Chapter XIII
THE DIFFICULTY OF PIEN HO[1]
Once a man of Ch`u, named Pien Ho, came by an uncut
jade in the Ch`u Hills. He brought it home and submitted
it as a present to King Wu.[2]
Thereupon King Wu had a
jeweller give an opinion of it. "It is an ordinary stone,"
said the jeweller. The King, regarding Ho as a liar, had
his left foot cut off. Upon King Wu's death, King Wên
ascended the throne, when Ho again submitted it as a present
to King Wên. King Wên also had a jeweller give an opinion
of it. Again he said, "It is an ordinary stone." The King,
also regarding Ho as a liar, had his right foot cut off.
When King Wên died and King Ch`êng ascended the
throne, Ho, carrying the uncut jade in his arms, cried at
the foot of the Ching Hills.[3]
After three days and three
nights his tears were all exhausted and blood flowed out.
At this news the King sent men out to ask him the reason,
saying, "Throughout All-under-Heaven men whose feet
were cut off are many. Why should you be crying so
bitterly?" "I am lamenting not the loss of my feet,"
said Ho in reply, "but for the calling a precious gem an
ordinary stone and for their dubbing an honest man a liar.
This is the reason why I am lamenting." Meanwhile, the
King had a jeweller polish up the jade and got the treasure
out at last. So it was designated "the Jade of Pien Ho".
Indeed, pearls and gems are what the lord of men wants
badly. Though Ho presented the uncut jade to the Throne,
before it was made beautiful, he was never a harm to His
Majesty. Nevertheless, it was only after both his feet had
been cut off that the treasure was acknowledged. That to
establish an opinion of a treasure should be so difficult!
To-day, the lord of men feels the need of law and tact
not necessarily as badly as he wants the Jade of Pien Ho,
whereas he has to suppress the self-seeking wickedness of
all officials, gentry, and commoners.[4]
That being so,
upholders of the right way of government are not punished
because they have not as yet presented the uncut jade of
emperors and kings to the Throne.
If the sovereign uses tact, then neither the chief vassals
can fix the state policies at their will, nor will the courtiers
dare to sell off any personal favour. If the magistrate enforces
the law, then vagabonds have to turn to tillage while itinerants
have to stop talking about warfare. If so, law and tact offer
a drawback to the officials, gentry, and commoners. Therefore,
unless the lord of men can rise against the chief vassals'
protests, above the vagabonds' slanders, and exclusively
follow[5]
the dicta of the true path, upholders of law and
tact, even though driven to the verge of death, will never
see the true path acknowledged.
In by-gone days, Wu Ch`i taught King Tao of Ch`u
a state policy for Ch`u, saying: "When chief vassals are
too powerful and enfeoffed retainers too numerous, the
body of officials will intimidate the ruler and oppress the
people, which is the way to impoverish the state and weaken
the army. Therefore, better confiscate the ranks and bounties
of the enfeoffed retainers after the third generation of their
successors, reduce
[6]
the salaries and allowances of the
magistrates, and eliminate such superfluous offices as of no
urgent need, in order thereby to maintain well-chosen and
well-trained warriors." King Tao, after enforcing this
policy for a year, passed away, whereupon Wu Ch`i was
dismembered in Ch`u.
Lord Shang taught Duke Hsiao of Ch`in to organize
groups of ten and five families, and establish the system of
denunciation of crime and joint responsibility for offence,
to burn the Books of Poetry and History[7]
and thereby make
laws and orders clear, to bar the requests of private families
and thereby encourage services to public offices, to prohibit
idlers from purchasing official posts, and to celebrate farmers
and warriors. The theory was carried into effect by Duke
Hsiao with the immediate result that the sovereign thereby
became glorious and secure and the state thereby became
rich and strong. Eighteen[8]
years later the Duke passed
away, whereupon Lord Shang was torn to pieces by chariots[9]
in Ch`in.
Ch`u, not employing Wu Ch`i, was dismembered and
disturbed; Ch`in, practising the Law of Lord Shang, became
rich and strong. Though the two philosophers' words
turned out true, yet how came it that Ch`u dismembered
Wu Ch`i and Ch`in tore Lord Shang to pieces by chariots?
It was because the chief vassals had regarded law as annoyance
and the masses had resented order. Now that in the present
age the chief vassals' covetousness of power and the masses'
content with disorder are more vivid than the conditions
that once prevailed in Ch`u and Ch`in,
[10]
if the lord of men
does not have the same aptitude for counsels as King Tao
and Duke Hsiao had, then how can upholders of law and
tact run the risk of the two philosophers to make their
principles of law and tact clear? This is the reason
[11]
why
the age is chaotic and has no Hegemonic Ruler.
