Someone asked about the Dao.Yangzi said: The Dao is pervasive—there is nothing it does not penetrate. The other said: Can it lead in other directions? Yangzi said: That which leads to Shun, Yao, and King Wen is the correct dao. Those which do not lead to Shun, Yao, and King Wen are the other daos. The junzi follows the correct one and not the others.
Someone asked about the Dao.Yangzi said: The Dao is like a road or a river. The carts and boats hustle and bustle, not stopping day or night. The other said: How does one get on the straight dao and follow it?Yangzi said: Although the road is crooked, if it still reaches the Xia, then follow it. Although the river is winding, if it still reaches the ocean, then follow it. The other said: So although one’s affairs may involve a crooked path, if it still reaches the sage, then follow it?
The Dao, de, ren, yi, and li can be compared to one’s body. Now, using the Dao to lead it; using de to complete it; using ren to make it human; using yi to make its behavior appropriate; and using li embody it—this is Tian. If they are united, then the body is complete. If they are separated, then it falls apart. A person whose four limbs work together—his body is complete.
Someone asked about the manifestation of de. Yangzi said: Nobody is aware of its influence. When those above act, those below are influenced.The other said: May I ask why nobody is aware of its influence?Yangzi said: If you put li into practice there, but the people get the benefits here, how could they be aware of it?The other said: What about those who do not perform li and yet have de?Yangzi said: Li is the bodily frame. If a person does not perform li, how can he attain de?
Someone asked about Tian.Yangzi said: In Tian I see the action of wuwei.The other said: The one who cuts and carves the multitude of forms, is it not Tian?Yangzi said: Exactly because it does not cut and carve, the multitude of forms are cut and carved. If things were cut and carved by Tian, where could the strength to sustain it come from?
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老子之言道德,吾有取焉耳。及捶提仁義,絕滅禮學,吾無取焉耳。
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As for the Laozi’s words about Dao and de, I have adopted them; as for its attacks on ren and yi, cutting off li, and doing away with learning, I have not adopted them.
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吾焉開明哉?惟聖人為可以開明,它則苓。大哉聖人,言之至也。開之廓然見四海,閉之閛然不睹墻之裏。
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How can I enlighten others! Only the sage is able to enlighten. Others only make things obscure. Great is the sage, his words are the ultimate! When he opens [the door], you can see the vastness of everything within the four oceans. When the door is slammed shut, you cannot see what is inside the walls of your own room.
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聖人之言似於水火。或問「水火」。曰:「水,測之而益深,窮之而益遠;火,用之而彌明,宿之而彌壯。」
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The sage’s words are like water and fire.Someone asked about water and fire.Yangzi said: As for water, the more you measure it, the deeper it gets. The more you trace it to its source, the broader it becomes. As for fire, the more you use it, the brighter it gets. The more you build it up, the more intense it becomes.
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允治天下,不待禮文與五教,則吾以黃帝、堯、舜為疣贅。
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If I were allowed to govern all under Heaven, but did not use li, wen, and the Five Teachings, then I would also consider Huangdi, Yao, and Shun to be tumors and cysts.
Someone said: In the primordial past there were no laws and institutions but yet there was order. Thus laws and institutions are not a means to order. Yangzi said: The sages hated the primeval time. Thus, laws and institutions were established by Fu Xi and were completed by Yao. No Fu, no Yao—li and yi eliminated —the sage would not adopt this.
Someone asked: Among the all the world’s li, whose li and music is correct?Yangzi said: Use the Central Kingdom’s li to correct the others.The other said: Which is the Central Kingdom?Yangzi said: Where the Five Constants of governance obtain, that which is supported by the seven taxes, that which is at the center of Heaven and Earth is the Central Kingdom. As for those who live beyond these borders, can they even be considered men?
As for the sage’s governance of all under Heaven, he uses li and music as the standard. If there were no li and music, then people would be the same as beasts. If li and music were different, then people would be like the barbarian tribes of the north. I have seen philosophers slight li and music, but I have not seen a sage slight li and music. Who has writings that are not produced by the brush, or words that are not produced by the tongue? I see Heaven’s Constants as the brush and tongue of emperors and kings.
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智也者,知也。夫智用不用,益不益,則不贅虧矣?
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Wisdom requires knowledge. Now with wisdom, if one puts to use what has previously not been used, and adds to what has previously not been added to, then there is neither an excess nor an insufficiency.
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深知器械、舟車、宮室之為,則禮由已。
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If you deeply understand implements, boats, carts, and dwellings, then li comes naturally from yourself.
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或問「大聲」。曰,「非雷非霆,隱隱耾々,久而愈盈,尸諸聖。」
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Someone asked about the greatest of sounds.Yangzi said: It is not thunder and lightning. Deep and deafening, growing fuller and overflowing the longer it lasts—this sound is entrusted to the sage!
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或問:「道有因無因乎?」曰:「可則因,否則革。」
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Someone asked: Is it the Dao to follow tradition or not?Yangzi said: If tradition is appropriate, then follow it. If not, then change it.
Someone asked about wuwei.Yangzi said: Why must there be goal-directed action? In antiquity Shun and Yu inherited Yao’s imperial title and practiced Yao’s dao. Laws and standards of measurement were clear, li and music were established. They let their hands drop to their sides and watched all people under Heaven prosper—this was wuwei. But as for those who inherited the throne after Jie and Zhou, when laws were abandoned and ritual and music were lost, to sit quietly and watch the death of all people under Heaven—would this have been wuwei?
Someone asked: In primordial past rulers covered the people’s eyes and ears, yet the people still saw and heard. Because they saw, their eyes were difficult to cover. Because they heard, their ears were difficult to block up.Yangzi said: From the time Tian began to give birth to mankind, it made their eyes able to see and their ears able to hear. Thus, show them li and let them hear music.If you do not show them li and let them hear music, although you have control over people, how will you be able to educate them?
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或問「新敝」。曰:「新則襲之,敝則益損之。」
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Someone asked about the new and the worn out.Yangzi said: If it is new, then wear it. If it is worn out, then either improve it or get rid of it.
Someone asked: Those who live in the primordial past cherished de and did not cherish li. Small children are emotionally attached to their mother; colts and calves follow their mother. When do they use li?Yangzi said: Children and cattle! Children and cattle cherish their mothers but do not cherish their fathers. Cherishing one’s mother is love. Cherishing one’s father is reverence. Cherishing only the mother and not the father is not as good as cherishing both mother and father.
The tacticians say: By planning tactics, one does not have to fight and can reduce the other’s troops to submission. This was the way of Yao and Shun.Yangzi said: Not fighting and reducing the other’s troops to submission, this was the way of Yao and Shun. But bloodied necks staining collars—could this have been the way of Yao and Shun? Bragging about jade but peddling stone—are these not your "tactics?"The other asked: Using tactics or discarding them—which is better?Yangzi said: Discarding them is better.The other said: If you led the six armies, whom would you employ?Yangzi said: If you lead by following the Dao, then all the tacticians in the world will become your envoys; if you lead by departing from the Dao, then all the tacticians in the world will become your enemies. Thus, the ruler of all under Heaven investigates leadership, and that’s all.The other asked: To threaten the feudal lords, you must attack! That is the strength of tactics. How can tactics be discarded?Yangzi said: "To threaten the feudal lords, you must use tactics"—this may be so. But it is not as good as threatening the feudal lords without need of tactics.The other said: Without tactics, how can a general attack?Yangzi said: Even if he cannot but attack, does he not have the Sima fa? Why are tactics necessary?
The methods of Shen Buhai and Han Feizi were the ultimate of inhumaneness. How can one use people like cattle and sheep? If one uses them as cattle and sheep, then do foxes, crickets, and earthworms not become the recipients of the lou and winter sacrifices? The other said: If a knife or brush is not sharp, then you just put it to the grindstone. Is that not acceptable?Yangzi said: If putting people to the grindstone were acceptable, then the Qin were the best at it!
Someone said: If the study of forms and names does not accord with the Dao, why is it so natural? Yangzi said: Why must it be forms and names? Chess, fencing, acrobatics, and magic are all "natural." Seeking the natural from the great is the correct dao; seeking it from the petty is the crooked dao.
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或曰:「申、韓之法非法與?」曰:「法者,謂唐、虞、成周之法也。如申、韓!如申、韓!」
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Someone asked: Were the laws and institutions of Shen Buhai and Han Feizi not a model?Yangzi said: "Model" refers to the laws and institutions of Yao, Yu Shun, Cheng Tang, and the Duke of Zhou. How could it refer to Shen Buhai and Han Feizi?
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莊周、申、韓不乖寡聖人而漸諸篇,則顏氏之子、閔氏之孫其如臺。
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If Zhuang Zhou, Shen Buhai, and Han Feizi had not contradicted and made light of the sages, but rather had immersed themselves in their chapters, how would even Yan Yuan and Min Ziqian surpassed them?
Someone asked: Can anything be learned from Zhuang Zhou?Yangzi said: Make one’s desires few.Can anything be learned from Zou Yan?Yangzi said: Self-control. As for Zhou lacking the yi of rulers and subjects, and Yan’s ignorance of what lies between Heaven and Earth, even if I were their neighbor, I would not visit them.