On Dyeing所染

Mozi (The Book of Master Mo) 墨子 · Mo Di and his disciples · About the 4th century BC · 3 passages · 589 Chinese characters · reading time 2.4 min

Mozi (The Book of Master Mo) The writings of the school that in the Warring States period stood beside the Confucians as one of the "two great companies." It is not the work of one man but what Mo Di and his disciples added generation after generation, and so many chapters set down the same argument in three versions — upper, middle and lower. These are taken as the traces of the branches of the school, each copying it out in its own way. Ten doctrines are the backbone — exalting the worthy, conforming upward with what is right, loving all alike, condemning aggression, thrift in use, thrift in burial, following the will of Heaven, making ghosts clear, condemning music, and condemning fate. "If a man looked on the house of another as on his own house, who would steal?" is in the chapters on loving all alike. The ladder of "Condemning Aggression" — that a man who steals peaches and plums from another's orchard is punished, while a man who attacks another's state is praised — and the three gauges of "Condemning Fate," that to speak without a measure is "like setting the marks of sunrise and sunset upon a turning potter's wheel," stand there too. The last chapter, "Gongshu," is a story. When Chu made cloud ladders to attack Song, Mozi walked ten days and ten nights, met Gongshu Ban, and beat him nine times over with a belt and pieces of wood; and on the way home he met rain and was not let in to shelter inside the gate of that very Song village.

子墨子言見染絲者而歎，曰：染於蒼則蒼，染於黃則黃，所入者變，其色亦變。五入必，而已則爲五色矣。故染不可不愼也。

Mozi saw a man dyeing silk and sighed. He said, "Dyed in blue it turns blue, and dyed in yellow it turns yellow. When what it goes into changes, its color changes too. Put it in five times and it becomes five colors. So in dyeing one cannot but be careful."

非獨染絲然也，國亦有染。舜染於許由、伯陽，禹染於皋陶、伯益，湯染於伊尹、仲虺，武王染於太公、周公。此四王者所染當，故王天下，立爲天子，功名蔽天地。舉天下之仁義顯人，必稱此四王者。夏桀染於干辛、推哆，殷紂染於崇侯、惡來，厲王染於厲公長父、榮夷終，幽王染於傅公夷、蔡公穀。此四王者所染不當，故國殘身死，爲天下僇。舉天下不義辱人，必稱此四王者。齊桓染於管仲、鮑叔，晉文染於舅犯、高偃，楚莊染於孫叔、沈尹，吳闔閭染於伍員、文義，越句踐染於范蠡、大夫種。此五君者所染當，故霸諸侯，功名傳於後世。范吉射染於長柳朔、王胜，中行寅染於籍秦、高彊，吳夫差染於王孫雒、太宰嚭，智伯搖染於智國、張武，中山尚染於魏義、偃長，宋康染於唐鞅、佃不禮。此六君者所染不當，故國家殘亡，身爲刑戮，宗廟破滅，絕無後類，君臣離散，民人流亡。舉天下之貪暴苛擾者，必稱此六君也。凡君之所以安者，何也？以其行理也，行理性於染當。故善爲君者，勞於論人，而佚於治官。不能爲君者，傷形費神，愁心勞意，然國逾危，身逾辱。此六君者，非不重其國、愛其身也，以不知要故也。不知要者，所染不當也。

It is not only with the dyeing of silk that this is so. States too have their dyeing.

Shun was dyed by Xu You and Bo Yang. Yu was dyed by Gao Yao and Bo Yi. Tang was dyed by Yi Yin and Zhong Hui. King Wu was dyed by Tai Gong and the Duke of Zhou. What these four kings were dyed by was fitting, and so they were kings over the world, and each ascended the throne as Son of Heaven, and their deeds and their names covered heaven and earth. When the men of benevolence and right who stood out in the world are named, these four kings are always named.

Jie of Xia was dyed by Gan Xin and Tui Chi. Zhou of Yin was dyed by the Marquis of Chong and E Lai. King Li was dyed by Duke Li Changfu and Rong Yizhong. King You was dyed by Duke Fu Yi and Duke Cai Gu. What these four kings were dyed by was not fitting, and so their states were broken and they themselves died, and they became a laughingstock to the world. When the men of wrong and disgrace in the world are named, these four kings are always named.

Duke Huan of Qi was dyed by Guan Zhong and Bao Shu. Duke Wen of Jin was dyed by Jiu Fan and Gao Yan. King Zhuang of Chu was dyed by Sunshu Ao and Shen Yin. He Lu of Wu was dyed by Wu Yuan and Wen Yi. Goujian of Yue was dyed by Fan Li and the great officer Zhong. What these five rulers were dyed by was fitting, and so they became first among the lords, and their deeds and their names were handed down to later ages.

Fan Jishe was dyed by Changliu Shuo and Wang Sheng. Zhonghang Yin was dyed by Ji Qin and Gao Qiang. Fuchai of Wu was dyed by Wangsun Luo and the grand steward Pi. Zhibo Yao was dyed by Zhi Guo and Zhang Wu. Shang of Zhongshan was dyed by Wei Yi and Yan Chang. Kang of Song was dyed by Tang Yang and Tian Buli. What these six rulers were dyed by was not fitting, and so their states were broken and lost, they themselves were put to death by punishment, their ancestral temples were shattered and destroyed, and their line was cut off with none to follow. Ruler and ministers were scattered, and the people fled and wandered. When the greedy and the cruel and the harsh and the troublers of the world are named, these six rulers are always named.

What is it that makes a ruler secure? It is that he acts by the pattern of things, and acting by the pattern comes of being dyed by what is fitting. So a man who is good at being a ruler toils at judging men and rests in governing his offices. A man who cannot be a ruler harms his body and spends his spirit, makes his heart anxious and wears out his thoughts, and yet his state grows ever more endangered and he himself ever more disgraced.

It is not that these six rulers did not prize their states and love their own persons. It is that they did not know what was essential. Not to know what is essential is to be dyed by what is not fitting.

非獨國有染也，士亦有染。其友皆好仁義，淳謹畏令，則家日益、身日安、名日榮，處官得其理矣，則段干木、禽子、傅說之徒是也。其友皆好矜奮，創作比周，則家日損、身日危、名日辱，處官失其理矣，則子西、易牙、豎刀之徒是也。《詩》曰「必擇所堪，必謹所堪」者，此之謂也。

It is not only states that have their dyeing. Officers too have their dyeing.

If his friends all love benevolence and right, and are simple and careful and stand in awe of the command, then his household gains day by day, he himself is at ease day by day, and his name is honored day by day, and in office he grasps the pattern of things. Duangan Mu, Master Qin, and Fu Yue and their like are such men.

If his friends all love to boast and bluster, to make things up and band together in cliques, then his household loses day by day, he himself is in danger day by day, and his name is disgraced day by day, and in office he loses the pattern of things. Zixi, Yi Ya, and Shu Diao and their like are such men.

The Book of Songs says, "Be sure to choose what you are steeped in; be sure to be careful about what you are steeped in." This is what is meant.

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