第15章

6. By trifling with men he ruins his virtue; by finding his amusement in things he ruins his aims.

Gaubil＇s rendering of this part is sententious, but can be of no help to a student:—＇Ainsi les choses qui viennent de la vertu retournent ù la vertu.＇

[This passage appears in the 左傳, 僖꾉뎃, along with two other sentences from ＇the Books of Chow＇,in the following form: 民不易物, 惟德繄物. The use which is made of it there is to show that virtue is the only sure defence of a State.]

Pp. 4-6. How the sovereign＇s careful attention to his virtue will appear in his guarding against improper familiarity with men, and foolish cherishing of useless creatures and things. This is the meaning that is put upon these paragraphs. The interpretation of them, it will be seen, is perplexing and difficult. 4. 德盛不狎侮,—comp. 狎侮꾉行, in ＇the Great Speech,＇ Pt. iii., 2.Koo Seih-ch＇ow (顧錫疇; Ming dyn.) says upon the terms here:—狎者與껣暱也, 侮者禮껣倨也, 一是視為私人, 一是忽為易與, ＇狎 is being familiar with them;侮is a naughty disregard of the rules of propriety.The former indicates the looking upon them as merefavourites; the latter expresses the treatment of them as easily consorted with.＇ For the two terms, however, we have the one term 玩, ＇to make sport with＇ in p. 6. The ＇Daily Explanation＇ says, on that par., that thefirst 玩 is the 玩 of contempt, and the second the 玩 of fondness.＇ (上玩字, 玩忽껣意, 下玩字, 玩好껣意). Butwe must find a common idea expressed by the two application of 狎侮 here, and of 玩 in p. 6. Such an idea is that of contemptuous familiarity. Directed to creatures like the hounds of Leu, it will have more of the character of trifling sport; directed to men, there will be in the ruler who practises it a want both of self-respect, and of the respect which he owes to them.君子 is descriptive of men in office, who are to be supposed to have a degree of elevated character. They have their minds—their virtues and acquirements—to serve the sovereign with; but when treated with contemptuous familiarity, they will despise him and go away. 께人 are the people, in whom the familiarity of their superiors is sure to breed contempt, so that they will not be careful to labour for them, as they ought to do, with their strength. Ying-tǎ, aptly enough, quotes, in illustration of 侮狎君子, the words of E Yin, 接下思恭 (太甲, Pt. ii., p. 7); and the words of Confucius, 使民如承大祭 (Ana., XII., ii.), in illustration of 狎侮께人. 5. 不役耳目=不為耳目所役, i.e., if he be superior to the external fascinations that assail him through thesenses,—what are called 物 in the next paragraph. 百度, ＇the hundred measure＇,=百為껣度, ＇the measures of all his conduct＇. A certain rule—of ＇correctness＇ (貞=正)—is supposed, by which the ruler. free from the bondage of his senses, will endeavor to regulate all his conduct. ＇His words and actions＇ it is said in the ＇Daily Explanation＇, ＇will all be conformed to the measure of perfection, and he will not dare to transgress it an inch.＇ 6. —玩,see on par. 4. Contemptuous familiarity with men destroys that self-respect and reverence for right which is at the foundation of all virtue.

7. "The aims should repose in what is right; words should be listened to according to their relation to right."

8. "A prince should not do what is unprofitable to the injury of what is profitable, and then his merit may be completed. He should not value strange things to the contemning things that are useful, and then his people will be able to supply all his needs. Even dogs and horses which are not native to his country he will not keep; fine birds and strange animals he will not nourish in his kingdom. When he does not look on foreign things as precious, foreigners will come to him; when it is worth which is precious to him, hisown people near at hand will enjoy repose.

9. "Oh! Early and late never be but earnest. If you do not attend jealously to your small actions, the result will be to affect your virtue in great matters;

A fondness for, and fonding of, creatures like the hounds of Leu brings the whole mind down to the level of little things.

P. 7. The rule for a prince＇s aims, and his intercourse with others. 道=所當由껣理, ＇the principles according to which we ought to proceed＇. 言뀪道接=人껣言뀪道而接. The first clause is illustrated by Mencius＇ 持其志 (II., Pt. I., ii. 9), and the second by his 我知言(ib., p.11); also by Shun＇s language in ＇The Counsels of Yu,＇pp. 14—16. The two sayings are good enough in their way, but the object which they serve in the guardian＇s address is not very evident;—see the remark of Wang Pih at the conclusion of his ＇Doubts＇ about this Book.

P. 8. What things a sovereign should abstain from cherishing and pursuing, and what things he should prefer and seek. In this par. the Guardian comes at last to the subject of the hounds of Leu, though he does not expressly mention them. 不作至民乃足,—these two clauses are of a general character, and may be applied to an endless variety of subjects .民乃足,—＇the people will be sufficient＇. Chin Tih-sew says:—貴異物, 則徵求多, 而民不足, ＇if he set a value on strange things,his exactions and requirements will be so many that the people will not be able to meet them＇. 꾦馬至不畜,—these dogs and horses might be useful, but being foreign, the virtuous sovereign will have nothing to do with them! 珍禽,—珍is here an adjective,=珍美껣禽.不寶至人安,—see the remarks on this in the note on the Contents of the Book.

Pp. 9, 10. How the sovereign is to cultivate his virtue by an untiring attention even to the smallest matters,and what grand results will flow from such a course.

—as when, in raising a mound of nine fathoms the work is unfinished for want of one basket of earth.

10. If you really follow this course, the people will preserve their possessions, and the throne will descend from generation to generation.

不矜細行,—矜 is used here much with the same meaning as in the Con. Ana. XV., xxi., 君子矜而不爭.Choo He was asked whether the term were not used in the same way in the two passages, and replied, ＇Much about it. The idea is that of pitiful consideration, andfirm conservation.＇ (相似, 是個矜惜持守껣意)

為山, 云云,—see the Con. Ana., IX., xviii. 仞=八尺,＇eight cubits＇. I call it ＇a fathom＇, as being the nearest approximation to it which we have in our designations of measures. The paraphrase in the ＇Daily Explanation＇is:—譬如為山者, 積累工夫, 已至九仞, 所少一簣껣土,乃心눃玩弛, 不肯加益, 九仞껣功, 到底虧缺, 山豈可得而成也哉.

10. 뀫迪茲,—comp. 뀫迪厥德, Pt., II., Bk. III., p. 1.눃民保厥居,—눃民, ＇the living people＇ is merely an equivalent of 庶民. The phrase is found also in the 孝經. For 保厥居 Medhurst has well—＇may protect their hearths＇.

惟乃世王=王業可永, ＇the imperial inheritance may be perpetuated＇. I append Lin Che-k＇e＇s observations on this:—太保既뀪是訓王, 厥後凡四夷所獻, 中國所受, 一如太保껣訓, 觀肅慎꿻楛矢껣類, 可뀪見矣, 所謂뀫迪茲者也,周껣子孫,卜世三十,卜뎃七百,信乎其世王也,夫卻一獒껣獻,亦細事耳,而世王껣兆見於此,則知夫大君껣所뀪祈天永命,뀪為社稷無疆껣休者,蓋不놇大也.