Youzuo — The Vessel Beside the Seat宥坐篇
孔子觀於魯桓公之廟，有欹器焉。孔子問於守廟者曰：「此爲何器？」守廟者曰：「此蓋爲宥坐之器。」孔子曰：「吾聞宥坐之器者，虛則欹，中則正，滿則覆。」孔子顧謂弟子曰：「注水焉！」弟子挹水而注之，中而正，滿而覆，虛而欹。孔子喟然而歎曰：「吁！惡有滿而不覆者哉！」子路曰：「敢問持滿有道乎？」孔子曰：「聰明聖知，守之以愚；功被天下，守之以讓；勇力撫世，守之以怯；富有四海，守之以謙。此所謂挹而損之之道也。」
Confucius was looking at the shrine of Duke Huan of Lu, and there was a vessel there that leaned. Confucius asked the keeper of the shrine, "What vessel is this?"
The keeper of the shrine said, "This, I think, is the vessel that is kept beside the seat."
Confucius said, "I have heard that the vessel kept beside the seat leans when it is empty, stands upright when it is filled to the middle, and overturns when it is full."
Confucius turned to his disciples and said, "Pour water into it." A disciple drew water and poured it in. Filled to the middle it stood upright, full it overturned, empty it leaned.
Confucius sighed and said, "Ah! How could there be anything that is full and does not overturn?"
Zilu said, "May I ask, is there a way to hold on to fullness?"
Confucius said, "When a man is keen of ear and clear of eye, sagely and wise, he guards it with foolishness. When his merit covers all under heaven, he guards it with yielding. When he is brave and strong and presses down the age, he guards it with timidity. When he is rich and holds the four seas, he guards it with humility. This is what is called the way of drawing off and lessening."
孔子爲魯攝相，朝七日而誅少正卯。門人進問曰：「夫少正卯，魯之聞人也，夫子爲政而始誅之，得無失乎？」孔子曰：「居！吾語女其故。人有惡者五，而盜竊不與焉：一曰心達而險，二曰行辟而堅，三曰言僞而辯，四曰記醜而博，五曰順非而澤。此五者有一於人，則不得免於君子之誅，而少正卯兼有之。故居處足以聚徒成羣，言談足飾邪營衆，强足以反是獨立，此小人之桀雄也，不可不誅也。是以湯誅尹諧，文王誅潘止，周公誅管叔，太公誅華仕，管仲誅付里乙，子產誅鄧析、史付，此七子者，皆異世同心，不可不誅也。《詩》曰：『憂心悄悄，慍於羣小。』小人成羣，斯足憂也。」
Confucius acted as prime minister of Lu, and on the seventh day after he came to court he put Shao Zhengmao (少正卯) to death.
A disciple came forward and asked, "Now Shao Zhengmao was a man of name in Lu, and my master, taking up the government, put him to death first of all. Was there no error in this?"
Confucius said,
"Sit down. I will tell you the reason for it.
There are five evils in men, and thieving is not among them. The first is a heart that is penetrating and yet dangerous. The second is conduct that is one-sided and yet firm. The third is speech that is false and yet plausible. The fourth is a memory for ugly things that is yet wide. The fifth is following what is wrong and yet giving it a gloss. If a man has even one of these five, he cannot escape the gentleman's sentence of death, and Shao Zhengmao had them all together.
So where he lived was enough to gather followers and make a crowd. His talk was enough to dress up what was crooked and beguile the many. His force was enough to turn right upside down and stand alone. This is the hero among petty men, and he could not be left unpunished.
So Tang put Yin Xie (尹諧) to death, King Wen put Pan Zhi (潘止) to death, the Duke of Zhou put Guan Shu to death, the Grand Duke put Hua Shi (華仕) to death, Guan Zhong put Fu Liyi (付里乙) to death, and Zichan put Deng Xi and Shi Fu (史付) to death. These seven men lived in different ages and were of one heart, and they could not be left unpunished.
The Shi says, 'Troubled and troubled is my grieving heart, angered by the host of petty men.' When petty men make a crowd, that is enough to grieve over."
孔子爲魯司寇，有父子訟者，孔子拘之，三月不別。其父請止，孔子舍之。季孫聞之不說，曰：「是老也欺予，語予曰：『爲國家必以孝。』今殺一人以戮不孝，又舍之。」冉子以告。孔子慨然歎曰：「嗚呼！上失之，下殺之，其可乎！不教其民而聽其獄，殺不辜也。三軍大敗，不可斬也；獄犴不治，不可刑也，罪不在民故也。嫚令謹誅，賊也；今生也有時，歛也無時，暴也；不教而責成功，虐也。已此三者，然後刑可卽也。《書》曰：『義刑義殺，勿庸以卽，予維曰未有順事。』言先教也。故先王既陳之以道，上先服之；若不可，尚賢以綦之；若不可，廢不能以單之；綦三年而百姓從風矣。邪民不從，然後俟之以刑，則民知罪矣。《詩》曰：『尹氏大師，維周之氐，秉國之均，四方是維，天子是庳，卑民不迷。』是以威厲而不試，刑錯而不用，此之謂也。今之世則不然：亂其教，繁其刑，其民迷惑而墮焉，則從而制之，是以刑彌繁而邪不勝。三尺之岸而虛車不能登也，百仞之山任負車登焉，何則？陵遲故也。數仞之牆而民不踰也，百仞之山而豎子馮而游焉，陵遲故也。今之世陵遲已久矣，而能使民勿踰乎！《詩》曰：『周道如砥，其直如矢。君子所履，小人所視。眷焉顧之，潸焉出涕！』豈不哀哉！」
Confucius became Minister of Justice (司寇) of Lu, and there was a father and a son at law with each other. Confucius shut them up and for three months gave no judgment. The father asked that the case be dropped, and Confucius let them go.
Jisun heard of it and was not pleased. He said, "This old man has deceived me. He told me, 'The ordering of state and house must be done by filial duty.' Now he would kill one man to make a show of killing unfilial conduct, and then he has let him go."
Ranzi reported this. Confucius sighed in sorrow.
"Ah! Those above lose it, and those below are killed for it. Can that be right? To leave the people untaught and then to hear their case at law is to kill the guiltless. When the three armies are greatly beaten, they may not be beheaded. When the prisons are not in order, men may not be punished, because the fault does not lie with the people.
To be slack with orders and strict with putting to death is to do harm. What grows now has its season, but to gather without season is violence. To leave men untaught and then press them to succeed is cruelty. Only when these three are done away with may one go on to punishment.
The Shu says, 'Punish with right and kill with right, but do not go straight to it. Say rather, I have not yet brought them to follow.' This speaks of teaching first.
So the former kings set the way out before them, and those above put it on first. If that would not do, they raised up the worthy to bring it to its end. If that would not do, they put aside the incapable to bring it to its end. When three years of this were done, the hundred families followed it as grass follows the wind. Only when the crooked among the people would not follow did they wait for them with punishment, and then the people knew their crime.
The Shi says, 'Yin, the Grand Preceptor, is the root of Zhou. He holds the balance of the state, he upholds the four quarters, he supports the Son of Heaven, and the people are not led astray.' So the awe of it was fierce and yet was not tried, and punishment was laid aside and not used. This is what is meant.
The age now is not like this. Its teaching is thrown into disorder and its punishments are made many, so the people are bewildered and fall in. Then they are pursued and cut down for it. So punishment grows ever more frequent and crookedness is not overcome.
An empty cart cannot climb a bank three feet high, yet a loaded cart climbs a hill a hundred fathoms high. Why is this? Because the slope is gentle. The people do not go over a wall of a few fathoms, yet a small boy clambers up a hill a hundred fathoms high and plays there. It is because the slope is gentle.
The age now has long been worn down and fallen away. Can the people be kept from going over? The Shi says, 'The road of Zhou is like a whetstone, and its straightness is like an arrow. It is what the gentleman treads and what the petty man looks upon. I turn and look back at it, and my tears come streaming down.' Is this not sorrowful?"
《詩》曰：「瞻彼日月，悠悠我思。道之云遠，曷云能來！」子曰：「伊稽首，不其有來乎？」
The Shi says, "I look upon the sun and the moon yonder, and my longing goes far. The road, they say, is long. How can he ever come?" Confucius said, "If he bows his head to the ground, will he not come?"
孔子觀於東流之水，子貢問於孔子曰：「君子之所以見大水必觀焉者是何？」孔子曰：「夫水，大徧與諸生而無爲也，似德。其流也埤下，裾拘必循其理，似義。其洸洸乎不淈盡，似道。若有決行之，其應佚若聲響，其赴百仞之谷不懼，似勇。主量必平，似法。盈不求概，似正。淖約微達，似察。以出以入，以就鮮絜，似善化。其萬折也必東，似志。是故見大水必觀焉。」
Confucius was looking at water flowing east, and Zigong asked him, "Why is it that when the gentleman sees a great water he always looks upon it?"
Confucius said,
"Now water gives broadly to all living things and yet does nothing. It is like virtue. Its flow goes to what is low, and even where it is bent and held back it always follows its own pattern. It is like rightness. It rolls on and on and is never used up. It is like the Way.
If it is opened and made to run, it answers as swiftly as an echo answers a sound. It rushes into a gorge a hundred fathoms deep and is not afraid. It is like courage. Put to the measuring, it is always level. It is like law. When it is full, it does not ask for a strickle. It is like uprightness. Soft and yielding, it reaches the smallest places. It is like discernment. Going out and coming in, it makes things fresh and clean. It is like good transforming. Through ten thousand turnings it always goes east. It is like the will.
So when he sees a great water he always looks upon it."
孔子曰：「吾有恥也，吾有鄙也，吾有殆也：幼不能彊學，老無以教之，吾恥之。去其故鄉，事君而達，卒遇故人，曾無舊言，吾鄙之。與小人處者，吾殆之也。」
Confucius said, "There is what I am ashamed of, there is what I hold low, and there is what I count dangerous. To be unable to study hard when young and to have nothing to teach when old, this I am ashamed of. To leave one's home village, to serve a ruler and rise high, and then at last to meet an old friend and have not one word of old times, this I hold low. To dwell with petty men, this I count dangerous."
孔子曰：「如垤而進，吾與之；如丘而止，吾已矣。」今學曾未如肬贅，則具然欲爲人師。
Confucius said, "If a man goes forward, though it be only the height of an anthill, I am with him. If he stops, though it be the height of a hill, I have done with him." Now learning has not come to as much as a wart, and yet men stand up tall and would be teachers of others.
孔子南適楚，戹於陳、蔡之閒，七日不火食，藜羹不糂，弟子皆有飢色。子路進而問之曰：「由聞之：爲善者天報之以福，爲不善者天報之以禍。今夫子累德積義懷美，行之日久矣，奚居之隱也？」孔子曰：「由不識，吾語女。女以知者爲必用邪？王子比干不見剖心乎！女以忠者爲必用邪？關龍逢不見刑乎！女以諫者爲必用邪？吳子胥不磔姑蘇東門外乎！夫遇不遇者，時也；賢不肖者，材也。君子博學深謀不遇時者多矣。由是觀之，不遇世者衆矣，何獨丘也哉！」且夫芷蘭生於深林，非以無人而不芳。君子之學，非爲通也；爲窮而不困，憂而意不衰也，知禍福終始而心不惑也。夫賢不肖者，材也；爲不爲者，人也；遇不遇者，時也；死生者，命也。今有其人不遇其時，雖賢，其能行乎？苟遇其時，何難之有？故君子博學、深謀、修身、端行以俟其時。孔子曰：「由！居！吾語女。昔晉公子重耳霸心生於曹，越王句踐霸心生於會稽，齊桓公小白霸心生於莒。故居不隱者思不遠，身不佚者志不廣。女庸安知吾不得之桑落之下？」
Confucius was going south to Chu and was blocked between Chen and Cai. For seven days he had no cooked food, and his pigweed soup had not a grain of rice in it, and all his disciples had the look of hunger.
Zilu came forward and asked, "I have heard that heaven repays the man who does good with good fortune and repays the man who does not do good with disaster. Now my master has piled up virtue, piled up rightness, and held beauty in his breast, and has practiced it a long while. Why do you dwell so hidden away?"
Confucius said,
"Zilu does not understand. I will tell you. Do you take it that the wise are always used? Then was not Prince Bigan's heart cut open? Do you take it that the loyal are always used? Then was not Guan Longfeng punished? Do you take it that those who remonstrate are always used? Then was not Zixu of Wu torn apart outside the east gate of Gusu?
Now to meet one's time or not to meet it is a matter of the time. To be worthy or unworthy is a matter of the stuff a man is made of. There have been many gentlemen who studied widely and planned deeply and did not meet their time. Seen by this, those who have not met their age are many. How should it be I alone?"
And indeed the iris and the orchid grow in the deep forest, and it is not that they are without fragrance because no one is there. The gentleman's learning is not for the sake of getting through in the world. It is so that when he is blocked he is not distressed, when he grieves his purpose does not weaken, and knowing the beginning and the end of disaster and good fortune his heart is not bewildered.
Now to be worthy or unworthy is a matter of the stuff a man is made of. To act or not to act is a matter of the man. To meet one's time or not to meet it is a matter of the time. To die or to live is a matter of fate. If the man is here and does not meet his time, then though he be worthy, can he act? If he truly meets his time, what difficulty is there? So the gentleman studies widely, plans deeply, cultivates himself and makes his conduct upright, and so waits for his time.
Confucius said, "You, sit down. I will tell you. Long ago the heart of a hegemon was born in Chong'er, prince of Jin, while he was in Cao. The heart of a hegemon was born in Goujian, king of Yue, while he was at Kuaiji. The heart of a hegemon was born in Xiaobai, Duke Huan of Qi, while he was in Ju. So a man whose dwelling is not hidden does not think far, and a man whose body is not put to hardship has no breadth of purpose. How do you know that I shall not get it here, under the falling mulberry leaves?"
子貢觀於魯廟之北堂，出而問於孔子曰：「鄉者賜觀於太廟之北堂，吾亦未輟，還復瞻被九蓋皆繼，被有說邪？匠過絕邪？」孔子曰：「太廟之堂，亦嘗有說。官致良工，因麗節文，非無良材也，蓋曰貴文也。」
Zigong looked at the north hall of the shrine of Lu, and when he came out he asked Confucius, "A while ago I was looking at the north hall of the Great Shrine, and before I had done I turned and looked again at those nine covers, and they were all pieced together. Is there something told about that? Or did the workman go wrong and cut them?"
Confucius said, "About the hall of the Great Shrine there was once something told. The officer called in good workmen, and following the grain they patterned the joints. It was not that there was no good timber. It means, I think, that the pattern was held precious."