Wangba — The King and the Hegemon王霸篇
國者，天下之利用也；人主者，天下之利埶也。得道以持之，則大安也，大榮也，積美之源也；不得道以持之，則大危也，大累也，有之不如無之；及其綦也，索為匹夫不可得也，齊湣、宋獻是也。故人主天下之利埶也，然而不能自安也，安之者必將道也。
The state is the profitable vessel of all under heaven, and the lord of men is the profitable position of all under heaven. Get the way and hold it by that, and there is great peace and great glory, and it becomes the spring from which beauty is heaped up. Fail to get the way and hold it, and there is great danger and great entanglement, and having it is worse than not having it; and at the very end a man may seek to be a common fellow and not be able to get it. King Min of Qi and King Xian of Song were such men. So the lord of men is the profitable position of all under heaven, and yet he cannot make himself at peace. What brings him peace must surely be the way.
故用國者，義立而王，信立而霸，權謀立而亡。－－三者明主之所謹擇也，仁人之所務白也。絜國以呼禮義，而無以害之，行一不義，殺一無罪，而得天下，仁者不為也。擽然扶持心國，且若是其固也。之所與為之者，之人則舉義士也；之所以為布陳於國家刑法者，則舉義法也；主之所極然帥群臣而首鄉之者，則舉義志也。如是則下仰上以義矣，是綦定也；綦定而國定，國定而天下定。仲尼無置錐之地，誠義乎志意，加義乎身行，箸之言語，濟之日，不隱乎天下，名垂乎後世。今亦以天下之顯諸侯，誠義乎志意，加義乎法則度量，箸之以政事，案申重之以貴賤殺生，使襲然終始猶一也。如是，則夫名聲之部發於天地之間也，豈不如日月雷霆然矣哉！故曰：以國齊義，一日而白，湯武是也。湯以亳，武王以鄗，皆百里之地也，天下為一，諸侯為臣，通達之屬，莫不從服，無它故焉，以義濟矣。－－是所謂義立而王也。
So for one who uses a state: when rightness is set up he becomes king, when good faith is set up he becomes hegemon, when power and scheming are set up he perishes. These three are what the bright ruler chooses with care and what the benevolent man works to make clear.
To take up the whole state and call out for ritual and rightness, with nothing allowed to harm it: to do one unrighteous deed or kill one innocent man and by that gain all under heaven, the benevolent man will not do. So stoutly does he hold up his heart and his state, and it is as solid as this.
The men he works with are all raised up as righteous scholars. What he spreads out in the state as punishments and laws is all raised up as righteous law. What the ruler leads his throng of ministers in with all his strength and heads toward is all raised up as righteous purpose. When it is like this, those below look up to those above with rightness, and this is the foundation being fixed. When the foundation is fixed the state is fixed, and when the state is fixed all under heaven is fixed.
Zhongni had not land enough to set down an awl, and yet he was truly righteous in his purpose and added rightness to the conduct of his person and showed it forth in his words; and on the day it was accomplished he was not hidden from all under heaven, and his name hung down to later ages.
Now let one of the illustrious feudal lords of all under heaven be truly righteous in his purpose, add rightness to his laws and rules and measures, show it forth in the business of government, and lay weight on it again with honored and lowly and killing and sparing, so that fold upon fold the end is still as the beginning. When it is like this, how should his name and fame, spreading out between heaven and earth, not be like the sun and the moon and the thunder?
So it is said: bring rightness into order with a state, and in a single day it is made clear. King Tang and King Wu were such men. King Tang used Bo (亳) and King Wu used Hao (鄗), and both were land of a hundred li; and all under heaven became one and the feudal lords became subjects, and among those who could reach him there was none who did not follow and submit. There was no other reason. It was accomplished by rightness. This is what is meant by rightness being set up and one becoming king.
德雖未至也，義雖未濟也，然而天下之理略奏矣，刑賞已諾信乎天下矣，臣下曉然皆知其可要也。政令已陳，雖睹利敗，不欺其民；約結已定，雖睹利敗，不欺其與。如是，則兵勁城固，敵國畏之；國一綦明，與國信之；雖在僻陋之國，威動天下，五伯是也。非本政教也，非致隆高也，非綦文理也，非服人之心也，鄉方略，審勞佚，謹畜積，脩戰備，齺然上下相信，而天下莫之敢當。故齊桓、晉文、楚莊、吳闔閭、越勾踐，是皆僻陋之國也，威動天下，彊殆中國，無它故焉，略信也。－－是所謂信立而霸也。
Though his virtue has not yet arrived and his rightness has not yet been accomplished, still the pattern of all under heaven is roughly laid before him, and punishment and reward and what he has already promised are trusted throughout all under heaven, so that the ministers below know clearly, every one of them, that it can be counted on.
When his government and orders have been spread out, then though he sees profit and loss he does not cheat his people; when his covenants have been fixed, then though he sees profit and loss he does not cheat his allies. When it is like this, his soldiers are stout and his walls are firm and enemy states fear him; his state is one and its foundation is clear and allied states trust him. Though he lies in a mean and out of the way state, his awe moves all under heaven. The five hegemons were such men.
It was not that they rooted themselves in government and teaching; it was not that they reached the heights; it was not that they exhausted form and pattern; it was not that they made men's hearts submit. They turned toward plans and schemes, they looked into toil and ease, they were careful in storing up, they put their war gear in order, and so, fitting together without a gap, high and low trusted each other, and no one in all under heaven dared stand against them.
So Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, King Zhuang of Chu, Helu of Wu, and Goujian of Yue were all of mean and out of the way states, and yet their awe moved all under heaven and their strength put the Central States in danger. There was no other reason. They were roughly trustworthy. This is what is meant by good faith being set up and one becoming hegemon.
絜國以呼功利，不務張其義，齊其信，唯利之求，內則不憚詐其民，而求小利焉；外則不憚詐其與，而求大利焉，內不脩正其所以有，然常欲人之有。如是，則臣下百姓莫不以詐心待其上矣。上詐其下，下詐其上，則是上下析也。如是，則敵國輕之，與國疑之，權謀日行，而國不免危削，綦之而亡，齊閔、薛公是也。故用彊齊，非以修禮義也，非以本政教也，非以一天下也，綿綿常以結引馳外為務。故彊、南足以破楚，西足以詘秦，北足以敗燕，中足以舉宋。及以燕趙起而攻之，若振槁然，而身死國亡，為天下大戮，後世言惡，則必稽焉。是無它故焉，唯其不由禮義，而由權謀也。
To take up the whole state and call out for merit and profit, not working to spread its rightness or to make its good faith even but seeking only profit; within, not shrinking from cheating his own people and seeking small profit by it; abroad, not shrinking from cheating his allies and seeking great profit by it; not cultivating and putting right within what he already has, and yet always wanting what others have.
When it is like this, there is none among the ministers below and the hundred families who does not meet his superior with a cheating heart. When those above cheat those below and those below cheat those above, then high and low are split apart. When it is like this, enemy states make light of him and allied states doubt him, power and scheming are practiced day by day, and the state does not escape danger and being pared away, and at the end of it, it perishes. King Min of Qi and the Lord of Xue were such men.
So he used a strong Qi, yet he did not cultivate ritual and rightness, he did not root himself in government and teaching, he did not seek to make all under heaven one; on and on he made it his business to tie others up and drag them along and go galloping abroad. So he was stout enough in the south to break Chu, in the west to bend Qin, in the north to beat Yan, and in the middle to take Song. Then Yan and Zhao rose and struck him, and it was like shaking down a withered thing: his person died and his state perished and he became the great laughingstock of all under heaven, so that when later ages speak of evil they must look back to him. There was no other reason for this. It was only that he did not go by ritual and rightness but went by power and scheming.
三者明主之所以謹擇也，而仁人之所以務白也。善擇者制人，不善擇者人制之。
These three are what the bright ruler chooses with care and what the benevolent man works to make clear. He who chooses well cuts others to shape; he who does not choose well is cut to shape by others.
國者、天下之大器也，重任也，不可不善為擇所而後錯之，錯險則危；不可不善為擇道然後道之，涂薉則塞；危塞則亡。彼國錯者，非封焉之謂也，何法之道，誰子之與也。故道王者之法，與王者之人為之，則亦王；道霸者之法，與霸者之人為之，則亦霸；道亡國之法，與亡國之人為之，則亦亡。－－三者明主之所以謹擇也，而仁人之所以務白也。
The state is the great vessel of all under heaven and a heavy burden. One cannot but choose its place well before setting it down; set it down in a steep place and it is in danger. One cannot but choose its road well before leading it along; if the road is overgrown it is blocked. In danger and blocked, it perishes.
That setting down of a state does not mean enfeoffing it, but what law he takes for his road and whom he works with. So if he takes for his road the law of one who is king and works with the men of one who is king, then he too becomes king; if he takes for his road the law of one who is hegemon and works with the men of one who is hegemon, then he too becomes hegemon; if he takes for his road the law of a perishing state and works with the men of a perishing state, then he too perishes. These three are what the bright ruler chooses with care and what the benevolent man works to make clear.
故國者、重任也，不以積持之則不立。故國者，世所以新者也，是憚，憚、非變也，改王改行也。故一朝之日也，一日之人也，然而厭焉有千歲之國，何也？曰：援夫千歲之信法以持之也，安與夫千歲之信士為之也。人無百歲之壽，而有千歲之信士，何也？曰：以夫千歲之法自持者，是乃千歲之信士矣。故與積禮義之君子為之則王，與端誠信全之士為之則霸，與權謀傾覆之人為之則亡。－－三者明主之所以謹擇也，仁人之所以務白也。善擇之者制人，不善擇之者人制之。
So the state is a heavy burden, and unless it is held by what has been heaped up it does not stand. So the state is what the age makes new, and this is the changing of hands. The changing of hands is not alteration; it is changing the king and changing the practice.
So there is the day of a single morning and the man of a single day, and yet there are states that last a thousand years and to spare. How is this? The answer is: they draw on that trustworthy law of a thousand years and hold to it, and they work at it with those trustworthy scholars of a thousand years.
A man has no life span of a hundred years, and yet there are trustworthy scholars of a thousand years. How is this? The answer is: one who holds himself by that law of a thousand years is himself a trustworthy scholar of a thousand years.
So work at it with a gentleman who has heaped up ritual and rightness and you become king; work at it with a scholar who is upright and sincere and trustworthy and whole and you become hegemon; work at it with a man of power and scheming who overturns things and you perish. These three are what the bright ruler chooses with care and what the benevolent man works to make clear. He who chooses well cuts others to shape; he who does not choose well is cut to shape by others.
彼持國者，必不可以獨也，然則彊固榮辱在於取相矣。身能相能，如是者王，身不能，知恐懼而求能者，如是者彊；身不能，不知恐懼而求能者，安唯便僻左右親比己者之用，如是者危削；綦之而亡。國者，巨用之則大，小用之則小；綦大而王，綦小而亡，小巨分流者存。巨用之者，先義而後利，安不卹親疏，不卹貴賤，唯誠能之求，夫是之謂巨用之。小用之者，先利而後義，安不卹是非，不治曲直，唯便僻親比己者之用，夫是之謂小用之。巨用之者若彼，小用之者若此，小巨分流者，亦一若彼，一若此也。故曰：「粹而王，駁而霸，無一焉而亡。」此之謂也。
One who holds a state can never do it alone. That being so, strength and firmness and glory and disgrace lie in the taking of a prime minister.
If his own person is able and his prime minister is able, such a one becomes king. If his own person is not able but he knows enough to be afraid and seeks out one who is able, such a one is stout. If his own person is not able and he does not know enough to be afraid and does not seek out one who is able, but uses only the crooked and fawning at his side who are close to himself, such a one is in danger and is pared away, and at the end of it he perishes.
As for the state, use it greatly and it is great; use it in a small way and it is small. Push greatness to the end and you become king; push smallness to the end and you perish; and he in whom the small and the great run in parted streams survives.
He who uses it greatly puts rightness first and profit after, does not look to near kin or distant, does not look to honored or lowly, and seeks only those who are truly able; this is what is called using it greatly. He who uses it in a small way puts profit first and rightness after, does not look to right and wrong, does not put in order the crooked and the straight, and uses only the crooked and fawning who are close to himself; this is what is called using it in a small way.
He who uses it greatly is like the one, and he who uses it in a small way is like the other, and in him whose small and great run in parted streams the one part is like the one and the other part like the other. So it is said, "Pure, and he becomes king; mottled, and he becomes hegemon; with not one of these in him, and he perishes." This is what is meant.
國無禮則不正。禮之所以正國也，譬之：猶衡之於輕重也，猶繩墨之於曲直也，猶規矩之於方圓也，既錯之而人莫之能誣也。詩云：「如霜雪之將將，如日月之光明，為之則存，不為則亡。」此之謂也。
Without ritual a state is not set straight. That ritual sets a state straight may be likened to the steelyard for light and heavy, to the marking line for crooked and straight, to the compass and the square for round and square: once they have been set down, no one can cheat by them. The Odes say, "Like frost and snow ringing clear, like the sun and moon shining bright: do it and you remain, do it not and you perish." This is what is meant.
國危則無樂君，國安則無憂民。亂則國危，治則國安。今君人者，急逐樂而緩治國，豈不過甚矣哉！譬之是由好聲色，而恬無耳目也，豈不哀哉！夫人之情，目欲綦色，耳欲綦聲，口欲綦味，鼻欲綦臭，心欲綦佚。－－此五綦者，人情之所必不免也。養五綦者有具。無其具，則五綦者不可得而致也。萬乘之國，可謂廣大富厚矣，加有治辨彊固之道焉，若是則恬愉無患難矣，然後養五綦之具具也。故百樂者，生於治國者也；憂患者，生於亂國者也。急逐樂而緩治國者，非知樂者也。故明君者，必將先治其國，然後百樂得其中。闇君者，必將急逐樂而緩治國，故憂患不可勝校也，必至於身死國亡然後止也，豈不哀哉！將以為樂，乃得憂焉；將以為安，乃得危焉；將以為福，乃得死亡焉，豈不哀哉！於乎！君人者，亦可以察若言矣。故治國有道，人主有職。若夫貫日而治詳，一日而曲列之，是所使夫百吏官人為也，不足以是傷游玩安燕之樂。若夫論一相以兼率之，使臣下百吏莫不宿道鄉方而務，是夫人主之職也。若是則一天下，名配堯禹。之主者，守至約而詳，事至佚而功，垂衣裳，不下簟席之上，而海內之人莫不願得以為帝王。夫是之謂至約，樂莫大焉。
When the state is in danger there is no glad ruler; when the state is at peace there are no grieving people. When there is disorder the state is in danger; when there is good government the state is at peace.
Now one who rules over men is quick to chase after pleasure and slow to govern the state. Is this not excess beyond measure? It may be likened to loving sound and color and yet being content to have no ears and no eyes. Is this not sad?
Now it is the feeling of man that the eye wants color to the utmost, the ear wants sound to the utmost, the mouth wants flavor to the utmost, the nose wants scent to the utmost, and the heart wants ease to the utmost. These five utmosts are what the feeling of man can never escape. For nourishing the five utmosts there are the means; and without those means the five utmosts cannot be got and brought about.
A state of ten thousand chariots may be called broad and great and rich and thick; add to it the way of governing and distinguishing and being stout and firm, and when it is like this there is calm and delight and no grief or trouble, and only then are the means for nourishing the five utmosts complete.
So the hundred pleasures are born of a governed state and grief and trouble are born of a disordered state. He who is quick to chase after pleasure and slow to govern the state is not one who knows pleasure.
So the bright ruler must first govern his state, and only then do the hundred pleasures find their center. The dark ruler must be quick to chase after pleasure and slow to govern the state, and so his griefs and troubles cannot be counted up, and he must come to the death of his person and the perishing of his state before he stops. Is this not sad? He would make it pleasure and gets grief instead; he would make it peace and gets danger instead; he would make it good fortune and gets death and ruin instead. Is this not sad? Ah, one who rules over men may well look into these words.
So in governing a state there is a way, and the lord of men has his office. As for threading the days together and governing in detail, and setting things out bend by bend within a single day, that is what the hundred clerks and the officers are made to do, and it is not enough to spoil by it the pleasure of roaming and playing and resting at ease.
As for weighing one prime minister and having him lead them all together, and making the ministers below and the hundred clerks all lodge in the way and turn toward the right quarter and work at it, that is the office of the lord of men.
When it is like this, all under heaven is made one and his name matches King Yao and King Yu. Such a ruler keeps to the utmost brevity and yet is detailed, his affairs are of the utmost ease and yet have merit; he lets his robes hang down and does not come down from his mat, and among the men within the seas there is none who does not wish to get him for emperor and king. This is what is called the utmost brevity, and no pleasure is greater than it.
人主者，以官人為能者也；匹夫者，以自能為能者也。人主得使人為之，匹夫則無所移之。百畝一守，事業窮，無所移之也。今以一人兼聽天下，日有餘而治不足者，使人為之也。大有天下，小有一國，必自為之然後可，則勞苦秏(卒頁)莫甚焉。如是，則雖臧獲不肯與天子易埶業。以是縣天下，一四海，何故必自為之？為之者，役夫之道也，墨子之說也。論德使能而官施之者，聖王之道也，儒之所謹守也。傳曰：農分田而耕，賈分貨而販，百工分事而勸，士大夫分職而聽，建國諸侯之君分土而守，三公摠方而議，則天子共己而已矣。出若入若，天下莫不平均，莫不治辨，是百王之所同也，而禮法之大分也。
The lord of men is one who makes the giving of office to men his ability; the common fellow is one who makes his own ability his ability. The lord of men can have men do things for him, but the common fellow has nowhere to shift his work. Keep a hundred mu alone and the work is blocked, for there is nowhere to shift it.
Now that one man listens to all under heaven together and has days to spare while the governing falls short is because he has men do it for him. If, having all under heaven at the greatest and one state at the least, a man must do it all himself before it will do, then no toil and pain and wearing away could be worse. When it is like this, even a bondsman would not be willing to trade his position and work for the Son of Heaven's.
To weigh all under heaven by this and make the four seas one, for what reason must he do it himself? To do it himself is the way of a hired hand and the doctrine of Mozi. To weigh virtue and employ the able and bestow office on them is the way of the sage kings and what the scholar keeps with care.
A saying handed down goes: the farmer divides the fields and plows, the merchant divides the goods and trades, the hundred artisans divide the work and labor at it, the officers and great officers divide the offices and attend to them, the lords of the enfeoffed states divide the land and guard it, and the three dukes take charge of the quarters and deliberate; then the Son of Heaven has only to hold himself in reverence. Going out it is so and coming in it is so, and in all under heaven there is nothing not made even and nothing not governed and distinguished. This is what the hundred kings held in common, and it is the great division of ritual and law.
百里之地，可以取天下。－－是不虛；其難者在人主之知之也。取天下者，非負其土地而從之之謂也，道足以壹人而已矣。彼其人苟壹，則其土地奚去我而適它？故百里之地，其等位爵服，足以容天下之賢士矣；其官職事業，足以容天下之能士矣；循其舊法，擇其善者而明用之，足以順服好利之人矣。賢士一焉，能士官焉，好利之人服焉，三者具而天下盡，無有是其外矣。故百里之地，足以竭埶矣。致忠信，箸仁義，足以竭人矣。兩者合而天下取，諸侯後同者先危。詩曰：「自西自東，自南自北，無思不服。」一人之謂也。
With land of a hundred li one may take all under heaven. This is no empty word. The hard part lies in the lord of men knowing it.
To take all under heaven does not mean that men shoulder their land and follow him; it is only that his way is enough to make men one. If those men are truly made one, how should their land leave me and go elsewhere?
So even with land of a hundred li, its grades and stations and ranks and robes are enough to hold the worthy scholars of all under heaven, and its offices and works are enough to hold the able scholars of all under heaven; and if he follows its old laws and chooses what is good in them and uses it clearly, that is enough to make those who love profit follow and submit. When worthy scholars are made one, able scholars hold office, and those who love profit submit, the three are complete and all under heaven is exhausted, and there is nothing outside them.
So land of a hundred li is enough to exhaust position, and to carry loyalty and good faith to the utmost and show forth benevolence and rightness is enough to exhaust men. When the two are joined, all under heaven is taken, and among the feudal lords those who join late are the first to be in danger. The Odes say, "From the west and from the east, from the south and from the north, there was none who did not submit." This speaks of one man.
羿、蜂門者，善服射者也；王良、造父者，善服馭者也。聰明君子者，善服人者也。人服而埶從之，人不服而埶去之，故王者已於服人矣。故人主欲得善射－－射遠中微，則莫若羿、蜂門矣；欲得善馭－－及速致遠，則莫若王良、造父矣。欲得調壹天下，制秦楚，則莫若聰明君子矣。其用知甚簡，其為事不勞，而功名致大，甚易處而極可樂也。故明君以為寶，而愚者以為難。夫貴為天子，富有天下，名為聖王，兼制人，人莫得而制也，是人情之所同欲也，而王者兼而有是者也。重色而衣之，重味而食之，重財物而制之，合天下而君之，飲食甚厚，聲樂甚大，臺謝甚高，園囿甚廣，臣使諸侯，一天下，是又人情之所同欲也，而天子之禮制如是者也。制度以陳，政令以挾，官人失要則死，公侯失禮則幽，四方之國，有侈離之德則必滅，名聲若日月，功績如天地，天下之人應之如景嚮，是又人情之所同欲也，而王者兼而有是者也。故人之情，口好味，而臭味莫美焉；耳好聲，而聲樂莫大焉；目好色，而文章致繁，婦女莫眾焉；形體好佚，而安重閒靜莫愉焉；心好利，而穀祿莫厚焉。合天下之所同願兼而有之，睪牢天下而制之若制子孫，人苟不狂惑戇陋者，其誰能睹是而不樂也哉！欲是之主，並肩而存；能建是之士，不世絕；千歲而不合，何也？曰：人主不公，人臣不忠也。人主則外賢而偏舉，人臣則爭職而妒賢，是其所以不合之故也。人主胡不廣焉，無卹親疏，無偏貴賤，惟誠能之求？若是，則人臣輕職業讓賢，而安隨其後。如是，則舜禹還至，王業還起；功壹天下，名配舜禹，物由有可樂，如是其美焉者乎！嗚呼！君人者，亦可以察若言矣。楊朱哭衢涂，曰：「此夫過舉蹞步，而覺跌千里者夫！」哀哭之。此亦榮辱、安危、存亡之衢已，此其為可哀，甚於衢涂。嗚呼！哀哉！君人者，千歲而不覺也。
Yi and Fengmen were men who made archery submit well; Wang Liang and Zaofu were men who made driving submit well; and the gentleman keen of ear and clear of eye is one who makes men submit well. When men submit, position follows him; when men do not submit, position leaves him. So one who is king stops at making men submit.
So if the lord of men wants one who shoots well, shooting far and hitting the small mark, there is none like Yi and Fengmen; if he wants one who drives well, reaching speed and carrying far, there is none like Wang Liang and Zaofu; if he wants to tune all under heaven and make it one and cut Qin and Chu to shape, there is none like the gentleman keen of ear and clear of eye. His use of knowing is very simple and his doing of affairs is not toilsome, and yet his merit and name reach the greatest; it is very easy to dwell in and utterly to be enjoyed. So the bright ruler holds it a treasure and the foolish man holds it hard.
Now to be honored as Son of Heaven, to be rich in having all under heaven, to be named a sage king, to cut all men to shape together while no man can cut him to shape, is what the feeling of man alike desires, and one who is king has all of it together.
To wear color laid on color, to eat flavor laid on flavor, to cut wealth and goods to shape laid one on another, to join all under heaven and be lord of it; food and drink very thick, sound and music very great, terraces and pavilions very high, parks and preserves very wide; to have the feudal lords for his ministers and to make all under heaven one, is again what the feeling of man alike desires, and the ritual and institutions of the Son of Heaven are like this.
His institutions are spread out and his government and orders reach everywhere, so that an officer who loses what is essential dies, a duke or a marquis who loses ritual is shut away, and a state of the four quarters that has a virtue of excess and falling off must be wiped out; his name and fame are like the sun and the moon and his merit and traces like heaven and earth, and the men of all under heaven answer him as shadow and echo. This too is what the feeling of man alike desires, and one who is king has all of it together.
So it is the feeling of man that the mouth loves flavor, and no scent or flavor is more beautiful than this; the ear loves sound, and no sound or music is greater than this; the eye loves color, and nowhere is the patterning so manifold or the women so many as here; the body loves ease, and nothing is more delightful than this peace and weight and leisure and quiet; the heart loves profit, and no grain or salary is thicker than this.
To join what all under heaven alike wishes for and have it all together, to pen all under heaven in and cut it to shape as one cuts sons and grandsons to shape: unless a man is mad and deluded and dull and narrow, who could look on this and not delight in it?
Rulers who desire this stand shoulder to shoulder, and scholars able to set it up are not cut off in any age, and yet for a thousand years they have not been joined. How is this? The answer is: the lord of men is not impartial and the minister is not loyal. The lord of men puts the worthy outside and raises men by leaning, and the minister fights for office and envies the worthy; this is the reason they are not joined.
Why does the lord of men not make himself broad, not looking to near kin or distant, not leaning toward honored or lowly, and seek only those who are truly able? When it is like this, the minister makes light of his office and yields to the worthy and is content to follow behind him. When it is like this, King Shun and King Yu come again and the work of a king rises again; his merit makes all under heaven one and his name matches King Shun and King Yu. Among things that may be delighted in, is there any so beautiful as this?
Ah, one who rules over men may well look into these words. Yang Zhu wept at the forking road and said, "Here a man takes a half step wrong and wakes to find he has gone a thousand li astray." And he wept over it in sorrow. This too is the fork of glory and disgrace, of peace and danger, of remaining and perishing, and what is to be sorrowed over here is worse than at the forking road. Ah, it is sad. One who rules over men does not wake to it in a thousand years.
無國而不有治法，無國而不有亂法；無國而不有賢士，無國而不有罷士；無國而不有愿民，無國而不有悍民；無國而不有美俗，無國而不有惡俗。兩者並行而國在，上偏而國安，在下偏而國危；上一而王，下一而亡。故其法治，其佐賢，其民愿，其俗美，而四者齊，夫是之謂上一。如是則不戰而勝，不攻而得，甲兵不勞而天下服。故湯以亳，文王以鄗，皆百里之地也，天下為一，諸侯為臣，通達之屬，莫不從服，無它故焉，四者齊也。桀紂即厚有天下之埶，索為匹夫而不可得也，是無它故焉，四者並亡也。故百王之法不同，若是所歸者一也。
There is no state without laws that govern and no state without laws that bring disorder; no state without worthy scholars and no state without worthless scholars; no state without careful people and no state without fierce people; no state without beautiful customs and no state without evil customs.
When the two run side by side the state holds; when the upper leans, the state is at peace; when the lower leans, the state is in danger. When the upper is one, he becomes king; when the lower is one, he perishes.
So when his laws govern and his helpers are worthy and his people are careful and his customs are beautiful, and the four are even, this is what is called the upper being one. When it is like this, he wins without fighting and gets without attacking, and his armor and weapons are not toiled and all under heaven submits.
So King Tang used Bo and King Wen used Hao, and both were land of a hundred li; and all under heaven became one and the feudal lords became subjects, and among those who could reach him there was none who did not follow and submit. There was no other reason. The four were even. Jie and King Zhou (紂) held the position of all under heaven thickly, and yet they sought to be common fellows and could not get it. There was no other reason. The four were all lacking in them. So the laws of the hundred kings were not the same, and yet like this what they came back to was one.
上莫不致愛其下，而制之以禮。上之於下，如保赤子，政令制度，所以接下之人百姓，有不理者如豪末，則雖孤獨鰥寡必不加焉。故下之親上，歡如父母，可殺而不可使不順。君臣上下，貴賤長幼，至於庶人，莫不以是為隆正；然後皆內自省，以謹於分。是百王之所同也，而禮法之樞要也。然後農分田而耕，賈分貨而販，百工分事而勸，士大夫分職而聽，建國諸侯之君分土而守，三公總方而議，則天子共己而止矣。出若入若，天下莫不均平，莫不治辨。是百王之所同，而禮法之大分也。若夫貫日而治平，權物而稱用，使衣服有制，宮室有度，人徒有數，喪祭械用皆有等宜，以是用挾於萬物，尺寸尋丈，莫得不循乎制度數量然後行，則是官人使吏之事也，不足數於大君子之前。故君人者，立隆政本朝而當，所使要百事者誠仁人也，則身佚而國治，功大而名美，上可以王，下可以霸。立隆正本朝而不當，所使要百事者非仁人也，則身勞而國亂，功廢而名辱，社稷必危，是人君者之樞機也。故能當一人而天下取，失當一人而社稷危。不能當一人，而能當千百人者，說無之有也。既能當一人，則身有何勞而為？垂衣裳而天下定。故湯用伊尹，文王用呂尚，武王用召公，成王用周公旦。卑者五伯，齊桓公閨門之內，縣樂、奢泰、游抏之脩，於天下不見謂脩，然九合諸侯，一匡天下，為五伯長，是亦無他故焉，知一政於管仲也，是君人者之要守也。知者易為之興力，而功名綦大。舍是而孰足為也？故古之人，有大功名者，必道是者也。喪其國危其身者，必反是者也。故孔子曰：「知者之知，固以多矣，有以守少，能無察乎？愚者之知，固以少矣，有以守多，能無狂乎？」此之謂也。
There is no superior who does not love those below him to the utmost and cut them to shape by ritual. The superior is to those below as one caring for a newborn child, and if in the government and orders and institutions by which he meets the men below and the hundred families there is anything against reason, even so much as a hair's tip, then even upon the orphaned and the alone and the widower and the widow it is surely not laid.
So those below hold their superior dear, glad as toward father and mother, and they may be killed but cannot be made unwilling to follow. Lord and minister, high and low, honored and lowly, elder and younger, down to the common people, there is none who does not make this the high standard; and then all look within and examine themselves and are careful in their divisions. This is what the hundred kings held in common, and it is the pivot of ritual and law.
Then the farmer divides the fields and plows, the merchant divides the goods and trades, the hundred artisans divide the work and labor at it, the officers and great officers divide the offices and attend to them, the lords of the enfeoffed states divide the land and guard it, and the three dukes take charge of the quarters and deliberate; then the Son of Heaven has only to hold himself in reverence. Going out it is so and coming in it is so, and in all under heaven there is nothing not made even and nothing not governed and distinguished. This is what the hundred kings held in common, and it is the great division of ritual and law.
As for threading the days together and governing evenly, weighing things and fitting them to their use, making clothing have its institution and houses their measure and the bands of men their number, and mourning and sacrifice and vessels and uses all have their proper grade, and by this reaching through the ten thousand things so that nothing of inch or foot or span or fathom may go forward until it has followed the institutions and numbers and measures, that is the business of officers and the employing of clerks, and it is not worth counting before the great gentleman.
So if one who rules over men sets up the high government in his court fittingly, and the man he sets over the essentials of the hundred affairs is truly a benevolent man, then his person is at ease and the state is governed, his merit is great and his name beautiful, and above he may be king and below he may be hegemon. If he sets up the high standard in his court unfittingly, and the man he sets over the essentials of the hundred affairs is not a benevolent man, then his person is toiled and the state is disordered, his merit falls away and his name is disgraced, and the altars of the land must be in danger. This is the pivot and the spring of the lord of men.
So if he can fit one man, all under heaven is taken; if he fails to fit one man, the altars of the land are in danger. That a man who cannot fit one man can fit a thousand or a hundred is a doctrine that cannot be. Once he can fit one man, what toil is left for his own person to do? He lets his robes hang down and all under heaven is settled.
So King Tang used Yi Yin, King Wen used Lu Shang, King Wu used the Duke of Shao, and King Cheng used the Duke of Zhou, Dan. Lower than these were the five hegemons. Duke Huan of Qi, within his own chambers, hung up music and was lavish and sank into roaming and play, and in all under heaven he was never called cultivated; and yet he gathered the feudal lords nine times and set all under heaven right at a stroke and became the chief of the five hegemons. In this too there was no other reason. He knew how to make his government one in Guan Zhong. This is what one who rules over men must keep as essential.
For the wise man it is easy to rouse strength on his behalf, and merit and name reach the greatest. Set this aside, and what is worth doing? So among the men of old those who had great merit and name always took this for their road, and those who lost their states and put their persons in danger always went against it. So Confucius said, "The knowing of the wise man is surely much, and yet he keeps to little; how should he not be discerning? The knowing of the foolish man is surely little, and yet he keeps to much; how should he not be mad?" This is what is meant.
治國者分已定，則主相臣下百吏，各謹其所聞，不務聽其所不聞；各謹其所見，不務視其所不見。所聞所見誠以齊矣。則雖幽閒隱辟，百姓莫敢不敬分安制，以化其上，是治國之徵也。
When in one who governs a state the divisions have been fixed, then the ruler and the prime minister and the ministers below and the hundred clerks are each careful of what they have heard and do not work at hearing what they have not heard, and each careful of what they have seen and do not work at seeing what they have not seen. When what is heard and what is seen have truly been made even, then even in dark and idle and hidden and out of the way places there is none among the hundred families who dares not respect the divisions and rest in the institutions and be changed by his superior. This is the sign of a governed state.
主道治近不治遠，治明不治幽，治一不治二。主能治近則遠者理，主能治明則幽者化，主能當一則百事正。夫兼聽天下，日有餘而治不足者，如此也，是治之極也。既能治近，又務治遠；既能治明，又務見幽；既能當一，又務正百，是過者也，過猶不及也。辟之是猶立直木而求其影之枉也。不能治近，又務治遠；不能察明，又務見幽；不能當一，又務正百，是悖者也。辟之是猶立枉木而求其影之直也。故明主好要，而闇主好詳；主好要則百事詳，主好詳則百事荒。君者、論一相，陳一法，明一指，以兼覆之，兼炤之，以觀其盛者也。相者，論列百官之長，要百事之聽，以飾朝廷臣下百吏之分，度其功勞，論其慶賞，歲終奉其成功以效於君。當則可，不當則廢。故君人勞於索之，而休於使之。
The way of the ruler is to govern the near and not the far, to govern the clear and not the dark, to govern the one and not the two.
When the ruler can govern the near, the far is set in order; when the ruler can govern the clear, the dark is changed; when the ruler can fit the one, the hundred affairs are made right. That he listens to all under heaven together and has days to spare while the governing falls short is like this, and this is the utmost of government.
To be able already to govern the near and still work at governing the far, to be able already to govern the clear and still work at seeing the dark, to be able already to fit the one and still work at setting a hundred right, is going too far, and going too far is like falling short. It may be likened to setting up a straight tree and looking for its shadow to be crooked.
Not to be able to govern the near and still work at governing the far, not to be able to look into the clear and still work at seeing the dark, not to be able to fit the one and still work at setting a hundred right, is perversity. It may be likened to setting up a crooked tree and looking for its shadow to be straight.
So the bright ruler loves what is essential and the dark ruler loves what is detailed. When the ruler loves what is essential, the hundred affairs are detailed; when the ruler loves what is detailed, the hundred affairs run to waste.
The lord is one who weighs one prime minister, spreads out one law, and makes one aim clear, and by this covers them all together and lights them all together, and looks upon their flourishing. The prime minister is one who weighs and sets out the heads of the hundred offices and holds the essentials of the hearing of the hundred affairs, and so dresses the divisions of the court and the ministers below and the hundred clerks; who measures their merit and toil and weighs their praise and reward, and at the end of the year holds up what they have accomplished and presents it to the lord. If it fits, he is kept; if it does not fit, he is put aside. So one who rules over men toils in the seeking of him and rests in the employing of him.
用國者，得百姓之力者富，得百姓之死者彊，得百姓之譽者榮。－－三得者具而天下歸之，三得者亡而天下去之；天下歸之之謂王，天下去之之謂亡。湯武者，脩其道，行其義，興天下同利，除天下同害，天下歸之。故厚德音以先之，明禮義以道之，致忠信以愛之，賞賢使能以次之，爵服賞慶以申重之，時其事，輕其任，以調齊之，潢然兼覆之，養長之，如保赤子。生民則致寬，使民則綦理，辯政令制度，所以接天下之人百姓，有非理者如豪末，則雖孤獨鰥寡，必不加焉。是故百姓貴之如帝，親之如父母，為之出死斷亡而不愉者，無它故焉，道德誠明，利澤誠厚也。亂世則不然，汙漫突盜以先之，權謀傾覆以示之，俳優、侏儒、婦女之請謁以悖之，使愚詔知，使不肖臨賢，生民則致貧隘，使民則極勞苦。是故，百姓賤之如尪，惡之如鬼，日欲司間而相與投藉之，去逐之。卒有寇難之事，又望百姓之為己死，不可得也，說無以取之焉。孔子曰：「審吾所以適人，適人之所以來我也。」此之謂也。
Of those who use a state, he who gets the strength of the hundred families is rich, he who gets the death of the hundred families is stout, and he who gets the praise of the hundred families is glorious. When the three gettings are complete, all under heaven turns to him; when the three gettings are lacking, all under heaven leaves him. That all under heaven turns to him is called being king; that all under heaven leaves him is called perishing.
King Tang and King Wu cultivated their way and practiced their rightness, raised up what all under heaven found profitable alike and took away what all under heaven found harmful alike, and all under heaven turned to them.
So they made the sound of virtue thick and put it in front, made ritual and rightness clear and led by it, carried loyalty and good faith to the utmost and loved by it, rewarded the worthy and employed the able and set them in order, and laid weight on it again with rank and robe and reward and praise; they timed the work and lightened the burden and so tuned and evened it, and brimming over they covered them all together and nourished them and raised them as one cares for a newborn child.
In giving the people life they were of the utmost breadth, and in employing the people they were utterly according to reason; they sorted out the government and orders and institutions by which they met the men of all under heaven and the hundred families, and if there was anything against reason, even so much as a hair's tip, then even upon the orphaned and the alone and the widower and the widow it was surely not laid.
For this reason the hundred families honored them as the high god and held them dear as father and mother, and there was none who did not gladly go out to death for them and cut off his own perishing. There was no other reason. Their way and virtue were truly clear and their profit and bounty truly thick.
A disordered age is not so. Filth and flooding and butting and thieving are put in front; power and scheming and overturning are shown; the pleadings of players and dwarfs and women pervert it; the foolish are made to instruct the wise and the unworthy are made to stand over the worthy. In giving the people life they are of the utmost poverty and narrowness, and in employing the people they are utterly toilsome and painful.
For this reason the hundred families hold him low as a misshapen man and hate him as a ghost, and day by day they watch for a gap to throw him down and trample him together and drive him out. And when at last there is the business of raiders and trouble, he looks for the hundred families to die for him and cannot get it. There is no doctrine by which to take it. Confucius said, "Look well into how I go toward others, and you know how others come toward me." This is what is meant.
傷國者，何也？曰：以小人尚民而威，以非所取於民而巧，是傷國之大災也。大國之主也，而好見小利，是傷國。其於聲色、臺榭、園囿也，愈厭而好新，是傷國。不好脩正其所以有，啖啖常欲人之有，是傷國。三邪者在匈中，而又好以權謀傾覆之人，斷事其外，若是，則權輕名辱，社稷必危，是傷國者也。大國之主也，不隆本行，不敬舊法，而好詐故，若是，則夫朝廷群臣，亦從而成俗於不隆禮義而好傾覆也。朝廷群臣之俗若是，則夫眾庶百姓亦從而成俗於不隆禮義而好貪利矣。君臣上下之俗，莫不若是，則地雖廣，權必輕；人雖眾，兵必弱；刑罰雖繁，令不下通。夫是之謂危國，是傷國者也。
What is it that harms a state? The answer is: to set a small man above the people and be awesome by him, and to take from the people by craft what should not be taken, is the great calamity that harms a state.
To be the ruler of a great state and yet love the sight of small profit, this harms the state. In sound and color and terraces and pavilions and parks and preserves, the more he is sated the more he loves what is new, and this harms the state. Not to love cultivating and putting right what he already has, and greedily to want always what others have, this harms the state.
When these three crooked things are in his breast, and besides he loves to have men of power and scheming who overturn things settle affairs outside, when it is like this his power is light and his name disgraced and the altars of the land must be in danger. This is what harms a state.
To be the ruler of a great state and yet not hold high the rooted conduct, not respect the old laws, and love trickery: when it is like this, the throng of ministers in the court also follow him and make a custom of not holding ritual and rightness high and of loving to overturn. When the custom of the throng of ministers in the court is like this, the multitude of the hundred families also follow and make a custom of not holding ritual and rightness high and of loving to covet profit.
When there is no custom among lord and minister and high and low that is not like this, then though the land is wide his power must be light, though the men are many his soldiers must be weak, and though the punishments are many his orders do not pass down. This is what is called a state in danger, and this is what harms a state.
儒者為之不然，必將曲辨：朝廷必將隆禮義而審貴賤，若是、則士大夫莫不敬節死制者矣。百官則將齊其制度，重其官秩，若是、則百吏莫不畏法而遵繩矣。關市幾而不征，質律禁止而不偏，如是、則商賈莫不敦愨而無詐矣。百工將時斬伐，佻其期日，而利其巧任，如是，則百工莫不忠信而不楛矣。縣鄙則將輕田野之稅，省刀布之歛，罕舉力役，無奪農時，如是、農夫莫不朴力而寡能矣。士大夫務節死制，然而兵勁。百吏畏法循繩，然後國常不亂。商賈敦愨無詐，則商旅安，貨通財，而國求給矣。百工忠信而不楛，則器用巧便而財不匱矣。農夫朴力而寡能，則上不失天時，下不失地利，中得人和，而百事不廢。是之謂政令行，風俗美，以守則固，以征則彊，居則有名，動則有功。此儒之所謂曲辨也。
The scholar does not do it so; he must distinguish it bend by bend.
The court must hold ritual and rightness high and look closely into honored and lowly; when it is like this, there is no officer or great officer who does not respect his duty and die for the institutions. The hundred offices will make their institutions even and lay weight on the order of their ranks; when it is like this, there is no clerk among the hundred who does not fear the law and follow the marking line. The passes and the markets are watched but not taxed, and weights and measures are forbidden and stopped but without leaning; when it is like this, there is no merchant who is not thick and sincere and without cheating. The hundred artisans will cut and fell in season, make their appointed days light and their skilled charges profitable; when it is like this, there is no artisan among the hundred who is not loyal and trustworthy and not coarse. The districts and the countryside will lighten the tax on field and moor, cut down the levy of coin and cloth, raise labor services seldom, and not take away the farming season; when it is like this, there is no farmer who is not plain in his strength and sparing of tricks.
Because the officers and great officers work at duty and die for the institutions, the soldiers are stout. Because the hundred clerks fear the law and follow the marking line, the state is never in disorder. When merchants are thick and sincere and without cheating, traders and travelers are at peace and goods pass and wealth moves and what the state seeks is supplied. When the hundred artisans are loyal and trustworthy and not coarse, vessels and uses are skilled and handy and goods are not wanting. When farmers are plain in their strength and sparing of tricks, above they do not lose the seasons of heaven, below they do not lose the profit of earth, and in the middle they get the harmony of men, and the hundred affairs do not fall away.
This is what is called government and orders being carried out and customs being beautiful. Guard with this and you are firm; campaign with this and you are stout; stay still and you have a name; move and you have merit. This is what the scholar calls distinguishing bend by bend.