The Seven Troubles七患
子墨子曰：國有七患。七患者何？城郭溝池不可守，而治宮室，一患也。邊國至境，四鄰莫救，二患也。先盡民力無用之功，賞賜無能之人，民力盡於無用，財寶虛於待客，三患也。仕者持祿，游者憂交，君脩法討臣，臣懾而不敢拂，四患也。君自以爲聖智而不問事，自以爲安彊而無守備，四鄰謀之不知戒，五患也。所信不忠，所忠不信，六患也。畜種菽粟不足以食之，大臣不足以事之，賞賜不能喜，誅罰不能威，七患也。以七患居國，必無社稷；以七患守城，敵至國傾。七患之所當，國必有殃。
Mozi said, "A state has seven troubles. What are the seven troubles?
That the walls and the moats cannot be defended, and yet the palace halls are put in order. This is the first trouble.
That the soldiers of a neighboring state have reached the border, and none of the four neighbors comes to the rescue. This is the second trouble.
That the strength of the people is first spent to the full on useless works, and rewards are given to men of no ability, so that the people's strength is used up on what is useless and the treasury is emptied on entertaining guests. This is the third trouble.
That those in office only hold on to their salaries, that those who wander abroad care only for their connections, and that the ruler polishes the laws to strike at his ministers, so that the ministers are afraid and dare not cross him. This is the fourth trouble.
That the ruler thinks himself sage and wise and does not ask about affairs, thinks himself secure and strong and keeps no guard ready, and does not know to be on guard when the four neighbors are plotting against him. This is the fifth trouble.
That the men he trusts are not loyal, and the men who are loyal are not trusted. This is the sixth trouble.
That the beans and grain he raises and sows are not enough to feed the people, that the great ministers are not enough to be employed, that rewards cannot make men glad and punishments cannot make them stand in awe. This is the seventh trouble.
If a man dwells in a state with these seven troubles, the altars of the land and grain will surely be lost. If he holds a city with these seven troubles, the enemy will come and the state will topple. Wherever the seven troubles are found, the state will surely have calamity."
凡五穀者，民之所仰也，君之所以爲養也。故民無仰則君無養，民無食則不可事。故食不可不務也，地不可不力也，用不可不節也。五穀盡收則五味盡御於主，不盡收則不盡御。一穀不收謂之饉，二穀不收謂之旱，三穀不收謂之凶，四穀不收謂之餽，五穀不收謂之饑。歲饉，則仕者大夫以下皆損祿五分之一。旱，則損五分之二。凶，則損五分之三。餽，則損五分之四。饑，則盡無祿，稟食而已矣。故凶饑存乎國，人君徹鼎食五分之三，大夫徹縣，士不入學，君朝之衣不革制，諸侯之客，四鄰之使，雍食而不盛，徹驂騑，塗不芸，馬不食粟，婢妾不衣帛，此告不足之至也。
The five grains are what the people look to, and what the ruler is nourished by. So if the people have nothing to look to, the ruler has nothing to nourish him, and if the people have nothing to eat, they cannot be employed. So one cannot but strive after food, cannot but put strength into the land, and cannot but be sparing in spending.
If the five grains are all gathered in, the five flavors are all set before the ruler. If they are not all gathered in, they are not all set before him. When one grain is not gathered in, it is called jin (饉). When two grains are not gathered in, it is called han (旱). When three grains are not gathered in, it is called xiong (凶). When four grains are not gathered in, it is called kui (餽). When five grains are not gathered in, it is called ji (饑).
In a year of jin, all who hold office, from the great officers down, give up one fifth of their salary. In han they give up two fifths, in xiong three fifths, in kui four fifths, and in ji they have no salary at all but receive only rations of grain.
So when a bad year and hunger are in the state, the ruler puts away three fifths of the food set out in his cauldrons, the great officers put away their hanging instruments, the officers do not enter the school, the ruler's court robes are not newly cut, and the guests of the lords and the envoys of the four neighbors are given food but not in plenty. The side horses are taken off the team, the roads are not weeded, the horses are not fed grain, and the maidservants and the concubines do not wear silk. This is the utmost way of making it known that there is not enough.
今有負其子而汲者，隊其子於井中，其母必從而道之。今歲凶、民飢、道饉，此疚重於隊其子，其可無察邪？故時年歲善，則民仁且良；時年歲凶，則民吝且惡。夫民何常此之有？爲者寡，食者衆，則歲無豐。故曰：「財不足則反之時，食不足則反之用。」故先民以時生財，固本而用財，則財足。故雖上世之聖王，豈能使五穀常收，而旱水不至哉！然而無凍餓之民者，何也？其力時急，而自養儉也。故《夏書》曰「禹七年水」，《殷書》曰「湯五年旱」，此其離凶饑甚矣。然而民不凍餓者，何也？其生財密，其用之節也。
Now suppose one who carries her child on her back goes to draw water and drops the child into the well. The mother will surely go after it and bring it up. Now the year is bad, the people are hungry, and men starve on the roads. This pain is heavier than dropping one's own child. Can it go unexamined?
So when the year is good, the people are benevolent and also kind, and when the year is bad, the people are grudging and also cruel. What constancy is there in the people?
When those who work are few and those who eat are many, the year has no plenty. Therefore it is said, "If wealth is not enough, turn back to the seasons. If food is not enough, turn back to spending." So the men of former times brought forth wealth in season and made the root firm before they spent it, and their wealth was enough.
So even the sage kings of former ages, how could they make the five grains always come in and keep drought and flood from coming? And yet there were no people frozen and starving. Why was this? Their labor was urgent in season, and they were sparing in nourishing themselves.
So the Book of Xia says, "In Yu's time there were seven years of flood," and the Book of Yin says, "In Tang's time there were five years of drought." They passed through bad years and hunger severe indeed. And yet the people were not frozen and starving. Why was this? They brought forth wealth closely and spent it sparingly.
故倉無備粟，不可以待凶饑；庫無備兵，雖有義，不能征無義；城郭不備完，不可以自守；心無備慮，不可以應卒。是若慶忌無去之心，不能輕出。夫桀無待湯之備，故放；紂無待武王之備，故殺。桀紂貴爲天子，富有天下，然而皆滅亡於百里之君者，何也？有富貴而不爲備也。故備者，國之重也。
So if the granary has no grain laid by, one cannot wait out a bad year and hunger. If the armory has no weapons laid by, then though one has right on his side he cannot punish those who have none. If the walls are not kept whole, one cannot defend oneself. If the mind has no thought laid by, one cannot meet what comes of a sudden. It is as with Qing Ji (慶忌), who could not have set out lightly had he not had a mind to leave.
Now Jie had nothing ready for the coming of Tang, and so he was driven out. Zhou had nothing ready for the coming of King Wu, and so he was killed. Jie and Zhou were noble as Son of Heaven and rich in possessing the world, and yet both were destroyed by rulers of a hundred li. Why was this? They were rich and noble and made no preparation. So preparation is a weighty thing for a state.
Interlinear notes 1
是若慶忌無去之心，不能輕出
The source text is unsound here: this one clause breaks the pattern of "without provision one cannot…" around it. 慶忌 is taken as a personal name. ― Translator
食者，國之寶也；兵者，國之爪也，城者所以自守也。此三者，國之具也。故曰：以其極賞，脩其城郭，則民勞而不傷；以其常正，收其租稅，則民費而不病。民所苦者，非此也。苦於厚作斂於百姓，賞以賜無功，虛其府庫，以備車馬衣裘奇怪。苦其役徒，以治宮室觀樂，死又厚爲棺椁，多爲衣裘。生時治臺榭，死又脩墳墓。故民苦於外，府庫單於內。上不厭其樂，下不堪其苦。故國離寇敵則傷，民見凶饑則亡，此皆備不具之罪也。且夫食者，聖人之所寶也。故《周書》曰：「國無三年之食者，國非其國也；家無三年之食者，子非其子也。」此之謂國備。
Food is the treasure of a state. Weapons are the claws of a state. Walls are the means of defending oneself. These three are the equipment of a state.
Therefore it is said that if he repairs his walls with rewards at their fullest, the people will toil and not be hurt, and if he gathers his taxes by the constant law, the people will spend and not fall sick. What the people suffer from is not this.
They suffer from heavy levies laid on the common people, from rewards given to those without merit, from the emptying of the storehouses to furnish carriages and horses and robes and furs and strange things. They suffer when the laborers are worn out to build palace halls and places of pleasure, when the dead are given thick inner and outer coffins and many robes and furs, when terraces and pavilions are built for the living and tombs are raised for the dead.
So the people suffer outside and the storehouses run dry within. Those above never have their fill of pleasure, and those below cannot bear their suffering. So when the state meets robbers and enemies it is hurt, and when the people meet a bad year and hunger they are lost. All this is the fault of preparation not being complete.
And food is what the sage holds precious. So the Book of Zhou says, "A state without three years' food is not its own state, and a household without three years' food, its son is not its own son." This is what is called the preparation of a state.