University of Virginia Library

Annotations to Canon III:—

Once there was a Sung man selling wine. His measures
were very fair. His reception of customers was very courteous.
The wine he made was excellent. He hoisted his banner[35]
in an imposing manner. Yet he had no business and the wine
would become sour. Wondering at the cause, he asked his
acquaintance, an elder of the village, named Yang Ching.
"It is because your dog is fierce," replied Ching. "If my
dog is fierce, why does my wine not sell well?" "Because
customers are afraid of it. When people send out children
with money and pots or jars to buy wine from you, your
dog would jump at them and sometimes bite them. This
is the reason why your wine does not sell well and becomes
sour." Indeed, the state has dogs, too. Thus experts in
statecraft, bearing the right tact in mind, want to enlighten
the sovereign of ten thousand chariots, whereas ministers
like the fierce dog of the wine merchant would jump at them
and bite them. This is the reason why the lord of men is
deluded and experts in statecraft are not taken into service.

Similarly, Duke Huan asked Kuan Chung what was the
greatest menace to the government of a state. "The greatest
menace is the shrine rats," was the reply. "Why should we
worry so much about the shrine rats?" asked the Duke.
Then Kuan Chung replied: "Your Highness must have seen
people building a shrine. They set up the beams and then
plaster them. Yet rats gnaw holes through the plaster and

shelter themselves inside. Then, if you smoke them out,
you are afraid you might burn the wood; if you pour water
over them, you are afraid the plaster might crumble. This is
the reason why the shrine rats cannot be caught. Now the
courtiers of the ruler of men, when out, are influential in
position and thereby exploit the people; when in, they join
one another in hiding their faults from the ruler. From inside
they spy out the ruler's secrets and report them to foreign
authorities, till they become influential both at home and
abroad and all ministers and magistrates regard them as
helpful.[36] If the authorities do not censure them, they continue
disturbing laws; if they censure them, then the ruler will
shield[37] them from blame, shelter them from punishment,[38]
and still keep them around. They are the shrine rats in the
state. Similarly, ministers who have the grip on state affairs
and issue prohibitions at their pleasure, always giving
advantages to those doing them good and causing injuries to
those not doing them any good, are the same as fierce dogs.

Indeed, when chief vassals have become fierce dogs and
would bite upholders of the true path, and when the courtiers
have turned into shrine rats and would spy out the ruler's
secrets, if the lord of men takes no notice of the impending
danger, how can he avoid delusion and how can the state
evade ruin?

According to a different source: Among the wine merchants
in Sung there was a certain Chuang family. Their
wine was always excellent. One day somebody sent a servant

to buy the wine of the Chuangs. As their dog would bite
customers, the servant dared not go to them and bought
wine from another family. When he was asked why he did
not buy the wine of the Chuangs, he replied, "The wine of
the Chuangs is to-day sour." Hence the saying: "If the
wine merchant does not kill his dog, his wine will become
sour."

According to another different source: Duke Huan asked
Kuan Chung, "What was the chief menace to the government
of a state?" "The greatest distress is caused by the
shrine rats," was the reply. "Indeed, after the shrine had
its beams[39] set up and had them plastered, rats would hide
themselves inside. If you attempt to smoke them out,
the wood will be burned; if you pour water over them,
the plaster will crumble. This is the way you are distressed
by the shrine rats. Now, the courtiers of the ruler of men,
when out, are influential in position and thereby exploit the
people; when in, they join one another in slandering their
enemies and in covering their own faults, and thereby deceive
the ruler. If not censured, they keep disturbing laws; if
censured the lord of men will shield[40] them from blame,
shelter them from punishment, and still keep them around.
They are shrine rats, too."

Similarly, ministers who have the grip on state affairs and
issue prohibitions at their pleasure, always giving advantages
to those doing them good and causing injuries to those not
doing them any good, are fierce dogs, too. Therefore, if the
courtiers become shrine rats and the administrators of state

affairs turn into fierce dogs, the right type of statecraft will
not function.

When Yao wanted to transfer the rule over All-underHeaven
to Shun, against such a measure K`un remonstrated
with him saying: "How inauspicious! Who would transfer
the rule of All-under-Heaven to a commoner?" Yao never
listened to him but raised an army and killed him in the
vicinity of the Feather Mountains. Likewise, the Minister
of Public Works remonstrated with him, saying, "Nobody
should transfer the rule over All-under-Heaven to a commoner."
Yao never listened to him but also raised an army
and banished the Minister of Public Works to the city
of Yu-chou. Thenceforth, All-under-Heaven dared not
disapprove the transfer of the rule over All-under-Heaven
to Shun. Hearing this, Chung-ni said: "It is not difficult for
Yao to know the worthiness of Shun. Indeed, to punish the
remonstrants and thereby effect the transfer of the throne
to Shun was his difficulty."

According to a different source: Chung-ni said, "Not to
ruin the result of observation with the object of suspicion is
difficult."

King Chuang of Ching once issued the law of the inner
gate[41] to the effect that "When any Ministers, High Officers,
and Princes enter the court, if the hoofs of anybody's horse
walk upon the `eavesdrops', the court guard should cut down
the shaft of his carriage and execute his coachman." In the
meantime, the Crown Prince entered the court. As soon as
his horse trod on the "eavesdrops", the guard cut down the
shaft of his carriage and executed his coachman. Angry at this,

the Crown Prince went in to see the King and with tears in
his eyes said, "May Your Majesty punish the guard for me!"
In response the King said: "The law is the means whereby
the ancestral shrine and the Altar of the Spirits of Land and
Grain are revered. Therefore, who can live up to the law,
carry out orders, and thereby revere the Shrine of the Spirits
of Land and Grain, is a loyal subject to the community. Why
should such a man be punished then? To be sure, who violates
the law, discards orders, and thereby shows no respect to the
Shrine of the Spirits of Land and Grain, is a subject offending
his ruler and an inferior disobeying his superior.[42] If the
subject offends his ruler, then the sovereign will lose his
authority; if the inferior disobeys his superior, then the
superior's status will be endangered. With my authority lost
and my status endangered and the Altar of the Spirits of Land
and Grain not safeguarded what can I bequeath to my
descendants?" Thereupon the Crown Prince ran backward,
kept away from his residence, stayed outdoors for three
days, faced the north, repeated his bows, and apologized for
the capital crime.

According to a different source: Once upon a time the
King of Ch`u sent urgently for the Crown Prince.
The law of the Ch`u State allowed no carriage to reach
the inner gate of the palace. It was raining. There were
puddles in the courtyard. Therefore, the Crown Prince had
to take his carriage as far as the inner gate. "No carriage
is allowed," shouted the court guard, "to reach the inner gate.
To take any carriage as far as the inner gate[43] is against the

law." "His majesty's summon is so urgent," said the Crown
Prince, "that I cannot wait till the puddles dry up." So
saying, he drove onward. Raising his halberd, the guard
hit the horse and broke the yoke. The Crown Prince then
went in to see the King and with tears in his eyes said:
"There were in the courtyard so many puddles that I had
to take the carriage as far as the inner gate. The guard,
however, said it was against the law, raised his halberd, hit
thy servant's horse and broke the yoke of thy servant's
carriage. May Your Majesty be sure to punish him!" "With
the aged sovereign in the front," remarked the King, "he
never neglected the law; with the future ruler in the rear he
never showed any favour. How worthy he must be! He is
truly my law-abiding subject." Thereupon the King raised
the rank of the guard by two grades, sent out the Crown
Prince through the back gate, and prevented him from going
through the inner gate again.

Duke Ssŭ[44] of Wei said to Po Yi: "You regard my state
as small and therefore not worth serving. Yet I have ability
to take you into service. Shall I raise your rank and appoint
you High Noble?" So saying, he added one million mou[45]
of fields to his emolument. In response to this Po Tzŭ said:
"Yi's mother loves Yi and thinks Yi is even able to serve
as prime minister to a ruler of ten thousand chariots with no
insufficiency. However, Yi's family witch, Old Woman
Ts`ai, is very much liked and believed by Yi's mother and is
entrusted with all domestic affairs. Now, Yi is intelligent

enough to be told[46] about the domestic affairs and his mother
should always listen to him. However, whatever she had
agreed with Yi, she would always refer to Old Woman Ts`ai
for decision. Thus, for instance, after discussing Yi's wisdom
and ability with the old woman, she came to consider Yi able
to serve as prime minister to a ruler of ten thousand chariots.
As regards the relationship, it lies between mother and son.
Nevertheless, she could not help consulting Old Woman
Ts`ai. Now, the relationship between Yi and the lord of
men is not as intimate as that between mother and son while
the lord of men always has witches like Old Woman Ts`ai.
The witches of the lord of men are, no doubt, his powerful
vassals, who are able to practise selfishness. Indeed, to practise
selfishness is contrary to the inked string, whereas what
Yi speaks about is always in accordance with the law. Who
acts contrary to the inked string and who stands in accordance
with the law are enemies and never tolerate each other."

According to a different source: The Ruler of Wei was
going to Chin and said to Po Yi: "I want you to go along
with me." "Mother is at home. May I go home and consult
with her about the matter?" Thereupon the Ruler of Wei
went himself to ask permission. "Yi is a subject," said
Mother Po, "to Your Highness. It is very kind of you to
take him along." Then the Ruler said to Po Yi: "I already[47]
asked Mother. She gave me permission." When Po Yi went
home, he asked his mother, "Who loves Yi better, His
Highness or Mother?" "He does not love my son so much
as I do," replied the mother. "Who recognizes Yi's worthiness
more, His Highness or Mother?" "He does not

recognize my son's worthiness so much as I do." Finally
Yi said: "Every time after Mother and Yi discussed
domestic affairs and decided on a certain plan, she would
refer it to the Old Woman of Ts`ai, a fortune-teller, for the
second decision. Now the ruler of Wei is going to take Yi
along. Though he will decide with Yi on his plans, yet he
will certainly consult some other Old Woman Ts`ai and
break the plans. If such be the case, Yi will not be able to
serve him long as Minister."

Indeed, the teacher of singing first teaches the pupil vocal
gestures and different pitches. After the pupil becomes[48]
able to express the clear lingual sounds, then the teacher
begins to teach him real singing.

According to a different source: The teacher of singing,
first of all, conforms the pupil's voice to certain rules. When
singing staccato,[49] the pupil must set his tone with guttural
sounds; when singing legato,[50] he must set his tone with
lingual sounds. If his staccato is not set with guttural sounds
and his legato not with lingual sounds, then he is not teachable.[51]

Wu Ch`i was a native of Tso-shih in Wei. Once he asked
his wife to weave a silk band. When finished, the band was
too narrow for the regular width. So he asked her to weave
a new one. "All right," said his wife. When finished, it was
measured as before but fell short of the regular width, too.
At this Wu Ch`i was very angry. In response his wife said:
"After I had set in the warp, I could not change the width any
more." Wu Ch`i divorced her. Then his wife asked her

elder brother to send her back. Her elder brother said:
"Wu Ch`i is a law-abiding man. In abiding by the law, he
wants to apply legalism to his wife first and then to his son
in order that some day he will be in a position to render a
ruler of ten thousand chariots meritorious services. Give up
your hope for reinstatement as his wife." Her younger brother
had[52] influence on the Ruler of Wei. Therefore, through
the influence of the Ruler of Wei he asked Wu Ch`i to take
her back, but Wu Ch`i never listened to him and finally left
Wei for Ching.

According to a different source: Wu Ch'i showed his
wife a silk band and said to her: "Will you weave for me a
silk band exactly like this one?" When the band was woven,
he tried[53] it and found it extraordinarily well done. "I told
you," said Wu Ch`i, "to weave for me a silk band exactly
like this one, but now it is extraordinarily well done. Why?"
In reply his wife said: "The material was the same, but
I added a great deal of effort to make it better than the sample."
"That was not what I told you to do." So saying, Wu Ch`i
let his wife wear it and sent her home. Her father went to
ask him to take her back. However, Wu Ch`i said, "Ch`i's
house admits no empty word."

Duke Wên of Chin once asked Hu Yen: "If your Highness
fills the reception hall with sweet tastes and fat meat,
leaves a few cups of wine and a few plates of meat in the inner
court, and lets the wine in the jar have no time to become
clear and the raw meat have no time to be laid out, and if on
killing an ox he would distribute the beef among the people
in the country and clothe the officers and soldiers with the

whole year's products of the weavers, will this be sufficient
to make the people go to war?" "Insufficient," replied Hu
Tzŭ. "Suppose I reduce the custom duties and business
taxes and loosen censure and punishment, will that be sufficient
to make the people go to war?" "Insufficient," replied
Hu Tzŭ. "Suppose I personally send a courtier to look after
the matter when anybody needs money for a funeral rite, give
pardons to criminals and bestow favours upon the poor
and the needy. Will this be sufficient to make the people go
to war?" In reply Hu Tzŭ said: "All these methods are
ways of earning one's livelihood. To make the people go
to war, however, is to put them to death. Now that the people
obey Your Highness on purpose to earn their livelihood, if
Your Highness thereby drives them to their death, then they
will lose the cause to obey Your Highness." "If so," asked
the Duke, "what will be sufficient to make the people go
to war?" "Make them unable to do anything but fighting,"
was the reply. "How to make them unable to do anything
but fighting?" asked the Duke. "By making reward of
faith and punishment definite," replied Hu Tzŭ. "This will
be sufficient to make them go to war." "How far must the
extremity of censure and punishment extend?" asked the
Duke. "As far as any relative or noble held guilty. The law
must prevail among the most beloved," replied Hu Tzŭ.
"Good," remarked the Duke.

On the following day Duke Wên issued an order: A field-hunt
is to be held at the Gardening Land; the time is fixed at
noon sharp; whoever arrives late shall be court-martialled.
There arrived late a favourite of Duke Wên, named Tien
Chieh. The criminal judge asked the Duke to pass a sentence
on him. Shedding tears, the Duke worried over it. But the

judge said, "May Your Highness carry out the order!"
Finally he cut Tien Chieh in two at the back in order to warn
the hundred surnames and to prove the faith of the law.
Thenceforth all the hundred surnames were afraid of punishment
and said: "His Highness made so much of Tien Chieh.
Still he applied the law to the case. How much less can we
hope for pardon?"

Perceiving his ability to make the people go to war,
Duke Wên raised an army, attacked Yüan, and took it.
Attacking Wei, he made their field-ridges run eastward and
thereby facilitate his military operations. He took Five Deer,
attacked Yang, and defeated Kuo. Then he attacked Ts`ao
and marched southward to besiege Chêng and upset the
city walls. Then he raised the siege of Sung and fought with
the Chings at Ch`êng-p`u and put them to rout. Turning
homeward, he took an oath at Foot-Earth, and finally
accomplished at Hêng-yung the righteousness of honouring
the House of Chou. Thus, in an expedition he completed
eight achievements. As to why he was so successful, there
was no other reason than this, that he followed the counsel
of Hu Yen and made use of the back of Tien Chieh.

Indeed the pain of the boil, unless the bone and marrow are
pierced, the worried mind will no longer be able to bear. If the
bone and marrow are not pierced, nobody can use the half-inch
stone-needle to cut the boil open. The same is true with the lord
of men in government. Unless he knows hardship, he cannot
have peace. If he wants to govern his country, unless he
experiences the pain, he will not be able to listen to the holy
and the intelligent and remove the rebellious ministers.
Rebellious ministers are always powerful men. Powerful men
are always very near and dear to the lord of men. The relationship

between the sovereign and his favourites is as inseparable
as that between "Hard and White".[54] Indeed, if any wearer
of hemp clothes attempts from such a humble position to
remove the favourites of the lord of men who are as inseparable
from him as hard from white, it will be as dangerous as to
cut off the left thigh and speak to the right one. This is the
reason why his body will be put to death and his theory never
will prevail.