Six Secret Teachings, Martial Teaching — Civil Instruction六韜 文啟
1The sage works at stillness
文王問太公曰：「聖人何守？」太公曰：「何憂何嗇，萬物皆得；何嗇何憂，萬物皆遒。政之所施，莫知其化；時之所行，莫知其移。聖人守此而萬物化，何窮之有，終而復始。優之游之，展轉求之；求而得之，不可不藏；既已藏之，不可不行；既以行之，勿復明之。夫天地不自明，故能長生；聖人不自明，故能名彰。古之聖人，聚人而為家，聚家而為國，聚國而為天下，分封賢人以為萬國，命之曰大紀。陳其政教，順其民俗，群曲化直，變於形容。萬國不通，各樂其所，人愛其上，命之曰大定。嗚呼！聖人務靜之，賢人務正之；愚人不能正，故與人爭。上勞則刑繁，刑繁則民憂，民憂則流亡。上下不安其生，累世不休，命之曰大失。天下之人如流水，障之則止，啟之則行，靜之則清。嗚呼，神哉！聖人見其始，則知其終。」文王曰：「靜之奈何？」太公曰：「天有常形，民有常生。與天下共其生，而天下靜矣。太上因之，其次化之。夫民化而從政，是以天無為而成事，民無與而自富。此聖人之德也。」文王曰：「公言乃協予懷，夙夜念之不忘，以用為常。」
King Wen asked Taigong, "What does the sage hold to?" Taigong said, "What is there to worry about, what to begrudge? All things attain themselves. What is there to begrudge, what to worry about? All things reach their fullness. Where government is applied, no one knows how it transforms them. Where the seasons run, no one knows how they shift. The sage holds to this, and all things are transformed. How could there be an end to it? It finishes and begins again. Be easy with it, roam in it, turn it over and seek it. Seek it and get it, and you must store it away. Having stored it, you must put it into practice. Having put it into practice, do not make a show of it again. Heaven and earth do not display themselves, and so they live long. The sage does not display himself, and so his name shines. The sages of old gathered people and made households, gathered households and made states, gathered states and made all under Heaven. They enfeoffed worthy men and made ten thousand states of them, and this they called the great order. They set out their government and teaching, followed the customs of the people, turned the crooked crowd straight, and changed them in look and bearing. The ten thousand states did not pass word to one another, yet each delighted in its own place and the people loved those above them, and this they called the great settling. Ah! The sage works at making them still, the worthy man works at making them upright. The fool cannot make them upright, and so he quarrels with others. When those above toil, punishments grow many. When punishments grow many, the people are troubled. When the people are troubled, they drift away. High and low are not at ease in their lives, and generation after generation there is no rest, and this is called the great failure. The people of all under Heaven are like running water. Block it and it stops, open it and it flows, still it and it runs clear. Ah, how wondrous! The sage sees the beginning of a thing and knows its end." King Wen said, "How is stillness brought about?" Taigong said, "Heaven has its constant forms, the people have their constant living. Share that living with all under Heaven, and all under Heaven is still. The best is to go along with them, and next best is to transform them. When the people are transformed and follow the government, Heaven does nothing and the work is done, and the people are given nothing and grow rich of themselves. This is the virtue of the sage." King Wen said, "Your words agree with what is in my heart. Morning and night I will think on them and not forget them, and I will make them my constant rule."