一驗；情心不同，觀之一實。
Someone asks, "Do the flatterer and the slanderer walk the same road, or is there a difference?" The answer: "The slanderer and the flatterer are both small men. Their road is the same and their stuff differs. Both take envy for their nature, but they differ in how they act and move." The slanderer harms men with his mouth; the flatterer endangers men through affairs. The slanderer goes by the straight road and does not swerve; the flatterer leans and swerves and hides the thread. The slanderer has no deceiving plans; the flatterer has arts and devices. So rulers can all keep the slanderer far off and draw the humane man near, but none can know the worthy man and tell the flatterer apart. It is objected, "Rulers can all keep the slanderer far off and draw the humane man near, yet none can know the worthy man and tell the flatterer apart. Then is the flatterer's mind beyond knowing?" The answer: the flatterer can be known, but the ruler does not know him. A common ruler cannot know the worthy man, and not knowing the worthy man he cannot know the flatterer. Only the sage and the worthy examine a man's conduct by the nine virtues and weigh his words by the results of affairs. If his conduct does not meet the nine virtues and his words are not borne out by results, then the man is not worthy, and if he is not worthy he is a flatterer. Now one knows the flatterer by knowing the worthy man, and knows the worthy man by knowing the flatterer. Know the worthy man, and worth and wisdom wake of themselves; know the worthy man, and cunning flattery is caught of itself. The worthy man and the flatterer differ in conduct, yet one test examines them both; their passions and hearts are not the same, yet one reality shows them both.
問曰：「九德之法，張設久矣，觀讀之者，莫不曉見，斗斛之量多少，權衡之縣輕重也。然而居國有土之君，曷為常有邪佞之臣與常有欺惑之患？」〔曰〕：「無患斗斛過，所量非其谷；不患無銓衡，所銓非其物故也。」在人君位者，皆知九德之可以檢行，事效可以知情，然而惑亂不能見者，則明不察之故也。人有不能行，行無不可檢；人有不能考，情無不可知。
Someone asks, "The law of the nine virtues was set out long ago. No one who looks and reads fails to see it clearly, as he sees how much or how little the peck and the bushel measure, and how light or heavy a thing hangs upon the scales. Then why does a ruler who holds a land always have crooked and flattering ministers, and always the trouble of being cheated and beguiled?" The answer: "He does not worry that the peck and the bushel are wrong; he worries that what he measures is not the grain. He does not worry that he has no balance; he worries that what he weighs is not the thing." Those who sit in the ruler's seat all know that conduct can be examined by the nine virtues and that the passions can be known by the results of affairs. That they are beguiled and troubled and cannot see is because they do not look clearly. A man may fail to act, yet there is no conduct that cannot be examined; a man may fail to weigh, yet there are no passions that cannot be known.
問曰：「行不合於九德，效不檢於考功，進近非賢，非賢則佞。夫庸庸之材，無高之知不能及賢。賢功不效，賢行不應，可謂佞乎？」曰：材有不相及，行有不相追，功有不相襲。若知無相襲，人材相什百，取舍宜同，賢佞殊行，是是非非。實名俱立，而效有成敗，是非之言俱當，功有正邪。
Someone asks, "If a man's conduct does not meet the nine virtues and his results are not examined against his merit, then the man brought near is not worthy, and if he is not worthy he is a flatterer. Now a common talent has no high knowledge and cannot reach the worthy man. If the merit of the worthy is without result and the conduct of the worthy does not answer, can that be called flattery?" The answer: talents do not all reach as far as one another, conduct does not all follow as far, and merit does not all pass on alike. Since knowledge is not passed on, though the talents of men differ tenfold and a hundredfold, what they take and cast off ought to be the same. The worthy man and the flatterer differ in conduct, and the right is right and the wrong is wrong. Reality and name may both stand, yet results have success and failure; words of right and wrong may both be fitting, yet merit has the upright and the crooked.
言合行違，名盛行廢，佞人〔也〕。
The man whose words fit while his conduct swerves, whose name flourishes while his conduct falls away, is the flatterer.
問曰：「行合九德則賢，不合則佞。世人操行者可盡謂佞乎？」曰：諸非皆惡，惡中之逆者，謂之無道；惡中之巧者，謂之佞人。聖王刑憲，佞在惡中；聖王賞勸，賢在善中。純潔之賢，善中殊高，賢中之聖也。（善）〔惡〕中大佞，惡中之雄也。故曰：觀賢由善，察佞由惡。善惡定成，賢佞形矣。
Someone asks, "Conduct that meets the nine virtues is worthy, and conduct that does not is flattery. Can the bearing of all the men of the world be called flattery?" The answer: all that is wrong is evil. Among the evil, the man who goes against the grain is called a man without the Way; among the evil, the man who is skillful is called a flatterer. Under the punishments and laws of the sage kings the flatterer stands among the evil; under the rewards and encouragements of the sage kings the worthy man stands among the good. The pure and clean worthy man is high above the rest among the good, and he is the sage among the worthy. The great flatterer among the evil is the chief among the evil. So it is said: look for the worthy man by way of the good, and examine the flatterer by way of the evil. Once good and evil are fixed and settled, the worthy man and the flatterer take shape.
問曰：「聰明有蔽塞，推行有謬誤，今以是者為賢，非者為佞，殆不得賢之實乎？」曰：「聰明蔽塞，推行謬誤，人之所歉也。」故曰：刑故無小，宥過無大。聖君原心省意，故誅故貰誤。故賊加增，過誤減損，一獄吏所能定也，賢者見之不疑矣。
Someone asks, "Hearing and sight may be blocked, and the carrying out of a thing may go astray. If now we take the man who is right for worthy and the man who is wrong for a flatterer, do we not perhaps miss the reality of the worthy?" The answer: "Hearing and sight blocked, and the carrying out of a thing gone astray, are where men fall short." So it is said: in punishing what was done on purpose there is nothing small, and in pardoning a mistake there is nothing great. The sage ruler digs into the heart and looks into the intent, so he cuts down what was done on purpose and lets a mistake go. He adds to the thief who steals on purpose and takes off from the man who erred. A single prison officer can settle this, and the worthy man sees it without doubt.
問曰：「言行無功效，可謂佞乎？」〔曰〕：蘇秦約六國為從，強秦不敢窺兵於關外。張儀為橫，六國不敢同攻於關內。六國約從，則秦畏而六國強；三秦稱橫，則秦強而天下弱。功著效明，載紀竹帛，雖賢何以加之？太史公敘言眾賢，儀、秦有篇，無嫉惡之文，功鈞名敵，不異於賢。夫功之不可以效賢，猶名之不可實也。儀、秦，排難之人也，處擾攘之世，行揣摩之術。當此之時，稷、契不能與之爭計，禹、睾陶不能與之比效。若夫陰陽調和，風雨時適，五谷丰熟，盜賊衰息，人舉廉讓，家行道德之功，命祿貴美，術數所致，非道德之所成也。太史公記功，故高來，記錄成則著效明驗，攬載高卓，以儀、秦功美，故列其狀。由此言之，佞人亦能以權說立功為效。無效，未可為佞也。難曰：「惡中立功者謂之佞。能為功者，材高知明。思慮遠者，必傍義依仁，亂於大賢。故《覺佞》之篇曰：『人主好辨，佞人言利；人主好文，佞人辭麗。』心合意同，偶當人主，說而不見其非，何以知其偽而伺其奸乎？」曰：是謂庸庸之君也，材下知昏，蔽惑不見。（後）〔若〕（又）〔大〕賢之君，察之審明，若視俎上脯，指掌中之理，數局上之棋，摘轅中之馬。魚鱉匿淵，捕漁者知其源；禽獸藏山，畋獵者見其脈。佞人異行於世，世不能見，庸庸之主，無高材之人也。難曰：「人君好辨，佞人言利；人主好文，佞人辭麗。言操合同，何以覺之？」曰：文王官人法曰：「推其往行以揆其來言，聽其來言以省其往行，觀其陽以考其陰，察其內以揆其外。」是故詐善設節者可知，飾偽無情者可辨，質誠居善者可得，含忠守節者可見也。人之舊性不辨，人君好辨，佞人學求合於上也。人之故能不文，人君好文，佞人意欲稱上。上奢，己麗服；上儉，己不飭。今操與古殊，朝行與家別，考鄉里之跡，証朝庭之行，察共親之節，明事君之操，外內不相稱，名實不相副，際會發見、奸為覺露也。
Someone asks, "If words and conduct have no merit and no result, can that be called flattery?" The answer: Su Qin bound the six states into the vertical alliance, and mighty Qin dared not spy out its troops beyond the pass. Zhang Yi made the horizontal alliance, and the six states dared not attack within the pass together. When the six states were bound in the vertical alliance, Qin was afraid and the six states were strong; when the Three Qin proclaimed the horizontal alliance, Qin was strong and the world was weak. Their merit was manifest and their results were clear, and they were set down on bamboo and silk. Though a man were worthy, what could he add to that? When the Grand Historian set out the many worthy men, Yi and Qin had chapters of their own, with no writing of hatred for them. Their merit was level with the worthy and their names a match, and they were not different from the worthy. Now merit cannot bear witness to worth, just as a name cannot be taken for the reality. Yi and Qin were men who beat back hard straits. They lived in an age of turmoil and practiced the art of sounding men out. In that time Hou Ji and Xie could not have contended with them in counsel, and Yu and Gao Yao could not have matched their results. As for yin and yang in harmony, wind and rain coming in season, the five grains ripening in plenty, thieves and robbers dwindling away, men holding up honesty and yielding, and every house walking in virtue, such merit comes of a lot that is noble and fair and is brought about by arts and devices. It is not what virtue accomplishes. The Grand Historian set down merit, and so he went after the high. When he recorded what was accomplished, the results were manifest and the proof was clear, and he carried into his record what was high and outstanding. Because the merit of Yi and Qin was fair, he laid out their shape. Speaking from this, the flatterer too can set up merit by words of expedience and make it his result. Where there is no result, a man still may not be called a flatterer. It is objected, "The man who sets up merit among the evil is called a flatterer. One who can make merit is high in talent and clear in knowledge. One whose thought reaches far will surely lean on righteousness and rest on humanity, and so be confused with the great worthy. This is why the Juening chapter says, 'When the ruler loves disputation, the flatterer speaks of gain; when the ruler loves letters, the flatterer makes his words ornate.' Their hearts fit and their intents are the same, and so he is matched to the ruler. He speaks, and his wrong is not seen. How then is his falseness known and his cunning watched for?" The answer: this speaks of the common ruler, low in talent and dark in knowledge, blocked and beguiled and not seeing. A great and worthy ruler examines with care and clearness, as though he were looking at dried meat on the block, or pointing to the lines in his own palm, or counting the stones on a board, or picking out the horse in the shafts. Fish and turtles hide in the deep, but the fisherman knows their springs. Birds and beasts hide in the hills, but the hunter sees their tracks. The flatterer acts unlike other men in the world, and the world cannot see it, because under a common ruler there is no man of high talent. It is objected, "When the ruler loves disputation, the flatterer speaks of gain; when the ruler loves letters, the flatterer makes his words ornate. His words and his bearing fit and agree. How is he found out?" The answer: King Wen's rule for appointing men says, "Reach back over his past conduct to measure the words he brings; listen to the words he brings to look into his past conduct; watch what is open in him to weigh what is hidden; examine what is within him to measure what is without." For this reason the man who feigns goodness and puts on restraint can be known, the man who dresses up falsehood with no true passion can be told apart, the man whose substance is sincere and who dwells in goodness can be gained, and the man who holds loyalty within him and keeps his restraint can be seen. By their old nature men do not dispute; the ruler loves disputation, and so the flatterer learns it and seeks to fit what is above. By their given powers men are not men of letters; the ruler loves letters, and so the flatterer means to match what is above. If the one above is lavish, he makes his own clothes ornate; if the one above is sparing, he goes unadorned. Now his bearing differs from what it was of old, and his conduct at court differs from his conduct at home. Examine his traces in his village and set them against his conduct in the court; look into how he keeps his restraint toward his parents and bring to light his bearing in serving his ruler. Then what is without and what is within do not answer to each other, and name and reality do not match. At the moment of meeting it shows, and the cunning deed is found out and laid bare.
問曰：「人操行無恆，權時制宜。信者欺人，直者曲撓，權變所設，前後異操，事有所應，左右異語。儒書所載，權變非一。今以素故考之，母乃失實乎？」曰：賢者有權，佞者有權。賢者之有權，後有應。佞人之有權，亦反經，後有惡。故賢人之權，為事為國；佞人之權，為身為家。觀其所權，賢佞可論。察其發動，邪正可名。
Someone asks, "A man's bearing is not always the same, for he settles what is fitting according to the time. The trustworthy man cheats others and the straight man bends. Where expedience is set to work, his bearing differs before and after; where there is something in the affair to answer to, his words differ to left and right. The Confucian books set down more than one case of expedience. If we examine a man now by his plain and former self, shall we not miss the reality?" The answer: the worthy man has his expedience, and the flatterer has his expedience. The worthy man's expedience has something that answers afterward. The flatterer's expedience also turns the constant way over, but afterward there is evil. So the worthy man's expedience is for the affair and for the state, and the flatterer's expedience is for his own person and his own house. Look at what they use expedience for, and the worthy man and the flatterer can be discussed. Examine how they act and move, and the crooked and the upright can be named.
問曰：「佞人好毀人，有諸？」曰：佞人不毀人。如毀人，是讒人也。何則？佞人求利，故不毀人。苟利於己，曷為毀之？苟不利（己）於〔己〕，毀之無益。以計求便，以數取利，利則便得。妒人共事，然後危人。其危人也非毀之，而其害人也非泊之。譽而危之，故人不知。厚而害之，故人不疑。是故佞人危而不怨，害人之敗而不仇。隱情匿意，為之功也。如毀人，人亦毀之，眾不親，士不附也，安能得容世取利於上？
Someone asks, "It is said the flatterer likes to tear other men down. Is it so?" The answer: the flatterer does not tear men down. If he tore men down he would be a slanderer. Why? The flatterer seeks gain, and so he does not tear men down. If a man truly profits him, why would he tear him down? If a man truly does not profit him, tearing him down brings no gain. He seeks his convenience by counsel and takes his gain by device, and where there is gain the convenience comes. Only when he envies a man who shares his work does he then endanger him. His endangering of a man is not by tearing him down, and his harming of a man is not by pressing him hard. He praises a man and endangers him, so men do not know it. He treats a man handsomely and harms him, so men do not suspect it. For this reason the flatterer endangers a man and is not resented, and harms a man and brings him down and makes no enemy. Hiding his passions and covering his intent is his accomplishment. If he tore men down, men would tear him down too, and the crowd would not hold him dear and the scholars would not attach themselves to him. How then could he be kept in the world and take his gain from above?
問曰：「佞人不毀人於世間，毀人於將前乎？」曰：「佞人以人欺將，不毀人於將。」「然則佞人奈何？」曰：「佞人毀人，譽之；危人，安之。」「毀危奈何？」假令甲有高行奇知，名聲顯聞，將恐人君召問，扶而勝己，欲故廢不言，常騰譽之。荐之者眾，將議欲用，問人，人必不對曰，甲賢而宜召也。何則？甲意不欲留縣，前聞其語矣，聲望欲入府，在郡則望欲入州。志高則操與人異，望遠則意不顧近。屈而用之，其心不滿，不則臥病。賤而命之則傷賢，不則損威。故人君所以失名損譽者，好臣所常臣也。自耐下之，用之可也。自度不能下之，用之不便。夫用之不兩相益，舍之不兩相損。人君畏其志，信佞人之言，遂置不用。
Someone asks, "The flatterer does not tear men down out in the world. Does he tear them down before the general?" The answer: "The flatterer uses other men to cheat the general; he does not tear men down to the general." "Then what does the flatterer do?" The answer: "When the flatterer tears a man down he praises him, and when he endangers a man he sets him at ease." "How does he tear down and endanger?" Suppose a certain man has high conduct and rare knowledge, and his name is heard abroad. The flatterer fears that the ruler will call him and question him and prop him up, so that the man outstrips the flatterer himself. So he means to leave the man aside on purpose and say nothing of him, and all the while he heaps praise on him. Many put the man forward, and when the talk turns to using him and men are asked, no one will answer that the man is worthy and ought to be called. Why? The flatterer says the man's intent is not to stay in the county, and that he heard him say so before. He says the man's hopes are to enter the prefecture, and that in the commandery he will hope to enter the province. When a man's will is high his bearing differs from other men's; when his hopes reach far his intent does not look back to what is near. Bend him and use him, and his heart is not full; do otherwise, and he takes to his bed sick. Give him a low charge, and you injure a worthy man; do otherwise, and you take from your own dignity. So the reason a ruler loses his name and lessens his repute is that he loves to keep as his minister the man he always keeps as a minister. If he can bring himself low before such a man, it is well to use him. If he weighs himself and cannot come low, using him is not convenient. Now using him does not profit them both, and setting him aside does not harm them both. The ruler fears the man's will and believes the flatterer's words, and in the end he leaves him aside and does not use him.
問曰：「佞人直以高才洪知考上世人乎？將有師學檢也？」曰：「人自有知以詐人，及其人主，須術以動上，猶上人自有勇威人，及其戰斗，須兵法以進眾，術則從橫，師則鬼谷也。」傳曰：「蘇秦、張儀從橫習之鬼谷先生，掘地為坑，曰：下，說令我泣，出則耐分人君之地。蘇秦下，說鬼谷先生泣下沾襟，張儀不若。蘇秦相趙，并相六國。張儀貧賤，往歸蘇秦，座之堂下，食以仆妾之食，數讓激怒，欲令相秦。儀忿恨，遂西入秦。蘇秦使人厚送。其後覺知，曰：此在其術中，吾不知也，此吾所不及蘇君者。」知深有術，權變鋒出，故身尊崇榮顯，為世雄杰。深謀明術，深淺不能并行，明暗不能并知。
Someone asks, "Does the flatterer examine the men of former ages straight off by his own high talent and broad knowledge, or does he have a master to learn from and be tested by?" The answer: "A man has knowledge of his own with which to cheat men, but when he comes to his ruler he waits on an art to move the one above him. It is like a man above who has courage of his own with which to overawe men, but when he comes to battle he waits on the art of war to send his host forward. The art is the vertical and the horizontal, and the master is Guigu." A tradition says, "Su Qin and Zhang Yi learned the vertical and the horizontal from Master Guigu. He dug the ground into a pit and said, 'Go down, and if your pleading makes me weep, then when you come out you will be able to divide the lands of rulers.' Su Qin went down and pleaded, and Master Guigu wept until his tears wet his collar. Zhang Yi was not his equal. Su Qin became chief minister of Zhao and chief minister of all six states together. Zhang Yi was poor and low, and he went and threw himself on Su Qin. Su Qin seated him below the hall and fed him the food of servants and maids, and reproached him again and again to rouse his anger, meaning to make him chief minister of Qin. Yi was angry and bitter, and in the end he went west into Qin. Su Qin sent a man to see him off handsomely. Afterward Yi woke to it and said, 'This lay inside his art and I did not know it. Here is where I do not reach Master Su.'" His knowledge was deep and he had his arts, and his expedience came out like a sword point, so his person was honored and his glory was manifest, and he was a hero of his age. In deep scheming and clear art, the deep and the shallow cannot go together, and the clear and the dark cannot know together.
問曰：「佞人養名作高，有諸？」曰：「佞人食利專權，不養名作高。」貪權據凡，則高名自立矣。稱於小人，不行於君子。何則？利義相伐，正邪相反。義動君子，利動小人。佞人貪利名之顯，君子不安下則身危。舉世為佞者，皆以禍眾，不能養其身，安能養其名？上世列傳棄（宗）〔榮〕養身，違利赴名，竹帛所載，伯成、子高委國而耕，於陵子辭位灌園，近世蘭陵王仲子、東（都）〔郡〕昔廬君陽，寢位久病，不應上征，可謂養名矣。夫不以道進，必不以道出身；不以義止，必不以義立名。佞人懷貪利之心，輕禍重身，傾死為矣，何名之養？義廢德坏，操行隨辱，何云作高？
Someone asks, "It is said the flatterer nurses his name and makes himself high. Is it so?" The answer: "The flatterer feeds on gain and keeps power to himself; he does not nurse his name and make himself high." Covet power and take a seat, and a high name stands of itself. It is spoken of among small men, and it does not carry with gentlemen. Why? Gain and righteousness strike at each other, and the upright and the crooked are opposites. Righteousness moves the gentleman, and gain moves the small man. The flatterer covets gain and the show of a name, while the gentleman, if he is not at ease below, is himself in danger. In all the world the flatterers meet much ruin and cannot nurse their own persons. How should they nurse their names? In the lives of former ages, men who cast off glory to nurse their persons, who went against gain and ran toward a name, were set down on bamboo and silk. Bocheng Zigao gave up his state and plowed, and Yuling Zi declined his post and watered a garden. In recent ages Wang Zhongzi of Lanling and Xilu Junyang of the Dong commandery lay down from their posts, long sick, and did not answer the summons from above. These may be said to have nursed their names. Now a man who does not advance by the Way will surely not bring himself forward by the Way, and a man who does not stop at righteousness will surely not set up a name by righteousness. The flatterer carries a heart that covets gain. He holds ruin light and his own person heavy, and he topples into death. What name does he nurse? Righteousness falls away and virtue caves in and his bearing follows into disgrace. How can it be said that he makes himself high?
問曰：「大佞易知乎，小佞易知也？」曰：「大佞易知，小佞難知。」何則？大佞材高，其跡易察；小佞知下，其效難省。何以明之？成事，小盜難覺，大盜易知也。攻城襲邑，剽劫虜掠，發則事覺，道路皆知盜也。穿鑿垣牆，狸步鼠竊，莫知謂誰。（曰）大佞奸深惑亂，其人如大盜易知，人君何難？〔曰〕：「《書》曰：『知人則哲，惟帝難之。『虞舜大聖，兜大佞。大聖難知大佞，大佞不憂大聖。何易之有？」〔曰〕：是謂下知之，上知之。上知之大難小易，下知之大易小難。何則？佞人材高，論說麗美。因麗美之說，人主之威，人（立）〔主〕心并不能責，知或不能覺。小佞材下，對鄉失漏，際會不密，人君警悟，得知其故。大難小易也。屋漏在上，知者在下。漏大，下見之著；漏小，下見之微。或曰：「雍也仁而不佞。」孔子曰：「焉用佞！御人以口給，屢憎於民。」誤設計數，煩擾農商，損下益上，愁民說主。損上益下，忠臣之說也；損下益上，佞人之義也。「季氏富於周公，而求也為之聚斂而附益之，小子鳴鼓而攻之可也。」聚斂，季氏不知其惡，不知百姓所共非也。
Someone asks, "Is the great flatterer easy to know, or the small flatterer?" The answer: "The great flatterer is easy to know, and the small flatterer is hard to know." Why? The great flatterer is high in talent, and his traces are easy to examine; the small flatterer is low in knowledge, and his results are hard to look into. How is this made clear? By what has happened: the small thief is hard to catch, and the great thief is easy to know. When men storm a wall and fall upon a town, when they plunder and carry off captives, the deed shows as soon as it starts, and everyone on the road knows them for thieves. But of one who bores through a wall, who walks like a wildcat and steals like a rat, no one knows who it was. The great flatterer's cunning is deep, and he beguiles and troubles. If his kind are as easy to know as the great thief, what is hard in it for the ruler? The answer: "The Book of Documents says, 'To know men is to be wise, and even the sovereign found it hard.' Yu Shun was a great sage and Huandou was a great flatterer. It was hard for the great sage to know the great flatterer, and the great flatterer did not fear the great sage. Where is the ease in that?" The answer: this speaks of knowing from below and knowing from above. For knowing from above, the great is hard and the small is easy; for knowing from below, the great is easy and the small is hard. Why? The flatterer is high in talent, and his arguments are ornate and fair. Because of his ornate and fair speech, and because of the ruler's own dignity, the ruler's heart cannot bring itself to call him to account, and his knowledge sometimes cannot wake to it. The small flatterer is low in talent. His answers leak and fail and his meetings are not close-knit, and the ruler wakes to it and can learn his reason. So the great is hard and the small is easy. The leak in the roof is above, and the one who knows of it is below. When the leak is large, those below see it plainly; when the leak is small, those below see it faintly. Someone said, "Yong is benevolent but he is not glib." Confucius said, "What use is glibness! To fend men off with a ready tongue is to be hated often by the people." To set plans and devices wrongly, to burden the farmer and the merchant, and to take from those below and add to the one above, is to grieve the people and please the ruler. To take from the one above and add to those below is the counsel of a loyal minister; to take from those below and add to the one above is what the flatterer holds right. "The Ji clan is richer than the Duke of Zhou, and Qiu gathers and levies for them and adds to their store. My young men, you may sound the drum and go against him." As for gathering and levying, the Ji clan did not know its evil, and did not know that it was what the hundred families all held wrong.