 | CHAPTER IX. Lunheng |  |
CHAPTER IX.
On Destiny and Fortune (Ming-lu).
Man's success as well as his troubles depend upon destiny.
It determines his life and his death, and the length of his span,
and it likewise provides for his rank and his wealth. From the
princes and dukes downwards to the commoners, and from the
sages and worthies down to the illiterate people, all those who
have a head and eyes, and blood in their veins, each and every
one possess their own destiny. If any one is to become poor and
miserable, he will be involved in misfortunes and disasters, even
though he passes through wealth and honour, whereas he for
whom wealth and honour are in store, meets with happiness and
bliss even in the midst of penury and misery. Therefore, whoever
is predestinated for great things, rises by himself from his humble
position, while another whose fate is misery, falls down from his
high sphere.
Thus it seems, as if the gods lent their help to the wealthy
and the great folks, and as if the mishap of the poor and low
class people were the work of the demons. When future grandees
study with others, they alone reach the goal,[1]
and after having
taken office, they alone are promoted from among their colleagues.
What the future rich men strive for with other competitors, they
alone obtain, and what they do conjointly, they alone complete.
With poor and low people it is just the reverse. They fail in
their studies, fail to be promoted, and fail to complete what they
have begun. They make themselves guilty, suffer punishment, fall
sick, die, and perish. The loss of wealth and honour means poverty
and meanness.
Consequently, there is no guarantee whatever that men of
high endowments and excellent conduct will in any case attain to
wealth and honour, and we must not imagine that others whose
knowledge is very limited, and whose virtue is but small, are therefore
doomed to poverty and misery. Sometimes, men of great
and keeps them down, and people with scanty knowledge and
small virtue may have such a propitious fate, that they soar up
and take a brilliant flight.
Wisdom and dullness, pure and mean conduct under given
circumstances are character and natural gifts; high and low rank
in the official career, and wealth and poverty in business depend
on destiny and time. Destiny is not amenable to coercion, or time
to compulsion. The knowing, therefore, leave every thing to Heaven,
placid, serene, and equanimous even in case their poverty or misery
should be changed into wealth and honour.
When in digging a creek or cutting firewood a special energy
be shown, or great strength be displayed, then by dint of digging
the creek will be deepened, and by dint of hewing much wood
will be cut down. Even people without a fate would thus obtain
their ends, how then would poverty and meanness, disasters and
dangers come in? Perhaps heavy showers might interfere with the
completion of the creek, or the wood-cutter might fall in with a
tiger, before he had gathered much wood. The low rank of an
official and the unprofitableness of a business are like the showers
interrupting the digging of a creek, and like the tiger met by the
wood-cutter.
Perhaps able men find no occasion to use their talents, and
the wise cannot practise their wisdom, or they use their talents,
but have no success, and practise their principles, but do not accomplish
what they had in view. Though being as gifted and as
wise as Confucius, it may happen that they never come to the front.
The world seeing their high moral standard will ask, "How is it
that these sort of worthies and wise men do not become exalted?,"
and admiring their deep thoughts, they will say, "Why do men
of such a wonderful intellect not become rich?"
Rank and wealth depend upon fate, happiness and fortune
are not connected with wisdom and intelligence. Therefore it is
said that wealth cannot be acquired by calculations, nor rank be
secured by talents. Profound philosophy does not procure riches,
and the highest accomplishments do not win an official post. Those
who carry silver in their bosoms and wear pendants of red jewels,
are not necessarily a Chi[2]
or a Hsiėh[3]
in talent, and those who
amass gold or heap up precious stones, must not be a Chu of
chin, and blockheads are made governors of a city. Officers may
show the same ability in their administration, their different rank
is the result of their fate, and in doing business people may display
the same knowledge, their different wealth is the outcome of their
fortune. It is fortune which determines wealth and poverty, through
knowledge one does neither thrive nor perish, and it is destiny
that fixes one's high or low position, through talents one does not
advance or fail in one's career.
King Ch`êng's[5]
ability did not equal that of the Duke of Chou,
and Duke Huan's[6]
intelligence fell short of that of Kuan Chung.
Nevertheless Ch`êng and Huan were endowed with the most glorious
fate, whereas the Duke of Chou and Kuan Chung received inferior
appointments. In ancient times, princes very seldom did not learn
from their ministers. Possessing an extensive knowledge the latter
would, as a rule, act as their fathers and instructors. In spite of
this unsufficiency, the princes would take the place of sovereigns,
and their ministers with all their accomplishments had to serve as
their menials. That shows that rank depends upon destiny, and
not on intelligence, and that wealth is good fortune, and has
nothing to do with mental faculties.
Most people discussing these questions fancy that men of
genius ought to be made generals and ministers, and that less
gifted persons should become peasants and traders. Observing that
scholars of great abilities are not called to office, they are surprised,
and reproach them with incompetency for practical business, and
likewise they wonder at other scholars, who have a turn of mind
for the practical (but do not get on), and imagine that they must
be too weak in theory. As a matter of fact, they are not aware
that, though a person may be most admirable either in theory or
in practice, it is merely destiny that governs his official status and
his emoluments. When clever men undertake something at a lucky
and propitious time, and happiness survenes, then people will call
them clever, whereas, when they witness a decline, and the arrival
of misfortune, they regard them as stupid. They do not know a
lucky and inauspicious fate, or a thriving and declining fortune.
Po Kuei[7]
and Tse Kung[8]
made a fortune by the transport of
wares, and had heaps of gold and jewels. People spoke of their
excellent methods and their great learning. Chu Fu Yen[9]
was despised
and slighted in Ch`i, which would have none of him. He
went to the imperial palace, and presented a memorial, whereupon
he was employed by the Han, and rose in office as high as a
minister of State. Hsü Yüeh of Chao also sent up a memorial, when
he was together with Yen Chang. His Majesty was pleased with
his words, and appointed him secretary of a board. People praise
the talents of Chu Fu Yen and the skill of Hsü Yüeh, but they are
mistaken.
When literati are able to comment upon one classic, in which
they have become well versed in the capital, as lucidly as Kuang
Chih Kuei and as thoroughly as Chao Tse Tu, who passed the first
and the second examinations at the first trial, and immediately
were promoted to the rank of a secretary of a ministry and of an
academician, people believe that they have obtained this by their
profound knowledge of the classics and their genius, which is
wrong.
In the case of able speakers[10]
such as Fan Sui,[11]
who in Ch`in
was ennobled as a Marquis of Ying, and of T`sai Tsê[12]
who after
he had spoken to Fan Sui, was appointed alien minister,[13]
they
pretend that these happy results were brought about by the excellence
of Fan Sui and T`sai Tsê, but that is erroneous. All the
above-mentioned persons were predestinated for opulence and nobility,
and it was just the proper time for these lucky events to happen.
Confucius said, "Life and death depend on Destiny, wealth
and honour come from Heaven."[14]
Duke P`ing of Lu wished to
see Mencius, but his minion Tsang T`sang slandered Mencius, and
dissauded him. Mencius said, "It is Heaven."[15]
Confucius, a sage,
principles, did not confound truth and untruth. Since they spoke
of destiny, it is evident that there is a destiny. Huai Nan Tse
says in his work, "Benevolence and meanness depend upon time,
not on conduct, and profit and loss are brought about by fate,
not by knowledge." And Chia Yi[16] states, "With Heaven one
cannot fix a time, and with Tao one cannot lay plans. Early and
late are predetermined by destiny. How could the time be known?"
When Kao Tsu fought against Ch`ing Pu,[17]
he was hit by a
stray arrow. His illness being very serious, the Empress Lü Hou
consulted an able physician. This doctor said that the disease
could be cured, but Kao Tsu abused him saying, "I, a simple
citizen, have with my sword of three feet conquered the world.
Was that not Heaven's decree? Destiny depends on Heaven. Even
a Pien Ch`ioh[18]
would be no use."[19]
When Han Hsin[20]
spoke with
the emperor on military things, he said to Kao Tsu, "The heavenly
appointment, of which Your Majesty speaks, cannot be won by
skill or force."
Yang Tse Yün[21]
teaches that to meet with what one desires, or
not to meet with it, is fate, and the Grand Annalist asserts that
wealth and honour do not exclude poverty and meanness, and that
the latter do not exclude wealth and honour. That means that
opulence and nobility may turn into indigence and humbleness, and
that indigence and humbleness may be changed into opulence and
nobility. Rich and noble persons do not desire poverty and misery,
but poverty and misery may come of themselves, and poor and
humble fellows may not strive for wealth and honour, yet wealth
and honour fall to their sort spontaneously.
When in spring or summer people die in prison, and when
in autumn and winter they wear an air of prosperity,[22]
this is
not the result of their works. The sun rises in the morning, and
sets in the evening, not because people wish it, for the principle
of Heaven is spontaneity. The King of Tai[23]
arrived from Tai, and
was made Marquis of Tiao. At first, the King of Tai was not heir-apparent,
and Chou Ya Fu was not the legitimate son, but they
encountered the proper time, and fell in with the right moment,
which led to their elevation.
In case a person predestinated for poverty, acquires wealth
by his exertions and his energy, he dies, when he has made a
fortune, and should another doomed to humility win honours by
his talents and abilities, he will be dismissed, when he has made
himself a position. They win wealth and honour by their energy
and their genius, but are unable to keep in possession of fate and
luck, just as a vessel holds but a certain quantity, and as a hand
lifts but a certain weight. If a vessel holds just one pint, then
one pint exactly fills it, but, as soon as there is more than one
pint, it flows over. Provided that a hand can just lift one chün,[26]
then it balances one chün, but, when one chün is exceeded, he who
lifts it up, tumbles and falls.
Former generations knew the truth, therefore they ascribed
every thing to destiny, and such is destiny indeed. Those who
trust in destiny, can live in retirement and await their time. They
need not exhaust their vitality, or harass their bodies, hunting
after it—for it is like pearls and jewels, concealed in lakes and
mountains. Heaven's fate is difficult to know. People are unable
to find it out. Although their fate be propitious, they have no
confidence in it, and therefore seek it. If they understood it, they
would be aware that, though fleeing wealth and shunning honour,
at length they cannot get rid of it.
Thus they presume that force overcomes poverty, and that
diligence vanquishes misfortune. They exert themselves, and do
their utmost to acquire wealth, and they cultivate their faculties,
and purify their conduct to win honour. But neglecting the proper
time, and acting in a wrong way, they will never obtain the wealth
and honour they crave for. Even though they admit the existence
of fate, they imagine that it must be sought.
He who is convinced that fate cannot be sought, maintains
that it must come of its own accord. One obtains it of itself
without any alien assistance, it is completed without any work,
and it arrives spontaneously without any cooperation on the part
of the recipient. The nerves and sinews of those who are to be
and titles, get a fine intellect spontaneously, just as in a thousand Li
horse[27] the head, the eyes, the feet, and the hoofs all suit together.
That fate, if sought, cannot be obtained, does not mean that
it can be won, if not affected. Men of great knowledge need not
seek honour, for it comes of its own accord, and the active and
energetic need not seek wealth, for it falls to them spontaneously.
The happiness of wealth and honour cannot be attracted by any
efforts, nor can the unhappines of poverty and humbleness be
simply avoided. Consequently, the fate of wealth and honour is
obtained without any effort. Those who believe in fate will say
they know that luck requires no seeking. When the heavenly fate
is particularly lucky, it is obtained spontaneously without an effort,
whereas, when it is unpropitious, all endeavours are of no help
against it.
As creatures are born not because they have wished it, so
men become exalted without having struggled for it. Human
character is such, that some people are good of themselves without
instruction, and that others never become good in spite of instruction.
The heavenly nature is like fate. King Yi of Yüeh[28]
escaped
into the mountains, earnestly desiring not to become king, and
wishing to find a substitute. But the people of Yüeh smoked his
den so, that at last he could not escape, and ascended the throne
by force. By Heaven's fate it had to be so. Though fleeing and
running away from it, he could not avoid it at last. Thus he
spontaneously obtained the honour which he had not sought.
This was the name assumed by the famous minister of the Yüeh State Fan
Li, when, having retired from public life, he lived incognito in Ch`i. Under this name
he amassed a large fortune so, that T`ao Chu Kung has become a synonym for a
"millionaire." (Cf. Giles, Bibl. Dict. N. 540.)
Because T`sai Tsê was not a native of Ch`in, but of Yen. King Ch`ao of
Ch`in (305-250 B.C.) made him his minister on the recommendation of Fan Sui.
| CHAPTER IX. Lunheng | |