‘Using your sweet words, you persuaded Tzu Lu114 to follow you. You caused him to put aside his high cap, to lay down his long sword and attend to your teachings, with the result that the whole world says, “Confucius is able to suppress violence and stop evil.” But in the end Tzu Lu attempted to murder the ruler of Wei, messed that up and his body was pickled and hung over the east gate of the city, so, yes, Sir, your teachings were no good to him.
‘Do you call yourself a scholar, of some skill, a sage? You have been driven out of Lu twice, fled from Wei, got into trouble in Chi and been besieged in Chen and Tsai. There is nowhere in the world that will have you. You advised Tzu Lu and this resulted in his being pickled. On one hand you can’t care for yourself, and on the other, you can’t help others. Is this Tao of yours worth anything?
‘There is no one thought more of by all generations than the Yellow Emperor, yet the Yellow Emperor could not maintain the harmony of Virtue, for he fought on the battlefield of Cho Lu and the blood flowed for a hundred miles. Yao was not compassionate, Shun was not filial, Yu was paralysed down one side,115 Tang exiled his ruler, King Wu attacked Chou and King Wen was imprisoned at Yu Li. These seven men are thought of as lofty by the whole world. However, if we study them carefully, we can see that the pursuit of profit made them all act against what was true and violate their innate selves. Their actions cause deep embarrassment.
‘When the world discusses worthy scholars, Po Yi and Shu Chi are mentioned. However Po Yi and Shu Chi both refused the role of ruler for the state of Ku Chu and preferred to go and die of starvation in the mountains of Shou Yang, where no one buried them. Pao Chiao showed off and condemned the world. He embraced a tree and stayed there till he died. Shen Tu Ti spoke out in protest but was ignored, so he fastened a stone to his back and drowned himself in the river, where the fish and turtles ate him. Chieh Tzu Tui was a perfect follower, and cut out a piece of his own flesh for his lord, Duke Wen, to eat. However, later on the Duke ignored him and Chieh Tzu Tui was angry and stormed off into the woods where he burnt himself to death hugging a tree. Wei Sheng had an assignation with a young woman under a bridge, but the woman did not turn up. The water began to rise, but rather than leave, he wrapped his arms around the pillar of the bridge and died. These six men are hardly to be distinguished from a dog torn to shreds, a pig that is drowned or a beggar with his begging bowl in hand. They all succumbed to their desire for fame and honour and so they despised death. They did not nourish the roots of their life nor live out the time allocated by destiny.
‘The world discusses loyal ministers and says that none were better than Prince Pi Kan and Wu Tzu Hsu. However, Wu Tzu Hsu’s body sank in the river and Pi Kan’s heart was cut out. These two are called models of loyal ministers by the whole world, but they both ended up being laughed at by everyone. Taking the cases above down to Wu Tzu Hsu and Pi Kan, none of them deserves respect.
‘Regarding the speech you have given me, Confucius, were you to tell me about ghosts, then there would be no way I could tell whether you are right or not. However, if you talk to me about this world and its affairs, which is all you have dwelt upon so far, then I have heard it all before!
‘Now I will tell you about the innate nature of things. Eyes wish to look upon beauty, ears to hear music, the mouth to taste flavours, the breath of life to persist. A man of considerable age will live to be a hundred, one of middle age will be about eighty and one of lesser years will be sixty. If you remove the time lost on recovering from illness, mourning the dead, worrying and being anxious, then this leaves you with only four or five days in every month when you can open your mouth and laugh. Heaven and Earth are without end, but humans die when their time is up. Take the longest period of possible finite time and compare it with what is without limit: it is gone as swiftly as when a horse dashes past a crack in a wall. Anyone incapable of fulfilling their will and innate nature and achieving their full years cannot be described as having gained the Tao. I reject everything you have said, Confucius. Get a move on and go. I don’t want to hear anything more from you. Your Tao is foolish, deceitful, artful, vain and hypocritical, incapable of sustaining the inner harmony of truth and so it’s not worth talking about!’
Confucius bowed twice and hurried off. Leaving by the gate, he mounted his carriage, dropping his reins three times. His eyes were glazed and he could not see; his face was the colour of dead ashes. Supporting himself on the crossbar of his carriage, his head hung down, he seemed to be losing his life’s breath. He journeyed back to Lu and when he arrived at the eastern gate, he chanced upon Liu Hsia Chi.
‘So here you are at the city gate,’ said Liu Hsia Chi. ‘I haven’t seen you for days. Your carriage and horses have got dusty. Have you been by any chance to see Chih?’
Confucius looked to Heaven and groaned. ‘I most certainly did,’ he said.
‘Chih was infuriated by what you said, I suspect?’
‘He certainly was,’ said Confucius. ‘I
