Yaowen — The Questions of Yao堯問篇
堯問於舜曰：「我欲致天下，爲之奈何？」對曰：「執一無失，行微無怠，忠信無勌，而天下自來。執一如天地，行微如日月，忠誠盛於內，賁於外，形於四海。天下其在一隅邪！夫有何足致也？」
Yao asked Shun, "I wish to bring all under heaven to me. How is it to be done?"
He answered, "Hold to the one and do not lose it. Do the small things and do not grow slack. Be true and trusted and do not grow weary, and all under heaven will come of itself. Hold to the one as heaven and earth do. Do the small things as the sun and the moon do. When truth is full within, it brims over outside and takes shape across the four seas. All under heaven is but in one corner of it. What is there left to bring?"
魏武侯謀事而當，羣臣莫能逮，退朝而有喜色。吳起進曰：「亦嘗有以楚莊王之語聞於左右者乎？」武侯曰：「楚莊王之語何如？」吳起對曰：「楚莊王謀事而當，羣臣莫能逮，退朝而有憂色。申公巫臣進問曰：『王朝而有憂色，何也？』莊王曰：『不穀謀事而當，羣臣莫能逮，是以憂也。其在中蘬之言也，曰：「諸侯自爲得師者王，得友者霸，得疑者存，自爲謀而莫己若者亡。」今以不穀之不肖而羣臣莫能逮，吾國幾於亡乎！是以憂也。』楚莊王以憂，而君以憙。」武侯逡巡再拜曰：「天使夫子振寡人之過也。」
Marquis Wu of Wei planned an affair and it was fitting, and none of his many officers could match him. He withdrew from court with a glad look on his face.
Wu Qi came forward and said, "Has anyone ever told those about you the words of King Zhuang of Chu?"
The marquis said, "What were the words of King Zhuang of Chu?"
Wu Qi answered.
"King Zhuang of Chu planned an affair and it was fitting, and none of his many officers could match him. He withdrew from court with a troubled look on his face. Shengong Wuchen came forward and asked, 'The king has a troubled look at court. Why is that?'
The king said, 'I planned an affair and it was fitting, and none of my many officers could match me. That is why I am troubled. In the words of Zhonghui (中蘬) it is said, "Among the lords, one who gets himself a teacher becomes a king, one who gets himself a friend becomes a chief, one who gets someone to doubt him survives, and one who plans by himself and has no one like him perishes." Now I am unworthy, and yet none of my many officers can match me. Our state is close to perishing. That is why I am troubled.'
King Zhuang of Chu was troubled by it, and my lord is glad."
The marquis drew back, bowed twice, and said, "Heaven has sent you, sir, to shake me free of my fault."
伯禽將歸於魯，周公謂伯禽之傅曰：「汝將行，盍志而子美德乎？」對曰：「其爲人寬，好自用，以慎。此三者，其美德已。」周公曰：「嗚呼！以人惡爲美德乎？君子好以道德，故其民歸道。彼其寬也，出無辨矣，女又美之。彼其好自用也，是所以窶小也。君子力如牛，不與牛争力；走如馬，不與馬争走；知如士，不與士争知。彼争者，均者之氣也，女又美之。彼其慎也，是其所以淺也。聞之曰：無越踰不見士。見士問曰：『無乃不察乎？』不聞，卽物少至，少至則淺。彼淺者，賤人之道也，女又美之。吾語女：我，文王之爲子，武王之爲弟，成王之爲叔父。吾於天下不賤矣，然而吾所執贄而見者十人，還贄而相見者三十人，貌執之士者百有餘人，欲言而請畢事者千有餘人，於是吾僅得三士焉，以正吾身，以定天下。吾所以得三士者，亡於十人與三十人中，乃在百人與千人之中。故上士吾薄爲之貌，下士吾厚爲之貌。人人皆以我爲越踰好士，然故士至，士至而後見物，見物然後知其是非之所在。戒之哉！女以魯國驕人，幾矣！夫仰禄之士猶可驕也，正身之士不可驕也。彼正身之士，舍貴而爲賤，舍富而爲貧，舍佚而爲勞，顏色黎黑而不失其所，是以天下之紀不息，文章不廢也。」
When Boqin (伯禽) was about to return to Lu, the Duke of Zhou said to Boqin’s tutor, "You are about to go. Why do you not tell me the fine virtues of my son?"
He answered, "He is generous, he likes to use his own judgment, and he is careful. These three are his fine virtues."
The Duke of Zhou said.
"Ah, do you call what is bad in a man a fine virtue?
The gentleman likes men for the way and for virtue, and so his people return to the way. That generosity of his is a going out with no discernment, and you call it fine as well. That liking to use his own judgment is the very thing that makes a man narrow and small. The gentleman may be as strong as an ox, yet he does not contend with the ox in strength. He may run like a horse, yet he does not contend with the horse in running. He may know as much as a scholar, yet he does not contend with the scholar in knowing. That contending is the spirit of the middling sort, and you call it fine as well. That carefulness of his is the very thing that makes him shallow.
I have heard it said, 'One must never fail to go beyond oneself to see a scholar.' If you see a scholar and do not ask him, 'Is there nothing I have failed to look into?' then you do not hear, and few things come to you, and when few things come you grow shallow. That shallowness is the way of a low man, and you call it fine as well.
I will tell you. I am the son of King Wen, the younger brother of King Wu, and the uncle of King Cheng. I am not lowly in all under heaven. Yet those I went to see holding a gift of ritual were ten men, those whose gifts I returned and whom I met face to face were thirty, the scholars I received with no more than a courteous face were more than a hundred, and those who wished to speak and asked to finish the matter were more than a thousand. From all these I got only three scholars, and with them I made myself upright and settled all under heaven.
I did not get those three scholars from among the ten or the thirty, but from among the hundred and the thousand. Therefore to the higher scholars I make my face thin, and to the lower scholars I make my face thick. Everyone takes me for one who goes beyond himself to love scholars, and so scholars come. When scholars come I see things, and when I see things I know where right and wrong lie.
Be warned. If you use the state of Lu to lord it over men, you stand in danger. Over the scholar who looks up to a salary you may still lord it, but over the scholar who keeps himself upright you may not. That scholar who keeps himself upright puts aside honor and becomes lowly, puts aside wealth and becomes poor, puts aside ease and takes on toil, and though his face is burned black he does not lose his place. It is by this that the bonds of all under heaven do not cease and that letters do not fall away."
語曰：「繒丘之封人，見楚相孫叔敖曰：『吾聞之也：處官久者士妒之，禄厚者民怨之，位尊者君恨之。爲相國有此三者而不得罪於楚之士民，何也？』孫叔敖曰：『吾三相楚而心瘉卑，每益禄而施瘉博，位滋尊而禮瘉恭，是以不得罪於楚之士民也。』」
A saying runs: the warden of the border at Zengqiu (繒丘) saw Sunshu Ao, the chief minister of Chu, and said, "I have heard that scholars envy the man long in office, that the people resent the man whose salary is heavy, and that the ruler bears a grudge against the man whose place is high. You have become chief minister and have all three of these, and yet you have not drawn blame from the scholars and the people of Chu. Why is that?"
Sunshu Ao said, "Three times I have been chief minister of Chu, and my heart has grown ever humbler. The more my salary increased, the broader my giving grew. The higher my place, the more respectful my manners. That is why I have not drawn blame from the scholars and the people of Chu."
子貢問於孔子曰：「賜爲人下而未知也。」孔子曰：「爲人下者乎？其猶土也？深抇之而得甘泉焉，樹之而五穀蕃焉，草木殖焉，禽獸育焉，生則立焉，死則入焉，多其功而不息。爲人下者，其猶土也。」
Zigong asked Confucius, "I do not yet know how to be below others."
Confucius said, "To be below others? Is it not like the earth? Dig deep into it and you get sweet water. Plant in it and the five grains grow thick, grasses and trees spread, birds and beasts are raised. The living stand upon it, and the dead go into it. Its merits are many, and it does not rest. To be below others is to be like the earth."
昔虞不用宮之奇而晉并之，萊不用子馬而齊并之，紂刳王子比干而武王得之。不親賢用知，故身死國亡也。
Long ago Yu (虞) did not use Gong Zhiqi, and Jin swallowed it. Lai (萊) did not use Zima (子馬), and Qi swallowed it. Zhou of Yin cut open the prince Bigan, and King Wu took it. They did not draw near the worthy or use the knowing, and so they died and their states perished.
爲說者曰：「孫卿不及孔子。」是不然。孫卿迫於亂世，鰌於嚴刑，上無賢主，下遇曓秦，禮義不行，教化不成，仁者絀約，天下冥冥，行全剌之，諸侯大傾。當是時也，知者不得慮，能者不得治，賢者不得使。故君上蔽而無覩，賢人距而不受。然則孫卿懷將聖之心，蒙佯狂之色，視天下以愚。《詩》曰：「既明且哲，以保其身。」此之謂也。是其所以名聲不白，徒與不衆，光輝不博也。今之學者，得孫卿之遺言餘教，足以爲天下法式表儀，所存者神，所過者化。觀其善行，孔子弗過，世不詳察，云非聖人，奈何！天下不治，孫卿不遇時也。德若堯、禹，世少知之。方術不用，爲人所疑。其知至明，循道正行，足以爲紀綱。嗚呼！賢哉！宜爲帝王。天地不知，善桀、紂，殺賢良。比干剖心，孔子拘匡；接輿避世，箕子佯狂；田常爲亂，闔閭擅强。爲惡得福，善者有殃。今爲說者又不察其實，乃信其名。時世不同，譽何由生？不得爲政，功安能成？志修德厚，孰謂不賢乎！
There are those who say, "Sun Qing (孫卿) does not come up to Confucius." This is not so.
Sun Qing was pressed by an age of disorder and hemmed in by harsh punishments. Above him there was no worthy ruler, and below he met with a cruel Qin. Ritual and right were not practiced, and teaching brought about no change. The benevolent were pushed aside and bound, all under heaven was dark and dark again, whoever acted whole was stabbed for it, and the lords fell greatly away.
In that time the knowing could not use their thought, the able could not govern, and the worthy could not be employed. So the ruler above was covered over and could not see, and worthy men were shut out and not received.
And so Sun Qing held in his heart the mind of one who would be a sage, put on the look of feigned madness, and showed himself a fool to all under heaven. The Shi says, "Bright and wise, he keeps himself safe." This is what is meant. This is why his name was not made clear, why those who followed him were not many, and why his light did not spread wide.
Now the learner who gets the words Sun Qing left behind and the teaching that remains of him has enough to make a law and a model for all under heaven. Where they stay there is a spirit, and what they pass over is changed. Look at his good conduct and Confucius does not go beyond it. Yet the age does not look closely and says he was no sage. What is to be done?
That all under heaven is not well governed is that Sun Qing did not meet his time. Though his virtue was like that of Yao and Yu, few in the age knew it. His arts were not used, and he was doubted by others. His knowing was utterly clear, and he followed the way and acted straight, enough to be the bonds of order.
Ah, how worthy he was. He should have been an emperor or a king. Heaven and earth did not know him, called Jie and Zhou good, and killed the worthy and the good. Bigan’s heart was cut open, and Confucius was held at Kuang (匡). Jieyu fled the age, and Jizi feigned madness. Tian Chang made rebellion, and Helu had strength all to himself. Those who did evil got blessings, and the good met with ruin.
Now those who talk of him again do not look into the substance of him and trust only in his name. The time and the age were not the same. From what could praise arise? He was not allowed to govern. How could merit be accomplished? His will was cultivated and his virtue was deep. Who shall say he was not worthy?