Jiebi — Dispelling Blindness解蔽篇

The trouble of men is that they are blinded by one bend of things and are dark about the great principle. When they are put in order they come back to the constant, but when they doubt both sides they are bewildered.

Under heaven there are not two ways, and the sage does not have two hearts. Now the feudal lords govern differently and the hundred schools speak differently, so some must be right and some wrong, some in order and some in disorder.

The ruler of a disordered state and the man of a disordered house, in their true hearts, all seek what is correct and wish to act for themselves. Only they are jealous and gone astray from the way, and others lure them by what they lean toward. They keep for themselves what they have piled up and fear only to hear its faults. Leaning on what they keep for themselves, they look at another art and fear only to hear its beauties. So they run further from good order and still do not stop calling themselves right. Are they not blinded by one bend of things and have they not lost the correct search?

If the heart does not direct them, white and black can be in front of the eye and the eye does not see, thunder and drums can be at the side and the ear does not hear. How much more so for one who is directed by another?

The man who has the virtue of the way is condemned above by the ruler of a disordered state and condemned below by the man of a disordered house. Is this not sad?

So these are the things that blind. Desire blinds and hatred blinds. The beginning blinds and the end blinds. The far blinds and the near blinds. The broad blinds and the shallow blinds. The old blinds and the present blinds. Wherever the ten thousand things differ, there is nothing that does not blind the rest. This is the common trouble of the heart's working.

Among the rulers of old, those who were blinded were Jie of Xia and Zhou of Yin. Jie was blinded by Moxi and Siguan (斯觀) and did not know Guan Longfeng, so his heart was bewitched and his conduct fell into disorder. Zhou was blinded by Daji and Feilian and did not know Weizi Qi, so his heart was bewitched and his conduct fell into disorder.

So the host of his ministers left off loyalty and served their private ends, the hundred families complained and condemned him and were not employed, and the worthy and good withdrew and hid themselves. This is why they lost the lands of the nine regions and emptied the state of their ancestral temple. Jie died at Geshan (鬲山) and Zhou was hung on a red banner. They themselves did not know it beforehand and no one else remonstrated with them. This is the calamity of being blinded and blocked.

Cheng Tang took Jie of Xia for his mirror, and so he made his heart the master and governed with care. That is why he could use Yi Yin for long and never lost the way himself, and why he took the place of the king of Xia and received the nine regions. King Wen took Zhou of Yin for his mirror, and so he made his heart the master and governed with care. That is why he could use Lü Wang for long and never lost the way himself, and why he took the place of the king of Yin and received the lands of the nine regions.

From far places there was none that did not send its treasure. So his eye saw every color, his ear heard every sound, his mouth ate every taste, his body dwelt in every palace, and his name received every title. While he lived all under heaven sang, and when he died the four seas wept. This is what is called the utmost fullness.

The Shi says, "The phoenix soars and soars, its wings like shields, its voice like panpipes. There is the male phoenix and the female phoenix, and they gladden the heart of the Lord on high." This is the good fortune of not being blinded.

Among the ministers of old, those who were blinded were Tang Yang (唐鞅) and Xi Qi (奚齊). Tang Yang was blinded by his wish for power and drove out Zai Zi (載子). Xi Qi was blinded by his wish for the state and laid a crime on Shensheng (申生). Tang Yang was put to death in Song and Xi Qi was put to death in Jin. They drove out a worthy chief minister and laid a crime on a filial elder brother, and their own bodies were put to death, and still they did not know it. This is the calamity of being blinded and blocked.

So of those who are greedy and low, who turn traitor and contend for power, and yet are not endangered and disgraced and destroyed, from of old to now there has never been one.

Bao Shu and Ning Qi and Xi Peng were benevolent and wise and moreover not blinded, and so they could uphold Guan Zhong, and their name and gain and fortune and pay were level with Guan Zhong's. Duke Shao and Lü Wang were benevolent and wise and moreover not blinded, and so they could uphold the Duke of Zhou, and their name and gain and fortune and pay were level with the Duke of Zhou's.

A saying handed down goes, "To know the worthy is called brightness, and to aid the worthy is called ability. Strive at it and press hard at it, and your good fortune will surely be long." This says just that. This is the good fortune of not being blinded.

Among the visiting scholars of old, those who were blinded were the disordered schools.

Mozi was blinded by usefulness and did not know adornment. Songzi was blinded by desire and did not know gaining. Shenzi (慎子) was blinded by law and did not know the worthy. Shenzi (申子) was blinded by the power of position and did not know knowing. Huizi was blinded by words and did not know the substance. Zhuangzi was blinded by heaven and did not know man.

So to speak of the way from usefulness is to exhaust it in gain. To speak of the way from desire is to exhaust it in being satisfied. To speak of the way from law is to exhaust it in reckoning. To speak of the way from the power of position is to exhaust it in convenience. To speak of the way from words is to exhaust it in argument. To speak of the way from heaven is to exhaust it in following what is given.

All these several things are one corner of the way. Now the way takes the constant for its body and reaches every change, and one corner is not enough to hold it up. A man who knows only a bend of things looks at one corner of the way and cannot recognize it. So he thinks it enough and adorns it, within he throws himself into disorder and without he bewitches others, those above blind those below and those below blind those above. This is the calamity of being blinded and blocked.

Confucius was benevolent and wise and moreover not blinded, and so he studied the disordered arts and was still fit to stand with the former kings. In one school he got the way of Zhou, and he took it up and used it, for he was not blinded by what had already been piled up. So his virtue was level with the Duke of Zhou's and his name stands beside the three kings'. This is the good fortune of not being blinded.

The sage knows the trouble of the heart's working and sees the calamity of being blinded and blocked. So with no desire and no hatred, no beginning and no end, no near and no far, no broad and no shallow, no old and no present, he sets out the ten thousand things together and hangs the balance in the middle of them. That is why the many different things cannot blind one another and throw their order into confusion.

What is called the balance? The answer is: the way.

So the heart cannot but know the way. If the heart does not know the way, it cannot approve the way and will approve what is not the way. Who among men wishes to have his will and yet keeps to what he does not approve in order to forbid what he does approve?

If a man takes others up with a heart that cannot approve the way, he will surely fit with men who are without the way and not fit with men who have the way. To use that heart which cannot approve the way, and together with men without the way to judge men who have the way, is the root of disorder.

How do we know this? The answer is that the heart knows the way and only then approves the way, and approves the way and only then keeps the way and forbids what is not the way. If a man takes others up with a heart that approves the way, he will fit with men who have the way and not fit with men who are without the way. To use that heart which approves the way, and together with men who have the way to judge what is not the way, is the essential of good order. What then is there to fear not knowing? So the essential of good order lies in knowing the way.

By what does a man know the way? The answer is: by the heart. By what does the heart know? The answer is: by being empty and single and still.

The heart has never failed to store, and yet there is what is called being empty. The heart has never failed to be double, and yet there is what is called being single. The heart has never failed to move, and yet there is what is called being still.

A man is born with knowing, and knowing he has memory. Memory is storing. And yet there is what is called being empty. Not to let what is already stored harm what is about to be received is called being empty.

The heart is born with knowing, and knowing it has difference. Difference is knowing two things at one time. Knowing two things at one time is being double. And yet there is what is called being one. Not to let that one harm this one is called being single.

When the heart lies down it dreams, when it is idle it goes off of itself, and when it is put to work it plans. So the heart has never failed to move. And yet there is what is called being still. Not to let dreams and turmoil disorder knowing is called being still.

To one who has not yet got the way and is seeking it, we say: be empty and single and still. Act on this. One who is about to wait for the way must be empty for it to enter. One who is about to serve the way must be single to carry it through. One who is about to think on the way must be still to examine it. To know the way and examine it, to know the way and practice it, is to make the way one's body.

Being empty and single and still is called the great clarity and brightness. Of the ten thousand things there is none that takes shape and is not seen, none that is seen and is not discussed, none that is discussed and loses its station. Sitting in a room he sees the four seas. Dwelling in the present he discusses the far and long ago. He looks over the ten thousand things and knows their feeling. He compares order and disorder and goes through their measures. He takes heaven and earth for warp and weft and cuts out the ten thousand things and gives them office. He divides and cuts the great principle, and the whole world is ordered.

So wide and wide, who knows its limit? So great and great, who knows its virtue? So boiling and teeming, who knows its shape? His brightness stands beside the sun and the moon, and his greatness fills the eight ends of the world. This is what is called the great man. What blindness could there be in him?

The heart is the ruler of the body and the master of the spirit and the light. It sends out commands and receives commands from nowhere. It forbids of itself and directs of itself, takes away of itself and takes up of itself, goes of itself and stops of itself.

So the mouth can be forced to be silent or to speak, and the body can be forced to bend or to stretch, but the heart cannot be forced to change its meaning. What it approves it receives, and what it condemns it turns away.

So it is said that what the heart holds has no barrier in its choosing and must show itself, and that though its things are mixed and broad, when its feeling is at the utmost it does not become double.

The Shi says, "I pick and pick the cocklebur and do not fill the slanting basket. Ah, I long for the man I love, and I set it down on the great road." A slanting basket is easy to fill and cockleburs are easy to get, but the heart cannot be divided in two on the great road.

So it is said that when the heart is split it does not know, when it leans it is not exact, and when it is double it doubts and is bewildered. Compare and examine things with this help, and the ten thousand things can all be known together. When the body exhausts the reasons of things, it is beautiful. A kind cannot be two, and so the wise man chooses one and makes it single.

The farmer is exact in the field but cannot be the master of fields. The merchant is exact in the market but cannot be the master of the market. The craftsman is exact in vessels but cannot be the master of vessels. There is a man who is skilled in none of these three arts, and yet he can be set to govern the three offices. The answer is that he is exact in the way. One who is exact in things handles things with things. One who is exact in the way handles all things together.

So the gentleman is single in the way, and with it he helps and compares and examines things. Being single in the way, he is correct. Helping and comparing and examining things, he is clear. When a correct will carries out clear discussion, the ten thousand things get their office.

When Shun governed all under heaven of old, he did not give word on every affair, and yet the ten thousand things were completed. He dwelt in the one and held it in awe, and his glory filled the space around him. He nourished the one until it was small, and he was glorious and did not notice it.

So the Dao jing (道經) says, "The heart of man is in peril, and the heart of the way is small." The slight signs of peril and smallness only a bright gentleman can know.

So the heart of man may be likened to water in a basin. Set it straight and do not move it, and the cloudy part sinks to the bottom and the clear part is above, so that a man can see his beard and eyebrows and examine the lines of his face. Let a small wind pass over it, and the cloudy part moves below and the clear part is disordered above, so that he cannot even get the outline of a great shape right. The heart too is like this.

So when it is led by principle and nourished by clearness, and no thing tips it over, it is enough to settle right and wrong and to cut through doubts. When a small thing draws it, its correctness is changed from without and its heart leans within, and it cannot cut through even a coarse principle.

So there were many who loved writing, but only Cang Jie was handed down, because he was single. There were many who loved farming, but only Hou Ji was handed down, because he was single. There were many who loved music, but only Kui (夔) was handed down, because he was single. There were many who loved rightness, but only Shun was handed down, because he was single.

Chui (倂) made the bow and Fuyou (浮游) made the arrow, but Yi (羿) was exact in shooting. Xi Zhong (奚仲) made the cart and Cheng Du (乘杜) made the yoking of four horses, but Zaofu was exact in driving. From of old to now there has never been a man who did two things and could be exact.

Zengzi said, "His courtyard is fit for catching rats. How could he sing with me?"

In a hollow rock there was a man whose name was Ji (覹). He was a good archer and loved to think. When the desires of ear and eye reached him, his thinking broke down, and when the sound of gnats and horseflies was heard, his exactness was blunted. So he drove off the desires of ear and eye and kept far from the sound of gnats and horseflies, and when he sat at leisure and thought in stillness he went through.

If thinking on benevolence is like this, can it be called small? That Mengzi hated a breakdown and sent out his wife may be called being strong with oneself, but it does not reach thinking. That Youzi (有子) hated sleep and seared his palm may be called being able to bear with oneself, but it does not reach loving. To drive off the desires of ear and eye and to keep far from the sound of gnats and horseflies may be called peril, but it cannot be called small.

Now one who is small is the utmost man. What does the utmost man bear with, what does he force, what does he hold in peril? So the cloudy and bright shines outward and the clear and bright shines inward. The sage lets his desires go and takes in his feelings, and his cutting of them accords with principle. What then does he force, what does he bear with, what does he hold in peril?

So the benevolent man practices the way by not acting, and the sage practices the way by not forcing. The thinking of the benevolent man is respectful and the thinking of the sage is glad. This is the way of governing the heart.

Whenever there is doubt in looking at things, and the heart within is not settled, the things without are not clear. When my reckoning is not clear, I cannot settle what is so and what is not so.

A man walking in the dark sees a lying stone and takes it for a crouching tiger, sees a standing wood and takes it for men following him. The dark has blinded his brightness.

A drunken man leaps a ditch of a hundred paces and takes it for a runnel of half a step, and bends his head to go out the city gate and takes it for a small side door. The wine has disordered his spirit.

A man who presses his eye and looks sees one thing as two, and a man who covers his ears and listens hears the quiet and takes it for a clamor. The force put on them has disordered their officers.

So from the top of a hill an ox looks like a sheep, but the man who wants a sheep does not go down to lead it away, for distance has blinded its greatness. From the foot of a hill a tree ten fathoms high looks like a chopstick, but the man who wants a chopstick does not go up to break it off, for height has blinded its length.

When the water moves and the reflection shakes, men do not settle fair and foul by it, for the working of the water is dark. When a blind man looks up and does not see the stars, men do not settle what is there and what is not by it, for the use of his eyesight is confused.

If there is a man who settles things at such a time, he is the fool of the age. When that fool settles things, he cuts through doubt with doubt, and his cutting is surely not fitting. If it is truly not fitting, how can he be without fault?

South of Xiashou (夏首) there was a man named Juan Zhuliang (涓蜀梁). He was foolish by nature and easily frightened. Walking at night under a bright moon, he bent his head and saw his own shadow and took it for a crouching ghost, and looked up and saw his own hair and took it for a standing goblin. He turned his back and ran, and by the time he reached his house his breath had left him and he died. Is this not sad?

Whenever men say there are ghosts, they have surely settled it in a moment of dim feeling, at a time of doubt and darkness. This is the time when a man calls what is not there there and what is there not there, and he settles his affairs by it.

So when a man is hurt by damp and grows numb, and because he is numb he beats a drum and boils a pig, he will surely have the cost of a worn drum and a lost pig, and no good fortune of a cured illness. So even if he does not live south of Xiashou, there is nothing to tell between them.

What can know is the nature of man, and what can be known is the principle of things. If with the nature of man that can know one seeks the principle of things that can be known, and there is no place where doubt stops, then though the world ends and one's years run out, one cannot exhaust it.

Though the principles he has strung together number a hundred million, they cannot soak through the changes of the ten thousand things, and he is as one with a fool. To study until his body is old and his son is grown and still be as one with a fool, and yet not know where to stop, is what is called a deluded man.

So study is from the first the study of where to stop. Where does one stop? The answer is: one stops at what is utterly enough. What is called utterly enough? The answer is: the sage king. The sage is one who has exhausted the order of human relations, and the king is one who has exhausted the institutions. When both are exhausted, it is enough to be the limit of all under heaven.

So the student takes the sage kings for his teachers and takes the institutions of the sage kings for his law. He makes their law his law so as to seek their cords and kinds, and works to model himself on such men. To work toward this is to be an officer. To be like this and near it is to be a gentleman. To know it is to be a sage.

So if a man has knowledge and does not use it to reckon what is right, it is called fear. If he has courage and does not use it to uphold what is right, it is called harm. If he examines and masters things and does not use it to divide what is right, it is called usurping. If he has many abilities and does not use them to cultivate and broaden what is right, it is called cunning. If his speech is clear and sharp and he does not use it to speak what is right, it is called chatter.

A saying handed down goes, "Under heaven there are two things: to examine the right by the wrong, and to examine the wrong by the right." This means fitting or not fitting the institutions of the king. When all under heaven does not take this for the correctness it honors, can there still be men who can divide right from wrong and set crooked and straight in order?

Now if a thing does not divide right from wrong, does not set crooked and straight in order, does not tell order from disorder, and does not order the way of man, then being able at it is no gain to others and not being able at it is no loss to others.

It only handles strange sayings straight off and plays with odd words, and men shake and muddle one another with them. They force their tongues and sharpen their mouths, they are thick of face and bear insult, they have no correctness and go as they please, they argue wildly and angle for gain. They do not love yielding, they do not respect ritual and its measures, and they love to push and jostle one another. These are the sayings of the crooked men of a disordered age, and among those who claim to speak of good order under heaven there are now many such.

A saying handed down goes, "To split words and call it examining, to speak of things and call it dividing, the gentleman holds cheap. To hear widely and remember firmly and not fit the institutions of the king, the gentleman holds cheap." This says just that.

When doing a thing is no gain to completing it, when seeking a thing is no gain to getting it, when worry and grief are no gain to the slight signs of things, then he is broad and can cast it away, does not hinder himself with it, and does not let it into his breast for a moment.

He does not long for what is past and does not grieve over what is to come. He has no heart of sorrow and pity. When the time comes he moves, when a thing arrives he answers, when an affair rises he divides it, and order and disorder, right and wrong, are bright and plain to him.

To hide all round and succeed, and to leak and fail, does not happen with a bright ruler. To spread abroad and succeed, and to conceal and fail, does not happen with a dark ruler.

So when a ruler hides all round, slandering words come and straight words turn away, and petty men draw near and gentlemen go far off. The Shi says, "They call the black bright, and they call fox and wildcat blue." This says that those above are dim and those below are dangerous.

When one who rules men spreads abroad, straight words come and slandering words turn away, and gentlemen draw near and petty men go far off. The Shi says, "Brightness upon brightness is below, and blazing upon blazing is above." This says that those above are bright and those below are changed by them.