1. On Authority and Position[2]
Authority and position should not be lent to anybody else.
If the sovereign loses one, the minister would turn that into
one hundred. Thus, if the minister can borrow power and
position from the ruler, his strength would multiply. Should
his strength multiply, then men in and out of the court would
be utilized by him. If men in and out of the court are utilized
by him, then the lord of men would be deluded. The saying
is based in Lao Tan's discussion[3]
on the loss of fish. For
further illustration, a man became wealthy[4]
simply after one
evening's
[5]
talk with his influential friend, and an attendant
gained prestige because his master had given
[6]
him a hairbrush.
Its contrary is found in Hsü T`ong's remonstration
with Duke Li, in Chou Hou's unification of the attendants'
sayings, and in the Yen man's bathing in dung.
