University of Virginia Library

Chapter XX.

MUTUAL RECRIMINATIONS.

(a) The Lord Grand Secretary: When the ancients
set as standard the Well-tithe System[2] and put into effect
regulations for homestead and hamlet, with every hearty
fellow busy tilling his plowland and field and every wench
tending her hemp and carl-hemp, no land lay fallow and
no man drifted idly; none but the artizan and the
merchant was allowed to live upon the increment of his
capital, none but the sturdy husbandman to enjoy the
fruit of his crops, none but those actually in control of
administration, to taste of the corollaries of office and
rank. But here we have now `Confucianists by profession'[3]
who, having laid aside plough and share, concentrate
on learning to discourse on matters unproven
and unprovable, wasting day after day and consuming

valuable time, without contributing in the least to actual
working problems. They come and go in their aimless
mayfly-like perambulations,[4] upturning no soil for their
food, rearing no silkworms for their clothing, but fraudulently
impersonating people of station even unto
encroaching on the farmers and encumbering the
administration, yea, constituting a genuine cause for
concern in our society!

(b) The Literati: When, perturbed by the disaster
of the Great Flood,[5] Yü personally undertook the labor
of dealing with it, wading through bogs and sleeping by
the roadside, he never entered his home even when
passing by its gate. In these moments, when he had
no time to pick up a fallen hairpin or turn back for his
hat forgotten where he had hung it, do you think he
could find leisure to till the land?[6] `Twas hateful to the
poet who could not remain silent: `tis hateful to me,
Ch'iu: I cannot conform,[7] exclaimed Confucius, so three
score and ten times[8] he harangued the princes east, west,
south, north, all without avail. Thereupon he retired and
culutivated the Way of the Kings, composed the Ch'un
Ch'iu and handed it down to posterity to serve as a
criterion and standard for the world unto eternity.
Would you deem that equipollent to common man and
woman's farming and weaving? Should the superior
man fail to move at the proper time, says the Chuan, there
will be no pageant of edification for the people. Therefore,
none but the superior man is to govern the common
sort, as without the common folk there will be no one to
support the superior man. The latter should not occupy
himself in farming or weaving after the fashion of every
Jack and Jane. Should superior men engage themselves
in the cultivation of land to the detriment of their studies
it would only point the road to anarchy.[9]

(c) The Lord Grand Secretary: When discoursing
on polity you are, Oh Literati, superior indeed to T'ang
and Yü, and higher than the autumn sky when talking

honor. You certainly blossom forth in speech—but we
have yet to see your fruits. In days of old when Kung-i
was chancellor of Lu under the reign of Duke Mu, Tzŭ
Ssŭ and Tzŭ Yüan served as his ministers, and lo! in
the north, they ceded territory to Ch'i down to the line
of the river Ssŭ, in the south, they cowered before the
Ch'u barbarians, in the west, they paid homage to the
state of Ch'in. When Mêng K'o took up his abode in
Liang, the troops of that state were smashed by Ch'i,
their high commander dead, their crown-prince, captive;
to the west, they were defeated by Ch'in and were forced
to abandon to the enemy frontier districts and relinquish
lands to the extent of losing all the territory within the
River and without.[10] Consider also Chung-ni's school,
his seventy disciples,[11] who abandoned father and mother,
broke up home and family, and followed Confucius bag
and baggage—they did not plow, they studied! and
anarchy meanwhile increased apace. Therefore, with
your chestful of jade chips do not deem yourselves
possessors of treasures, nor regard yourselves as
possessing Virtue through your droning of the Odes and
the Historical Documents and your carrying books by
the basketful. Our all-important task is to bring peace
to the nation and prosperity to the people without further
indulging in involved rhetoric and multifarious speeches.

(d) The Literati: Just as Yü perished for not
following Po-li Hsi's advice, so Duke Mu of Ch'in
achieved the hegemony as a result of adopting it. As
thus proved, doomed is he who employs not the worthy;
would you then expect such an one to avoid cession of
territory?[12] When Mencius arrived at Liang, King Hui
inquired of him on the way to profit, but he replied as to
humanity and justice—they could not even come to
terms, so Mencius finding no employment was forced to
leave, hiding his treasure in his bosom and speaking no
more of it.[13] Thus, it would not sate one's hunger, having
grain and not partaking of it, nor does it repair loss of

territory, when you perceive a worthy yet not employ him.
In Tyrant Chou's time there were at court the two
viscounts, Chi and Wei, and Chiao Ko and Chi Tzŭ
abroad, yet he could not keep them nor preserve his
dynasty.[14] Now, when you speak and they follow you
not, you admonish, and they hear you not, though you
be a man of superior talent, how can you prove to be of
benefit to government?

(e) The Lord Grand Secretary: All people find
delicious the oranges and pumeloes that are grown south
of the River, for all palates share the sense of taste; the
lovely tunes produced in Chêng and Wei are enjoyed by
all people for the sense of hearing is alike to all ears.
I-wu, a man of Yüeh, and Yu Yü, a Jung [barbarian],
could be understood only through interpreters, but both
were highly honored, the one in Ch'i, the other in Ch'in,
for in all men's hearts good and evil find the same
response. Thus, when Tsěng Tzŭ sang on the hillside,
the mountain birds came fluttering down; when the music
master Kuang stroked his lute, all the animals came
dancing to him, for there never was excellence that met
no response, and sincerity that found no answering call.
May we not infer that there is lack of sincere purpose on
your part? For what other reason could there be for
no visible actualization of your speeches and your
practices finding no meetness?

(f) The Literati: A sick man adverse to needle or
physic, P'ien Ch'iao himself would be unable to cure; a
prince unwilling to swallow the bitter truth, the worthiest
sage is unable to set aright. Thus, Hsia perished in spite
of Chieh having Kuan Lung-fêng at his side, and Shang
was extinguished, though there were three worthies with
the Yin. We have no reason to deplore the lack of
arguments such as were advanced by Yu Yü or I-wu; we
regret only there is no one to give ear to them as Dukes
Huan and Mu did. Thus it was that, went he east or
west, Confucius found no favorable reception, and Ch'ü
Yüan saw himself driven away from the kingdom of
Ch'u, an exile. It has been said, therefore: If we do
honest public service where shall we go and not be often
dismissed? And if we are willing to do dishonest public

service[15] ......to the end of our days, we may add, there
will be no lack of `visible actualization' of such as our
speeches would then be and no lack of `meetness to our
practices.'

(g) The Lord Grand Secretary: As a singer does
not strive to reach high falsetto, but puts value in following
closely the rhythm, so the expositor does not tarry
to fashion beauteous periods so that he may concentrate
upon the crux of matters under consideration. Though
one may possess a good voice, he cannot be said to be a
singer if he be ignorant of the principles of solfeggio, so
likewise he cannot be considered as one able to discourse
who, though he utter excellent words, is ignorant of the
intricacies of exposition. You pick your compass and
find fault with the square, clutch your water-level, but
criticize the plumb-line, the single hole—you know it
perfectly, the single vein or streak—you have investigated
it thoroughly, but poise and scale is somewhat entirely
beyond your knowledge. Like cicadas which never
behold the snow, you refuse to believe others when it
comes to things that are beyond your ken. Your sticking
obstinately to ancient script and attempting to meet with
it the requirements of the present age is just as
incongruous as trying to bring Orion and Scorpio
together and tuning a harp after having glued fast the
pegs. You may try your hardest, you will find it still
harder to make things fit. Thus it was that Confucius
was found of no use by his age and Mêng K'o found
himself slighted by the feudal lords.

(h) The Literati: The sun and moon shine in
splendour, but the blind see them not; thunderclaps
resound, but the deaf hear them not. To speak for the
benefit of those who know not rhyme nor reason, is but
to talk to the deaf and mute, dumber than cicadas
unaware of snow-drifts! Now, I Yin with all his wisdom,
T'ai Kung with all his accomplishments could not make
their words prevail before such as Chieh and Chou, not
because of any error on the part of the speakers, but
because of the default of the hearers. Thus Ching Ho
clasped to his bosom his gem-matrix and wept bitter tears
of blood, crying: `Where shall I get a master craftsman
who will cut my stone?'; and Ch'ü Yüan roamed along
the marsh side wailing: `Where shall I get a Kao Yao

who will decide my case?' There is no prince, we
believe, who would not like to search out worthy men
that they might assist him, who would not be glad to
employ an able man that might bring good government
to his state, but . . . . . . princes are misled by insinuations
and beguiled by flattery. As a result worthies and sages
are hidden from them as if with a screen while deceitful
sycophants are in control of the business of state. It is
due to this state of affairs that kingdoms go to their doom
and ruling houses fall while worthies and sages live in
indigence in their mountain caves. Formerly, Chao Kao,
a man of ordinary wisdom, seated himself on the seat of
power ten thousand fold beyond his ability, and consequently
brought to its ruin the kingdom of Ch'in, the
disaster engulfing him and all his family. He lost his
"harp" entirely: what kind of "tuning with pegs glued
fast" would you call that?

(i) The Lord Grand Secretary: What we would
call Literati of high grade are men whose wisdom and
ability are equal to making illustrious the art of ancient
kings, are men of parts and substance competent to walk
in their path. Such would thus be able to become leaders
and teachers of humanity should they remain at home,
and a law and an example to the world should they be
called to public service. But Literati of your type, such
as we have with us to-day, sing the praises of Yao and
Shun, when discussing matters of government, and talk
of Confucius and Mencius when setting forth the principles
of morals; let us but surrender to them some actual
problem of administration, and they are unable to make
any headway. While doting over the ways of the
Ancients, you never succeed in putting them into practice;
you speak straight, but make your path crooked; faithful
in principle, you are faithless in spirit; in your robes and
coifs you can be certainly distinguished from the villager,
but in essence there is nothing that marks you off from
the commonest sort. All your doctors, so-called straight
and true, have merely grasped the lucky opportunity of
the time in presenting themselves to make up the
prescribed number; we cannot possibly term them
enlighteningly selected. I see indeed no possibility yet
to discuss with them intelligently the principles of
government.

(j) The Literati: Heaven set the Three Luminaries
in order to lighten the course of time, the Son of Heaven
established high ministers to make manifest orderly rule.

It is said, therefore, that the high ministers of state at
once form the "contour" of the Four Seas and constitute
the "coloring" of Spiritual Progress. Theirs is the
responsibility of supporting the enlightened monarch's
dignity above, and theirs the business of completing the
work of His Sagely education below. It is they who
bring Yin and Yang into harmony and attune the four
seasons; they who bring peace to the masses and sustain
all mankind, so that the Hundred Clans working in
harmony may show no sign of frustrated aspirations and
the barbarians on the four corners of the world, yielding
meekly to Imperial Virtue, may give no cause for worry
by a rebellious attitude. Such is the duty of high
ministers and that which should engage the attention of
those worthy of it, as were I Yin and Dukes Chou and
Shao, talents equal to the demands of the offices of the
Three Kung, and T'ai T'ien and Hung Yao, men able to
fulfill the charges of the Nine Ch'ing.[16] If we, the
Literati have failed to come up to the mark in the Sage
Monarch's enlightened selection, is it not also true that
those now in control of administration cannot be said
to possess overbounding virtue.

(k) Displeased, the Lord Grand Secretary colored
and made no reply.

(l) The Literati: Eclipsed is the administration of
a court when there is no loyal minister within it; tottering
is the seat of a lord who has no honest vassal. After
Jen Tso spoke straight and true of the faults of his
prince, Marquis Wên mended his speech and conduct and
came to be praised as a worthy prince; after Yüan Yang
criticized Marquis Chiang's arrogance and haughtiness
right in his face, the latter finished by earning great
happiness thereby. Therefore, he who is constantly
battering at the shortcomings of his lord, running
straight into the danger of death, is a loyal servant; and
he is a straightforward knight who dares to face an angry
countenance in correcting the misdeeds of a high minister.
Humble provincials that we are we cannot criticize you
behind your back in our alley-asides. Now that the
Ruler of Men has drawn his bow to full strength, that
his instructions and regulations are taut and unslackened,
we find that, in many cases salaries and emoluments are
given to the wrong persons, so as to encumber farmer,

merchant and artizan alike; that market profits never
revert to the people, whose expectations are not filled up.
We find, moreover, that the principles of Emperor and
King are mostly in decadence and are cultivated no more.
Teeming, teeming are the knights at court says the Book
of Odes.[17] It is our earnest purpose that this plan be
applied to remedy the situation; it is not that we insist
merely upon pouring forth empty verbiage.