Part 29 (2/2)

The heart is the ruler of the body and the master of one's spirit and intelligence. It issues orders, but it takes orders from nothing: it restrains itself, it employs itself; it lets itself go, it takes itself in hand; it makes itself proceed, it makes itself stop. Thus, the mouth can be compelled either to be silent or to speak, and the body can be compelled either to contract or to extend itself, but the heart cannot be compelled to change its thoughts. What it considers right, one accepts. What it considers wrong, one rejects. And so I say: If the heart allows its choices to be without restraint, then necessarily it will display its own objects as broadly varying. Its perfected disposition is to be undivided. The Odes says, I pick and pick then juan-er leaves, but cannot fill my sloping basket.

Oh for my cherished one!

He is stationed on the Zhou campaign.61 A sloping basket is easy to fill, and the juan-er leaves are easy to get, but one must not be divided with thoughts of the Zhou campaign. And so I say: If the heart is split, it will be without understanding. If it deviates, it will not be expertly refined. If it is divided, then it will be confused. If one guides its examinations, then the ten thousand things can all be known together, and if the person thoroughly develops his original substance, then he will be truly beautiful.

The proper cla.s.ses of things are not of two kinds. Hence, the person with understanding picks the one right object and pursues it single-mindedly. The farmer is expert in regard to the fields, but cannot be made Overseer of Fields. The merchant is expert in regard to the markets, but cannot be made Overseer of Merchants. The craftsman is expert in regard to vessels, but cannot be made Overseer of Vessels. There is a person who is incapable of any of their three skills, but who can be put in charge of any of these offices, namely the one who is expert in regard to the Way, not the one who is expert in regard to things. One who is expert in regard to things merely measures one thing against another. One who is expert in regard to the Way measures all things together.62 Thus, the gentleman pursues the Way single-mindedly and uses it to guide and oversee things. If one pursues the Way single-mindedly, then one will be correct. If one uses it to guide one in examining things, then one will have keen discernment. If one uses correct intentions to carry out discerning judgments, then the ten thousand things will all obtain their proper station. . . .

The human heart can be compared to a pan of water. If you set it straight and do not move it, the muddy and turbid parts will settle to the bottom, and the clear and bright parts will be on the top, and then one can see one's whiskers and inspect the lines on one's face. But if a slight breeze pa.s.ses over it, the muddy and turbid parts will be stirred up from the bottom, and the clear and bright parts will be disturbed on top, and then one cannot get a correct view of even large contours. The heart is just like this.63 Thus, if one guides it with good order, nourishes it with clarity and nothing can make it deviate, then it will be capable of determining right and wrong and deciding what is doubtful. If it is drawn aside by even a little thing, then on the outside one's correctness will be altered, and on the inside one's heart will deviate, and one will be incapable of discerning the multifarious patterns of things. . . .

In the caves there lived a man named Ji.64 He was good at guessing riddles because he was fond of pondering things. However, if the desires of his eyes and ears were aroused, it would ruin his thinking, and if he heard the sounds of mosquitoes or gnats, it would frustrate his concentration. So, he shut out the desires of his eyes and ears and put himself far away from the sounds of mosquitoes and gnats, and by dwelling in retreat and stilling his thoughts, he achieved comprehension. But can pondering benevolence in such a manner be called ”true sublimeness”? Mengzi hated depravity and so expelled his wife-this can be called ”being able to force oneself.”65 Youzi66 hated dozing off and so burned his palm-this can be called ”being able to steel oneself.” These are not yet true fondness for it. To shut out the desires of one's eyes and ears can be called ”forcing oneself.” It is not yet truly pondering it. To be such that hearing the sounds of mosquitoes or gnats frustrates one's concentration is called ”being precarious.” It cannot yet be called ”true sublimeness.” One who is truly sublime is a perfected person. For the perfected person, what forcing oneself, what steeling oneself, what precariousness is there? Thus, those who are murky understand only the external manifestations, but those who are clear understand the internal manifestations. The sage follows his desires and embraces all his dispositions, and the things dependent on these simply turn out well ordered. What forcing oneself, what steeling oneself, what precariousness is there? Thus, the person of benevolence carries out the Way without striving, and the sage carries out the Way without forcing himself. The benevolent person ponders it with reverence, and the sage ponders it with joy. This is the proper way to order one's heart.

Chapter Twenty-Two: On Correct Naming67.

In setting names for things, the later kings followed the Shang in names for punishments, followed the Zhou in names for official t.i.tles, and also followed their rituals in names for cultural forms. In applying various names to the ten thousand things, they followed the set customs and generally agreed usage of the Xia. Villages in distant places with different customs followed along with these names and so were able to communicate.

As for the ways the various names apply to people, that which is so by birth is called ”human nature.” The close connection of response to stimulus, which requires no effort but is so of itself, and which is produced by the harmonious operation of the nature, is also called ”human nature.” The feelings of liking and disliking, happiness and anger, and sadness and joy in one's nature are called the qing , ”dispositions.”68 When there is a certain disposition and the heart makes a choice on its behalf, this is called ”deliberation.”69 When the heart deliberates and one's abilities act on it, this is called ”deliberate effort.” That which comes into being through acc.u.mulated deliberations and training of one's abilities is also called ”deliberate effort.” Actions performed for the sake of profit are called ”work”. Actions performed for what is required by the standards of righteousness are called ”proper conduct.” That by which people understand things is called the ”understanding.” When the understanding connects to things, this is called ”knowledge.” That by which people are able to do things is called ”ability.” When ability connects to things, these are also called ”abilities.”70 When the nature is injured, this is called ”illness.” When one encounters unexpected circ.u.mstances, this is called ming , ”fate.” These are the ways the various names apply to people. These are the ways the later kings set names for things.

So when the kings established names, the names were fixed, and the corresponding objects were thus distinguished. This way was followed, and the kings' intentions were thus made understood. They then carefully led the people to adhere to these things single-mindedly Thus, they called it great vileness to mince words and recklessly create names so as to disorder the correct names and thereby confuse the people and cause them to engage in much disputation and litigation. This wrongdoing was considered to be just like the crime of forging tallies and measures. Hence, none of their people dared rely on making up strange names so as to disorder the correct names, and so the people were honest and guileless. Since they were honest and guileless, they were easy to employ, and since they were easy to employ, tasks were accomplished. Because none of the people dared rely on making up strange names so as to disorder the correct names, they were unified in following the proper model of the Way and were conscientious in following commands. Because they were like this, the achievements of the kings were long-lasting. To have long-lasting achievements and to complete great accomplishments is the height of good order. Such is the great accomplishment that comes from conscientiously preserving the agreed names.

Nowadays, the sage-kings have pa.s.sed away, and the preservation of these names has become lax. Strange words have arisen, the names and their corresponding objects are disordered, and the forms of right and wrong are unclear. As a result, even officers who diligently preserve the proper models and scholars who diligently recite the proper order for things are also all thrown into chaos. If there arose a true king, he would surely follow the old names in some cases and create new names in other cases. Thus, one must examine the reason for having names, the proper means for distinguis.h.i.+ng like and unlike, and the essential points in establis.h.i.+ng names.

When different forms make contact with the heart, they make each other understood as different things. If the names and their corresponding objects are tied together in a confused fas.h.i.+on, then the distinction between n.o.ble and base will not be clear, and the like and the unlike will not be differentiated. If this is so, then the problem of intentions not being understood will surely happen, and the disaster of affairs being thereby impeded and abandoned will surely occur. Thus, the wise person draws differences and establishes names in order to point out their corresponding objects. Most importantly, he makes clear the distinction between n.o.ble and base, and, at the least, he distinguishes the like and the unlike. When n.o.ble and base are clearly distinguished, and like and unlike are differentiated, then there will be no problem of intentions not being understood, and the disaster of affairs being thereby impeded and abandoned will not occur. This is the reason for having names. . . .

Names have no predetermined appropriateness. One forms agreement in order to name things. Once the agreement is set and has become custom, then the names are called ”appropriate,” and what differs from the agreed usage is called ”inappropriate.” Names have no predetermined objects. One forms agreement in order to name objects. Once the agreement is set and has become custom, then they are called ”names of objects.”71 There is a predetermined goodness for names. If they are straightforward, simple, and do not conflict, then they are called good names.

Some things have a like appearance but reside in unlike cla.s.ses, and others have unlike appearances but reside in the like cla.s.s, and these two can be differentiated. For those which have a like appearance but reside in unlike cla.s.ses, even though they could be combined into one cla.s.s, they are called two separate objects. If the appearance changes but the object does not become different so as to belong to an unlike cla.s.s, this is called a transformation. When there is transformation without such difference, it is still called one and the same object. These are what to rely upon in observing the objects and determining their numbers.72 This is the essential point in establis.h.i.+ng names, and the names established by the later kings must not go unexamined.

Claims such as ” To be insulted is not disgraceful,”73 ”The sage does not love himself,”74 and ” To kill a robber is not to kill a man”75 are cases of confusion about the use of names leading to disordering names. If one tests them against the reason why there are names, and observes what happens when they are carried out thoroughly, then one will be able to reject them. Claims such as ”Mountains and gorges are level,”76 ”The natural dispositions and desires are few,”77 ”Fine meats are not any more flavorful,” and ”Great bells are not any more entertaining”78 are cases of confusion about the use of objects leading to disordering names. If one tests them against the proper means for distinguis.h.i.+ng like and unlike, and observes what happens when they are thoroughly practiced, then one will be able to reject them. Claims such as . . . ”Both oxen and horses are not horses”79 are cases of confusion about the use of names leading to disordering the objects. If one tests them against the agreement on names, using the fact that what such people accept goes against what they refuse, then one will be able to reject them. In every case of deviant sayings and perverse teachings that depart from the correct Way and recklessly innovate, they will belong to one of these three cla.s.ses of confusion. Thus, the enlightened ruler understands their kind and does not dispute with such people.

The people can easily be unified by means of the Way, but one should not try to share one's reasons with them. Hence, the enlightened ruler controls them with his power, guides them with the Way, moves them with his orders, arrays them with his judgments, and restrains them with his punishments. Thus, his people's transformation by the Way is spiritlike. What need has he for demonstrations80 and persuasions? Nowadays the sage-kings have all pa.s.sed away, the whole world is in chaos, and depraved teachings are arising. The gentleman has no power to control people, no punishments to restrain them, and so he engages in demonstrations and persuasions.

When objects are not understood, then one engages in naming. When the naming is not understood, then one tries to procure agreement. When the agreement is not understood, then one engages in persuasion. When the persuasion is not understood, then one engages in demonstration. Thus, procuring agreement, naming, discrimination, and persuasion are some of the greatest forms of useful activity, and are the beginning of kingly works. When a name is heard and the corresponding object is understood, this is for names to be useful. When they are acc.u.mulated and form a pattern, this is for names to be beautiful. When one obtains both their usefulness and beauty, this is called understanding names. Names are that by which one arranges and acc.u.mulates objects. Phrases combine the names of different objects in order to discuss a single idea. Persuasion and demonstration use fixed names of objects in order to make clear the proper ways to act. Procuring agreement and naming are the functions of demonstration and persuasion. Demonstration and persuasion are the heart's way of representing the Way. The heart is the craftsman and overseer of the Way. The Way is the warp and pattern of good order. When the heart fits with the Way, when one's persuasions fit with one's heart, when one's words fit one's persuasions, then one will name things correctly and procure agreement. One will base oneself on the true disposition of things and make them understood. One will discriminate among things without going to excess, and one will extend by a.n.a.logy the categories of things without violating them. When listening to cases, one will accord with good form. When engaging in demonstration, one will cover thoroughly all the reasons. One will use the true Way to discriminate what is vile just like drawing out the carpenter's line in order to grasp what is curved and what is straight. Thus, deviant sayings will not be able to cause disorder, and the hundred schools will have nowhere to hide. . . .

All those who say that good order must await the elimination of desires are people who lack the means to guide desire and cannot cope with the mere having of desires. All those who say good order must await the lessening of desires are people who lack the means to restrain desire and cannot cope with abundance of desires. Having desires and lacking desires fall under different categories, namely being alive and being dead, not order and disorder. Having many desires and having few desires also fall under different categories, namely the numbers of people's dispositions, not order and disorder.

The occurrence of desires does not wait upon the possibility of fulfilling them, but those who seek to fulfill them follow what they approve. That the occurrence of desires does not wait upon the possibility of fulfilling them is something which is received from Heaven. That those who seek to fulfill them follow what they approve is something that is received from the heart. When a single desire received from Heaven is controlled by many things received from the heart, then it will be difficult to cla.s.sify it as something originally received from Heaven.

Life is what people most desire, and death is what people most despise. However, when people let go of life and bring about their own death, this is not because they do not desire life and instead desire death. Rather, it is because they do not approve of living under these circ.u.mstances, but do approve of dying under these circ.u.mstances.81 Thus, when the desire is excessive but one's action does not match it, this is because the heart prevents it. If what the heart approves conforms to the proper patterns, then even if one's desires are many, what harm would they be to good order? When the desire is lacking but one's action surpa.s.ses it, this is because the heart compels it. If what the heart approves misses the proper patterns, then even if the desires are few, how would it stop short of chaos? Thus, order and disorder reside in what the heart approves, they are not present in the desires deriving from one's dispositions. If you do not seek for them where they reside, and instead seek for them where they are not present, then even though you say, ”I have grasped them,” you have simply missed them.

Human nature is an accomplishment of Heaven. The dispositions are the substance of the nature. The desires are the responses of the dispositions to things. To view the object of the desires as obtainable and seek for it is something that the dispositions cannot avoid, but to approve the object of desires and guide them is something that the understanding must provide. Thus, even for a gatekeeper, the desires cannot be eliminated, because they are the necessary equipment of one's nature. Even for the Son of Heaven, the desires cannot be completely satisfied. Yet even though the desires cannot be completely satisfied, one can get close to complete satisfaction, and even though desires cannot be eliminated, one's seeking can be regulated. (Even though what is desired cannot be completely obtained, the seeker can approach complete satisfaction. Even though desires cannot be eliminated, when what is sought is not obtained, one who deliberates about matters desires to regulate his seeking.)82 When the Way is in ascendance, then one approaches complete fulfillment. When it is in decline, then one regulates one's seeking. In the whole world there is nothing as great as it.

Every person follows that which he approves and abandons that which he does not approve, so there has never been one who knows that nothing is as great as the Way and yet does not follow the Way. Suppose some person had a boundless desire to go south and an unsparing dislike for heading north. How would it be that, because of the impossibility of going all the way south, he would leave off heading south and instead go north? Now people have boundless desire for some things but have an unsparing dislike for others, so how would it be that, because of the impossibility of completely fulfilling their desires, they would leave the Way that will satisfy their desires and instead take up what they dislike? Thus, if one approves of the Way and follows it, then what could detract from this and so bring one to disorder? If one does not approve of the Way and departs from it, then what could add to this and yet bring one to order? Thus, those with understanding judge things by the Way and that is all, and the things those petty schools wish for in their prized doctrines can all fade away.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Human Nature Is Bad.

People's nature is bad. Their goodness is a matter of deliberate effort. Now people's nature is such that they are born with a fondness for profit. If they follow along with this, then struggle and contention will arise, and yielding and deference will perish therein. They are born with feelings of hate and dislike. If they follow along with these, then cruelty and villainy will arise, and loyalty and trustworthiness will perish therein. They are born with desires of the eyes and ears, a fondness for beautiful sights and sounds. If they follow along with these, then lasciviousness and chaos will arise, and ritual and the standards of righteousness, proper form and good order, will perish therein. Thus, if people follow along with their inborn nature and dispositions, they are sure to come to struggle and contention, turn to disrupting social divisions and disorder, and end up in violence. So, it is necessary to await the transforming influence of teachers and models and the guidance of ritual and the standards of righteousness, and only then will they come to yielding and deference, turn to culture and order, and end up under control. Looking at it in this way, it is clear that people's nature is bad, and their goodness is a matter of deliberate effort.

Thus, crooked wood must await steaming and straightening on the shaping frame, and only then does it become straight. Blunt metal must await honing and grinding, and only then does it become sharp.83 Now since people's nature is bad, they must await teachers and proper models, and only then do they become correct in their behavior. They must obtain ritual and the standards of righteousness, and only then do they become well ordered. Now without teachers or proper models for people, they will be deviant, dangerous, and incorrect in their behavior. Without ritual and the standards of righteousness, they will be unruly, chaotic, and not well ordered. In ancient times, the sage-kings saw that because people's nature is bad, they were deviant, dangerous, and not correct in their behavior, and they were unruly, chaotic, and not well-ordered. Therefore, for their sake they set up ritual and standards of righteousness, and established proper models and measures. They did this in order to straighten out and beautify people's nature and inborn dispositions and thereby correct them, and in order to train and transform people's nature and inborn dispositions and thereby guide them. Then for the first time they were well ordered and conformed to the Way. Among people of today, those who are transformed by teachers and proper models, who acc.u.mulate culture and learning, and who make ritual and the standards of righteousness their path become gentlemen. Those who give rein to their nature and inborn dispositions, who take comfort in being utterly unrestrained, and who violate ritual and the standards of righteousness become petty men. Looking at it in this way, it is clear that people's nature is bad, and their goodness is a matter of deliberate effort.

Mengzi says: When people engage in learning, this manifests the goodness of their nature. I say: This is not so. This is a case of not attaining knowledge of people's nature and of not inspecting clearly the division between people's nature and their deliberate efforts. In every case, the nature of a thing is the accomplishment of Heaven. It cannot be learned. It cannot be worked at. Ritual and the standards of righteousness are what the sage produces. They are things that people become capable of through learning, things that are achieved through working at them. Those things in people that cannot be learned and cannot be worked at are called their ”nature.” Those things in people that they become capable of through learning and that they achieve through working at them are called their ”deliberate efforts.” This is the division between nature and deliberate effort.84 Now people's nature is such that their eyes can see, and their ears can hear. The keenness by which they see does not depart from their eyes, and the acuity by which they hear does not depart from their ears. Their eyes are simply keen, and their ears are simply acute; it is clear that one does not learn these things. Mengzi says: People's nature is good, but they all wind up losing their nature and original state.85 I say: If it is like this, then he is simply mistaken. People's nature is such that they are born and then depart from their original simplicity and their original material; they are sure to lose these things. Looking at it in this way, it is clear that people's nature is bad. The so-called goodness of people's nature would mean that one would not depart from one's original simplicity but would instead beautify it, would not depart from one's original material but instead make use of it. It would be to cause the relation of one's original simplicity and original material to beauty, and the relation of the heart's thoughts to goodness, to be like the way the keenness by which one sees does not depart from one's eyes, and the acuity by which one hears does not depart from one's ears, so that one can say [being good] is just like the way the eyes are bright and the ears are acute. . . .

Someone asks: If people's nature is bad, then from what are ritual and the standards of righteousness produced? I answer: In every case, ritual and the standards of righteousness are produced from the deliberate effort of the sage; they are not produced from people's nature. Thus, when the potter mixes clay and makes vessels, the vessels are produced from the deliberate efforts of the craftsman; they are not produced from people's nature. Thus, when the craftsman carves wood and makes utensils, the utensils are produced from the deliberate efforts of the craftsman; they are not produced from people's nature. The sage acc.u.mulates reflections and deliberations and practices deliberate efforts and reasoned activities in order to produce ritual and standards of righteousness and to establish proper models and measures. So, ritual and the standards of righteousness and proper models and measures are produced from the deliberate efforts of the sage; they are not produced from people's nature.

As for the way that the eyes like pretty colors, the ears like beautiful sounds, the mouth likes good flavors, the heart likes what is beneficial, and the bones and flesh like what is comfortable-these are produced from people's inborn dispositions and nature. These are things that come about of themselves in response to stimulation, things that do not need to await being worked at before being produced. Those things that are not immediate responses to stimulation, that must await being worked at before they are so, are said to be produced from deliberate effort. These are the things that nature and deliberate effort produce, and their different signs.

So, the sage transforms his nature and establishes deliberate effort. In establis.h.i.+ng deliberate effort, he produces ritual and the standards of righteousness. In producing ritual and the standards of righteousness, he inst.i.tutes proper models and measures. Thus, ritual and the standards of righteousness and proper models and measures are produced by the sage. Thus, that in which the sage is like the ma.s.ses, that in which he is no different than the ma.s.ses, is his nature. That in which he differs from and surpa.s.ses the ma.s.ses is his deliberate efforts.

Liking what is beneficial and desiring gain are people's inborn dispositions and nature. Suppose there were brothers who had some property to divide, and that they followed the fondness for benefit and desire for gain in their inborn dispositions and nature. If they were to do so, then the brothers would conflict and contend with each other for it. However, let them be transformed by the proper form and good order of ritual and the standards of righteousness. If so, then they would even give it over to their countrymen. Thus, following along with inborn dispositions and nature, even brothers will struggle with each other. If transformed by ritual and the standards of righteousness, then they will even give it over to their countrymen.86 In every case, people desire to become good because their nature is bad. The person who has little longs to have much. The person of narrow experience longs to be broadened. The ugly person longs to be beautiful. The poor person longs to be rich. The lowly person longs to be n.o.ble. That which one does not have within oneself, one is sure to seek for outside. Thus, when one is rich, one does not long for wealth. When one is n.o.ble, one does not long for power. That which one has within oneself, one is sure not to go outside oneself for it. Looking at it in this way, people desire to become good because their nature is bad.

Now people's nature is originally without ritual and without the standards of righteousness. Thus, they must force themselves to engage in learning and seek to possess them. Their nature does not know of ritual and the standards of righteousness, and so they must reflect and deliberate and seek to know them. So, going only by what they have from birth, people lack ritual and the standards of righteousness and do not know of ritual and the standards of righteousness. If people lack ritual and the standards of righteousness, then they will be chaotic. If they do not know of ritual and the standards of righteousness, then they will be unruly. So, going only by what they have from birth, unruliness and disorder are within them. Looking at it in this way, it is clear that people's nature is bad, and their goodness is a matter of deliberate effort.

Mengzi says: People's nature is good. I say: This is not so. In every case, both in ancient times and in the present, what everyone under Heaven calls good is being correct, ordered, peaceful, and controlled. What they call bad is being deviant, dangerous, unruly, and chaotic. This is the division between good and bad. Now does he really think that people's nature is originally correct, ordered, peaceful, and controlled? Then what use would there be for sage-kings? What use for ritual and the standards of righteousness? Even though there might exist sage-kings and ritual and the standards of righteousness, whatever could these add to the nature's correctness, order, peacefulness, and self-control? Now, such is not the case, because people's nature is bad. Thus, in ancient times the sage-kings saw that because their nature is bad, people were deviant, dangerous, and not correct in their behavior, and they were unruly, chaotic, and not well ordered. Therefore, for their sake they set up the power of rulers and superiors in order to control them. They made clear ritual and the standards of righteousness in order to transform them. They set up laws and standards in order to manage them. They multiplied punishments and fines in order to restrain them. As a result, they caused all under Heaven to become well ordered and conform to the Way. This is the order of the sage-kings, and the transformation from ritual and the standards of righteousness.

Now suppose one were to try doing away with the power of rulers and superiors, try doing without the transformation from ritual and the standards of righteousness, try doing away with the order of laws and standards, try doing without the restraint of punishments and fines. Then stand aside and observe how all the people of the world would treat each other. If it were like this, then the strong would harm the weak and take from them. The many would tyrannize the few and shout them down. One would not have to wait even a moment for all under Heaven to arrive at unruliness and chaos and p

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