Annotations to Canon V:—
Duke Huan of Ch`i was fond of wearing purple clothes,
till everybody in the country wore purple clothes, too. At
that time, nobody could get one purple thread at the cost
of five plain white threads. Worried over this, Duke Huan
said to Kuan Chung, "I am fond of wearing purple clothes,
but purple clothes are very expensive. The hundred surnames
in the country like to wear purple clothes continually.
What should I do about that?" "If Your Highness wants
to stop them," replied Kuan Chung, "why doesn't he for
a time not wear any purple clothes at all, and tell the attendants,
`His Highness dislikes the bad odour of purple
clothes'." "All right," said the Duke.[87]
Thenceforth,
whenever any attendant in purple clothes came in, the Duke
would say, "Get away a little! I dislike the bad odour of
purple clothes." Accordingly, that day no courtier wore
purple clothes; next day nobody in the state capital wore
purple clothes; and by the third day nobody within the
state boundaries wore purple clothes.
According to a different source: The King of Ch`i was
fond of wearing purple clothes. So were the people of Ch`i.
As a result, in the Ch`i State with the cost of five plain white
threads nobody could buy a purple one. Over the expensiveness
of purple clothes, the King of Ch`i worried. Thereupon
the Grand Tutor said to the King: "It is said in the Book
of Poetry, `In him, himself inert, the people put no trust.'
Now, if Your Majesty wants the people to wear no purple
clothes, let Your Majesty take off purple clothes himself and
then go to the court, and, when any officials wearing purple
clothes come in, tell him, `Get away farther! I dislike the
bad odour!" In consequence, that day no courtier wore purple
clothes; in a month nobody in the state capital wore purple
clothes; and in a year nobody within the state boundaries
wore purple clothes.
Duke Chien of Chêng once said to Tzŭ-ch`an: "Our
country is small and pressed between Ching and Chin. Now
that the city-walls of the capital are not in good repair and
weapons and armour are not well prepared, we cannot provide
against eventualities." "Thy servant has already shut the
outer foes far off," said Tzŭ-Ch`an, "and already made the
inner defences firm. Though the country is small, yet thy
servant does not think it is in danger. May Your Highness
not worry over it?" Therefore, Duke Chien had no worry
in his life.
According to another source[88]
: Tzŭ-ch`an was Premier of
Chêng. Once Duke Chien said to him: "If drinking wine
is no joy, sacrifical vessels[89]
are not large, and bells, drums,
Yü[90]
instruments, and sê[91]
harps do not sound, I must be
responsible[92]
therefor. If political[93]
affairs are not unified,
the state is not stabilized, the hundred surnames do not keep
order, and farmers and warriors do not live in peace and
harmony, you must similarly be responsible therefor. You
have your official duties, I have my own, too. Let each of us
attend to his duties." Tzŭ-ch`an withdrew and administered
the state affairs for five years, till the country had neither
thieves nor robbers, no one would pick up things dropped on
the road, peaches and dates hanging over the street were
not picked off, and such tiny things as gimlets and knives
dropped on the road were promptly returned to their owners
within three days. The same continued for three years and
the people never suffered starvation.
Duke Hsiang of Sung fought with the Ch`us in the Cho
River Gorge. When the Sung forces had already formed in
line, the Ch`u troops had not yet finished their lines. Thereupon
the Right Minister of War, Kou Ch`iang, ran forward
and advised the Duke, saying: "As the Ch`us are
numerous and the Sungs are few, let us attack them when they
are half crossing the River and not yet in line. They will
certainly be defeated." "I have heard," said Duke Hsiang,
"the gentleman would not wound the wounded, not capture
men having two kinds of hair,
[94]
not push people into danger,
not drive people to bay, and not beat the drum towards
enemies not yet in line. Now, the Ch`u troops have not
completed their lines. If we attack them, we act against
righteousness. Let them finish crossing the River and complete
their lines. Then beat the drum and lead the army."
"Your Highness does not love the people of Sung in leaving
the confidential supporters in precariousness solely for the
sake of righteousness." "If you do not return to your line,"
said the Duke, "I will enforce the martial law." The Right
Minister returned to his line, when the Ch`u troops had already
formed in line and established their positions. Then the
Duke beat the drum. The Sung forces suffered a crushing
defeat. The Duke was wounded in the thigh and died in
three days.
[95]
This is the calamity of yearning
[96]
after benevolence
and righteousness. Indeed, to expect the lord of men
to do everything himself as a good example and the people
to obey him and follow his example afterwards is to make the
lord of men till the land and thereby acquire his food supplies
[97]
and bear arms and line up with the soldiers before the people
are willing to till and fight. If so, is the sovereign not facing
too much danger and are the subjects not enjoying too much
security?
Once, when Duke Ching of Ch`i travelled to the Small Sea,
a courier rushed from inside the capital to have an audience
with him, and said, "Premier Yen Yin is very ill and about to
die, and is afraid Your Highness might arrive after his death."
Duke Ching quickly rose from his seat, when another courier
came. "Quickly prepare the carriage of the good horse,
Fan-chieh," said Duke Ching, "and order Coachman Han
Ch`ü to drive it." After setting out a few hundred steps, he
thought the coachman was not fast enough, took the reins
away from his hands, and drove the carriage in his place.
After another few hundred steps, he thought the horse would
not go farther,
[98]
and alighted from the carriage, and ran on
foot. Thus, in spite of the speed of Fan-chieh and the skill
of Coachman Han Ch`ü Duke Ching thought it the best
to get off the carriage and run on foot.
King Chao of Wey wanted to have a hand in the official
routine and said to the Lord of Mêng-ch`ang, "I, the King,
want to have a hand in the official routine." "If Your
Majesty wants to go through the official routine," said the
Lord, "why does he not for trial learn and read the legal
code?" King Chao, accordingly, started reading the code.
After reading ten and some bamboo slips,[99]
he fell asleep.
"I am unable to read this code," said the King. After all,
if the ruler does not hold the august position and supreme
handles firmly in hand but wants to perform the duties which
the ministers ought to perform, is it not reasonable that he falls
asleep in so doing?
Confucius said: "The ruler of men is like the basin, the
people like water. If the basin is square, the water is square;
if the basin is round, the water is round."
The ruler of Tsou was fond of wearing long fringes. So
were all his attendants. In consequence, fringes became very
expensive. Worried over this, he asked the attendants about
it. In reply they said: "As Your Highness is fond of wearing
them, most of the hundred surnames wear them too. Therefore,
they are expensive!" Accordingly, the Ruler cut off
his fringes himself and went out. As a result, nobody in the
country would wear long fringes any more. Thus, the Ruler,
unable to issue orders to regulate the style of the clothing of
the hundred surnames and thereby prohibit them from wearing
long fringes, cut off his own fringes and went out to show
his example to the people. In this way he exercised his
authority over the people through self-humiliation.
Shu Hsiang in distributing emoluments bestowed more
for the more meritorious and less for the less meritorious.
Marquis Chao of Han once said to Shên Tzŭ, "Laws and
rules are not easy to enforce." "The law is such a principle,"
said Shên Tzŭ, "that men of merit are given rewards and
able personages are taken into office. Now, Your Highness
establishes laws and rules but grants the attendants' requests.
This is the cause of the difficulty in enforcing laws and
rules." "From now onward," said Marquis Chao, "I know
how to enforce laws, and will not grant anybody any request."
One day Shên Tzŭ begged the Marquis to appoint his elder
cousin to an official post. In regard to his request, Marquis
Chao said: "This is not what I learned from you. If I grant
you such a request, I contradict your teaching. I had better
not allow your request."[100]
Thereupon Shên Tzŭ withdrew to
his residence and apologized for his fault.
