Chendao — The Way of the Minister臣道篇
人臣之論：有態臣者，有篡臣者，有功臣者，有聖臣者。內不足使一民，外不足使距難，百姓不親，諸侯不信，然而巧敏佞說，善取寵乎上，是態臣者也。上不忠乎君，下善取譽乎民，不卹公道通義，朋黨比周，以環主圖私爲務，是篡臣者也。內足使以一民，外足使以距難，民親之，士信之，上忠乎君，下愛百姓而不倦，是功臣者也。上則能尊君，下則能愛民，政令教化，刑下如影，應卒遇變，齊給如響，推類接譽，以待無方，曲成制象，是聖臣者也。故用聖臣者王，用功臣者彊，用篡臣者危，用態臣者亡。態臣用則必死，篡臣用則必危，功臣用則必榮，聖臣用則必尊。故齊之蘇秦，楚之州侯，秦之張儀，可謂態臣者也。韓之張去疾，趙之奉陽，齊之孟嘗，可謂篡臣也。齊之管仲，晉之咎犯，楚之孫叔敖，可謂功臣矣。殷之伊尹，周之太公，可謂聖臣矣。是人臣之論也，吉凶賢不肖之極也，必謹志之而慎自爲擇取焉，足以稽矣。從命而利君謂之順，從命而不利君謂之諂；逆命而利君謂之忠，逆命而不利君謂之篡；不卹君之榮辱，不卹國之臧否，偷合苟容，以持禄養交而已耳，謂之國賊。君有過謀過事，將危國家、隕社稷之懼也，大臣父兄有能進言於君，用則可，不用則去，謂之諫；有能進言於君，用則可，不用則死，謂之争；有能比知同力，率羣臣百吏而相與彊君撟君，君雖不安，不能不聽，遂以解國之大患，除國之大害，成於尊君安國，謂之輔；有能抗君之命，竊君之重，反君之事，以安國之危，除君之辱，功伐足以成國之大利，謂之拂。故諫、争、輔、拂之人，社稷之臣也，國君之寶也，明君之所尊厚也，而闇主惑君以爲己賊也。故明君之所賞，闇君之所罰也；闇君之所賞，明君之所殺也。伊尹、箕子，可謂諫矣；比干、子胥，可謂争矣；平原君之於趙，可謂輔矣；信陵君之於魏，可謂拂矣。《傳》曰：「從道不從君。」此之謂也。故正義之臣設，則朝廷不頗；諫、争、輔、拂之人信，則君過不遠；爪牙之士施，則仇讎不作；邊境之臣處，則疆垂不喪。故明主好同而闇主好獨，明主尚賢使能而饗其盛，闇主妬賢畏能而滅其功。罰其忠，賞其賊，夫是之謂至闇，桀、紂所以滅也。
In the reckoning of ministers there are the posturing minister (態臣), the usurping minister (篡臣), the meritorious minister (功臣), and the sagely minister (聖臣).
Within, he is not enough to set even one of the people to work. Without, he is not enough to hold off trouble. The hundred families are not close to him and the feudal lords do not trust him. Yet with quick clever words and fawning talk he is good at taking favor from above. This is the posturing minister.
Above, he is not loyal to his ruler. Below, he is good at taking praise from the people. He gives no thought to the common way or to the right that runs through all. He forms factions and binds them close, and he makes it his work to hem his ruler in and plot for himself. This is the usurping minister.
Within, he is enough to set the people to work as one. Without, he is enough to hold off trouble. The people are close to him and the officers trust him. Above, he is loyal to his ruler. Below, he loves the hundred families and never tires of it. This is the meritorious minister.
Above, he can honor his ruler. Below, he can love the people. Government and orders and teaching are stamped on those below like a shadow. He answers what comes of a sudden and meets what changes, quick as an echo. He pushes out from the kind of thing at hand and joins like to like, and he meets what has no set shape, and even by winding ways he completes a rule to go by. This is the sagely minister.
So he who uses the sagely minister becomes a true king, he who uses the meritorious minister grows strong, he who uses the usurping minister comes into danger, and he who uses the posturing minister perishes. If the posturing minister is used, there is sure to be death. If the usurping minister is used, there is sure to be danger. If the meritorious minister is used, there is sure to be glory. If the sagely minister is used, there is sure to be honor.
So Su Qin of Qi, Zhouhou (州侯) of Chu, and Zhang Yi of Qin may be called posturing ministers. Zhang Quji (張去疾) of Han, Lord Fengyang of Zhao, and Lord Mengchang of Qi may be called usurping ministers. Guan Zhong of Qi, Jiu Fan of Jin, and Sun Shu'ao of Chu may be called meritorious ministers. Yi Yin of Yin and Taigong (太公) may be called sagely ministers.
This is the reckoning of ministers, the utmost of good fortune and ill, of worth and unworth. Mark it with care, and with care choose for yourself what to take. It is worth looking into.
To follow orders and benefit the ruler is called compliance. To follow orders and not benefit the ruler is called flattery. To go against orders and benefit the ruler is called loyalty. To go against orders and not benefit the ruler is called usurpation. To give no thought to the ruler's glory or disgrace, to give no thought to whether the state is sound or rotten, to fall in with others and be received on any terms, holding one's salary and nursing one's connections and nothing more, is called the robber of the state.
When the ruler has a plan gone wrong and a deed gone wrong, and there is fear that the state will be endangered and the altars of earth and grain brought down, then a great minister or an elder kinsman who can put his word before the ruler, and stays if it is used and leaves if it is not, is called remonstrance (諫). One who can put his word before the ruler, and stays if it is used and dies if it is not, is called contention (争). One who can match his knowing with others and join his strength with theirs, and lead the host of ministers and the hundred officers to press the ruler together and set him straight, so that the ruler, though ill at ease, cannot but listen, and by this undoes the great trouble of the state and takes away the great harm of the state, and comes at last to honoring the ruler and making the state safe, is called assistance (輔). One who can stand against the ruler's orders, borrow the ruler's weight, turn the ruler's affairs about, and by this make safe what is in danger in the state and take away the ruler's disgrace, whose work is enough to bring about the great benefit of the state, is called correction (拂).
So the men of remonstrance and contention, of assistance and correction, are the ministers of the altars and the treasure of the lord of a state. The enlightened ruler honors them and treats them richly, but the benighted ruler and the deluded ruler take them for robbers of himself. So what the enlightened ruler rewards is what the benighted ruler punishes, and what the benighted ruler rewards is what the enlightened ruler puts to death.
Yi Yin and Ji Zi may be called men of remonstrance. Bi Gan and Zixu may be called men of contention. Lord Pingyuan in Zhao may be called a man of assistance. Lord Xinling in Wei may be called a man of correction. A saying handed down goes, "Follow the way and do not follow the ruler." This is what is meant.
So when ministers of uprightness and rightness are set in place, the court does not lean to one side. When the men of remonstrance and contention, of assistance and correction, are trusted, the ruler's faults do not go far. When officers who are claw and tooth are given their room, enemies do not rise. When there are ministers at the borders, the edges of the land are not lost.
So the enlightened ruler likes to act with others and the benighted ruler likes to act alone. The enlightened ruler raises up the worthy and employs the able, and he enjoys their fullness. The benighted ruler envies the worthy and fears the able, and he wipes out their merit. He punishes the loyal and rewards the robber. This is called utter benightedness, and it is why Jie and King Zhou (紂) perished.
事聖君者，有聽從，無諫争；事中君者，有諫争，無諂諛；事曓君者，有補削，無撟拂。迫脅於亂時，窮居於曓國，而無所避之，則崇其美，揚其善，違其惡，隱其敗，言其所長，不稱其所短，以爲成俗。《詩》曰：「國有大命，不可以告人，妨其躬身。」此之謂也。
He who serves a sagely ruler has listening and following, and no remonstrance or contention. He who serves a middling ruler has remonstrance and contention, and no flattery or fawning. He who serves a violent ruler has mending and paring, and no forcing him straight.
Pressed hard in a time of disorder, shut in and living in a violent state with nowhere to flee, he exalts what is fine in the ruler and brings out what is good in him, turns away from what is evil in him and hides what is ruined in him, speaks of what he is good at and does not name what he is poor at, and so makes it the custom of the place. The Odes say, "The state has a great command, and it may not be told to others, lest it harm one's own body." This is what is meant.
恭敬而遜，聽從而敏，不敢有以私決擇也，不敢有以私取與也，以順上爲志，是事聖君之義也。忠信而不諛，諫争而不諂，撟然剛折，端志而無傾側之心，是案曰是，非案曰非，是事中君之義也。調而不流，柔而不屈，寬容而不亂，曉然以至道而無不調和也，而能化易，時關內之，是事曓君之義也。若馭樸馬，若養赤子，若食餧人，故因其懼也，而改其過；因其憂也，而辨其故；因其喜也，而入其道；因其怒也，而除其怨：曲得所謂焉。《書》曰：「從命而不拂，微諫而不倦，爲上則明，爲下則遜。」此之謂也。
Courteous, careful and yielding; listening, following and quick; never daring to decide and choose for private ends; never daring to take and give for private ends; making it his will to comply with those above: this is the right way of serving a sagely ruler.
Loyal and true without fawning; remonstrating and contending without flattery; standing straight, hard enough to break rather than bend; upright in will, with no leaning heart; saying of the right that it is right and of the wrong that it is wrong: this is the right way of serving a middling ruler.
In tune but not drifting; soft but not bending; broad in what he bears but not thrown into confusion; clear with the utmost way, so that there is nothing he does not bring into tune and accord; able to change the ruler and turn him about, and from time to time to let the way in: this is the right way of serving a violent ruler.
It is like driving an unbroken horse, like rearing a newborn child, like feeding a starving man. So he takes the ruler's fear and by it gets his fault mended. He takes his worry and by it gets the cause sorted out. He takes his joy and by it brings him into the way. He takes his anger and by it clears away his grudges. Even by winding ways he gets what he is after. The Documents say, "Follow orders and do not go against them, remonstrate quietly and do not tire of it; as one above be clear, as one below be yielding." This is what is meant.
事人而不順者，不疾者也；疾而不順者，不敬者也；敬而不順者，不忠者也；忠而不順者，無功者也；有功而不順者，無德者也。故無德之爲道也，傷疾、墮功、滅苦，故君子不爲也。
To serve another and not win his compliance is to have made no effort. To make the effort and not win it is to be without respect. To be respectful and not win it is to be without loyalty. To be loyal and not win it is to be without merit. To have merit and not win it is to be without virtue. So when want of virtue is made a man's way, it wounds his effort, brings his merit down and wastes away his toil. That is why the gentleman does not do it.
有大忠者，有次忠者，有下忠者，有國賊者：以德覆君而化之，大忠也；以德調君而輔之，次忠也；以是諫非而怒之，下忠也；不卹君之榮辱，不卹國之臧否，偷合苟容，以持禄養交而已耳，國賊也。若周公之於成王也，可謂大忠矣；若管仲之於桓公，可謂次忠矣；若子胥之於夫差，可謂下忠矣；若曹觸龍之於紂者，可謂國賊矣。
There is great loyalty, there is the loyalty next to it, there is low loyalty, and there is the robber of the state.
To cover the ruler with virtue and so change him is great loyalty. To bring the ruler into tune with virtue and so assist him is the loyalty next to it. To remonstrate against his wrong with what is right, and so anger him, is low loyalty. To give no thought to the ruler's glory or disgrace, to give no thought to whether the state is sound or rotten, to fall in with others and be received on any terms, holding one's salary and nursing one's connections and nothing more, is the robber of the state.
The Duke of Zhou with King Cheng may be called great loyalty. Guan Zhong with Duke Huan may be called the loyalty next to it. Zixu with Fuchai may be called low loyalty. Cao Chulong (曹觸龍) with King Zhou may be called the robber of the state.
仁者必敬人。凡人非賢則案不肖也。人賢而不敬，則是禽獸也；人不肖而不敬，則是狎虎也。禽獸則亂，狎虎則危，災及其身矣。《詩》曰：「不敢曓虎，不敢馮河。人知其一，莫知其它。戰戰兢兢，如臨深淵，如履薄冰。」此之謂也。故仁者必敬人。敬人有道：賢者則貴而敬之，不肖者則畏而敬之；賢者則親而敬之，不肖者則疏而敬之。其敬一也，其情二也。若夫忠信端愨而不害傷，則無接而不然，是仁人之質也。忠信以爲質，端愨以爲統，禮義以爲文，倫類以爲理，喘而言，臑而動，而一可以爲法則。《詩》曰：「不僭不賊，鮮不爲則。」此之謂也。
The benevolent man always respects others. Every man is either worthy or unworthy, and there is no third. If a man is worthy and you do not respect him, this is to be a bird or a beast. If a man is unworthy and you do not respect him, this is to make free with a tiger. Be a bird or a beast and there is disorder. Make free with a tiger and there is danger, and calamity reaches your own body.
The Odes say, "He dares not take a tiger bare-handed, he dares not wade the Yellow River. Men know the one thing, and they do not know the rest. In fear and trembling, as though nearing a deep gulf, as though treading on thin ice." This is what is meant. So the benevolent man always respects others.
There is a way of respecting others. The worthy he holds noble and respects. The unworthy he holds in awe and respects. The worthy he keeps close and respects. The unworthy he keeps at a distance and respects. The respect is one, but the feeling is two.
To be loyal and true, upright and honest, and to do no harm or hurt: there is no meeting with others where he is not so. This is what the benevolent man is made of. He makes loyalty and truth what he is made of, uprightness and honesty his cord, ritual and rightness his ornament, and the classes and kinds of things his order. He may speak in a whisper and stir but a little, and all of it can serve as a rule. The Odes say, "He does not overstep and does not harm, and few such do not become a rule." This is what is meant.
恭敬，禮也；調和，樂也；謹慎，利也；鬬怒，害也。故君子安禮樂利，謹慎而無鬬怒，是以百舉而不過也。小人反是。
Courtesy and care are ritual. Tune and accord are music. Heed and caution are benefit. Quarrel and anger are harm. So the gentleman rests in ritual, in music and in benefit, is heedful and cautious, and has no quarrel or anger. Thus in a hundred undertakings he does not go wrong. The small man is the opposite of this.
通忠之順，權險之平，禍亂之從聲，三者，非明主莫之能知也。争然後善，戾然後功，生死無私，致忠而公，夫是之謂通忠之順，信陵君似之矣。奪然後義，殺然後仁，上下易位然後貞，功參天地，澤被生民，夫是之謂權險之平，湯、武是也。過而通情，和而無經，不卹是非，不論曲宜，偷合苟容，迷亂狂生，夫是之謂禍亂之從聲，飛廉、惡來是也。傳曰：「斬而齊，枉而順，不同而壹。」《詩》曰：「受小球大球，爲下國綴旒。」此之謂也。
The compliance of loyalty that runs through, the evenness of weighing what is perilous, and the following echo of calamity and disorder: none but the enlightened ruler can know these three.
To contend and only then be good, to go against and only then have merit, to be without private ends in life and in death, to give loyalty to the utmost and be impartial: this is called the compliance of loyalty that runs through. Lord Xinling was near to it.
To seize and only then be right, to kill and only then be benevolent, to have high and low change places and only then be true, with merit standing beside heaven and earth and bounty covering the living people: this is called the evenness of weighing what is perilous. King Tang and King Wu were such.
To go wrong and still fall in with the ruler's feeling, to accord with him and keep no cord of rule, to give no thought to right and wrong, to hold no discourse on what is crooked and what is fitting, to fall in with others and be received on any terms, and to live deluded, disordered and mad: this is called the following echo of calamity and disorder. Fei Lian (飛廉) and Elai (惡來) were such.
A saying handed down goes, "Cut away and it is even, bend and it complies, unlike and yet one." The Odes say, "He received the small jade and the great jade, and became the banner of the states below." This is what is meant.