Gengzhu耕柱

Mozi was angry with Gengzhuzi, and Gengzhuzi said, "Is there nothing in me better than in other men?"

Mozi said, "I am about to climb Mount Taihang. If a fine horse and a sheep were harnessed, which would you drive?"

Gengzhuzi said, "I would drive the fine horse."

"For what reason would you drive the fine horse?"

"Because the fine horse is worth the whip."

Mozi said, "I too think that you are worth the whip."

Wumazi said to Mozi, "Which is the more clear and wise, the ghosts and spirits or the sages?"

Mozi said, "The ghosts and spirits are more clear and wise than the sages, as a man with sharp ears and clear eyes is to one who is deaf and blind.

In antiquity Kai (開) of the house of Xia had Feilian dig metal from the hills and streams and cast it at Kunwu. Then he had Wengnan (翁難) divine with a white tortoise, saying, 'Let the cauldrons be finished with three legs and square, and let them boil of themselves without a fire, and hide themselves without being lifted, and move of themselves without being carried, so that the sacrifice may be made at the old site of Kunwu. Accept it above!'

The diviner told the meaning of the cracks, saying, 'It is accepted. The white clouds billow, once to the south and once to the north, once to the west and once to the east. The nine cauldrons are finished, and they will pass to three states.'

The house of Xia lost them and the men of Yin received them. The men of Yin lost them and the men of Zhou received them. The passing of them between Xia and Yin and Zhou took several hundred years. Even if a sage gathered his good ministers and his outstanding chief minister to plan together, how could he know what would come several hundred years later? Yet the ghosts and spirits knew it.

Therefore it is said that the ghosts and spirits are more clear and wise than the sages, as a man with sharp ears and clear eyes is to one who is deaf and blind."

Zhitu Yu and Xianzi Shuo asked Mozi, "In doing righteousness, what is the great thing to work at?"

Mozi said, "It is like building a wall. Let the one who can build, build. Let the one who can fill in earth, fill in earth. Let the one who can level, level. Only then is the wall finished. Doing righteousness is like this. Let the one who can speak and argue, speak and argue. Let the one who can expound the books, expound the books. Let the one who can go about the work, go about the work. Only then is the work of righteousness finished."

Wumazi said to Mozi, "You love all under heaven together, and yet no benefit can be shown. I do not love all under heaven, and yet no harm can be shown. Since neither of us has achieved anything, why do you alone hold yourself right and me wrong?"

Mozi said, "Suppose there is a fire here. One man carries water and is about to pour it on, and one man holds a torch and is about to add to it. Neither of them has achieved anything. Which of the two do you hold dear?"

Wumazi said, "I hold the intent of the man carrying water to be right, and the intent of the man holding the torch to be wrong."

Mozi said, "I too hold my own intent to be right and your intent to be wrong."

Mozi sent Gengzhuzi to travel to Chu. Several men called on him there, and he fed them three pints of food and did not treat his guests thickly.

The several men came back to Mozi and said, "There is no use in Gengzhuzi being in Chu. Several of us called on him, and he fed us three pints of food and did not treat his guests thickly."

Mozi said, "This cannot yet be known."

Not long after, ten pieces of gold were sent to Mozi with these words: "One born later does not dare to die. Here are ten pieces of gold, and I wish my master to use them."

Mozi said, "Indeed it could not yet be known."

Wumazi said to Mozi, "In your doing of righteousness, no man sees it and helps you, and no ghost sees it and makes you rich, yet you do it. You have a madness."

Mozi said, "Suppose you had two servants here. The one works when he sees you and does not work when he does not see you. The other works whether he sees you or does not see you. Which of these two do you hold dear?"

Wumazi said, "I hold dear the one who works whether he sees me or does not see me."

Mozi said, "Then you too hold dear a man with a madness."

A follower of Zixia asked Mozi, "Does a gentleman fight?"

Mozi said, "A gentleman does not fight."

The follower of Zixia said, "Even dogs and pigs fight. How can a man of learning not fight?"

Mozi said, "How wounding! In speech you name King Tang and King Wen, and in conduct you compare yourselves to dogs and pigs. How wounding!"

Wumazi said to Mozi, "You set aside the men of today and praise the former kings. This is to praise dry bones. It is like a carpenter who knows dry wood but does not know living wood."

Mozi said, "What all under heaven lives by is the teaching of the way of the former kings. To praise the former kings now is to praise what all under heaven lives by. Not to praise what is worth praising is not benevolence."

Mozi said, "The jade of He, the pearl of the Marquis of Sui, the three halberds and the six rarities are what the feudal lords call good treasures. Can they make the state rich, make the people many, order punishment and government and make the altars of the land safe? The answer is that they cannot.

The reason good treasures are held dear is that they can benefit the people. Yet the jade of He, the pearl of the Marquis of Sui, the three halberds and the six rarities cannot benefit men, and so they are not the good treasures of all under heaven.

Now if righteousness is used to govern the state, the state will surely be rich, the people will surely be many, punishment and government will surely be in order, and the altars of the land will surely be safe. The reason good treasures are held dear is that they can benefit the people, and righteousness can benefit men. Therefore it is said that righteousness is the good treasure of all under heaven."

Zigao, the Duke of She, asked Zhongni about government, saying, "What is one who governs well like?"

Zhongni answered, "One who governs well draws near those who are far off and makes new those who are old."

Mozi heard of it and said, "Zigao, the Duke of She, did not get what he asked, and Zhongni did not get what he should have answered. How could Zigao, the Duke of She, not know that one who governs well draws near those who are far off and makes new those who are old? He was asking how this is done. He was not told what he did not know, but was told what he already knew. Therefore Zigao, the Duke of She, did not get what he asked, and Zhongni did not get what he should have answered."

Mozi said to Lord Wen of Luyang, "A great state attacking a small state is like a child playing at horses. When a child plays at horses, he uses only his own feet and tires himself.

Now when a great state attacks a small state, on the side attacked the farmers cannot plow and the women cannot weave, for they take defending as their work. On the side attacking, the farmers likewise cannot plow and the women cannot weave, for they take attacking as their work. Therefore a great state attacking a small state is like a child playing at horses."

Mozi said, "Words that are fit to be carried out again and again, keep saying. Words that are not fit to be taken up and done, do not keep saying. To keep saying what is not fit to be taken up and done is to wag the tongue for nothing."

Mozi had Guan Qian'ao send Gao Shizi to travel to Wei. The lord of Wei gave him a very thick stipend and placed him among the high ministers. Gao Shizi attended court three times and each time spoke all he had to say, but his words were not carried out.

He left and went to Qi, and he saw Mozi and said, "For my master's sake the lord of Wei gave me a very thick stipend and placed me among the high ministers. I attended court three times and each time spoke all I had to say, but my words were not carried out, and for this I left. Will the lord of Wei not think me mad?"

Mozi said, "If your leaving truly accords with the way, what harm is there in being called mad? In antiquity the Duke of Zhou, Dan, held Guanshu to be wrong and declined the three high offices and dwelt in the east at Shanggai, and everyone called him mad. Later ages tell of his virtue and raise up his name, and to this day it does not cease.

And I have heard that doing righteousness is not avoiding blame and going toward praise. If your leaving truly accords with the way, what harm is there in being called mad?"

Gao Shizi said, "In leaving, how would I dare not to accord with the way? In former days my master said, 'Where there is no way in all under heaven, the benevolent man does not stay where things are thick.' Now the lord of Wei has no way, and if I coveted his stipend and his office, I would be a man who eats up what belongs to another for no good reason."

Mozi was pleased and called Qinzi and said, "Listen to this for a moment. A man who turns his back on righteousness and faces a stipend I have often heard of. A man who turns his back on a stipend and faces righteousness I see here in Gao Shizi."

Mozi said, "A gentleman of the common sort grows angry if he is called rich when he is poor, but is delighted if he is called righteous when he has no righteousness. Is this not perverse?"

Gongmengzi said, "The men before us have their models, and there are only three."

Mozi said, "Who are the men before us, that you say there are only three models? You do not yet know that men have those before them and those born later."

There was a man who had turned his back on Mozi and then came back, and he said, "How can there be any guilt in me? I came back later than the rest."

Mozi said, "This is like a man who lagged behind when the three armies fled and then asked for a reward."

Gongmengzi said, "A gentleman does not make. He only follows."

Mozi said, "It is not so. The man who is least of a gentleman neither follows what was good in old times nor makes what is good today. The one next to him in not being a gentleman does not carry on what was good in old times, and when he has something good of his own he makes it, wishing the good to come out of himself.

Now to follow only and not to make is no different from disliking to carry on and only making. I hold that what was good in old times should be followed and what is good today should be made, so that the good may grow ever greater."

Wumazi said to Mozi, "I am different from you. I cannot love all alike. I love the men of Zou more than the men of Yue, the men of Lu more than the men of Zou, the men of my own district more than the men of Lu, the men of my own house more than the men of my district, my parents more than the men of my house, and myself more than my parents. It is because they are near to me.

If I am struck it hurts me, and if another is struck it does not hurt me. For what reason should I not ward off what hurts and instead ward off what does not hurt? Therefore there is killing another to benefit myself, but there is no killing myself to benefit another."

Mozi said, "Will you hide this righteousness of yours, or will you tell it to others?"

Wumazi said, "For what reason would I hide my righteousness? I will tell it to others."

Mozi said, "Then if one man likes you, one man will want to kill you to benefit himself. If ten men like you, ten men will want to kill you to benefit themselves. If all under heaven likes you, all under heaven will want to kill you to benefit itself.

If one man does not like you, one man will want to kill you, holding you to be a man who spreads unlucky words. If ten men do not like you, ten men will want to kill you, holding you to be a man who spreads unlucky words. If all under heaven does not like you, all under heaven will want to kill you, holding you to be a man who spreads unlucky words.

Those who like you want to kill you and those who do not like you want to kill you. This is what is called the mouth being the noose, and it is what always kills a man."

Mozi said, "What benefit is there in your words? If a man cannot keep from speaking when there is no benefit in it, this is to wag the tongue for nothing."

Mozi said to Lord Wen of Luyang, "Suppose there is a man here who has sheep and oxen and fatted beasts, and his cook has only to cut and season them, and he has more to eat than he can eat. Yet when he sees a cake another man has made, he quietly steals it and says, 'Let this be my food.' I do not know whether it is because his days and months are not enough, or because he has the sickness of stealing."

Lord Wen of Luyang said, "He has the sickness of stealing."

Mozi said, "The fields within the four borders of Chu lie empty and waste and cannot all be opened, and the vacant lands are some thousands and cannot all be entered. Yet when Chu sees a town between Song and Zheng, it quietly steals it. Is this different from that?"

Lord Wen of Luyang said, "It is the same as that. Truly it is the sickness of stealing."

Mozi said, "Jisun Shao and Meng Bochang governed the affairs of Lu, and they could not trust each other, so they prayed at the Cong shrine (樷社), saying, 'Truly make us of one mind.' This is like a man covering his eyes and praying at the Cong shrine, saying, 'Truly make us see everything.' Is it not wrong?"

Mozi said to Luo Huali, "I have heard that you love bravery."

Luo Huali said, "That is so. When I hear that there is a brave man in a district, I always go after him and kill him."

Mozi said, "There is no one under heaven who does not join with what he loves and put away what he hates. Now you say that when you hear there is a brave man in a district you always go after him and kill him. This is not loving bravery. This is hating bravery."