University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XIX

EXTOLLING THE WORTHY

a. The Lord Grand Secretary: Out of extreme probity Po I[1]
starved to death and Wei Shêng[2] met his end through punctilious
fidelity. Clinging to insignificant appurtenances, they sacrified great
realities. Theirs was the petty fidelity of common men and women,
who (show it by) committing suicide in some ditch, nobody being the
wiser.[3] Can achievement and fame be acquired in this manner?
Su Ch'in and Chang I,[4] on the other hand, possessed wisdom equal
to the task of making their countries strong, and daring sufficient
to overawe their enemies. Let them once be angry, and all the
princes are afraid. Let them live quietly, and the flames of trouble
are extinguished throughout the Empire.[5] There was not a single
ruler of a kingdom of ten thousand chariots who, bearing heavy gifts,
sought not their friendship in abject attitude and with humble speech.

These were what we call world-famed scholars! But those whose
wisdom is not equal to the demands of counsel, and whose authority
cannot arouse their contemporaries, form the lowest class of men.[6]
Now watch them take up Naught and consider it as Substance and
as Fullness! Their plain clothes and torn sandals, their absorption
in meditation and lingering walk, as if under the burden of some
loss! Those are not scholars who can accomplish great things and
establish a name for themselves; they do not even rise above the
commonplace.

b. The Literati: Su Ch'in, who won renown in Chao for his policy
of Latitudinal Alliances, and Chang I, who obtained office in Ch'in
by advocating a Longitudinal Bloc, were undoubtedly greatly esteemed
at the time.[7] Yet wise men followed their careers with anxiety,
knowing well that he whose advancement is due to complete disregard
of right conduct, can not expect to retire by right conduct:
and that which is not acquired in the proper way, is inevitably lost
through improper ways. The power of the Chi and Mêng clans,
and the wealth of the three Huan families, were high above ordinary
achievement, yet Confucius once spoke of them, saying: Depleted
are they![8] Such is the case of ministers who possess themselves of
power equal to that of the prince, and wealth comparable to that
of the state: they are doomed. Thus the higher becomes their position,
the heavier and heavier become their crimes; and the more
inflated become their salaries, the more numerous their misdeeds.

c. Now he who wants to follow the right path[9] first takes care
to perfect himself, and only then seeks to establish his name; and
he who intends to serve in an official capacity first takes pains to
avoid all harm, and then applies for emolument. Undoubtedly scented
baits are made as attractive as possible. Yet tortoises and dragons,
let them but hear of these, hide themselves in the deep; phenixes,
young and old, soar to the heights at the first glimpse of them,
for they know well their life is in danger. When it comes to
common crows and magpies, fishes and turtles, they swallow the
fragrant bait,—then dash away in mad flight, shake their bodies,[10]
exhausting themselves in an effort to escape, but nothing avails them
against inevitable death.

d. Our present jacks-in-office, having obtained a thievish hold upon
the laws of the state, push forward with never a glance back at their
path of crime. Sooner or later, the crisis will come; then shall we
see the rush of chariots and the flight of men, — all of no avail
against inevitable death. The accumulated plunder will be found insufficient
to redeem them from the lot of the slave; their wives
and children will find no sheltering place in their flight; while they
themselves, locked in deep dungeons, will never know a glance of
compassion. In those moments will they find time for mirth?

e. The Lord Grand Secretary: Literary gentlemen of your type
are lofty of purpose and righteous in conduct, in appearance unyielding
as if no power could bend them; they are abounding in
principle and spotless in speech, of immaculate semblance as if
nothing could besmirch them. Yet consider for a moment Ch'ên
Shêng,[11] the garrison soldier, who left off pulling carts to be the
first to raise his head in rebellion and to establish himself finally
as king of "Greater Ch'u". He had originally nothing in common,
so far as righteous conduct is concerned, with such unoccupied

scholars as Yen Hui[12] and Chung Yu,[13] nor could he be considered
to have a position ranking with that of ministers of state or court
officers. Nevertheless, within twenty days after his sudden rise at
Ta-tsê,3 the Confucianists and Mihists, and all the besashed tribe
of disciples, spreading out their long robes,[14] and carrying on their
backs the ceremonial articles and the Books of Poetry and History
of the Confucian family, came to pledge themselves as his servants.
K'ung Chia, who became mentor to Ch'ên Shê,[15] finally perished
with him in Ch'ên, the greatest laughing-stock in the Empire.
Such is their kind: "hiding in the deep and soaring to the heights,"
indeed!

f. The Literati: As the house of Chou degenerated, correct usages
and right conduct were cast aside and could no more hold the world
together. The feudal lords engaged then in a struggle of mutual
extermination; kingdoms were destroyed or amalgamated, until but
six of them were left.[16] Wars continued unceasing and the people
had not a single moment of rest. Ch'in, possessed of the voraciousness
of a wolf or a tiger, one by one engorged the feudal lords,
annexed and swallowed the warring states, and transformed them
into mere provinces and districts. Making a display of his ability,
proud of his achievements, Ch'in considered himself as having
surpassed Yao and Shun, thinking it a disgrace to be even compared
to them. Casting away all humane considerations and right

courses, he glorified judicial measures,[17] believing that for his time
the arts of peace were no longer to be taken as a model, and that
everything was now to be decided by warfare. With Chao Kao
administering penitentiaries within, and Mêng T'ien carrying on war
without,[18] the masses groaned under their burden, and their hearts
beat as one in hatred for Ch'in.

g. Then King Ch'ên aroused them to show their claws and teeth,[19]
and led the Empire in the revolution. Though baneful were his
methods, some of the Confucianists and Mihists[20] sought his patronage,
believing that already too long was the time when there was no
Prince in the world. The righteous Way had been blocked and barred
to development ever since the time of Confucius down to that period;
additional and heavy hindrances were now imposed by Ch'in, so in
their exasperation,[21] they turned to King Ch'ên. When Confucius said,
If one be willing to employ me, may I not make an eastern Chou?[22]
he was intimating that he aspired to emulate the merits of Ch'êng
T'ang and Wên and Wu in uprooting brutality and lawlessness for
the sake of the masses. How could it mean that he was coveting
emolument or seeking to enjoy high rank?

h. The Lord Grand Secretary: In your words and actions, oh
Literati, you have never reached the unwillingness to sacrifice
principle of Hui of Liu Hsia,[23] though you may possess all the

fastidious honesty of a Po I.[24] You do not go beyond casting glances
up and down, being pure in speech but foul in conduct. In the
matter of a cup of wine or a dish of meat,[25] you dawdle ceremoniously,
yielding step one to the other, yet decline the lesser to
snatch the bigger. Scruples of honesty worthy of a chicken, gullets
worthy of wolves! Thus men of the type of Chao Wan[26] and Wang
Tsang[27] were boosted, thanks to their Confucian learning, to high
ministerial rank, yet proved to possess ravenous and pitiless hearts.
Chu-fu Yen's[28] glib tongue earned him high office and enabled him
to usurp unusual power; he used it to prey upon the Imperial family
and to extract bribes from the feudal princes. Finally they
all met their death on the execution ground. Tung-fang So,[29] who
prided himself on possessing such power of argumentation that he
could dissolve hard substances and split apart stones, had no peer
among his contemporaries. Yet look at his private life where he
did things that a madman would not think of doing. As to the
rest of the lot who had not even his eloquence, they do not deserve
a passing glance.

i. The Literati: Those whose minds are set upon the good, forget
the evil; those who are circumspect about details, extend the same
care to important affairs. It is enough to watch one among sacrificial
plates and dishes to judge his sense of propriety; it is sufficient to
observe one in the privacy of the gyneceum to be able to appraise

his moral conduct. Among those who clothe themselves in the garments
of the ancients and recite the moral teachings of yore, rare are
they who do evil. Thus a real scholar and gentleman talks only at
the right time and accepts things only when it is right to do so. He
does not remain in possession of anything acquired not in a righteous
way.[30] He is self-sufficing and never overreaching; dignified, and
never overweening.

j. We have for example, Yüan Ang,[31] who gained the intimacy
of the Emperor Ching, and whose stable, nevertheless, did not exceed
a four-in-hand; Kung-sun Hung,[32] who with the rank of one of the
three highest ministers, never had more than ten equipages in his
household. Master Tung-fang, to whose advice the Emperer Wu lent
his ear, and whose proposals he put into effect, was yet never overbearing
or importunate. As to Chu-fu, he had known long days of
misery and poverty. He hated[33] those in higher places, who grew
richer and more honored in spite of their lack of love for virtue,
for their complete disregard of the fate of the scholars. He therefore
used the surplus from the bounties that came in to him to
supply the needs of indigent schoolmen. His intention was not to
build up a private fortune. Do not blame the "chicken-honesty" of
the scholars for the present clamor, but blame those occupying office
who, like tigers with full bellies or gulping hawks,[34] search and
look about so that nothing remains.[35]