Questions from Lu魯問
魯君謂子墨子曰：「吾恐齊之攻我也，可救乎？」子墨子曰：「可。昔者三代之聖王禹湯文武，百里之諸侯也，說忠行義，取天下。三代之暴王桀紂幽厲，讐怨行暴，失天下。吾願主君之上者尊天事鬼，下者愛利百姓，厚爲皮幣，卑辭令，亟徧禮四鄰諸侯，敺國而以事齊，患可救也。非願無可爲者。」
The lord of Lu said to Mozi, "I fear that Qi will attack us. Can it be saved?"
Mozi said, "It can. In old times the sage kings of the three ages, Yu and Tang and King Wen and King Wu, were lords of a hundred li. They delighted in loyalty and did righteousness, and they took all under heaven. The violent kings of the three ages, Jie and Zhou and King You and King Li, made enmity and did violence, and they lost all under heaven.
I wish my lord above to honor Heaven and serve the spirits, and below to love and benefit the people; to make his hides and silks generous and his words humble; to pay full courtesy quickly to the lords of the four neighbors; and to drive the state to the service of Qi. Then the trouble can be saved. Apart from this there is nothing that can be done."
Interlinear notes 1
說忠行義
The source text has 說, taken here as an error for 悅 (to delight in), matching 行義 after it. ― Translator
齊將伐魯，子墨子謂項子牛曰：「伐魯，齊之大過也。昔者吳王東伐越，棲諸會稽；西伐楚，葆昭王於隨；北伐齊，取國太子以歸於吳。諸侯報其讐，百姓苦其勞而弗爲用，是以國爲虛戾，身爲刑戮也。昔者智伯伐范氏與中行氏，兼三晉之地。諸侯報其讎，百姓苦其勞而弗爲用，是以國爲虛戾，身爲刑戮，用是也。故大國之攻小國也，是交相賊也，過必反於國。」
Qi was about to attack Lu, and Mozi said to Xiang Ziniu, "To attack Lu is Qi's great fault.
In old times the king of Wu attacked Yue in the east and penned them on Kuaiji; he attacked Chu in the west and made King Zhao take shelter in Sui (隨); he attacked Qi in the north and seized the crown prince of that state and went back to Wu. The feudal lords avenged their enmity, and the people were worn by their labor and would not be used. So the state became an empty waste and he himself died by punishment.
In old times Zhi Bo attacked the Fan clan and the Zhonghang clan and annexed the lands of the three Jin (晉). The feudal lords avenged their enmity, and the people were worn by their labor and would not be used. So the state became an empty waste and he himself died by punishment, and this was the reason for it.
Therefore when a great state attacks a small state, this is to injure one another, and the fault surely returns to one's own state."
子墨子見齊大王，曰：「今有刀於此，試之人頭，倅然斷之，可謂利乎？」大王曰：「利。」子墨子曰：「多試之人頭，倅然斷之，可謂利乎？」大王曰：「利。」子墨子曰：「刀則利矣，孰將受其不祥？」大王曰：「刀受其利，試者受其不祥。」子墨子曰：「并國覆軍，賊𢽅百姓，孰將受其不祥？」大王俯仰而思之，曰：「我受其不祥。」
Mozi saw the great king of Qi and said, "Suppose there is a knife here, and it is tried on a man's head and cuts through with a stroke. Can it be called sharp?"
The great king said, "It is sharp."
Mozi said, "It is tried on many men's heads and cuts through with a stroke. Can it be called sharp?"
The great king said, "It is sharp."
Mozi said, "The knife is sharp indeed, but who will receive the ill fortune of it?"
The great king said, "The knife receives the sharpness, and the one who tried it receives the ill fortune."
Mozi said, "If one annexes states and overthrows armies and injures and kills the people, who will receive the ill fortune of it?"
The great king looked down and looked up and thought, and said, "I receive the ill fortune."
魯陽文君將攻鄭，子墨子聞而止之，謂陽文君曰：「今使魯四境之內，大都攻其小都，大家伐其小家，殺其人民，取其牛馬狗豕布帛米粟貨財，則何若？」魯陽文君曰：「魯四境之內，皆寡人之臣也。今大都攻其小都，大家伐其小家，奪之貨財，則寡人必將厚罰之。」子墨子曰：「夫天之兼有天下也，亦猶君之有四境之內也。今舉兵將以攻鄭，天誅亓不至乎？」魯陽文君曰：「先生何止我攻鄭也？我攻鄭順於天之志，鄭人三世殺其父，天加誅焉，使三年不全，我將助天誅也。」子墨子曰：「鄭人三世殺其父，而天加誅焉，使三年不全，天誅足矣。今又舉兵將以攻鄭，曰：『吾攻鄭也，順於天之志。』譬有人於此，其子强梁不材，故其父笞之。其鄰家之父舉木而擊之，曰：『吾擊之也，順於其父之志。』則豈不悖哉！」子墨子謂魯陽文君曰：「攻其鄰國，殺其民人，取其牛馬粟米貨財，則書之於竹帛，鏤之於金石，以爲銘於鍾鼎，傳遺後世子孫，曰：『莫若吾多。』今賤人也，亦攻其鄰家，殺其人民，取其狗豕食糧衣裘，亦書之竹帛，以爲銘於席豆，以遺後世子孫，曰：『莫若我多。』亓可乎？」魯陽文君曰：「然，吾以子之言觀之，則天下之所謂可者，未必然也。」
Lord Wen of Luyang was about to attack Zheng, and Mozi heard of it and would stop him, and said to Lord Wen of Luyang,
"Suppose that within the four borders of Lu the great cities attacked the small cities and the great houses attacked the small houses, killing their people and taking their oxen and horses, their dogs and pigs, their cloth and silk, their rice and millet and goods. What then?"
Lord Wen of Luyang said, "All within the four borders of Lu are my subjects. If the great cities attacked the small cities and the great houses attacked the small houses and robbed them of their goods, I would surely punish them heavily."
Mozi said, "Now Heaven's holding all under heaven together is also like my lord's holding all within the four borders. Now you raise soldiers to attack Zheng. How should Heaven's punishment not come?"
Lord Wen of Luyang said, "Why does the master stop me from attacking Zheng? My attacking Zheng follows the will of Heaven. The men of Zheng killed their father for three generations, and Heaven laid punishment on them and made them not whole for three years. I am helping Heaven's punishment."
Mozi said, "The men of Zheng killed their father for three generations, and Heaven laid punishment on them and made them not whole for three years. Heaven's punishment is enough. Now you raise soldiers again to attack Zheng, and you say, 'My attacking Zheng follows the will of Heaven.'
Suppose there is a man here whose son is stubborn and worthless, and the father beats him with a rod. If the father of the house next door took up a club and struck the son, saying, 'My striking him follows the will of his father,' would that not be perverse?"
Mozi said to Lord Wen of Luyang, "When men attack a neighboring state and kill its people and take its oxen and horses, its millet and rice and goods, they write it on bamboo and silk and carve it in metal and stone and make it an inscription on bells and cauldrons, and hand it down to the sons and grandsons of later ages, saying, 'No one has as much as I.'
Now a lowly man too attacks the house next door and kills its people and takes its dogs and pigs, its food and its clothes and furs, and he too writes it on bamboo and silk and makes it an inscription on his mat and his dish, and leaves it to the sons and grandsons of later ages, saying, 'No one has as much as I.' Would that do?"
Lord Wen of Luyang said, "So it is. Looking at it by what you say, then what all under heaven calls allowable is not surely so."
子墨子謂魯陽文君曰：「世俗之君子，皆知小物而不知大物。今有人於此，竊一犬一彘則謂之不仁，竊一國一都則以爲義。譬猶小視白謂之白，大視白則謂之黑。是故世俗之君子知小物而不知大物者，此若言之謂也。」
Mozi said to Lord Wen of Luyang, "The gentlemen of the age all know small things and do not know great things. Suppose there is a man here who steals one dog or one pig, and they call him not benevolent; and he steals one state or one city, and they take it for righteousness. It is like looking at white in a small thing and calling it white, and looking at white in a great thing and calling it black. Therefore when it is said that the gentlemen of the age know small things and do not know great things, this is what is meant."
魯陽文君語子墨子曰：「楚之南有啖人之國者焉，其國之長子生，則解而食之，謂之宜弟。美，則以遺其君，君喜則賞其父。豈不惡俗哉？」子墨子曰：「雖中國之俗，亦猶是也。殺其父而賞其子，何以異食其子而賞其父者哉？苟不用仁義，何以非夷人食其子也？」
Lord Wen of Luyang said to Mozi, "South of Chu there is a state of men who eat men. When the eldest son of that state is born, they cut him up and eat him, and call it fitting for his younger brothers. If he tastes good they send some to their ruler, and if the ruler is pleased he rewards the father. Is this not an evil custom?"
Mozi said, "Even the custom of the central states is like this. To kill the father and reward the son, how does it differ from eating the son and rewarding the father? If benevolence and righteousness are truly not used, by what will you call it wrong for the barbarians to eat their sons?"
魯君之嬖人死，魯君爲之誄，魯人因說而用之。子墨子聞之，曰：「誄者，道死人之志也。今因說而用之，是猶以來首從服也。」魯陽文君謂子墨子曰：「有語我以忠臣者，令之俯則俯，令之仰則仰，處則靜，呼則應，可謂忠臣乎？」子墨子曰：「令之俯則俯，令之仰則仰，是似景也。處則靜，呼則應，是似響也。君將何得於景與響哉？若以翟之所謂忠臣者，上有過則微之以諫，己有善則訪之上，而無敢以告外，匡其邪而入其善，尚同而無下比，是以美善在上而怨讐在下，安樂在上而憂慼在臣。此翟之所謂忠臣者也。」
A favorite of the lord of Lu died, and the lord of Lu made a dirge for him. The men of Lu, being pleased with it, used it. Mozi heard of it and said, "A dirge tells the mind of the dead man. Now they use it because they are pleased with it. This is like dressing oneself to follow the front of the bier."
Lord Wen of Luyang said to Mozi, "Someone has told me of a loyal minister. Bid him bow and he bows, bid him look up and he looks up; leave him and he is still, call him and he answers. Can he be called a loyal minister?"
Mozi said, "Bid him bow and he bows, bid him look up and he looks up: this is like a shadow. Leave him and he is still, call him and he answers: this is like an echo. What will my lord get from a shadow and an echo?
What I call a loyal minister is this. When the one above has a fault, he admonishes him quietly. When he himself has some goodness, he tells it to the one above and does not dare report it outside. He sets right what is crooked and brings in what is good. He conforms upward and does not form cliques below. So beauty and goodness are with the one above and resentment and enmity are below; ease and joy are with the one above and care and sorrow are with the minister. This is what I call a loyal minister."
魯君謂子墨子曰：「我有二子，一人者好學，一人者好分人財，孰以爲太子而可？」子墨子曰：「未可知也，或所爲賞與爲是也。魡者之恭，非爲魚賜也；餌鼠以蟲，非愛之也。吾願主君之合其志功而觀焉。」
The lord of Lu said to Mozi, "I have two sons. One loves learning, and one loves sharing his goods with others. Which of them may I make crown prince?"
Mozi said, "It cannot yet be known. It may be that they do it for the reward. The angler's respectful bearing is no gift to the fish, and baiting a rat with a worm is no love of the rat. I wish my lord to put their intent and their achievement together, and look at that."
魯人有因子墨子而學其子者，其子戰而死，其父讓子墨子。子墨子曰：「子欲學子之子，今學成矣，戰而死，而子慍，是猶欲糶糴，讎則慍也，豈不費哉！」
There was a man of Lu who had his son learn through Mozi. His son died in battle, and the father reproached Mozi.
Mozi said, "You wished your son to learn, and now the learning is complete, and he has died in battle, and you are angry. This is like wishing to buy and sell grain and being angry when it is sold. Is that not perverse?"
魯之南鄙人有吳慮者，冬陶夏耕，自比於舜。子墨子聞而見之，吳慮謂子墨子曰：「義耳義耳，焉用言之哉？」子墨子曰：「子之所謂義者，亦有力以勞人，有財以分人乎？」吳慮曰：「有。」子墨子曰：「翟嘗計之矣。翟慮耕而食天下之人矣，盛，然後當一農之耕，分諸天下，不能人得一升粟。籍而以爲得一升粟，其不能飽天下之飢者，既可睹矣。翟慮織而衣天下之人矣，盛，然後當一婦人之織，分諸天下，不能人得尺布。籍而以爲得尺布，其不能煖天下之寒者，既可睹矣。翟慮被堅執銳救諸侯之患，盛，然後當一夫之戰。一夫之戰，其不御三軍，既可睹矣。翟以爲不若誦先王之道而求其說，通聖人之言而察其辭，上說王公大人，次說匹夫徒步之士。王公大人用吾言，國必治；匹夫徒步之士用吾言，行必脩。故翟以爲雖不耕而食飢，不織而衣寒，功賢於耕而食之、織而衣之者也。故翟以爲雖不耕織乎，而功賢於耕織也。」
There was a man of the southern country of Lu named Wu Lü (吳慮), who fired pots in winter and plowed in summer, and likened himself to Shun. Mozi heard of him and went to see him.
Wu Lü said to Mozi, "Righteousness and righteousness only. What use is there in speaking of it?"
Mozi said, "Does what you call righteousness also mean having strength and laboring for others, and having goods and sharing them with others?"
Wu Lü said, "It does."
Mozi said, "I once reckoned this out. I thought of plowing to feed the men of all under heaven. At the most it would come to one farmer's plowing, and shared out among all under heaven it could not give each man one pint of millet. Granting that each man got one pint of millet, it is already plain that this could not fill the hungry of all under heaven.
I thought of weaving to clothe the men of all under heaven. At the most it would come to one woman's weaving, and shared out among all under heaven it could not give each man one foot of cloth. Granting that each man got one foot of cloth, it is already plain that this could not warm the cold of all under heaven.
I thought of putting on hard armor and taking up sharp weapons to save the feudal lords from their troubles. At the most it would come to one man's fighting. It is already plain that one man's fighting cannot hold off three armies.
I hold that none of this is as good as reciting the way of the former kings and seeking out their sayings, going through the words of the sages and examining their phrases, and then above persuading kings and dukes and great men, and next persuading the common man and the officer who goes on foot. If kings and dukes and great men use my words, the state will surely be ordered. If the common man and the officer who goes on foot use my words, his conduct will surely be cultivated.
Therefore I hold that though I do not plow, I feed the hungry, and though I do not weave, I clothe the cold, and my achievement is better than that of the man who plows and feeds them and weaves and clothes them. Therefore I hold that though I neither plow nor weave, my achievement is better than plowing and weaving."
吳慮謂子墨子曰：「義耳義耳，焉用言之哉？」子墨子曰：「籍設而天下不知耕，教人耕，與不教人耕而獨耕者，其功孰多？」吳慮曰：「教人耕者其功多。」子墨子曰：「籍設而攻不義之國，鼓而使衆進戰，與不鼓而使衆進戰而獨進戰者，其功孰多？」吳慮曰：「鼓而進衆者其功多。」子墨子曰：「天下匹夫徒步之士少知義，而教天下以義者功亦多，何故弗言也？若得鼓而進於義，則吾義豈不益進哉？」
Wu Lü said to Mozi, "Righteousness and righteousness only. What use is there in speaking of it?"
Mozi said, "Suppose that all under heaven did not know how to plow. Of the man who teaches men to plow and the man who does not teach men but plows alone, whose achievement is the greater?"
Wu Lü said, "The achievement of the man who teaches men to plow is the greater."
Mozi said, "Suppose an unrighteous state is attacked. Of the man who beats the drum and makes the host go forward to fight and the man who does not beat the drum but goes forward to fight alone, whose achievement is the greater?"
Wu Lü said, "The achievement of the man who beats the drum and makes the host go forward is the greater."
Mozi said, "Few of the common men and the officers who go on foot in all under heaven know righteousness, so the achievement of one who teaches all under heaven righteousness is also the greater. For what reason should I not speak? If I could beat the drum and make them go forward to righteousness, how should my righteousness not go forward the more?"
子墨子游公尚過於越，公尚過說越王，越王大說，謂公尚過曰：「先生苟能使子墨子至於越而教寡人，請裂故吳之地方五百里以封子墨子。」公尚過許諾，遂爲公尚過束車五十乘，以迎子墨子於魯，曰：「吾以夫子之道說越王，越王大說，謂過曰：苟能使子墨子至於越而教寡人，請裂故吳之地方五百里以封子。」子墨子謂公尚過曰：「子觀越王之志何若？意越王將聽吾言，用我道，則翟將往，量腹而食，度身而衣，自比於羣臣，奚能以封爲哉？抑越王不聽吾言，不用吾道，而我往焉，則是我以義䊮也。鈞之䊮，亦於中國耳，何必於越哉？」
Mozi sent Gongshang Guo to travel in Yue. Gongshang Guo persuaded the king of Yue, and the king of Yue was greatly pleased and said to Gongshang Guo, "If you can truly bring Mozi to Yue to teach me, I ask to divide off five hundred li square of the old land of Wu and enfeoff Mozi with it."
Gongshang Guo agreed, and fifty carriages were tied up for Gongshang Guo, and he went to Lu to fetch Mozi, and said, "I persuaded the king of Yue with the master's way, and the king of Yue was greatly pleased and said to me, 'If you can truly bring Mozi to Yue to teach me, I ask to divide off five hundred li square of the old land of Wu and enfeoff you with it.'"
Mozi said to Gongshang Guo, "How do you see the intent of the king of Yue? If the king of Yue will listen to my words and use my way, I shall go, measuring my belly to eat and my body to clothe, and likening myself to his host of ministers. What use would I have for a fief?
But if the king of Yue will not listen to my words and will not use my way, and I go, then I am selling my righteousness for food. If I am to sell it all the same, I may as well do it in the central states. Why must it be in Yue?"
子墨子游，魏越曰：「既得見四方之君，子則將先語？」子墨子曰：「凡入國，必擇務而從事焉。國家昏亂，則語之尚賢尚同；國家貧，則語之節用節葬；國家憙音湛湎，則語之非樂非命；國家淫僻無禮，則語之尊天事鬼；國家務奪侵凌，即語之兼愛非攻。故曰：擇務而從事焉。」
When Mozi was traveling, Wei Yue said, "If you get to see the rulers of the four quarters, what will you speak of first?"
Mozi said, "Whenever I enter a state, I surely choose what is urgent there and set to work on it.
If the state is dark and disordered, I tell them to honor the worthy and to conform upward. If the state is poor, I tell them to be sparing in use and sparing in burial. If the state delights in music and sinks into drink, I tell them to call music wrong and to call fate wrong. If the state is excessive and crooked and without courtesy, I tell them to honor Heaven and serve the spirits. If the state works at seizing and encroaching, I tell them to love all together and to call attack wrong. Therefore it is said: choose what is urgent and set to work on it."
子墨子曰出曹公子而於宋，三年而反，睹子墨子曰：「始吾游於子之門，短褐之衣，藜藿之羹，朝得之則夕弗得，弗得祭祀鬼神。今而以夫子之故，家厚於始也，有家厚謹祭祀鬼神。然而人徒多死，六畜不蕃，身湛於病，吾未知夫子之道之可用也。」子墨子曰：「不然，夫鬼神之所欲於人者多，欲人之處高爵祿則以讓賢也，多財則以分貧也，夫鬼神豈唯擢季拑肺之爲欲哉？今子處高爵祿而不以讓賢，一不祥也；多財而不以分貧，二不祥也。今子事鬼神，唯祭而已矣，而曰：『病何自至哉？』是猶百門而閉一門焉，曰：『盜何從入？』若是而求福，於有？怪之鬼，豈可哉？」
Mozi sent Cao Gongzi out to Song, and he came back after three years and saw Mozi and said, "When I first traveled at your gate I wore a short coat of hair and ate a soup of goosefoot and bean leaves. What I got in the morning I did not have in the evening, and I could not sacrifice to the ghosts and spirits. Now, because of the master, my house is richer than at first, and being rich I sacrifice to the ghosts and spirits with care. Yet many of my people have died, my six kinds of livestock do not breed, and my body is sunk in sickness. I do not yet know whether the master's way can be used."
Mozi said, "It is not so. What the ghosts and spirits want of men is much. They want a man who holds high office and salary to yield to the worthy, and a man of much wealth to share it with the poor. How should the ghosts and spirits want only something to pluck and chew?
Now you hold high office and salary and do not yield to the worthy, and that is one ill fortune. You have much wealth and do not share it with the poor, and that is a second ill fortune. Now your serving of the ghosts and spirits is sacrifice and nothing more, and you say, 'Whence has the sickness come?' This is like shutting one gate out of a hundred and saying, 'Where can a thief get in?' To seek blessing in this way, how can it be had from spirits so strange?"
魯祝以一豚祭，而求百福於鬼神。子墨子聞之，曰：「是不可。今施人薄而望人厚，則人唯恐其有賜於己也。今以一豚祭而求百福於鬼神，鬼神唯恐其以牛羊祀也。古者聖王事鬼神，祭而已矣。今以豚祭而求百福，則其富不如其貧也。」
An invoker (祝) of Lu sacrificed one pig and sought a hundred blessings from the ghosts and spirits. Mozi heard of it and said, "This will not do. If a man now gives little to others and hopes for much from others, then others only fear that he may have something to give them. If a man now sacrifices one pig and seeks a hundred blessings from the ghosts and spirits, the ghosts and spirits only fear that he may sacrifice an ox or a sheep.
In old times the sage kings served the ghosts and spirits with sacrifice and nothing more. If a man now sacrifices a pig and seeks a hundred blessings, then his wealth is worse for him than his poverty."
彭輕生子曰：「往者可知，來者不可知。」子墨子曰：「籍設而親在百里之外，則遇難焉，期以一日也，及之則生，不及則死。今有固車良馬於此，又有奴馬四隅之輪於此，使子擇焉，子將可乘？」對曰：「乘良馬固車，可以速至。」子墨子曰：「焉在矣來。」
Peng Qingshengzi said, "What has gone can be known. What is to come cannot be known."
Mozi said, "Suppose your parent were a hundred li away and met with trouble, and the term were one day, so that if you reached them they would live and if you did not they would die. Now here is a firm carriage with a good horse, and here is a dull horse with four-cornered wheels, and you are made to choose. Which would you ride?"
He answered, "I would ride the good horse and the firm carriage, for then I could get there quickly."
Mozi said, "Then how is what is to come not known?"
孟山譽王子閭曰：「昔白公之禍，執王子閭，斧鉞鉤要，直兵當心，謂之曰：『爲王則生，不爲王則死。』王子閭曰：『何其侮我也。殺我親，而喜我以楚國。我得天下而不義，不爲也，又況於楚國乎？』遂而不爲。王子閭豈不仁哉？」子墨子曰：「難則難矣，然而未仁也。若以王爲無道，則何故不受而治也？若以白公爲不義，何故不受王，誅白公然而反王？故曰：難則難矣，然而未仁也。」
Mengshan praised Prince Lü (閭) and said, "In old times, in the trouble raised by Lord Bai, they seized Prince Lü and hooked his waist with axe and halberd and set a straight weapon at his heart, and said to him, 'Be king and you live; be not king and you die.'
Prince Lü said, 'How they insult me! They kill my kin and would please me with the state of Chu. If I got all under heaven and it were not righteous, I would not do it. How much less the state of Chu!' And in the end he would not. How should Prince Lü not be benevolent?"
Mozi said, "Hard it was indeed, yet it was not benevolence. If he held the king to be without the way, for what reason did he not take the throne and govern? If he held Lord Bai to be unrighteous, for what reason did he not take the throne, cut down Lord Bai, and then give the throne back to the king? Therefore it is said: hard it was indeed, yet it was not benevolence."
子墨子使勝綽事項子牛，項子牛三侵魯地，而勝綽三從。子墨子聞之，使高孫子請而退之，曰：「我使綽也，將以濟驕而正嬖也。今綽也，祿厚而譎夫子，夫子三侵魯，而綽三從，是鼓鞭於馬靳也。翟聞之，言義而弗行，是犯明也。綽非弗之知也，祿勝義也。」
Mozi had Sheng Chuo serve Xiang Ziniu. Xiang Ziniu encroached on the land of Lu three times, and Sheng Chuo followed him three times.
Mozi heard of it and had Gaosunzi ask for him to be withdrawn, and said, "I sent Chuo (綽) to save his master from arrogance and to set right the favorites. Now Chuo takes a rich salary and deceives his master. His master encroached on Lu three times, and Chuo followed him three times. This is to beat the whip on a horse's breast strap.
I have heard that to speak of righteousness and not do it is to offend against the light. It was not that Chuo did not know this. His salary overcame his righteousness."
昔者楚人與越人舟戰於江，楚人順流而進，迎流而退，見利而進，見不利則其退難。越人迎流而進，順流而退，見利而進，見不利則其退速。越人因此若埶，亟敗楚人。公輸子自魯南游楚，焉始爲舟戰之器，作爲鉤强之備，退者鉤之，進者强之，量其鉤强之長，而制爲之兵。楚之兵節，越之兵不節，楚人因此若埶，亟敗越人。公輸子善其巧，以語子墨子曰：「我舟戰有鉤强，不知子之義亦有鉤强乎？」子墨子曰：「我義之鉤强，賢於子舟戰之鉤强。我鉤强，我鉤之以愛，揣之以恭。弗鉤以愛則不親，弗揣以恭則速狎，狎而不親，則速離。故交相愛，交相恭，猶若相利也。今子鉤而止人，人亦鉤而止子，子强而距人，人亦强而距子。交相鉤，交相强，猶若相害也。故我義之鉤强，賢子舟戰之鉤强。」
In old times the men of Chu and the men of Yue fought in boats on the river. The men of Chu went forward with the current and drew back against it, so that when they saw advantage they went forward, but when they saw no advantage their drawing back was hard. The men of Yue went forward against the current and drew back with it, so that when they saw advantage they went forward, and when they saw no advantage their drawing back was quick. By this position the men of Yue often beat the men of Chu.
Gongshuzi traveled south from Lu to Chu, and there he first made tools for fighting in boats, and fashioned the gear of hook and ram. Those who drew back he hooked, and those who came forward he rammed, and he measured the length of his hook and ram and cut his weapons to it. The weapons of Chu were fitted to the measure and the weapons of Yue were not, and by this position the men of Chu often beat the men of Yue.
Gongshuzi thought well of his own skill and said to Mozi, "My fighting in boats has hook and ram. I do not know whether your righteousness has hook and ram too."
Mozi said, "The hook and ram of my righteousness are better than the hook and ram of your fighting in boats. As for my hook and ram, I hook with love and I push with respect. If I do not hook with love there is no closeness, and if I do not push with respect there is a quick familiarity; and where there is familiarity without closeness, the parting is quick. Therefore when men love one another and respect one another, it is as if they benefited one another.
Now if you hook and stop a man, the man also hooks and stops you; if you ram and keep a man off, the man also rams and keeps you off. They hook one another and ram one another, and it is as if they injured one another. Therefore the hook and ram of my righteousness are better than the hook and ram of your fighting in boats."
公輸子削竹木以爲䧿，成而飛之，三日不下，公輸子自以爲至巧。子墨子謂公輸子曰：「子之爲䧿也，不如翟之爲車轄，須臾斵三寸之木，而任五十石之重。故所爲巧，利於人謂之巧，不利於人謂之拙。」
Gongshuzi whittled bamboo and wood and made a magpie. When it was finished he flew it, and for three days it did not come down. Gongshuzi held himself to be utterly skillful.
Mozi said to Gongshuzi, "Your making of a magpie is not as good as my making of a linchpin for a carriage. In a moment I cut three inches of wood, and it bears a weight of fifty stone. Therefore of what is called skill it is said: what benefits men is called skill, and what does not benefit men is called clumsiness."
公輸子謂子墨子曰：「吾未得見之時，我欲得宋，自我得見之後，予我宋而不義，我不爲。」子墨子曰：「翟之未得見之時也，子欲得宋，自翟得見子之後，予子宋而不義，子弗爲，是我予子宋也。子務爲義，翟又將與子天下。」
Gongshuzi said to Mozi, "Before I got to see you, I wished to get Song. Since I got to see you, if Song were given me and it were not righteous, I would not do it."
Mozi said, "Before I got to see you, you wished to get Song. Since I got to see you, if Song were given you and it were not righteous, you would not do it. This is my giving you Song. Work at doing righteousness, and I shall give you all under heaven besides."