Dingxian — Telling Who Is Worthy定賢篇
聖人難知，賢者比於聖人為易知。世人且不能知賢，安能知聖乎？世人雖言知賢，此言妄也。知賢何用？知之如何？
The sage is hard to know, and the worthy, set beside the sage, is easy to know. The people of the age cannot even know the worthy. How then can they know the sage? Though the people of the age say they know the worthy, this saying is idle. What do they use to know the worthy? What is that knowing like?
以仕宦得高官身富貴為賢乎？則富貴者天命也。命富貴不為賢，命貧賤不為不肖。必以富貴效賢不肖，是則仕宦以才不以命也。
Is a man worthy because he takes office, gains high rank and is rich and honored in his person? But wealth and honor are the destiny of Heaven. A destiny of wealth and honor does not make a man worthy, and a destiny of poverty and low station does not make him unworthy. If wealth and honor must prove a man worthy or unworthy, then office would come by talent and not by destiny.
以事君調合寡過為賢乎？夫順阿之臣，佞幸之徒是也。準主而說，適時而行，無廷逆之郄，則無斥退之患。或骨體嫺麗，面色稱媚，上不憎而善生，恩澤洋溢過度，未可謂賢。
Is a man worthy because he serves his ruler smoothly and has few faults? Such are the compliant and fawning ministers, and the crowd of flatterers who win favor. They gauge the ruler and please him, they act as the moment asks, and since they leave no crack of opposition at court, they suffer no trouble of dismissal. Some have handsome frames and comely faces, so that the one above does not hate them. Goodwill is born, and favor overflows beyond measure. Still they cannot be called worthy.
以朝庭選舉皆歸善為賢乎？則夫著見而人所知者舉多，幽隱人所不識者薦少，虞舜是也。堯求，則諮於鯀、共工，則岳已不得。由此言之，選舉多少，未可以知實。或德高而舉之少，或才下而薦之多。明君求善察惡於多少之間，時得善惡之實矣。且廣交多徒，求索眾心者，人愛而稱之；清直不容鄉黨，志潔不交非徒，失眾心者，人憎而毀之。故名多生於知謝，毀多失於眾意。齊威王以毀封即墨大夫，以譽烹阿大夫。即墨有功而無譽，阿無效而有名也。子貢問曰：「鄉人皆好之，何如？」孔子曰：「未可也。」「鄉人皆惡之，何如？」曰：「未可也，不若鄉人之善者好之，其不善者惡之。」夫如是，稱譽多而小大皆言善者，非賢也。善人稱之，惡人毀之，毀譽者半，乃可有賢。
Is a man worthy because the choices of the court all come back to him as good? The man who is plain to see and known to people gets many recommendations, and the man hidden away and unrecognized gets few. Yu Shun was such a man. When Yao sought a man, he asked about Gun and Gonggong, and Yue could not be had. From this it is said that the number of recommendations, many or few, cannot show what is real. Some are high in virtue and recommended by few. Some are low in talent and recommended by many. The enlightened ruler seeks the good and examines the bad in the space between many and few, and so at times gets the reality of good and bad. Moreover the man who makes wide friendships and has many followers, and courts the hearts of the crowd, is loved and praised by people. The man who is pure and upright and is not tolerated in his village, whose will is clean so that he does not consort with the wrong crowd, and who loses the hearts of the crowd, is hated and slandered by people. So a name is often born of acquaintance and thanks, and slander is often lost in the mind of the crowd. King Wei of Qi enfeoffed the grandee of Jimo because of slander, and boiled the grandee of E because of praise. Jimo had merit but no praise. E had no result but had a name. Zigong asked, "What of the man whom all the villagers like?" Confucius said, "Not yet good enough." "What of the man whom all the villagers hate?" He said, "Not yet good enough. It is not so good as the good among the villagers liking him and the bad among them hating him." If it is so, the man who is much praised, whom great and small alike call good, is not worthy. When good men praise him and bad men slander him, and slander and praise are half and half, then there may be worth in him.
以善人所稱，惡人所毀，可以知賢乎？夫如是，孔子之言可以知賢，不知譽此人者賢也？毀此人者惡也？或時稱者，惡而毀者善也？人眩惑無別也。
Can the worthy be known by what good men praise and what bad men slander? If it is so, the worthy can be known by the words of Confucius. Yet it is not known whether the man who praises this man is worthy, or whether the man who slanders this man is bad. At times the one who praises is bad and the one who slanders is good. People are dazzled and deluded, and make no distinction.
以人眾所歸附、賓客雲合者為賢乎？則夫人眾所附歸者，或亦廣交多徒之人也，眾愛而稱之，則蟻附而歸之矣。或尊貴而為利，或好士下客，折節俟賢。信陵、孟嘗、平原、春申，食客數千，稱為賢君。大將軍衛青及霍去病門無一客，稱為名將。故賓客之會，在好下之君。利害之賢，或不好士，不能為輕重，則眾不歸而士不附也。
Is a man worthy because the crowd turns and attaches itself to him and guests gather like clouds? The man to whom the crowd attaches itself may also be a man of wide friendships and many followers. When the crowd loves and praises him, they swarm to him like ants. Some are honored and high and bring profit. Some love scholars and humble themselves to their guests, bending their dignity to wait upon the worthy. Xinling, Mengchang, Pingyuan and Chunshen had guests by the thousand, and were called worthy lords. The general in chief Wei Qing and Huo Qubing had not one guest at their gates, and were called famous generals. So the gathering of guests lies with the lord who likes to humble himself. A worthy man of profit and loss may not love scholars, and if he cannot make a man light or heavy, then the crowd does not turn to him and scholars do not attach themselves.
以居位治人，得民心歌詠之為賢乎？則夫得民心者，與彼得士意者，無以異也。為虛恩拊循其民，民之欲得，即喜樂矣。何以效之？齊田成子、越王勾踐是也。成子欲專齊政，以大斗貸、小鬥收而民悅。句踐欲雪會稽之恥，拊循其民，吊死問病而民喜。二者皆自有所欲為於他，而偽誘屬其民，誠心不加，而民亦說。孟嘗君夜出秦關，雞未鳴而關不，下坐賤客，鼓臂為雞鳴，而雞皆和之，關即啟，而孟嘗得出。〔夫〕雞可以姦聲感，則人亦可以偽恩動也。人可以偽恩動，則天亦可巧詐應也。動致天氣，宜以精神，而人用陽燧取火於天，消煉五石，五月盛夏鑄以為器，乃能得火。今又但取刀劍銅鉤之屬，切磨以嚮日，亦得火焉。夫陽燧、刀、劍、鉤能取火於日，恆非賢聖亦能動氣於天。若董仲舒信土龍之能致雲雨，蓋亦有以也。夫如是，應天之治，尚未可謂賢，況徒得人心，即謂之賢，如何？
Is a man worthy because he holds a position, governs the people, wins their hearts and is sung of? The man who wins the hearts of the people is no different from the man who wins the minds of scholars. If he soothes his people with empty favors, the people get what they wish for and are glad. How is this proved? Tian Chengzi of Qi and King Goujian of Yue are the proof. Chengzi wished to take the government of Qi to himself, so he lent with the large measure and collected with the small, and the people were pleased. Goujian wished to wipe out the shame of Kuaiji, so he soothed his people, mourned their dead and asked after their sick, and the people were glad. Both of them had something they wished to do elsewhere, and they enticed their people falsely and bound them. No sincere heart was added, and yet the people were pleased. When Lord Mengchang went out by the Qin barrier at night, the cocks had not yet crowed and the gate was shut. A lowly guest seated at the bottom beat his arms and made the crowing of a cock, and all the cocks answered him. The gate opened at once, and Mengchang could get out. Now if a cock can be moved by a cunning sound, a man too can be moved by false favor. If a man can be moved by false favor, Heaven too can answer to clever deceit. To move Heaven and bring down its breath ought to be done with the spirit. Yet a man takes fire from Heaven with a burning mirror, melting the five stones and casting them into a vessel in the deep summer of the fifth month, and only then can he get fire. Now if he takes only a knife, a sword, a bronze hook and the like, grinds them and holds them to the sun, he gets fire as well. Since the burning mirror, the knife, the sword and the hook can take fire from the sun, a man who is not always worthy and sagely can also move the breath of Heaven. Dong Zhongshu's belief that an earthen dragon could bring clouds and rain has some ground in this too. If it is so, even government that answers Heaven cannot yet be called worthy. How much less can a man be called worthy for merely winning the hearts of the people?
以居職有成功見效為賢乎？夫居職何以為功效？以人民附之，則人民可以偽恩說也。陰陽和、百姓安者，時也。時和，不肖遭其安；不和，雖聖逢其危。如以陰陽和而效賢不肖，則堯以洪水得黜，湯以大旱為殿下矣。如功效謂事也，身為之者，功著可見。以道為計者，效沒不章。鼓無當於五音，五音非鼓不和。師無當於五服，五服非師不親。水無當於五采，五采非水不章。道為功本，功為道效，據功謂之賢，是則道人之不肖也。高祖得天下，賞群臣之功，蕭何為賞首。何則？高祖論功，比獵者之縱狗也。狗身獲禽，功歸於人。群臣手戰，其猶狗也；蕭何持重，其猶人也。必據成功謂之賢，是則蕭何無功。功賞不可以效賢，一也。
Is a man worthy because he holds a post, achieves merit and shows results? What counts as merit and result in holding a post? If it is that the people attach themselves to him, the people can be pleased with false favor. That yin and yang are in harmony and the hundred families are at peace is a matter of the times. When the times are in harmony, even the unworthy meets that peace. When they are not, even a sage meets that danger. If worth and unworth were proved by the harmony of yin and yang, then Yao would have been cast out for the great flood and Tang would have come last for the great drought. If merit and result mean affairs, then the man who does them with his own body has a merit that is plain to see, and the man who plans by the Way has a result that is sunk and does not show. The drum has no place among the five notes, yet without the drum the five notes are not in harmony. The teacher has no place among the five degrees of mourning, yet without the teacher the five degrees are not close. Water has no place among the five colors, yet without water the five colors do not show. The Way is the root of merit, and merit is the result of the Way. To call a man worthy on the ground of merit is to make the man of the Way unworthy. When Gaozu won the empire and rewarded the merits of his many ministers, Xiao He was first in reward. Why? In judging merit Gaozu likened it to a hunter loosing his dogs. The dog takes the game with its own body, but the merit goes to the man. The many ministers fighting with their hands were like the dogs. Xiao He holding the weighty charge was like the man. If a man must be called worthy on the ground of achieved merit, then Xiao He had no merit. That merit and reward cannot prove worth is the first point.
夫聖賢之治世也有術，得其術則功成，失其術則事廢。譬猶醫之治病也，有方，篤劇猶治；無方，才微不愈。夫方猶術，病猶亂，醫猶吏，藥猶教也。方施而藥行，術設而教從，教從而亂止，藥行而病癒。治病之醫，未必惠於不為醫者。然而治國之吏，未必賢於不能治國者，偶得其方，遭曉其術也。治國須術以立功，亦有時當自亂，雖用術，功終不立者；亦有時當自安，雖無術，功猶成者。故夫治國之人，或得時而功成，或失時而無效。術人能因時以立功，不能逆時以致安。良醫能治未當死之人命，如命窮壽盡，方用無驗矣。故時當亂也，堯、舜用術，不能立功；命當死矣，扁鵲行方，不能愈病。射禦巧技，百工之人，皆以法術，然後功成事立，效驗可見。觀治國，百工之類也；功立，猶事成也。謂有功者賢，是謂百工皆賢人也。趙人吾丘壽王，武帝時待詔，上使從董仲舒受《春秋》，高才，通明於事後為東郡都尉。上以壽王之賢，不置太守。時軍發，民騷動，歲惡，盜賊不息。上賜壽王書曰：「子在朕前時，輻湊並至，以為天下少雙，海內寡二，至連十餘城之勢，任四千石之重，而盜賊浮船行功取於庫兵，甚不稱在前時，何也？」壽王謝言難禁。復召為光祿大夫，常居左右，論事說議，無不是者，才高智深，通明多見。然其為東郡尉，歲惡，盜賊不息，人民騷動，不能禁止。不知壽王不得治東郡之術邪？亡將東郡適當複亂，而壽王之治偶逢其時也？夫以壽王之賢，治東郡不能立功，必以功觀賢，則壽王棄而不選也。恐必世多如壽王之類，而論者以無功不察其賢。燕有谷，氣寒不生五穀。鄒衍吹律致氣，既寒更為溫，燕以種黍，黍生豐熟，到今名之曰「黍谷」。夫和陰陽，當以道德至誠。然而鄒衍吹律，寒更為溫，黍谷育生。推此以況諸有成功之類，有若鄒衍吹律之法。故得其術也，不肖無不能；失其數也，賢聖有不治。此功不可以效賢，二也。
The sage and the worthy have an art in governing the age. Get that art and merit is achieved. Lose that art and affairs fall away. It is like a physician treating illness. With a method he cures even the grave and violent case. Without a method his small skill does not heal. The method is like the art, the illness like disorder, the physician like the officer, and the medicine like teaching. When the method is applied the medicine works. When the art is set out the teaching is followed. When the teaching is followed disorder stops. When the medicine works the illness is healed. The physician who cures illness is not always wiser than the man who is no physician. So too the officer who governs a state is not always worthier than the man who cannot govern a state. He has happened on the method and has met with an understanding of the art. Governing a state waits on art to establish merit. Yet there are times that must be disordered of themselves, so that merit is never established though the art is used, and there are times that must be at peace of themselves, so that merit is achieved though there is no art. Therefore the man who governs a state sometimes gets his time and achieves merit, and sometimes loses his time and has no result. The man of art can establish merit by following his time, but he cannot bring peace against his time. A good physician can treat the life of a man who is not yet due to die. If the destiny is exhausted and the years are spent, his method is used and there is no proof of it. So when the time is due to be disordered, Yao and Shun use their art and cannot establish merit. When the destiny is due to die, Bian Que applies his method and cannot heal the illness. In archery and driving, in skill and craft, and among the hundred artisans, all work by law and art, and only then is merit achieved and affairs established and the proof seen. Look at the governing of a state. It is of the kind of the hundred artisans, and merit established is like affairs accomplished. To call the man of merit worthy is to say that the hundred artisans are all worthy men. Wuqiu Shouwang, a man of Zhao, was in attendance at court in the time of Emperor Wu. The Emperor had him receive the Chunqiu from Dong Zhongshu. His talent was high, and he was clear and versed in affairs, and afterward he became commandant of Dong commandery. Because Shouwang was worthy, the Emperor set no governor over it. At that time troops went out, the people were stirred up, the year was bad, and bandits did not cease. The Emperor sent Shouwang a letter that said, "When you were before me, things came together to you as spokes come to a hub, and I thought you had few equals in the empire and hardly a second within the seas. Now you have come to the charge of more than ten cities in a line and hold a weight of four thousand piculs, yet the bandits float their boats, go about attacking, and take the weapons of the arsenal. This does not at all match your time before me. Why is it?" Shouwang begged pardon and said they were hard to stop. He was called back and made Grand Master of the Palace, and being always at the Emperor's side he discussed affairs and set out arguments, and there was nothing of his that was not right. His talent was high and his wisdom deep, he was clear and versed and had seen much. Yet when he was commandant of Dong commandery, the year was bad, the bandits did not cease, the people were stirred up, and he could not stop it. It is not known whether Shouwang had not got the art of governing Dong commandery, or whether Dong commandery was just then due to fall into disorder again, and his government had happened on that time. With all Shouwang's worth he could not establish merit in governing Dong commandery. If worth must be viewed by merit, Shouwang would be thrown aside and not chosen. Very likely the age is full of men of Shouwang's kind, and those who judge them do not examine their worth because they have no merit. In Yan there was a valley whose air was cold, so that the five grains did not grow. Zou Yan blew a pitch pipe and brought the breath down. What had been cold turned warm, and Yan sowed millet there. The millet grew and ripened richly, and to this day it is called the Millet Valley. Now the harmonizing of yin and yang ought to be done by virtue and utmost sincerity. Yet Zou Yan blew a pipe, the cold turned warm, and the Millet Valley bore and grew. Push this out and set it beside all the kinds of achieved merit, and there is something like Zou Yan's method of blowing the pipe. So if a man gets the art, there is nothing the unworthy cannot do. If he loses the number of it, there is what the worthy and sagely cannot govern. That merit cannot prove worth is the second point.
人之舉事，或意至而功不成，事不立而勢貫山。荊軻、醫夏無且是矣。荊軻入秦之計，本欲劫秦王生致於燕，邂逅不偶，為秦所擒。當荊軻之逐秦王，秦王環柱而走，醫夏無且以藥囊提荊軻。既而天下名軻為烈士，秦王賜無且金二百鎰。夫為秦所擒，生致之功不立，藥囊提刺客，〔無〕益於救主，然猶稱賞者，意至勢盛也。天下之士不以荊軻功不成，不稱其義，秦王不以無且無見效，不賞其志。志善不效成功，義至不謀就事。義有餘，效不足，志巨大，而功細小，智者賞之，愚者罰之。必謀功不察志，論陽效不存陰計，是則豫讓拔劍斬襄子之衣，不足識也；伍子胥鞭笞平王屍，不足載也；張良椎始皇誤中副車，不足記也。三者道地不便，計畫不得，有其勢而無其功，懷其計而不得為其事，是功不可以效賢，三也。
When a man raises an undertaking, at times his will arrives and the merit is not achieved, and the affair is not established and his force pierces mountains. Jing Ke and the physician Xia Wuju are such. Jing Ke's plan in entering Qin was first of all to seize the King of Qin and bring him alive to Yan. By chance it did not match, and he was taken by Qin. When Jing Ke was chasing the King of Qin and the King ran round a pillar, the physician Xia Wuju struck Jing Ke with his medicine bag. Thereafter the empire named Ke a man of ardor, and the King of Qin gave Wuju two hundred yi of gold. Now Ke was taken by Qin, and the merit of bringing the King alive was not established. Striking the assassin with a medicine bag was of no help in saving the ruler. Still they were praised and rewarded, because their will arrived and their force was full. The scholars of the empire did not refuse to praise Jing Ke's righteousness because his merit was not achieved, and the King of Qin did not refuse to reward Wuju's will because he had shown no result. When the will is good, achieved merit is not required as proof. When righteousness arrives, the accomplishing of the affair is not planned for. Where righteousness is more than enough and the result falls short, where the will is huge and the merit small, the wise reward it and the foolish punish it. If a man must weigh merit and not examine the will, and judge the visible result and not hold to the hidden plan, then Yu Rang drawing his sword and cutting the robe of Xiangzi is not worth knowing, Wu Zixu flogging the corpse of King Ping is not worth recording, and Zhang Liang striking the First Emperor with a mallet and hitting the attendant carriage by mistake is not worth setting down. In all three the road and the ground were not favorable and the plan did not succeed. They had the force and not the merit. They cherished the plan and could not do the deed. That merit cannot prove worth is the third point.
以孝於父、弟於為兄賢乎？則夫孝弟之人，有父兄者也，父兄不慈，孝弟乃章。舜有瞽瞍，參有曾皙，孝立名成，眾人稱之。如無父兄，父兄慈良，無章顯之效，孝弟之名，無所見矣。忠於君者，亦與此同。龍逢、比干忠著夏、殷，桀、紂惡也。稷、契、皋陶忠暗唐、虞，堯、舜賢也。故螢火之明，掩於日月之光；忠臣之聲，蔽於賢君之名。死君之難，出命捐身，與此同。臣遭其時死其難，故立其義而獲其名。大賢之涉世也，翔而有集，色斯而舉；亂君之患，不累其身；危國之禍，不及其家，安得逢其禍而死其患乎？齊詹問於晏子曰：「忠臣之事其君也，若何？」對曰：「有難不死，出亡不送。」詹曰：「列地而予之，疏爵而貴之，君有難不死，出亡不送，可謂忠乎？」對曰：「言而見用，臣奚死焉？諫而見從，終身不亡，臣奚送焉？若言不見用，有難而死，是妄死也；諫而不見從，出亡而送，是詐偽也。故忠臣者能盡善於君，不能與陷於難。」案晏子之對，以求賢於世，死君之難、立忠節者，不應科矣。是故大賢寡可名之節，小賢多可稱之行，可得箠者小，而可得量者少也。惡至大，箠弗能；數至多，升斛弗能。有小少易名之行，又發於衰亂易見之世，故節行顯而名聲聞也。浮於海者迷於東西，大也。行於溝，咸識舟楫之跡，小也。小而易見，衰亂亦易察。故世不危亂，奇行不見；主不悖惑，忠節不立。鴻卓之義，發於顛沛之朝；清高之行，顯於衰亂之世。
Is a man worthy because he is filial to his father and respectful to his elder brother? The filial and respectful man is one who has a father and an elder brother, and only when the father and the elder brother are unkind does filial respect become plain. Shun had Gusou and Shen had Zeng Xi, so their filial piety was established and their names achieved, and the crowd praises them. If there were no father and elder brother, or if the father and elder brother were kind and good, there would be no proof to make it plain, and the name of filial respect would have nowhere to show. Loyalty to a ruler is the same. The loyalty of Longfeng and Bigan was plain in Xia and Yin because Jie and King Zhou were evil. The loyalty of Ji, Xie and Gao Yao was dark in Tang and Yu because Yao and Shun were worthy. So the light of a firefly is covered by the brightness of the sun and the moon, and the sound of a loyal minister is hidden by the name of a worthy ruler. Dying in a ruler's trouble, giving up one's life and casting away one's body, is the same. The minister meets his time and dies in that trouble, and so he establishes his righteousness and gains his name. The greatly worthy man passes through the world as a bird that soars and then settles and rises at the look of things. The calamity of a disordered ruler does not weigh on his person, and the disaster of an endangered state does not reach his house. How then should he meet that disaster and die in that trouble? Zhan of Qi asked Yanzi, "How does a loyal minister serve his ruler?" He answered, "When there is trouble he does not die. When the ruler goes out into exile he does not see him off." Zhan said, "Land is laid out and given to him, and rank is opened so that he is made honorable. Yet when the ruler has trouble he does not die, and when the ruler goes into exile he does not see him off. Can this be called loyalty?" He answered, "If his words were used, why should the minister die? If his remonstrance was followed, the ruler would not go into exile to the end of his life, so why should the minister see him off? If his words were not used and he dies when trouble comes, that is an idle death. If his remonstrance was not followed and he sees the ruler off into exile, that is a pretense. So the loyal minister can do all his good for his ruler, but he cannot fall into trouble together with him." Take Yanzi's answer and seek the worthy in the age by it, and the man who dies in his ruler's trouble and establishes his loyal honor does not answer the article. For this reason the greatly worthy man has few points of honor that can be named, and the lesser worthy man has many deeds that can be praised. What can be struck with a whip is small, and what can be measured is little. When evil is greatest the whip cannot do it, and when the number is greatest the peck and the bushel cannot do it. He has deeds small and few and easy to name, and they come out besides in an age of decay and disorder where they are easy to see, so his honor and conduct show and his name is heard. The man who floats on the sea is confused about east and west, because it is vast. The man who goes along a ditch knows every trace of boat and oar, because it is small. What is small is easy to see, and in decay and disorder it is easy to examine as well. So if the age is not endangered and disordered, strange conduct does not appear. If the ruler is not perverse and deluded, loyal honor is not established. Great and outstanding righteousness comes out in a court that is falling. Pure and lofty conduct shows in an age of decay and disorder.
以全身免害，不被刑戳，若南容懼白圭者為賢乎？則夫免於害者幸，而命祿吉也，非才智所能禁，推行所能卻也。神蛇能斷而復屬，不能使人弗斷。聖賢能困而復通，不能使人弗害。南容能自免於刑戳，公冶以非罪在縲絏，伯玉可懷於無道之國，文王拘羑里，孔子厄陳、蔡，非行所致之難，掩己而至，則有不得自免之患，累己而滯矣。夫不能自免於患者，猶不能延命於世也。命窮，賢不能自續；時厄，聖不能自免。
Is a man worthy because he keeps his body whole and escapes harm and suffers neither punishment nor killing, as Nan Rong feared the white jade tablet? The man who escapes harm is lucky, and his destiny and emolument are auspicious. It is not something talent and wisdom can forbid, or conduct carried forward can turn aside. The divine snake can be cut through and joined again, but it cannot keep men from cutting it. The sage and the worthy can be hard pressed and get through again, but they cannot keep men from harming them. Nan Rong could keep himself from punishment and killing, yet Gongye was in bonds for no crime. Boyu could keep himself folded away in a state without the Way, yet King Wen was shut up at Youli and Confucius was in straits in Chen and Cai. These were not troubles brought on by conduct. They cover a man and arrive, and then there is a calamity he cannot escape by himself. It binds him and he is stuck. Not being able to escape calamity by oneself is like not being able to lengthen one's life in the world. When the destiny is exhausted, the worthy cannot continue it himself. When the time is hard, the sage cannot escape it himself.
以委國去位，棄富貴，就貧賤為賢乎？則夫委國者，有所迫也。若伯夷之徒，昆弟相讓以國，恥有分爭之名；及大王甫重戰其民，亶皆委國去位者，道不行而志不得也。如道行志得，亦不去位。故委國去位，皆有以也，謂之為賢，無以者，可謂不肖乎？且有國位者，故得委而去之，無國位者何委？夫割財用及讓下受分，有此同實。無財何割？口飢何讓？倉廩實，民知禮節，衣食足知榮辱。讓生於有餘，爭生於不足。人或割財助用，袁將軍再與兄子分家財，以為恩義。崑山之下，以玉為石；彭蠡之濱，以魚食犬豕。使推讓之人，財若崑山之玉、彭蠡之魚，家財再分，不足為也。韓信寄食於南昌亭長，何財之割？顏淵簞食瓢飲，何財之讓？管仲分財取多，無廉讓之節，貧乏不足，志義廢也。
Is a man worthy because he gives up a state, leaves his position, casts away wealth and honor and goes to poverty and low station? The man who gives up a state is pressed by something. Bo Yi and his kind, brothers yielding the state to each other, were ashamed to have a name for dividing and quarreling. And when the Great King Danfu came to count war with his people too heavy, Danfu likewise gave up the state and left his position. It was because the Way was not practiced and their will was not obtained. Had the Way been practiced and their will obtained, they would not have left their positions. So there is a reason in every giving up of a state and leaving of a position. If such men are called worthy, are those with no such reason to be called unworthy? Moreover only the man who has a state and a position can give it up and leave. What does the man with no state and position give up? Sharing out one's goods, and yielding to those below and taking a share, are the same in reality as this. If there is no property, what is there to share out? If the mouth is hungry, what is there to yield? When the granaries are full the people know propriety. When clothing and food suffice they know honor and shame. Yielding is born of surplus and quarreling is born of want. Some men divide their property to help others. General Yuan twice shared his household goods with his elder brother's son and took it for kindness and right. Below Mount Kun jade is taken for stone, and on the shore of Pengli fish are fed to dogs and pigs. If the man who yields had property like the jade of Mount Kun or the fish of Pengli, dividing his household goods twice would not be worth doing. Han Xin took his food from the village head of Nanchang. What property had he to share? Yan Yuan had one bamboo bowl of rice and one gourd of water. What property had he to yield? Guan Zhong took the larger part when property was divided and had no honor of restraint and yielding, because he was poor and short of means, and his will and righteousness were laid aside.
以避世離俗，清身潔行為賢乎？是則委國去位之類也。富貴人情所貪，高官大位人之所欲去之而隱，生不遭遇，志氣不得也。長沮、桀溺避世隱居，伯夷、於陵去貴取賤，非其志也。
Is a man worthy because he shuns the age and leaves the common world, making his person pure and his conduct clean? This is of the kind of giving up a state and leaving a position. Wealth and honor are what human feeling covets, and high office and great position are what men desire. To leave them and hide is because a man has met with no opportunity in his life and his will and spirit are not obtained. Changju and Jieni shunning the age and living hidden, and Bo Yi and Yuling leaving honor and taking low station, were not their will.
〔以〕恬無欲，志不在於仕，苟欲全身養性為賢乎？是則老聃之徒也。道人與賢〔者〕殊科者，憂世濟民於難。是以孔子棲棲，墨子遑遑。不進與孔、墨合務，而還與黃、老同操，非賢也。
Is a man worthy because he is calm and without desire, his will not set on office, seeking only to keep his body whole and nourish his nature? These are the followers of Lao Dan. The man of the Way differs in kind from the worthy in this, that the worthy grieves for the age and saves the people from trouble. This is why Confucius was restless and Mozi hurried about. Not to go forward and join the work of Confucius and Mozi, but to turn back and hold the same principle as Huang and Lao, is not worth.
以舉義千里，師將朋友無廢禮為賢乎？則夫家富財饒，筋力勁強者能堪之。匱乏無以舉禮，贏弱不能奔遠，不能任也。是故百金之家，境外無絕交；千乘之國，同盟無廢贈，財多故也。使穀食如水火，雖貪吝之人，越境而佈施矣。故財少則正禮不能舉一，有餘則妄施能於千，家貧無斗筲之儲者，難責以交施矣。舉簷千里之人，材筴越疆之士，手足胼胝，面目驪黑，無傷感不任之疾，筋力皮革必有與人異者矣。推此以況為君要證之吏，身被疾痛而口無一辭者，亦肌肉骨節堅強之故也。堅強則能隱事而立義，軟弱則誣時而毀節。豫讓自賊，妻不能識；貫高被箠，身無完肉。實體有不與人同者，則其節行有不與人鈞者矣。
Is a man worthy because he raises righteousness across a thousand li and neglects no rite toward teachers, commanders and friends? The man whose house is rich, whose goods are ample and whose sinews are strong can bear it. The man short of means has no way to perform the rites, and the thin and weak cannot run far. They cannot take it on. For this reason the house of a hundred pieces of gold has no broken friendship beyond the border, and the state of a thousand chariots neglects no gift to its allies. It is because their goods are many. If grain and food were like water and fire, even a greedy and stingy man would cross the border and give them out. So when goods are few a man cannot perform even one proper rite, and when there is surplus he can make a thousand idle gifts. A house so poor that it has not a peck stored away is hard to blame for its friendships and giving. The man who carries a load a thousand li and the scholar who packs goods across the border have callused hands and feet and darkened faces, yet they have no sickness of injury or feeling or failing strength. Their sinews and their skin must have something unlike other men. Push this out and set beside it the officer who stands witness for his ruler and whose body suffers pain and whose mouth has not one word. This too is because his flesh and the joints of his bones are hard and strong. Being hard and strong, he can hide a matter and establish righteousness. Being soft and weak, a man deceives the time and ruins his honor. Yu Rang wounded himself so that his wife could not know him. Guan Gao was flogged until there was no whole flesh on his body. If a man's body truly has something unlike other men, then his honor and his conduct have something not level with other men.
以經明帶徒聚眾為賢乎？則夫經明，儒者是也。儒者，學之所為也。儒者學，學，儒矣。傳先師之業，習口說以教，無胸中之造，思定然否之論。郵人之過書、門者之傳教也，封完書不遺，教審令不誤者，則為善矣。〔儒〕者傳學，不妄一言，先師古語，到今具存，雖帶徒百人以上，位博士、文學，郵人、門者之類也。
Is a man worthy because he is clear in the classics, leads disciples and gathers a crowd? Being clear in the classics is the scholar of the classics. The scholar is what learning makes. The scholar learns, and learning, he is a scholar. He hands on the work of his former teachers and practices the spoken explanation in order to teach. He has no making of his own within his breast, no argument that thinks out and settles what is so and what is not. When a postman passes on a letter and a gatekeeper hands on an instruction, if the seal is whole and no word is lost, and the instruction is checked and the order not mistaken, that is good. The scholar hands on his learning and does not make one idle word, so that the old words of his former teachers are all preserved to this day. Though he lead a hundred disciples or more, and sit in the post of erudite or of literary scholar, he is of the kind of the postman and the gatekeeper.
以通覽古今，秘隱傳記無所不記為賢乎？是則〔儒〕者之次也。才高好事，勤學不捨，若專成之苗裔，有世祖遺文，得成其篇業，觀覽諷誦。若典官文書，若太史公及劉子政之徒，有主領書記之職，則有博覽通達之名矣。
Is a man worthy because he has looked over all of antiquity and the present, and there is no secret and hidden record he has not noted? This is the next kind below the scholar. His talent is high and he loves such work, he learns diligently and does not let go. He is like the offspring of a man who made a thing wholly his own, with writings left by his forebears, so that he can complete that line of work and look it over and recite it. Such are those who take charge of the documents of an office, and men like the Grand Historian and Liu Zizheng, who had the duty of keeping and ordering records. They get the name of wide reading and deep understanding.
以權詐卓譎，能將兵禦眾為賢乎？是韓信之徒也。戰國獲其功，稱為名將；世平能無所施，還入禍門矣。高鳥死，良弓藏；狡兔得，良犬烹。權詐之臣，高鳥之弓，狡兔之犬也。安平身無宜，則弓藏而犬烹。安平之主，非棄臣而賤士，世所用助上者，非其宜也。向令韓信用權變之才，為若叔孫通之事，安得謀反誅死之禍哉？有功強之權，無守平之智，曉將兵之計，不見已定之義，居平安之時，為反逆之謀，此其所以功滅國絕，不得名為賢也。
Is a man worthy because he is outstanding and strange in stratagem and deceit, and can command troops and hold off a host? This is the kind of Han Xin. In the warring states he gained his merit and was called a famous general. When the age was at peace and he had nowhere to apply it, he went back in at the gate of disaster. When the high birds are dead the good bow is put away. When the cunning hare is caught the good dog is boiled. The minister of stratagem and deceit is the bow for the high bird and the dog for the cunning hare. When all is settled and at peace and there is nothing fit for his person, the bow is put away and the dog is boiled. It is not that the ruler at peace casts off his ministers and thinks little of scholars. It is that the man who helps the one above with what the age uses is not fitted to it. Had Han Xin used his talent for shifting stratagem to do as Shusun Tong did, how would he have got the disaster of rebelling and being put to death? He had the power to make merit strong and not the wisdom to keep the peace. He understood the plans for commanding troops and did not see the righteousness of what was already settled. Placed in a time of peace, he made a plan of rebellion. This is why his merit was wiped out and his house cut off, and he cannot be named as worthy.
〔以〕辯於口，言甘辭巧為賢乎？則夫子貢之徒是也。子貢之辯勝顏淵，孔子序置於下。實才不能高，口辯機利，人決能稱之。夫自文帝尚多虎圈嗇夫，少上林尉，張釋之稱周勃、張相如，文帝乃悟。夫辯於口，虎圈嗇夫之徒也，難以觀賢。
Is a man worthy because he is skilled in speech, his words sweet and his phrases clever? The followers of Zigong are such. Zigong's argument beat Yan Yuan, and Confucius ranked him below. When a man's real talent cannot be high and his tongue is quick and sharp, people will decide for him and praise him. Even Emperor Wen thought much of the bailiff of the tiger park and little of the officer of Shanglin, until Zhang Shizhi praised Zhou Bo and Zhang Xiangru and the Emperor understood. To be skilled in speech is to be of the kind of the bailiff of the tiger park. It is hard to see worth by it.
以敏於筆，文墨〔雨〕集為賢乎？夫筆之與口，一實也。口出以為言，筆書以為文。口辯，才未必高；然則筆敏，知未必多也。且筆用何為敏？以敏於官曹事。事之難者莫過於獄，獄疑則有請讞。蓋世優者，莫過張湯，張湯文深，在漢之朝，不稱為賢。太史公《序累》以湯為酷，酷非賢者之行。魯林中哭婦，虎食其夫，又食其子，不能去者，山政不苛，吏不暴也。夫酷，苛暴之黨也，難以為賢。
Is a man worthy because he is quick with the brush, and writings gather about him like rain? The brush and the mouth are one and the same thing. It comes out of the mouth and is speech. It is written with the brush and is writing. A skilled tongue does not make talent high, and so a quick brush does not make knowledge great. And in what is the brush quick? It is quick in the business of the government office. Of all business none is harder than a criminal case, and when a case is doubtful there is a petition for review. Perhaps none in the age was better at it than Zhang Tang. Yet Zhang Tang's writing was deep, and in the court of Han he was not called worthy. The Grand Historian in the Xu lei called Tang cruel, and cruelty is not the conduct of a worthy man. The wailing woman in the forest of Lu, whose husband a tiger had eaten and whose son it ate as well, could not leave, because the government of the hills was not harsh and its officers were not violent. Cruelty is of the party of harshness and violence, and can hardly be called worth.
以敏於賦頌，為弘麗之文為賢乎？則夫司馬長卿、揚子雲是也。文麗而務巨，言眇而趨深，然而不能處定是非，辯然否之實。雖文如錦鏽，深如河、漢，民不覺知是非之分，無益於彌為崇實之化。
Is a man worthy because he is quick at rhapsody and eulogy and makes large and beautiful writing? Sima Changqing and Yang Ziyun are such. Their writing is beautiful and strives to be great, their words are subtle and run toward the deep. Yet they cannot settle what is right and wrong or tell the reality of what is so and what is not. Though their writing be like brocade and their depth like the He and the Han, the people do not come to know the division of right and wrong, and there is no profit for the teaching that would raise what is real still higher.
以清節自守，不降志辱身為賢乎？是則避世離俗，長沮、桀溺之類也。雖不離俗，節與離世者鈞，清其身而不輔其主，守其節而不勞其民。大賢之在世也，時行則行，時止則止，銓可否之宜，以製清濁之行。子貢讓而止善，子路受而觀德。夫讓，廉也；受則貪也。貪有益，廉有損，推行之節，不得常清眇也。伯夷無可，孔子謂之非，操違於聖，難以為賢矣。
Is a man worthy because he guards himself with pure honor and will not lower his will or shame his body? This is of the kind of Changju and Jieni, who shunned the age and left the common world. Though he does not leave the common world, his honor is level with those who left the age. He makes his person pure and does not aid his ruler. He keeps his honor and does not trouble his people. The greatly worthy man in the world goes when the time is for going and stops when the time is for stopping. He weighs what is fitting in what may be done and what may not be done, and by this shapes conduct pure or muddied. Zigong yielded and stopped a good thing. Zilu accepted and showed virtue. Yielding is restraint, and accepting is greed. There was profit in the greed and loss in the restraint, and the honor that carries conduct forward cannot always be pure and subtle. Bo Yi allowed nothing, and Confucius called him wrong. When a man's principle goes against the sage, it is hard to call him worthy.
或問於孔子曰：「顏淵何人也？」曰：「仁人也，丘不如也。」「子貢何人也？」曰：「辯人也，丘弗如也。」「子路何人也？」曰：「勇人也，丘弗如也。」客曰：「三子者皆賢於夫子，而為夫子服役，何也？」孔子曰：「丘能仁且忍，辯且詘，勇且怯。以三子之能，易丘之道，弗為也。」孔子知所設施之矣。有高才潔行，無知明以設施之，則與愚而無操者同一實也。夫如是，皆有非也。無一非者，可以為賢乎？是則鄉原之人也。孟子曰：「非之無舉也，刺之，無刺也。同於流俗，合於污世，居之似忠信，行之似廉潔，眾皆說之，自以為是，而不可與入堯、舜之道。」故孔子曰：『鄉原，德之賊也。』似之而非者，孔子惡之。夫如是，何以知實賢？知賢竟何用？世人之檢，苟見才高能茂，有成功見效，則謂之賢。若此甚易，知賢何難！《書》曰：「知人則哲，惟帝難之。」據才高卓異者，則謂之賢耳，何難之有？然而難之，獨有難者之故也。
Someone asked Confucius, "What manner of man is Yan Yuan?" He said, "A man of humaneness. Qiu is not his equal." "What manner of man is Zigong?" He said, "A man of argument. Qiu is not his equal." "What manner of man is Zilu?" He said, "A man of courage. Qiu is not his equal." The guest said, "All three are worthier than you, Master, and yet they serve you. Why is that?" Confucius said, "Qiu can be humane and also bear things. He can argue and also bend. He can be brave and also be afraid. To trade the ability of these three for Qiu's Way, I would not do it." Confucius knew what he had to set out and use. A man may have high talent and clean conduct, and if he has no knowledge and clarity to set them out and use them, he is one and the same in reality with a fool who has no principle. If it is so, all of these have their fault. Can the man with not one fault be called worthy? That is the village worthy. Mencius said, "Blame him and there is nothing to bring up. Stab at him and there is nothing to stab. He goes along with the common current and matches a filthy age. Where he dwells he seems loyal and true, and what he does seems honest and clean. The crowd is all pleased with him and he thinks himself right, and yet he cannot enter into the Way of Yao and Shun with you." So Confucius said, "The village worthy is the thief of virtue." What resembles a thing and is not that thing, Confucius hated. If it is so, by what is the really worthy man known? And what is the use, in the end, of knowing the worthy? The examination the people of the age make is this. If they merely see high talent and flourishing ability, with merit achieved and results shown, they call the man worthy. If it is as easy as this, what is hard about knowing the worthy? The Documents says, "To know men is discernment. Even the Emperor found it hard." If a man is called worthy simply on the ground of high and outstanding talent, what hardness is there? Yet it was found hard, and there must be a reason for the hardness.
夫虞舜不易知人，而世人自謂能知賢，誤也。然則賢者竟不可知乎？曰：易知也。而稱難者，不見所以知之則難，聖人不易知也；及見所以知之，中才而察之。譬猶工匠之作器也，曉之則無難，不曉則無易。賢者易知於作器。世無別，故真賢集於俗士之間。俗士以辯惠之能，據官爵之尊，望顯盛之寵，遂專為賢之名。賢者還在閭巷之間，貧賤終老，被無驗之謗。若此，何時可知乎？然而必欲知之，觀善心也。夫賢者，才能未必高也而心明，智力未必多而舉是。何以觀心？必以言。有善心，則有善言。以言而察行，有善言則有善行矣。言行無非，治家親戚有倫，治國則尊卑有序。無善心者，白黑不分，善惡同倫，政治錯亂，法度失平。故心善，無不善也；心不善，無能善。心善則能辯然否。然否之義定，心善之效明，雖貧賤困窮，功不成而效不立，猶為賢矣。故治不謀功，要所用者是；行不責效，期所為者正。正是審明，則言不須繁，事不須多。故曰：「言不務多，務審所謂。行不務遠，務審所由。」言得道理之心，口雖訥不辯，辯在胸臆之內矣。故人欲心辯，不欲口辯。心辯則言醜而不違，口辨則辭好而無成。
Yu Shun did not find the knowing of men easy, and the people of the age who say they can know the worthy are wrong. Then can the worthy never be known? The answer is that they are easy to know. Those who call it hard have not seen the means of knowing them. Without the means it is hard, and even a sage is not easy to know. Once the means of knowing is seen, a man of middling talent examines them. It is like an artisan making a vessel. Understand it and there is no difficulty. Fail to understand it and there is no ease. The worthy are easier to know than the making of a vessel. The age makes no distinction, and so the truly worthy are gathered in among common scholars. The common scholars, by their power of argument and cleverness, holding the honor of office and rank and looking to the favor of display and abundance, take the name of worth for themselves alone. The worthy man remains among the lanes and alleys, grows old in poverty and low station, and suffers slander that has no proof. If it is like this, when can he be known? Yet if he must be known, look at the goodness of his heart. The worthy man's talent and ability are not always high, and his heart is clear. His wisdom and strength are not always great, and what he raises is right. By what is the heart seen? Necessarily by words. If there is a good heart, there are good words. Conduct is examined by words, and if there are good words there are good deeds. When words and deeds have no fault, then in ruling a house the kinsfolk are in order, and in ruling a state high and low are in rank. In the man with no good heart, white and black are not divided and good and bad are of one order, government goes wrong and falls into disorder, and law and measure lose their evenness. So if the heart is good there is nothing not good, and if the heart is not good nothing can be good. If the heart is good it can tell what is so from what is not. When the meaning of so and not so is settled and the proof of a good heart is clear, then though the man be poor and low and hard pressed, and his merit unachieved and his results unestablished, he is worthy all the same. So in governing he does not plan for merit, but requires that what he uses be right. In conduct he does not demand results, but expects that what he does be upright. When the upright and the right are examined and clear, words need not be many and affairs need not be many. Therefore it is said, "Words do not strive to be many. They strive to examine what is meant. Conduct does not strive to go far. It strives to examine what it follows." When a man's words get the heart of reason, then though his mouth be halting and unskilled in argument, the argument is within his breast. So a man should wish his heart to argue and should not wish his mouth to argue. When the heart argues, the words are ugly and yet not at odds with the truth. When the mouth argues, the phrases are fine and yet nothing is achieved.
孔子稱少正卯之惡曰：「言非而博，順非而澤。」內非而外以才能飭之，眾不能見則以為賢。夫內非外飭是，世以為賢，則夫內是外無以自表者，眾亦以為不肖矣。是非亂而不治，聖人獨知之。人言行多若少正卯之類，賢者獨識之。世有是非錯繆之言，亦有審誤紛亂之事，決錯繆之言，定紛亂之事，唯賢聖之人為能任之。聖心明而不暗，賢心理而不亂。用明察非，非無不見；用理銓疑，疑無不定。與世殊指，雖言正是，終不曉見。何則？沉溺俗言之日久，不能自還以從實也。是故正是之言為眾所非，離俗之禮為世所譏。管子曰；「君子言堂滿堂，言室滿室。」怪此之言，何以得滿？如正是之言出，堂之人皆有正是之知，然後乃滿。如非正是，人之乖刺異，安得為滿？夫歌曲妙者，和者則寡；言得實者，然者則鮮。和歌與聽言，同一實也。曲妙人不能盡和，言是人不能皆信。魯文公逆祀，去者三人；定公順祀，畔者五人。貫於俗者，則謂禮為非。曉禮者寡，則知是者希。君子言之，堂室安能滿？夫人不謂之滿，世則不得見口談之實語，筆墨之餘跡，陳在簡筴之上，乃可得知。故孔子不王，作《春秋》以明意。案《春秋》虛文業，以知孔子能王之德。孔子，聖人也。有若孔子之業者，雖非孔子之才，斯亦賢者之實驗也。夫賢與同軌而殊名，賢可得定，則聖可得論也。問：「周道不弊，孔子不作《春秋》。《春秋》之作，起周道弊也。如周道不弊，孔子不作者，未必無孔子之才，無所起也。夫如是，孔子之作《春秋》，未可以觀聖；有若孔子之業者，未可知賢也。曰：周道弊，孔子起而作之，文義褒貶是非，得道理之實，無非僻之誤，以故見孔子之賢，實也。夫無言，則察之以文；無文，則察之以言。設孔子不作，猶有遺言，言必有起，猶文之必有為也。觀文之是非，不顧作之所起，世間為文者眾矣，是非不分，然否不定，桓君山論之，可謂得實矣。論文以察實，則君山漢之賢人也。陳平未仕，割肉閭里，分均若一，能為丞相之驗也。夫割肉與割文，同一實也。如君山得執漢平，用心與為論不殊指矣。孔子不王，素王之業在於《春秋》。然則桓君山〔不相〕，素丞相之跡，存於《新論》者也。
Confucius named the evil of Shaozheng Mao and said, "His words are wrong and yet wide ranging. He follows what is wrong and yet makes it glossy." When a man is wrong within and dresses himself without with talent and ability, and the crowd cannot see it, they take him for worthy. If being wrong within and right in outward dress makes the age take a man for worthy, then the man who is right within and has nothing to display without is taken by the crowd for unworthy. That right and wrong are confused and ungoverned, the sage alone knows. That men's words and deeds are often of Shaozheng Mao's kind, the worthy alone recognizes. In the world there are words in which right and wrong are tangled, and there are affairs in which the examining is mistaken and disordered. To decide tangled words and settle disordered affairs, only the worthy and sagely man can take it on. The sage's heart is clear and not dark. The worthy man's heart is ordered and not disordered. Use clarity to examine what is wrong, and no wrong is unseen. Use order to weigh what is doubtful, and no doubt is unsettled. When a man points a different way from the age, then though his words are upright and right, to the end they are not understood or seen. Why? Because the days of sinking in common talk have been long, and men cannot turn back by themselves and follow what is real. For this reason upright and right words are called wrong by the crowd, and rites that leave the common world are mocked by the age. Guanzi said, "When the gentleman speaks in the hall, he fills the hall. When he speaks in the chamber, he fills the chamber." This saying is strange. By what does he get that filling? If upright and right words come out and the men in the hall all have upright and right knowledge, only then is it filled. If they are not upright and right, men's crookedness differs, so how can there be filling? When a tune is fine, those who join in are few. When words get at what is real, those who say yes are rare. Joining a song and listening to words are one and the same. When the tune is fine, men cannot all join in. When the words are right, men cannot all believe. When Duke Wen of Lu reversed the order of sacrifice, three men left. When Duke Ding put the sacrifice back in order, five men turned away. Men used to custom call the rite wrong. When few understand the rites, those who know the right are rare. Though the gentleman speaks, how can hall and chamber be filled? If men do not say it is filled, the age cannot see the real words spoken with the mouth. Only when the traces left by brush and ink lie set out on the bamboo strips can it be known. So Confucius did not reign as king, and he made the Chunqiu to make his meaning clear. Look into the empty written work of the Chunqiu, and one knows the virtue by which Confucius could have reigned. Confucius was a sage. The man who has work like the work of Confucius, though he has not the talent of Confucius, is by that a real proof of a worthy man. The worthy runs on the same track as the sage under a different name. If the worthy can be settled, then the sage can be discussed. It is asked, "If the Way of Zhou had not decayed, Confucius would not have made the Chunqiu. The making of the Chunqiu arose from the decay of the Way of Zhou. If the Way of Zhou had not decayed and Confucius had not made it, it would not be that he lacked the talent of Confucius, but that there was nothing for it to arise from. If it is so, then Confucius making the Chunqiu cannot serve to view the sage, and the man who has work like the work of Confucius cannot be known as worthy." The answer is that the Way of Zhou decayed and Confucius arose and made it. His words and meanings, his praise and blame, his right and wrong got the reality of reason, with no error of falsehood and bias, and so the worth of Confucius is seen, and it is real. Where there are no words, a man is examined by his writing. Where there is no writing, he is examined by his words. Suppose Confucius had not written. There would still be words left behind, and words must have something they arise from, just as writing must have something it is made for. Men look at whether a writing is right or wrong and do not consider what the making of it arose from. Those who make writings in the world are many, and right and wrong are not divided and what is so and not so is not settled. Huan Junshan discussed this, and he may be said to have got what is real. To judge writing and by it examine what is real: Junshan was the worthy man of Han. Chen Ping, before he took office, cut up the meat in his village, and his shares were even and alike. It was the proof that he could be chancellor. Cutting meat and cutting writing are one and the same. Had Junshan got to hold the scales of Han, his use of mind would have pointed no differently from his making of discussions. Confucius did not reign, and the work of the uncrowned king lies in the Chunqiu. Then Huan Junshan was not chancellor, and the traces of the uncrowned chancellor are what remain in the Xin lun.