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CHAPTER IV.

Success and Luck (Fêng-yü).

By one's conduct one may always prove oneself a worthy
man, but one can never be sure of success in one's official career.
Worthiness is the outcome of natural gifts, but success depends upon
time. Some one may have remarkable talents, and lead a pure life;
that is by no means a guarantee that he will become noble and
exalted, and another of poor talents and base conduct is not
therefore doomed to wretchedness and meanness. It happens that
men of genius and purity are unsuccessful and sink back into the
vile vulgus, whereas the narrow-minded and the vicious rise above
the heads of all others.

Every age has its own way of promoting scholars, and the
scholars likewise have their methods of advancement,[132] but promotion
is good luck and rejection bad one. Those who are illustrious, and
live in high spheres are not necessarily clever, they are merely lucky,
and those whose position is mean and low are not necessarily stupid,
but unlucky. The lucky may eventually behave most disgracefully,
yet they will find favour at the court of Chieh, and the unlucky
may be ever so pure and disinterested, they will be slighted in
the palace of Yao.[133]

This good or bad luck may occur in different ways. Sometimes a
worthy person assists a wicked man, or great talents are coupled with
small ones, or there are great talents on both sides, but the ways
of one party are pure, and those of the other filthy, or a person
is devoid of virtue, but ingratiates himself by his ability, or has
no skill, but pleases by his beauty.

Wu Yuan[134] and Po P`i[135] both served Fu Ch`ai Po P`i rose to
the highest honours, and Wu Yuan was put to death. Their conduct

was different, but their master the same. Sometimes the conduct
is the same, but the master different, that is also good and bad
luck. Such was the case of Yi Yin[136] and Chi Tse.[137] Both of them
possessed the same talents, but Yi Yin became prime minister and
Chi Tse, a slave. The former met with Ch`êng T`ang, the latter with
Chou of Shang.

Provided that a good sovereign is served with goodness, that
he wishes to govern accordingly, and that a minister helps him
with virtue and talents, then their conduct agrees, and luck is the
necessary consequence. But if a bad prince is served with goodness,
then he declines to adopt this mode of government; his minister
may assist him in the most loyal manner, but their ways and
principles are so conflicting, that bad luck is the inevitable result.

Sometimes a wise and sage minister may come across a prince
willing to practice his theories, but fails at the end. That was the
case of Confucius and Mencius. Confucius was short of provisions
in Ch`ên and Ts`ai,[138] and Mencius distressed in Ch`i and Liang.[139]

When there is not the proper time, a sovereign does not
employ able men, and those whose talents are small and whose
wisdom is shallow cannot make use of men of genius. To drive
a Bayardo or a Green Ear[140] one must be a Wang Liang,[141] and to use
a Yü, a Chi[142] and a Kao Yao as ministers a Yao or a Shun is required.
If a man whose hands are able to manage a hundred Li horse
endeavours to master a courser making a thousand Li[143] , he is sure
to have a disaster, breaking the yoke and rending the halter, and
should a prince be able to appreciate the talents of ordinary officials,
use the wisdom of a great minister, his heart will prove obdurate
and his mind impervious to reason. Thus excellent advice is
repudiated, and worthies and sages are rejected, not because they
are hated, or because their advice is disliked, but their ideals are
too high, and their advice is hard to follow.

When a great talent falls in with a small one, the latter
cannot grasp it, and bad luck must be the result. When a
minister of great talents meets with a very talented prince, there
will be either good or bad luck, Shun and Hsü Yu,[144] T`ai Kung and
Po Yi are instances. Shun and Hsü Yu were both sages, living at
the time of T`ang.[145] Both fell under the notice of Yao. Shun continued
the imperial sway, whereas Hsü Yu absconded in a mountain
forest.

T`ai Kung and Po Yi[146] were both worthies who rose together
in the kingdom of Chou. Both saw Wu Wang. T`ai Kung became
a feudal lord, and Po Yi was starved to death. The principles of
worthies and sages are the same, their intentions similar, and their
aims agree, but the actions of Shun and T`ai Kung were fitting,
and the conduct of Hsü Yu and Po Yi, mal à propos. They were not
born in the proper age, and did not appear at the proper time.

Even if the principles are the same, there are differences in
spite of this agreement, and even if the intentions agree, there are
still discrepancies, for principles may be refined or coarse, and
intentions more or less pure.

Hsü Yu was a helpmate for an emperor, but he was born
under a ruler, and Po Yi would have assisted a ruler, but rose
under the reign of a king.[147] Both walked the path of virtue, and
practised benevolence and justice. Making virtue their main principle,
they did not care but for what was pure, and insisting upon benevolence
and justice, they felt at ease in the highest spheres only.
That was the cause of their bad luck.

Yao was filthy and Shun impure, Wu Wang bloodthirsty and
T`ai Kung a cruel tyrant. They were all equally squalid and equally
coarse, and their doings in harmony.[148] That was the cause of
(T`ai Kung's) luck.

Thus when Shun was king of the world, Kao Yao assisted
him in his administration, whereas Pei Jen Wu Tsê concealed himself

in the remotest hiding place and was seen no more.[149] When Yü
was king, Po Yi acted as his helpmate, whereas Po Ch`êng Tse Kao
declined to take office and tilled the ground.[150] The talents of Kao
Yao did not surpass those of Pei Jên Wu Tsê, nor did Po Yi outshine
Po Ch`êng Tse Kao, but the two former were promoted, while the
two latter took their refuge into obscurity. The actions of those
promoted were à propos, the conduct of those who retired were
the reverse. The circumstances under which they retired were
different. Notwithstanding their humble condition, they did not
wish to advance. The princes did not necessarily reject their
proposals or dislike their ideas, but there was no mutual sympathy.

Shang Yang[151] spoke three times to Duke Hsiao of Ch`in. The
first two speeches were not listened to, but the last was accepted.
The first were fit for emperors and kings only, the last an overture
appropriate for an usurper. When he addressed a leading prince
with words fit for an emperor or a king, they were spurned in
spite of their elegance, but when they were made to suit an usurper,
they were accepted in spite of their coarseness. Refinement was
lost upon Duke Hsiao, coarseness was what he liked. It matters
not whether a speech be good, but whether he who is spoken
to think it so, nor must faculties be rare, provided only that he
in whose service they are employed appreciates them.

The words of the groom[152] were platitudes, but the countrypeople
liked them, and Tse Kung's address was full of meaning, but
the peasants would not listen to them.

A piper played a beautiful melody. Since the king of Yueh
did not like it, he fell into a vulgar tune at which the king was
enraptured. Consequently, he who performs something excellent
for a prince who does not care for good things, does not find favour
in spite of his excellence, whereas another who does something bad
for a sovereign who wants bad things, does not incur his displeasure
notwithstanding his badness.

In this manner minor abilities may please the sovereign.
Pleasing means good luck, not pleasing, bad luck. Some do not

possess such wanton talents, but ingratiate themselves by their
astuteness and cunning, and thus become lucky, e. g. the official who
stole the hair-pin, and the companion who caused the cocks to crow.
The former became intimate with Tse Fan,[153] and the latter won the
good graces of Mêng Ch`ang.[154] Tse Fan liked the thieving official,
and Mêng Ch`ang the wily companion.

If anybody is useful to a prince who can rely upon him, he
is sure to be successful. Sometimes a man may not be of direct
use, but the ruler likes him, as was the case with Chi Ju[155] and
Têng T`ung.[156] Chi Ju was a favourite of the emperor Hsiao Hui Ti,
and Têng T`ung, of Hsiao Wên Ti. They were not endowed with the
smallest talents, or the slightest abilities, but they had a handsome
body, graceful bones, a smooth skin, and a wonderful complexion.
People are fond of beautiful looks, consequently their luck was
ensured.

It may happen that even people with ugly faces and bad looks
are represented to a ruler as very attractive, as were Mu Mu[157] and
Wu Yen.[158] Mu Mu was sent to the emperor Huang Ti, and Wu Yen
chosen by the king of Ch`i. Therefore virtue and vice may
be predetermined, but it is difficult to foresee success, because the likes
and dislikes of a prince are uncertain, and the promotion of an
official cannot be known beforehand.

Happening to fall in with an employer, is the proper thing,
and to harmonise with him, means advancement. Those who are
promoted need not always be clever, or those who are not, unintelligent.
He who, when meeting with a prince, finds favour,
advances, he who does not, loses his opportunity.

There is a wide-spread opinion that wise men can be successful
and that, if they are not, it is their own fault, because they do
not adapt themselves to their surroundings. They should watch
the sovereign to learn his views, regulate their mind and cultivate
their talents, pay attention to their words, and be careful about
their expressions, await an opportunity to offer their services, and
see how they can be useful to the ruler. Would they not be lucky
then? But now it is different. They cultivate useless talents and
give impracticable advice. In summer they offer a stove, and in
winter a fan. They do things which are not wanted, and say words
which no one likes to hear. Then, of course, their bad luck and
their misfortune is certain, for how could they thus become happy?

Talents must be useful and advice profitable, every body knows
that, but very often the useless obtain happiness, or those who
have benefited their master, suffer punishment. And in summer
time a stove may be used to dry moisture, or a fan in winter to
fan the fire. Other people can be imitated, but it is impossible
to meet a ruler's wishes. Words may be changed, but talents cannot
be transmuted. When the reigning sovereign is fond of learning, and
somebody is a literary man, he suits him. When, on the other hand, the
prince is addicted to militarism, that same person would not suit him.

Wên Wang did not like war, and Wu Wang was not a friend
of peace. A philosophical prince does not care for action, and an
active one does not like arguments. Literature and words can
quickly be learned by study, but actions and talents cannot be
accomplished all at once. He who has not thoroughly mastered
a science, cannot give the proper names, and if his expressions
are mostly not correct, he does not find favour with the sovereign.
If a study be made in a hasty manner, and names be given in a
hurried way, one says that the faculties of the person in question
are insufficient and not worth notice. How then should such a
man be able to understand the prince and offer his remarks, or
step forward and show his abilities?

Of old during the Chou time, there was a great number of
unsuccessful scholars. They were old, had white hair, and stood
crying on the road-side. Others inquired what was the cause of
their tears. They rejoined:—

"We scholars have had no chance. We are so sad, because
we are old and have lost the right time. Hence our tears."

`How is it possible,' said their interlocutors, `that you scholars
never had any chance?'

"When we were young," replied the scholars, "we studied
literature, and after we had completed our studies, we wished to
take office, but the sovereign liked to use old men. This prince
died, and his successor only wanted warriors. Then we turned to
military science, but, when we had mastered all its branches, the
military prince likewise died, and the young prince ascended the
throne. He wished to employ young men only. Meanwhile we
had become old. Thus we never had the slightest chance."[159]

For officials there exists a propitious time which cannot be
sought, for it is impossible to imitate other people, or to know a
prince's character, and still less can this be done by a man with
the highest principles and loftiest aims who is not influenced by
profit, or by persons with a strong nature and firm character who
do not care for a prince. Moreover, luck cannot be predetermined,
and advice cannot be given in advance. By accident, one may meet
with success and fall in with a sovereign's view, therefore they
speak of luck. To observe a prince's ways, and to choose one's
words with a view to acquiring honour, may be called calculation,
but not luck.

In spring the seed sown grows, in autumn it is cut and harvested.
Seeking things one obtains them, and doing things one completes
them, but we cannot call that luck. That which comes of
itself without any seeking, or is completed of itself without any
doing, is called luck. It is like picking up things lost on the road,
or taking something thrown away in the country, like the fertility
of heaven and the productiveness of earth, or the assistance of
ghosts and the succour of the spirits. That the spirit of a Ch`in Hsi
secretly benefits, and the mind of a Pao Shu silently promotes a
man, are cases of luck.[160] But ordinary people cannot argue on good
and bad luck. They extol the lucky and decry the unlucky. They
look to success and ask what has been accomplished, but cannot
appreciate conduct or value powers and talents.