Han shih wai chuan Han Ying's Illustrations of the didactic application of the Classic of songs |
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| VIII. |
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| X. |
 | CHAPTER VIII Han shih wai chuan |  |
4[1]
When Ts`ui Chu of Ch`i assassinated Duke Chuang,[2]
Ching
K`uai-jui[3]
was on a mission to Chin. As he returned, [his driver
said, "Ts`ui Chu has assassinated Duke Chuang. What shall you
do?"
Ching K`uai-jui said, "Drive quickly. I am going to enter
(the capital) and die so as to repay my prince."][4]
His driver said, "None of the neighboring feudal lords in every
direction but has heard of the lack of principle on the part of our
ruler. Is it not a difficult thing to expect you, Master, to die
for him?"
Ching K`uai-jui said, "Well said![5]
[But it comes too late.]
Had you spoken earlier, I might have remonstrated. Then if he
failed to make use of my remonstrance, I would have been able to
leave. But now since I did not remonstrate and did not leave—
as I have heard, `You eat his food and you die for his cause.'
Since I have eaten the food of a bad prince,[6]
how am I to get a
good prince[7]
to die for?" And making haste in his chariot he
entered [the capital] and died.[8]
The driver said, "If a man with a bad prince[6]
must still die
for him, can I, who had a good master,[9]
do anything but die?"
And tying the reins, he cut his throat in the chariot.
On hearing of this the superior man says, "It can be said of
Ching K`uai-jui that he preserved his virtue and died for his
principles (i). The driver, however, had no reason to die. It was
like encountering poison in eating or drinking.[10]
The Ode says,[11]
In the service of the One man.
who does not continuously maintain his virtue. There are those
who will impute this to him as a disgrace.' This could be said of
the driver."
SY 4.13a-b tells this story in essentially the same words, but tempers the conclusion
—which the Ssŭ-k`u editors (Ssu-k`u . . . ti-yao 16.11a) found objectionable—by
quoting from Mencius instead of I ching; see notes 10, 12.
For [OMITTED] SY has Hsing K`uai-wai [OMITTED]. Ching and hsing are easily
confused from their similarity of form, while [OMITTED] *ńi̯wad and [OMITTED] *ngwed are possible
phonetic equivalents. Chu Ch`i-fêng's suggestion (TT 1850) that SY has confused
this person with the Heir Apparent of Wei, K`uai-wai [OMITTED] is possible, but in view
of the frequency of variants in the writings of old names, hardly necessary.
[OMITTED]: a prince who is uncontrolled in his own actions and who gives his state
the opposite of good government.
[OMITTED]. Omit [OMITTED] with CHy as in SY. (Chao 189.) It is probably an
echo of the [OMITTED] in the preceding line.
[OMITTED]: a prince who is uncontrolled in his own actions and who gives his state
the opposite of good government.
[OMITTED] is intelligible from the parallel construction [OMITTED] and its opposite [OMITTED]
above.
| CHAPTER VIII Han shih wai chuan | |