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

Duke Ting was not pleased and said to his retainers, "I had
heard that a superior man does not slander people; does he then
really engage in slander?"

Yen Yüan withdrew.

Suddenly a man from the Imperial Stables [came and] announced
that Tung-yeh Pi's horses had run away.[4] Duke Ting
. . . (?)[5] the mat and got up, saying, "Quickly send a chariot
to call back Yen Yüan."

When Yen Yüan arrived, Duke Ting said, "A little while ago
I said, `How well Tung-yeh Pi drives,' and you said, `He is all
right, but his horses are going to run away.' How did you
know it?"

Yen Yüan said, "From [principles of] government I knew it.
In olden times Shun was expert in handling people and Tsao-fu
was expert in handling horses. Shun did not wear out his people
and Tsao-fu did not drive his horses to the limit. Hence, under
Shun the people did not break down, and under Tsao-fu, horses
did not run away. Now as to Tung-yeh Pi's driving,[6] in mounting
the chariot and holding the bridle, his style of managing was correct.
In his evolutions and rushes, he was in complete accord with
court ceremony (li).[7] But from going through danger and traveling
far he had exhausted the horses' strength; yet still he beat
them without cease. Therefore I knew they would run away."

Duke Ting said, "Good. Can you drive the point a little
further?"[8]

Yen Yüan said, "If an animal is pushed to extremity, he will
bite; in the same circumstances a bird will peck,[9] and a man will
practice treachery. Since antiquity to the present day it has
never happened that reducing the people to extremity has not
been dangerous. The Ode says,[10]

The reins are in his grasp like ribbons,
While the two outside horses move like dancers.

Good driving is illustrative of this."

Duke Ting said, "I was at fault."

[1]

Chuang-tzŭ 5.11b-12a; Hsün-tzŭ 20.18b-19b; LSCC 19.13a-b; Hsin hsü 5.7b-8a;
Chia-yü 5.1a-2a. Two versions are represented, one derived from Chuang-tzŭ and
amplified by LSCC, and one from Hsün-tzŭ. Hsin hsü seems to derive from HSWC,
while Chia-yü goes back directly to Hsün-tzŭ; see note 4.

[2]

Chuang-tzŭ and LSCC have Yen Ho [OMITTED] and Duke Chuang (of Wei?).

[3]

For [OMITTED] Chuang-tzŭ and LSCC have Ch`i [OMITTED]. (Chou.)

[4]

[OMITTED]: B, C have [OMITTED] as above and below. Chao (46) prefers [OMITTED] on the ground
that [OMITTED] is a corruption from the Chuang-tzŭ-LSCC version. Hsin hsü with [OMITTED], has
presumably copied from HSWC, as Chia-yü has [OMITTED] and Hsün-tzŭ has [OMITTED]. HSWC
omits the following phrase from Hsün-tzŭ, which Chia-yü has (with two variants).
Hsin hsü here too follows HSWC, omitting the phrase.

[5]

[OMITTED] "to lift" makes no sense. Hsin hsü has [OMITTED] "to step across," and CHy thinks
[OMITTED] is a corruption of ⊙[a] , a vulgar form of [OMITTED]. There may be a reflection here of
Li chi 1.5b: [OMITTED] "Do not step across the mat, [but] hold up your
gown and hasten to your corner [of the mat]," where Lu Tê-ming glosses [OMITTED] with [OMITTED]
and [OMITTED] with [OMITTED]. "He rose lifting his gown" [OMITTED] makes sense, but the
emendation is drastic.

[a]

For this character, see table on page 358.

[6]

Chou has added [OMITTED] here from Hsŭn-tzŭ. Hsin hsü also has it.

[7]

Likewise Hsün-tzŭ, but with [OMITTED] for [OMITTED] and [OMITTED] for [OMITTED]. Yang
Liang seems to take [OMITTED] in its literal meaning of "bit": [OMITTED] "The
bits and the horses' bodies [are straight]" ([OMITTED]). [OMITTED] he expands to [OMITTED]
"court ceremony." Hao I-hsing disagrees, making [OMITTED], as in Shih 17 No. 101,
where Mao explains [OMITTED] as [OMITTED]. Hao paraphrases "the horses in their rushes
were invariably well trained," and insists that the text should be punctuated to
show that [OMITTED] and [OMITTED] are connected. His interpretation remains ambiguous,
and does not seem to take account of the further parallel in [OMITTED].

[8]

Supply [OMITTED] with Hsün-tzŭ and Chia-yü (Chao), or [OMITTED] with Hsin hsü, as the most
closely related text.

[9]

For [OMITTED] "beak" read [OMITTED] "to peck," with B, C and Hsin hsü. (Chou.)

[10]

Shih 129 No. 78/1.