Han shih wai chuan :: :: University of Virginia Library

Tsêng-tzŭ held office in Chü,[2] receiving as salary three ping[3]
of grain. At that time Tsêng-tzŭ valued his pay but held lightly
his person. After his parents had died, Ch`i invited him to be
minister, and Ch`u and Chin each invited him to be prime
minister. At that time Tsêng-tzŭ valued his person but held
lightly to his pay. With one who "keeping his jewel in his bosom,
leaves his country to confusion,"[4] it is not possible to speak of
jên; with one who, distressing his person, stints his parents [by
not holding office], it is not possible to discuss filial duty. One
whose "burden is heavy and whose course is long"[5] is not particular
about the place where he rests; one whose family is poor
and whose parents are old is not particular about the office he
will fill. Truly, the superior man will anxiously[6] hasten after the

opportunity, considering the present business to be urgent.[7] As
the saying goes, if a man takes office without meeting with the
proper time, or is overconscientious in discharging his duties, or
serves another without entering into his schemes,[8] the reason is
poverty. The Ode says,[9]

[Only until] the early dawn[10] are we with the prince;
Fates are not the same.

[1]

This paragraph is translated by Legge in Shih, Prolegomena 87.

[2]

For [OMITTED], Tsêng Tsao's Lei shuo [OMITTED] (Ssu-k`u ch`üan-shu MS. copy
deposited in the Wen Yüan Ko [OMITTED]), ch. 36, quotes this passage with [OMITTED]
"was born in the State of Lu." [OMITTED] is certainly a mistake, but [OMITTED] may well be the
correct reading. (I owe this reference to Mr. Wang Li-ch`i.)

[3]

[OMITTED]: a grain measure containing 16 hu [OMITTED]. In Han times a hu was equivalent
to about 20 liters. Cf. Dubs, History of the Former Han Dynasty 1.279.

[4]

Analects 317-8 (17/1.2).

[5]

Ibid. 210 (8/7.1).

[6]

[OMITTED]: for [OMITTED] CHy has [OMITTED] "bridge," which makes no sense. Chou suggests [OMITTED]
in the meaning of "straw sandals." Yü Yüeh, CYTT 17.1a, objects to this and says
that both readings are phonetic equivalents (phonetic group [OMITTED]). He identifies [OMITTED]
(*g'ât) with [OMITTED] (*g'i̯at), and quotes the binom [OMITTED] from Wên hsüan 9.12b,
where Hsü Yüan's com. explains it as "the mind given free rein," and also mentions
a variant [OMITTED] in the Ch`u-tz`ŭ. Yü Yüeh interprets the phrase as "being anxious
to go to a place" [OMITTED], treating [OMITTED] as an inversion of chieh-chiao.
Chao (1-2) adds an example from Chuang-tzŭ 4.27b: [OMITTED],
where Ts`ui Chuan's com. says [OMITTED] means "unquiet in mind" [OMITTED] ([OMITTED]
*k'i̯êt). I have followed Yü Yüeh, although Chao Yu-wen prefers Chou's emendation
as continuing the theme of poverty.

[7]

I. e., the support of his parents; cf. Mencius 476 (7A/46.1).

[8]

PWYF quotes only this example of [OMITTED], which should mean "burdened by
his cares." The whole passage is probably corrupt; one would expect a negative
before this phrase to balance [OMITTED], with the meaning "takes office without
assuming its cares." (I am indebted to Mr. Wang Li-ch`i for this suggestion.) Chao
Yu-wen proposes to suppress the [OMITTED] by treating it as a "particle" ([OMITTED]) with
the same purpose of making the two phases parallel. This is certainly a more drastic
and less likely emendation. My translation of the text as it stands is forced.

[9]

Shih 31 No. 21/1.

[10]

[OMITTED]: here as in Shih 22 No. 13/3 and 26 No. 17/1. Cf. K`ung Ying-ta's com. on Shih ching 2.32b. But cf. Karlgren, "The Book of Odes," BMFEA 16 (1944). 176, note (a) under Ode 13.