Examining the Mind省心篇

The Zishi tongxun says, "The law of the dark world is slow, and yet nothing leaks through it. The law of this world is swift, and yet things slip past it."

The net of this world is loose, and it is easy to leak through. The net of the dark world is close, and it is hard to get out of.

The Jingxing lu says, "Jade without a flaw may become the auspicious token of a state. A child who is filial and respectful may become the treasure of a house."

Treasure and goods come to an end when they are used. Loyalty and filial duty may be enjoyed without end.

If the house is at peace, even poverty is good. If a man is without righteousness, what is his wealth to him? Let there be only one filial child, and what need is there of many descendants?

A father sets his heart at rest because his child is filial. A husband is without vexation because his wife is worthy. Many words and slips of the tongue all come of wine. Righteousness broken and kinship grown distant come only of money.

When you have gained an uncommon joy, you must guard against an unlooked-for sorrow.

When joy is at its height, grief is born.

When you gain favor, think of disgrace. When you dwell at ease, consider danger.

When glory is deep, disgrace is not shallow. When gain is heavy, harm is deep.

Under a full name there is always a heavy charge. Behind a great achievement there is always an uncommon labor.

Love a thing much and you will surely spend much on it. Great praise is surely followed by great slander. Rejoice greatly and you will surely grieve greatly. Hoard greatly and you will surely lose greatly.

Love and affection breed vexation, and they follow the great man about. Even the good fortune of an auspicious plant springing up before the courtyard is less than no plant at all.

Confucius said, "If you do not look at a high mountain, how will you know the peril of tumbling down? If you do not stand over a deep pool, how will you know the peril of sinking and drowning? If you do not look at the great sea, how will you know the peril of wind and wave?"

Xunzi said, "If you do not climb a high mountain, you do not know how high heaven is. If you do not stand over a deep valley, you do not know how thick the earth is. If you do not hear the words left by the former kings, you do not know how great learning is."

The Su shu says, "Draw on the old and test it against the present, and you will not be led astray."

If you would know what is to come, first look at what has gone by.

Confucius said, "With a bright mirror you can look at a shape. Taking old things for your mirror, you can know the present."

Things gone by are bright as a mirror. Things to come are dark as lacquer.

The Jingxing lu says, "At dusk you cannot count on what tomorrow morning will bring. At midday you cannot count on what dusk will bring."

Heaven has winds and clouds that no one can foretell. People have calamity and blessing falling upon them from morning to evening.

Before you go back into three feet of earth, it is hard to keep a body a hundred years. Once you have gone back into three feet of earth, it is hard to keep a grave a hundred years.

The clever are disliked for their much toil, and the clumsy for their idleness. The good are sneered at as weak, and the bad as stubborn. The rich meet crooked envy, and the poor meet insult. The diligent are called greedy, and the sparing are called mean. A man who cannot tell one thing from another before his eyes is laughed at as a dolt. A man who sees how things lie and acts is called a schemer. Think it over well: which of these are you bidden to do? It is hard to play the part of a man, and hard to be one. Though the paper be used up and the tip of the brush run dry, I write a few lines more: it is hard to play the part of a man.

Laozi said, "When the highest sort of man hears the Way, he is careful and puts it in practice. When the middling sort hears the Way, he holds it and loses it by turns. When the lowest sort hears the Way, he laughs aloud at it. And if it were not laughed at, it would not be the Way."

Confucius said, "If a man hears the Way in the morning, he may die at evening and it is well."

The Jingxing lu says, "When a tree is well nurtured, its root is firm and its branches and leaves are thick, and the timber for pillars and beams is made. When water is well nurtured, the spring at its head is strong and its stream runs long, and the good of watering the fields is wide. When a person is well nurtured, his will and spirit are great and his understanding is clear, and a loyal and righteous scholar comes forth. How can there be no nurture!"

The Zhiyan jue says, "With a mirror you light the face. With wisdom you light the mind. When the mirror is bright, dust does not stain it. When wisdom is bright, crookedness and evil do not spring up. A person without the Way is like a cart without wheels, which cannot be driven. A person without the Way cannot go forward."

The Jingxing lu says, "He who trusts himself is trusted by others, and the men of Wu and Yue are all his brothers. He who doubts himself is doubted by others, and everything outside his own body is an enemy state."

The Zuo zhuan says, "When minds agree, even the men of Wu and Yue are close to one another. When minds do not agree, even flesh and bone become enemies."

The Su shu says, "He who doubts himself cannot trust others. He who trusts himself does not doubt others."

If you doubt a man, do not use him. If you have used a man, do not doubt him.

The Analects says, "When a thing reaches its limit it turns back. When joy reaches its limit sorrow comes. What is greatly joined must part. What is at the height of its power must decline."

When a thing reaches its limit it turns back. When blockage has run its course, peace comes.

The Jia yu says, "In safety you must not forget danger. In good order you must not forget disorder."

The Book of Documents says, "Bring about good order before there is disorder. Keep the state safe before it is in danger. Guard against the trouble beforehand."

The Fengjian says, "The fish under the water and the wild goose at the edge of the sky — the high one you may shoot and the low one you may hook. Only the heart of a person lies but a foot away, and the heart a foot away cannot be sounded."

Heaven can be measured and earth can be gauged. Only the human heart cannot be guarded against.

Paint a tiger and you may paint the hide, but the bone is hard to paint. Know a person and you may know the face, but you do not know the heart.

They talk face to face, and their hearts are a thousand hills apart.

When the sea dries up, the floor of it is seen at last. When a person dies, the heart is still not known.

Taigong said, "No person can be judged by the look of him, and sea water cannot be measured out by the peck."

I urge you, do not bind up a grudge. When a grudge is deep, the knot of it is hard to loose. A grudge bound in one day is not wholly loosed in a thousand. To repay a grudge with kindness is like pouring hot water on snow. To repay a grudge with a grudge is like a wolf meeting a scorpion again. I have seen those who bind up grudges, and they are all ground down by the grudge.

The Jingxing lu says, "To bind up a grudge with another is called planting calamity. To leave the good undone is called robbing yourself."

Do not trust even the straightest of the straight. Guard against the kind that is not kind.

Always guard against the heart of a thief, and do not steal another's goods.

An ancient said, "Listen to one side only, and you will presently see the two of them part."

Manners and right come of wealth and plenty. Thieves and robbers rise out of hunger and cold.

The poor need not stoop to be low; lowness comes of itself. The rich need not set out to be proud and extravagant; pride and extravagance come of themselves.

Full and warm, a man's lust stirs. Hungry and cold, the heart of a thief stirs.

Think long on the days of poverty and hardship and danger, and of yourself you will not be proud. Think often on the days of sickness and burning pain, and you will have no grief and no fretting.

Taigong said, "The law is not laid upon the gentleman. Manners are not required of the small man."

Huan Fan said, "With the carriage and the cap of office the gentleman is made weighty. With cord and rope the small man is punished."

The Book of Changes says, "Manners keep the gentleman from wrong. Law keeps the small man from wrong."

The Jingxing lu says, "He who loves food and color and goods and gain is mean in his spirit. He who loves fame and great undertakings is proud in his spirit."

Confucius said, "The gentleman is clear about what is right. The small man is clear about what is to his gain."

The Shuo yuan says, "Goods are what the gentleman holds light. Death is what the small man fears."

Su Wu said, "When a worthy man has much wealth, it takes from his will. When a foolish man has much wealth, it adds to his faults."

Laozi said, "He who has much wealth loses his keeping of what is right. He who has learned much is led astray by what he has heard."

Unless a man be Yao or Shun, how can everything he does be wholly good?

Zigong said, "Since people first came into the world there has been none greater than Confucius."

When a person is poor, the will grows short. When blessing comes, the mind grows quick.

Unless you go through one thing, one piece of wisdom does not grow in you.

There is talk of right and wrong all day long. Do not listen to it, and of itself it is not there.

He who comes and talks of right and wrong is himself the man of right and wrong.

The Jirang shi says, "Do nothing in all your life that knits a brow, and there will be no one in the world to grind his teeth at you."

That you should harm another, let that pass. But what if another harms you?

The tender grass fears the frost, and the frost fears the sun. An evil man of himself finds an evil man to grind him.

Is a name a thing to be cut into dull stone? The mouths of the people passing on the road are better than a stele. Have musk about you and you are fragrant of yourself. What need is there to stand in the wind?

Have a will and gain the force of things, and you can shake a thing though there be no wind.

Only when a man has the Way does he boast of his management. Only when the season is ripe is it good to till the field.

Mencius said, "He who has the Way has many to help him. He who has lost the Way has few to help him."

Zhang Wuze said, "Do not carry a thing out to the end. Do not lean on your power to the end. Do not say your say to the end. Do not enjoy your blessing to the end."

Have blessing, and do not enjoy it to the end; when the blessing is gone the body is poor. Have power, and do not lean on it to the end; when the power is gone you meet your enemy. Blessing should always be spared by the one who holds it. Power should always be carried humbly. In the pride and the extravagance of a human life there is often a beginning and no end.

Taigong said, "You must not slight a man because he is poor. You must not throw your weight about because you are rich. Dark and light push one another on, and they come round and begin again."

Wang Canzheng's Inscription on the Four Things Left Over (四留銘) says, "Leave over a skill not used up, and give it back to the maker of things. Leave over a salary not taken up, and give it back to the court. Leave over goods not spent up, and give them back to the people. Leave over a blessing not enjoyed up, and hand it down to your children and grandchildren."

The Han shu says, "A bond made by power is close, and when the power is spent it is gone. A bond made by goods is intimate, and when the goods are gone it grows thin. A bond made by beauty is fond, and when the beauty fades the right of it is cut off."

Ziyou said, "Serve your lord too often, and you will be shamed. Come to your friend too often, and you will grow distant."

A thousand taels of gold is not the precious thing. One word got from a man is worth more than a thousand of gold.

A thousand of gold is easy to get. A good word is hard to come by.

A good word is hard to get. A harsh word is easy to give.

Seeking in others is not so good as seeking in yourself. Being able to take charge is not so good as being able to hand a thing on.

Set your mind on meddling in what is not yours, and there will be much talk of right and wrong.

The able man is the very servant of the clumsy.

When you know few things, your vexations are few. Where you know many people, there is much talk of right and wrong.

A small boat cannot bear a heavy load. A lonely path is not fit for walking alone.

Tread on solid ground, and there are no vexations.

Gold is not the precious thing. Peace and ease are worth more money.

Sickness is pain. Peace is joy.

Goods come by wrongly harm the one who has them. Harsh words wound others.

A man dies for goods. A bird dies for food.

The Jingxing lu says, "A gain may be shared, but it must not be taken alone. A plan may be laid by a few, but it must not be laid by many. Take a gain alone and you are undone. Lay a plan with many and it leaks out."

When the secret is not kept close, calamity breaks out first.

The unfilial blame their parents, and the man in debt blames the one who lent to him. The recut edition has it, "The man worn down by poverty blames the man with property."

Take too much and you cannot chew it fine. When the house is poor, it blames the neighbor for having.

If you do not know how to greet a guest in your own house, you will learn only when you go out that there are few who will be host to you.

I would only wish to have money to keep a guest and let him drink his fill. It is better than riding up and leaning at another's gate.

Live poor in a busy market and there is no one who knows you. Be rich in the deep hills and there are kin who come from far.

The feeling of the world moves as it sees cold or warm. The faces of people follow high and low.

Kindness and right are all cut off where there is poverty. The feeling of the world leans only toward the house with money.

I swallowed a thousand things and no one knew of it. My coat is ragged, and there are those who slight me.

Sooner fill the pit that has no bottom than stop the crosswise thing under the nose.

A horse walks slow because it is lean. A person has no grace only because he is poor.

The feeling between people grows thin in straits.

The Liji says, "Raising swine and brewing wine was not done to make harm, and yet lawsuits and pleadings grew ever more tangled, because the flowing of wine breeds harm. Therefore the former kings made the rite of wine for this cause. In the rite of the single offering, guest and host bow a hundred times, so that they drink all day and cannot become drunk. This is how the former kings escaped the harm of wine."

The Analects says, "Only in wine he set no measure, but he did not come to disorder."

The Shiji says, "In the sacrifice to heaven and the rite in the ancestral hall, without wine there is no offering taken. Between lord and subject and between friends, without wine the right of it is not full. When those who have fought are to be made one again, without wine there is no urging. Therefore in wine there is making and marring, and a man must not drink it loosely."

Confucius said, "Honor the spirits and keep them at a distance, and you may be called wise."

To sacrifice to a spirit that is not your own is flattery. To see what is right and not do it is want of courage.

To bow before the Buddha is to honor the Buddha's virtue. To call on the Buddha's name is to be thankful for the Buddha's kindness. To read the scripture is to make clear the reason of the scripture. To sit in meditation is to climb to the Buddha's ground. To come to awakening is to prove the Buddha's Way.

Reading the scripture does not of itself make you good. Making merit does not of itself make your wish. Nothing is so good as doing a kindness for others while the power is in your hand.

The monk Jidian woke the world. "Read the Amitabha Sutra through and chant the Great Compassion Spell to the end, and still, plant a melon and you get a melon, plant a bean and you get a bean. Scripture and spell are mercy at root, but how shall they save a knotted grudge? Look into the mind you had at first. The one who did it takes it back again. What a man makes for himself he takes for himself."

Confucius said, "The scholar of will and the man of benevolence do not seek life at the cost of benevolence. There is a giving of the body to make benevolence whole."

A scholar who sets his will on the Way and is ashamed of poor clothes and poor food is not fit to take counsel with.

Xunzi said, "Fairness breeds light and leaning breeds dark. Uprightness and honesty breed a way through, and making a false show breeds a blocking up. Sincerity and good faith breed a wonder, and boasting and wild talk breed confusion."

The Book of Documents says, "To slight and to be slack and to think yourself worthy, to go against the Way and to break down virtue, this is the work of a small man."

Xunzi said, "If a scholar has an envious friend, worthy friends do not come near him. If a lord has an envious minister, worthy men do not come to him."

Taigong said, "In ruling a state do not use a flattering minister. In ruling a house do not use a flattering wife. A good minister is the treasure of a state. A good wife is the treasure of a house."

A flattering minister throws the state into disorder. An envious wife throws the house into disorder.

Taigong said, "Plowing crooked spoils good land. Slandering words break down a good man."

The Han shu says, "The man who said to bend the chimney and move the firewood — the chimney and the firewood stand for guarding against harm before it comes — gets no thanks, and the man with his hair singed and his brow scorched is made the guest of honor."

All day she paints and dresses, and then she lies face down and sleeps.

The paint on the figured beam is not yet dry, and the fond and foolish guest is not to be seen before the hall.

While three inches of breath remain, a man uses it a thousand ways. Comes one morning the passing of all things, and all his business is over.

All things have their passing. Nothing among them escapes the reckoning that is set.

Every kind of good omen is less than none at all.

Heaven has given all things to people. People have not one thing to give back to heaven.

Heaven does not bring forth a person without a living. Earth does not raise a plant without a root.

Great wealth lies with heaven. Small wealth lies with diligence.

Do not say the house is not yet made; the child who is to make it is not yet born. Do not say the house is not yet broken; the child who is to break it is not yet grown.

The child who will make a house spares dung as though it were gold. The child who will break a house spends gold as though it were dung.

Lord Hu Wending said, "In a household, on the whole, there should always be something left that falls short. If everything goes wholly as you would have it, you must guard against something not so good coming out of it."

Master Shao of Kangjie said, "A benevolent man is hard to meet, so think on what is constant. Be careful all your life and do not trust that nothing can hurt you. Live quietly and be careful, and do not say that nothing is in the way. Say that nothing is in the way, and at once something is. Eat much of what is sharp on the tongue and it comes to sickness at last. Let a thing that pleases the heart go too far and it surely comes to ruin. The short cut where men race to be first is full of wicked traps. Words held back a little keep their savor long. Better than being able to take medicine after the sickness is being able to guard yourself before it."

To bear with others is not folly. When it is over you have the better of it.

Chase a man, but do not overtake him. Better to chase a thief than to catch him.

The Divine Lord of Zitong handed down an admonition. "A wonderful medicine can hardly cure the sickness of a debt of grudges. A windfall does not make rich a man whose lot is poor. Fail your own heart and you break off all the blessing of your life. Cheat heaven and you are made poor for a lifetime. Make trouble and trouble is born, and do not complain of it. Harm others and you are harmed, and do not be angry at it. In heaven and earth there is a repaying for all, far off in your children and grandchildren, near at hand in your own body."

Medicine cures only the sickness that is not mortal. The Buddha carries over only those who have the tie.

Master Wu the Perfected said, "Short conduct and a heart failed come only to poverty, so do not hatch clever plans and play with your spirit. Do not rejoice where you have got the advantage. The repaying is far off in your children and grandchildren, near at hand in your own body."

Of ten parts of cleverness use five, and keep the other five for your children and grandchildren. Use all ten parts of cleverness up, and the children of the next age will be less than others.

The more crooked and the more crafty, the poorer a man grows, for crookedness and craft are what heaven will not bear. If wealth and rank could be had by craft, then the dull fellows of the world might live on the west wind.

Flowers fall and flowers open and open and fall again. Silk coats and hemp coats are changed about. The house of plenty is not surely rich and high forever. The poor house is not surely still and bare forever. Hold a man up, and he does not surely rise to the blue sky. Push a man down, and he does not surely fall into the ditch. I urge you, do not complain of heaven in anything. Heaven's will toward people is neither thick nor thin.

Do not go in and out of the prefecture office or the county office. I urge you, be diligent and careful and make your living. Store water in the pond and guard against drought. Till the field diligently and feed your house well. Teach your sons and grandsons, and teach them many crafts. Plant mulberry and wild mulberry, and plant few flowers. Do not meddle in idle talk of right and wrong. When you are thirsty drink clear spring water, and when you are low boil tea.

It is a thing to sigh over, that the heart of a man is poisonous as a snake. Who knows that heaven's eye turns like a cartwheel? Last year he took the goods of the neighbor to the east without right, and today they go back to the house to the north. Money and goods come by without right are snow poured into hot water. A field and water that come to you unlooked for are the wave that pushes the sand. If you make craft and cheating your plan for living, it is just a flower that opens in the morning and falls at evening.

Gain and loss, flowering and withering, are all of heaven. Work all your traps and it is still in vain. The heart of a man is never full, and it would have the snake swallow the elephant. The business of the world comes at the end to the mantis catching the cicada. No medicine can cure the life of a minister of state. No money can buy the worth of children and grandchildren. Keep to your portion at home and live as the tie of things brings, and that is to be an immortal, free and at ease.

How many years will you live with an open nature and an open heart? People dying and people being born are there before your eyes. High or low, live as the tie of things brings. Long or short, do not complain. Having or not having, do not sigh. Whether a house be poor or rich is all with heaven. All your life your clothes and your food come as the tie of things brings. A day of quiet is a day as an immortal.

The flower does not pass over the ground of a poor house when it opens. The moon shines on hill and river and is bright wherever it comes. In the world it is only the heart of a man that is evil. In everything it is still heaven that feeds people.

This was composed by Emperor Zhenzong. "Know where the danger is and know where the peril is, and in the end there is no gate into the net. Raise up the good and put forward the worthy, and of itself there is a road to a body at peace. Give kindness and spread virtue, and it is the glory and flourishing of your line for ages. Hold envy and repay a grudge, and it is a trouble given to your children and grandchildren. Harm others to profit yourself, and in the end there is no cloud road by which your name shall rise. Harm the many to make a house, and how shall its wealth and rank last long? The changing of a name and the changing of a body all come of clever words. Calamity rising and the body wounded are all called up by want of kindness."

This was composed by Emperor Renzong. "Heaven and earth are wide and great, and the sun and the moon light them and look upon them. The world is clear, and heaven and earth are broad and wide, and yet they will not bear a crooked crew. Work your heart and use your schemes, and the repaying is in this life. Spread good and ask little for it, and there is no need to speak of getting blessing in a life to come. A thousand clever plans are not so good as being a person in your own portion. Ten thousand forced designs, how should they match living thrifty as the tie of things brings? Do a mercy with your heart, and what need is there to labor over the scripture? Mean in your heart to harm others, and you may read the whole store of the Buddha's word for nothing."

This was composed by Emperor Shenzong. "Keep far from goods that are not of the Way. Beware of wine beyond measure. In choosing where to live, choose the neighbor. In making a bond, choose the friend. Do not raise crooked envy in your heart. Do not bring slandering words to your mouth. Do not keep off the poor among your own flesh and blood. Do not make much of the rich among strangers. In mastering yourself put diligence and thrift first. In loving the many put humility and gentleness first. Always think on the wrong that has gone by. Always reckon the fault that is to come. If you go by these words of mine, the ruling of a house and of a state may last long."

This was composed by Emperor Gaozong. "The fire of a single spark can burn ten thousand acres of firewood. Half a line of wrong speech breaks off all the virtue of a life. Put one thread on your body, and always think of the labor of the weaving woman. Eat three meals a day, and always think of the toil of the farmer. Grasp and envy meanly, and in the end there is no ten years of peace and health. Pile up good and keep benevolence, and there will surely be a line of glory after you. Blessed ties and good happenings are mostly born of piled-up virtue. Entering the holy and going beyond the common is all got of what is true and real."

Laozi saw Confucius off and said, "I have heard that the rich and high see a man off with goods, and the kind see a man off with words. I cannot make you rich and high, but I will take the name of a kind man for myself and see you off with words. I say this. He who is clever and looks deeply comes the nearer to death. He who argues widely and reaches far puts his own body in danger."

Wang Liang said, "If you would know the lord, first look at his minister. If you would know the man, first look at his friend. If you would know the father, first look at his child. When the lord is holy the minister is loyal. When the father is loving the child is filial."

When the house is poor the filial child is seen. When the world is in disorder the loyal minister is known.

The Jia yu says, "Water utterly clear has no fish. A person utterly searching has no followers."

Confucius said, "The general of three armies may be taken from them. The will of a common man cannot be taken from him."

He who knows from birth is the best. He who learns and knows is next. He who learns after he is blocked is next again. He who is blocked and does not learn is the lowest of the people.

The gentleman has three thoughts, and he must not be without them. Not learning when young, he has no ability when grown. Not teaching when old, he has none to think of him when dead. Having and not giving, he has none to give to him when in want. Therefore the gentleman, being young, thinks of his growing and works at learning. Being old, he thinks of his dying and works at teaching. Having, he thinks of his want and works at giving.

The Jingxing lu says, "He who can care for himself is not sure to make a person of himself, but he who cheats himself will surely cheat others. He who can be sparing of himself is not sure to help others round, but he who is hard on himself will surely harm others. This is nothing else than that good is hard to do and evil is easy."

The rich and high find it easy to do good, and doing evil is not hard for them either.

Confucius said, "If wealth could be had by seeking, I would take even the office of the man who holds the whip. If it cannot be had by seeking, I will follow what I love."

A thousand volumes of poetry and books look hard, and yet they are the easier. A common coat and a common meal look easy, and yet they are the harder.

Heaven never cuts off a person's living.

One body has yet one body's worth of sorrow.

He who promises lightly has little faith in him. He who praises to the face will surely speak ill behind the back.

Xu Jingzong said, "Spring rain is like fat and it feeds all things, and the traveler on the road hates the mire of it. The autumn moon is like a mirror and it lights all quarters round, and the fair one is glad to look upon it and the thief hates its lighting."

The Jingxing lu says, "The great man sees the good clearly, and so he holds his name and his honor heavier than Mount Tai. His heart is firm in its working, and so he holds dying and living lighter than the down of a wild goose."

In the business outside there is no great and small. In the wanting within there is no shallow and deep. Have decision and you live. Have none and you die. The great man puts decision first.

Confucius said, "If you know and will not do, better not to know. If you are close and will not trust, better not to be close. When joy is just coming, be glad but not proud. When trouble comes, reckon it but do not sink into worry."

Mencius said, "Wisdom is not so good as riding the force of things. Hoe and plow are not so good as waiting for the season."

The Lüshi xiangyue says, "In virtue and in work urge one another on. In faults set one another right. In manners and custom make one another up. In trouble and in hardship help one another."

Pity others in their ill fortune. Be glad of others in their good. Save others in their straits. Rescue others in their danger.

Even a thing the eye has passed over may not be true, and how should talk behind the back be deeply believed?

A person does not know his own fault. An ox does not know how great its strength is.

He does not grudge that the hemp rope of his own house is short. He blames only the old well of another's house for being deep.

A man may escape by luck, but there is no repaying laid upon the guiltless.

Stolen goods overflow the world, and the guilt catches only the man whose blessing is thin.

The heart of a person is like iron. The law of the office is like a furnace.

Taigong said, "The human heart is hard to fill. A valley is easy to fill."

If heaven changes its constant way, it is wind if not rain. If a person changes his constant way, it is sickness if not death.

The Zhuangyuan shi says, "When the state is upright, the heart of heaven is willing. When the officer is clean, the people are at peace of themselves. When the wife is worthy, the husband has little calamity. When the child is filial, the father's heart is open."

Mencius says, "The three dynasties got the world by benevolence, and they lost the world by want of benevolence. It is the same with the falling and the rising and the standing and the perishing of a state. If the Son of Heaven is without benevolence, he does not keep the four seas. If the feudal lord is without benevolence, he does not keep his altars. If the high officer is without benevolence, he does not keep his ancestral hall. If the common man is without benevolence, he does not keep his own four limbs. Now people hate dying and perishing and are glad of want of benevolence. This is like hating to be drunk and forcing down the wine."

Confucius said, "He who first made the grave figure, shall he have no descendants?"

Wood follows the marking line and comes straight. A lord follows the words of remonstrance and becomes holy.

The Buddhist scripture says, "All made things are like a dream, like an illusion, like a bubble, like a shadow, like dew and like lightning. They should be looked upon in this way."

One reach of green hills, and the look of it is deep. The field of the one before is reaped by the one after. You who reap after, do not rejoice. There is another to reap who comes behind you.

Su Dongpo says, "If a man gets a thousand of gold without cause, it is not that a great blessing is his. A great calamity is surely his."

The Jingxing lu says, "Great feasts must not be gathered often. Writings for metal and stone must not be made lightly. Both are the beginning of calamity."

Confucius said, "If the workman would do his work well, he must first sharpen his tools."

What is so good as neither coming nor going? Then there is no gladness and no sorrow.

Master Shao of Kangjie said, "A man came and asked his fortune, saying, 'What is calamity and what is blessing?' I said, 'That I fail another is calamity. That another fails me is blessing.'"

A great house may have a thousand rooms, and at night a man lies in eight feet of it. Good fields may be ten thousand acres, and in a day a man eats two measures.

What is the good of burning a thousand bundles of paper while you are unfilial? What is the good of burning ten thousand censers of incense in vain while you fail your own heart? The spirits were made upright at root. How should they take a bribe that bends the law of the human world?

Stay long and a man is held cheap. Grow poor and even kin grow distant. Watch only three days or five, and the meeting is not what it was at first.

One drop when you are thirsty is like sweet dew. A cup added after you are drunk is less than none.

It is not the wine that makes a man drunk. The man is drunk of himself. It is not beauty that leads a man astray. The man goes astray of himself.

Mencius said, "Do benevolence and you will not grow rich. Do wealth and you will not be benevolent."

Confucius said, "It is over, I fear! I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty."

If the heart for the public were like the heart for oneself, what business would not be settled? If the thought of the Way were like the thought of desire, one would long since have become a Buddha.

Laozi said, "He who clings to things is not clear about the Way and virtue."

Only after a thing is over do you know that what went before was wrong. Only when you are old do you see that your young years were plenty.

Yang Xiong said, "The gentleman cultivates himself and delights in his Way and virtue. The small man has no measure and delights in hearing himself praised. Cultivate virtue and it grows day by day. Then wisdom and thought are full day by day."

Confucius said, "When the gentleman rises high he lowers himself and is humble. When the small man is favored he leans on his power and is proud and extravagant. The small man sees shallowly and is easily filled. The gentleman sees deeply and is hard to overflow. Therefore though a screen be broken, its frame remains. Though the gentleman be poor, his manners and his right are always there."

The Jia yu says, "When a state is about to rise, it lies truly in a minister who remonstrates. When a house is about to flourish, there is surely a child who remonstrates."

Confucius said, "Not knowing the decree, a man cannot be a gentleman. Not knowing manners, he cannot stand. Not knowing words, he cannot know people."

The Analects says, "He who has virtue surely has words. He who has words does not surely have virtue."

Master Zhou of Lianxi (Zhou Dunyi) said, "The clever speak and the clumsy are silent. The clever toil and the clumsy are at ease. The clever do harm and the clumsy are virtuous. The clever are ill-fated and the clumsy are fortunate. When the world is clumsy, punishment and rule grow clear, and the high are at peace and the low are willing, and custom is clean and abuses are cut off."

The Shuo yuan says, "When the mountain reaches its height, cloud and rain rise from it. When the water reaches its depth, the dragon is born in it. When the gentleman reaches his Way, blessing and living stay with him."

The Book of Changes says, "When virtue is thin and the place is high, when wisdom is small and the plan is great, few are those who take no harm."

Xunzi said, "High in place, guard against danger. Heavy in charge, guard against failure. Alone in favor, guard against disgrace."

Confucius said, "A person must first slight himself, and then others slight him. A house must first pull itself down, and then others pull it down. A state must first strike itself, and then others strike it."

The Shuo yuan says, "The officer grows slack when his place is made. The sickness grows worse when it is a little better. Calamity is born of slackness and sloth. Filial duty wanes because of wife and children. Look to these four, and be as careful at the end as at the start."

Confucius said, "In a high place and not open-handed, doing the rites and not reverent, coming to a mourning and not grieving, by what shall I look at such a man?"

Mencius said, "Without the gentleman there is no ruling the men of the fields. Without the men of the fields there is no feeding the gentleman."

Laozi said, "The six kin are not at peace, and so love and filial duty come forth. The state is dark and in disorder, and so the loyal minister comes forth."

The Jia yu says, "A loving father does not love an unfilial child. A bright lord does not take in a minister of no use."

A servant must be bought with money. A child must be born from a torn belly.

Worn out, it is still your coat. Dead, she is still your wife.

Do not laugh at the poverty of another's house. The turning round of things is a fair rule. Do not laugh at another's old age. In the end it comes round to me as well.

When this day has gone by, life is lessened with it, like a fish where the water grows low. What joy is there in this?

The Jingxing lu says, "When the vessel is full it overflows. When the person is full he loses."

Lamb may be fine, and still the mouths of many are hard to suit.

A foot of jade is not the treasure. An inch of time is what should be striven for.

The Han shu says, "Gold and jade cannot be eaten when you are hungry, and cannot be worn when you are cold. From of old, grain and cloth were held precious."

The Yizhi shu says, "White jade may be thrown in the mud, and the mud cannot dirty its color. The gentleman may walk in a muddy place, and it cannot stain and trouble his heart. Therefore the pine and the cypress bear the snow and the frost, and bright wisdom crosses hardship and danger."

Confucius said, "The man without benevolence cannot dwell long in straits, nor can he dwell long in joy."

Seek nothing and the feeling toward you is good wherever you go. Do not drink, and let the price of wine go as it will.

It is easy to go into the hills and catch a tiger. It is hard to open your mouth and ask a favor of a man.

Mencius said, "The season of heaven is not so good as the advantage of the ground. The advantage of the ground is not so good as the harmony of men."

Far water does not put out a near fire. A far kinsman is not so good as a near neighbor.

Taigong said, "Bright as the sun and the moon are, they do not light what is under an upturned tub. Sharp as a sword is, it does not cut a man who is without guilt. Calamity unlooked for and a stroke of ill luck do not come in at the gate of a careful house."

Blessing is born of praise and wonder. Calamity is born of ill thought. Sickness is born of vexation.

When the state is clean, the gifted man is held precious. When the house is rich, the little child grows proud.

When blessing came you did not know it. Calamity comes, and at once you see.

Taigong said, "Ten thousand acres of good field are not so good as a small skill carried about with you."

The Zhou li says, "Clean poverty is always glad. Muddy wealth has much sorrow."

A house does not lie in a high hall. If it does not leak it is good. Clothes do not lie in silk and gauze. If they are warm it is good. Food does not lie in rare dishes. If one meal fills you it is good. Taking a wife does not lie in the look of her face. If she is worthy and virtuous it is good. Neighbors do not lie in high and low. If they are at peace it is good. Kin are not chosen for new or old. If they come and go it is good. Raising a child does not ask boy or girl. If the child is filial and willing it is good. Brothers do not lie in many or few. If they are harmonious and willing it is good. Friends do not lie in wine and food. If they hold you up it is good. Officers do not lie in great or small. If they are clean and upright it is good.

The monk Daoqing woke the world. "A good deed is good to do, but without the heart for it you cannot come near it. If you do a good deed, no other can take a share of it. Though the scriptures were piled up like a hill, without the tie you cannot read them. Be crosswise and unfilial, and heaven and earth will not bear you. The king's law holds down heaven and earth, and break it and you are not forgiven. Though good fields be ten million acres, once dead you cannot use them. Though the offering before the spirit tablet be good, you cannot rise and eat it. Though money and goods be piled over the wall, you cannot take them when you go. If your lot does not help you, you cannot force it either. Though sons and grandsons fill the hall, they cannot take your place when you die."

If you would cultivate the Way of the immortals, first cultivate the Way of a person. If you cannot cultivate the Way of a person, the Way of the immortals is far off.

Master Zhu of Xiaoyou said, "Give way on the road all your life, and you will not go a hundred steps out of your road. Give way at the field bank all your life, and you will not lose one patch of ground."

Yanzi said, "A bird in straits pecks. A beast in straits claws. A person in straits cheats. A horse in straits stumbles."

The flower planted with a will does not open. The willow stuck in without thought has made its shade.

The Jingxing lu says, "Piling up widely is not so good as teaching your child. Keeping off calamity is not so good as cutting down your own wrong."

When you are sick you need time to tend it. When you are pressed you need money.

What is got easily is lost easily. What is got hard is lost hard.

Sooner eat the soup you take with your eyes open than eat the grain given you with a knitted brow.

Huan Fan said, "If you put on one thread, remember the labor of the weaving woman. If you eat one grain, think of the toil of the farmer. Learn without diligence and you do not know the Way. Till without diligence and you do not eat. Be slack and those who were close grow distant. Be reverent and those who were distant grow close."

The Xingli shu says, "This is the chief thing in dealing with others. What you do not want yourself, do not give to others. When you have done a thing and it does not come out, turn back and look for the cause in yourself."

Within the four walls of wine and beauty and goods and spirit, how many of the worthy and the foolish are shut up in that side room? If a person of the world could leap out of it, that would be the immortals' recipe against dying.

A person is born and wisdom is not yet born in him. Wisdom is born, and the person is already growing old. Heart and wisdom bring forth all things, and still he does not see that the passing of all things has come.