Chuang Tzu said, ‘Well now. When the King of Chin falls ill, he summons his doctor who lances die ulcer or squeezes the boil and as a reward receives one carriage. The doctor who applies a suppository gets five carriages. The lower down the service, the more carriages given. So, Sir, I assume you must at least have been licking his piles to have been given so many carriages? Be gone, Sir!’
The Duke Ai of Lu asked Yen Ho, ‘If I were to take Confucius as the main prop of my government, would the problems of the country be resolved?’
‘To take on Confucius would be dangerous!’ replied Yen Ho. ‘He likes to decorate feathers and to use flowery language in his work and cannot differentiate the trunk of issues from the mere branches. He is willing to distort true nature in order to convince the people, and yet he has no understanding of what he is doing. He draws inspiration from his own heart and judges according to his own lights, so how could you put such a person in charge? Do you approve of him? Could you entrust things to him? If you do so, it is a mistake. Surely a person who makes the people turn away from reality and learn what is hypocritical is no fit model for the people. If you care about the future, you should forget this idea.’
It is hard to govern people and not to forget yourself, for this is not Heaven’s model. Merchants and traders won’t want to be associated with someone like this. Their lowly position might make you think they are the same, but such a charge rankles with them.
Punishments on the outside are inflicted with metal and wood instruments. Punishments to the inner person are inflicted by agitation and excess. When minor people encounter external punishments, the instruments of metal and wood deal with them. When they encounter internal punishments, it is the yin and the yang that consume them. Only the true man can avoid both external and internal punishments.
Confucius said, ‘The human heart is more dangerous than mountains or rivers, more difficult to know than Heaven. Heaven has its seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and its times for sunrise and sunset. But humanity has a thickly cloaked exterior and its true nature is hidden deep within. So it is that someone can have an honest face but be miserly; can be truly gifted but be without skills; seem featherbrained but actually have a very clear plan; appear firm but be bent; look slow but be fast. Thus, those who gather around righteousness as if it were there to slake their thirst will later flee from righteousness as if it were a fire.
‘So it is that the nobleman observes those working for him at a distance and considers their loyalty, and observes them close at hand to consider their respect. He tests their skills by confronting them with difficult issues and tests their knowledge by suddenly asking a question. He tests their faithfulness by getting their commitment and he tests their benevolence by giving them wealth, while he tests their fortitude and resolve by informing them of coming dangers. By getting them drunk he tests their ability to take care of themselves and by mixing them with all manner of people, he tests their chastity. By these nine tests, it is possible to uncover the unworthy ones.’
When Cheng Kao Fu121 received the first grade of office, he bowed his head. When he received the second grade, he bent his back. On receiving the third grade, he doubled over and ran along the wall, hugging it. Who would not have him as a model! But a common fellow, on receiving his first grade, puts on airs. On receiving his second grade, dances on top of his carriage. On his third grade, dares to address his uncles by their personal names! How far removed this is from Hsu in the time of Tang!
There is nothing more dangerous than for Virtue to have a heart, but for that heart to have eyelashes that obscure vision. For if they have such eyelashes, then they can only look within and this leads to ruin. There are five evil Virtues, of which the central one is worst. What am I talking about when I say the central Virtue? The central Virtue is that which makes people think well of what they say but despise what others say.
There are eight extreme conditions which limit people, three that assist and six repositories in the body. The eight things that bring trouble if someone has all eight in excess are: beauty, a good beard, height, size, strength, class, bravery and courage.
The three that will bring advancement are: following and copying others; bowing and scraping; and ambition to be better than others.
The six repositories are: knowledge that goes out to all things; bravery, determination and the many troubles they create; benevolence, righteousness and the many requests that arise; comprehending life in its essence – a massive task; understanding knowledge is a lesser thing; comprehending the great destiny you follow after – comprehending the lesser destiny, you are just swept along.
A man went to see the King of Sung and was given ten carriages, and with the ten carriages he went and showed off with them to Chuang Tzu.
Chuang Tzu said, ‘Up on the Yellow River there lives a family which earns enough to eat by weaving things out of rushes. Their son was diving in the very deepest pools when he found a pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold. His father said to him, “Bring me a stone and I will smash it to pieces. A pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold must have come from a pool nine levels deep, from under the chin of the Black Dragon. My son, to have got this pearl, the dragon must have been asleep, for
