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论人之性，定有善有恶。其善者，固自善矣；其恶者，故可教告率勉，使之为善。凡人君父，审观臣子之性，善则养育劝率，无令近恶；近恶则辅保禁防，令渐于善。善渐于恶，恶化于善，成为性行。 |
| Shuaixing: |
Speaking of human nature one must distinguish good and bad characters. The good ones are so of themselves, the wicked can be instructed and urged on to do good. A sovereign or a father seeing that his subjects or sons have good characters, provides for them, exhorts them, and keeps them out of the reach of evil. If the latter come into contact with it, they assist and shield them, and try to win them back to the cause of virtue. It is by the transition of virtue into wickedness and of wickedness into virtue that the characters are formed. |
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召公戒成曰：“今王初服厥命，于戏！若生子，罔不在厥初生。”“生子”谓十五子，初生意于善，终以善；初生意于恶，终以恶。《诗》曰：“彼姝者子，何以与之？”《传》言：“譬犹练丝，染之蓝则青，染之丹则赤。”十五之子，其犹丝也。其有所渐化为善恶，犹蓝丹之染练丝，使之为青赤也。青赤一成，真色无异。是故杨子哭岐道，墨子哭练丝也，盖伤离本，不可复变也。人之性，善可变为恶，恶可变为善，犹此类也。蓬生生麻间，不扶自直；白纱入缁，不练自黑。彼蓬之性不直，纱之质不黑，麻扶缁染，使之直黑。夫人之性犹蓬纱也，在所渐染而善恶变矣。 |
| Shuaixing: |
The duke of Shao admonished King Cheng saying: "Now you for the first time carry out Heaven's decree. Oh! you are like a youth with whom all depends on his first years of life." By youth is meant the age up to fifteen. If a youth's thoughts are directed towards virtue, he will be virtuous to the last, but if his propensities tend to badness, he will end badly. The Shijing says "What can that admirable man be compared to?" The Zuozhuan answers, "He is like boiled silk; dyed with indigo, it becomes blue; coloured with vermilion, it turns crimson." A youth of fifteen is like silk, his gradual changes into good or bad resembling the dying of boiled silk with indigo and vermilion, which gives it a blue or a red colour. When these colours have once set, they cannot be altered again. It is for this reason that Yangzi wept over the by-roads and Mozi over boiled silk. They were sorrowful, because men having gone astray from the right path cannot be transformed any more. Human nature turns from good into bad, and from bad into good only in this manner. Creepers growing amidst hemp, stand upright without support by themselves. White silk yarn placed amongst dark, becomes black without boiling. Creepers are not straight by nature, nor is the black colour an attribute of silk yarn. The hemp affording support, and the dark silk lending the colour, creepers and white silk become straight and black. Human nature bears a resemblance to creepers and silk yarn. In a milieu favourable to transformation or colouring, it turns good or bad. |
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王良、造父称为善御，不能使不良为良也。如徒能御良，其不良者不能驯服，此则驵工庸师服驯技能，何奇而世称之？故曰：“王良登车，马不罢驽；尧、舜为政，民无狂愚。”《传》曰：“尧、舜之民，可比屋而封；桀、纣之民，可比屋而诛。”“斯民也，三代所以直道而行也。”圣主之民如彼，恶主之民如此，竟在化不在性也。闻伯夷之风者，贪夫廉而懦夫有立志；闻柳下惠之风者，薄夫敦而鄙夫宽。徒闻风名，犹或变节，况亲接形面相敦告乎？ |
| Shuaixing: |
Wang Liang and Zao Fu were famous as charioteers: out of unruly and vicious animals they made good ones. Had they only been able to drive good horses, but incapable of breaking bad ones, they would have been nothing more than jockeys and ordinary equerries. Their horsemanship would not have been remarkable nor deserving of world-wide fame. Of Wang Liang the saying goes that, when he stepped into a chariot, the steeds knew no exhaustion. Under the rule of Yao and Shun people were neither seditious nor ignorant. Tradition says that the people of Yao and Shun might have been invested with fiefs house by house, whereas those of Jie and Zhou were worthy of death door by door. The people followed the way prescribed by the three dynasties. That the people of the holy emperors were like this, those of the wicked emperors otherwise, was merely the result of the influence of their rulers, not of the people's original nature. The covetous hearing of Bo Yi's fame became disinterested, and the weak resolute. The news of Liu Xia Hui's reputation made the niggardly generous and the mean liberal. If the spread of fame alone could bring about such changes, what then must be the effect of personal intercourse and tuition? |
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孔门弟子七十之徒，皆任卿相之用，被服圣教，文才雕琢，知能十倍，教训之功而渐渍之力也。未入孔子之门时，闾巷常庸无奇。其尤甚不率者，唯子路也。世称子路无恒之庸人，未入孔门时，戴鸡佩豚，勇猛无礼；闻诵读之声，摇鸡奋豚，扬唇吻之音，聒贤圣之耳，恶至甚矣。孔子引而教之，渐渍磨砺，阖导牖进，猛气消损，骄节屈折，卒能政事，序在四科。斯盖变性使恶为善之明效也。 |
| Shuaixing: |
The seventy disciples of the school of Confucius were each of them able to creditably fill the post of a minister of state. Conforming to the holy doctrines, they became accomplished scholars, and their knowledge and skill grew tenfold. This was the result of teaching; thus latent faculties were gradually developed. Before they joined Confucius' school, they sauntered about in the streets as quite ordinary and in no wise exceptional people. The most ungovernable of all was Zilu, who is generally reported to have been a common and unsteady individual. Before he became Confucius' pupil, he wore a feather hat and a pig skin belt. He was brutal and unmannerly. Whenever he heard some reading, he tossed up his feather hat, pulled his belt, and uttered such a yell, that he deafened the ears of the worthies and sages. Such was his wickedness. Confucius took him under his guidance. By degrees he polished and instructed him. The more he advanced in knowledge, the more he lost his fierceness, and his arrogance was broken. At last he was able to govern a state, and ranked in the four classes. This is a shining example of how a man's character was changed from bad into good. |
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夫肥沃墝埆，土地之本性也。肥而沃者性美，树稼丰茂；墝而埆者性恶，深耕细锄，厚加粪壤，勉致人功，以助地力，其树稼与彼肥沃者相似类也。地之高下，亦如此焉。以镢锸凿地，以埤增下，则其下与高者齐。如复增镢锸，则夫下者不徒齐者也，反更为高，而其高者反为下。使人之性有善有恶，彼地有高有下，勉致其教令，之善则将善者同之矣。善以化渥，酿其教令，变更为善，善则且更宜反过于往善。犹下地增加镢锸，更崇于高地也。 |
| Shuaixing: |
Fertility and sterility are the original nature of the soil. If it be rich and moist, the nature is good, and the crops will be exuberant, whereas, if it be barren and stony, the nature is bad. However, human efforts: deep ploughing, thorough tilling, and a copious use of manure may help the land, so that the harvest will become like that of the rich and well watered fields. Such is the case with the elevation of the land also. Fill up the low ground with earth, dug out by means of hoes and spades, and the low land will be on a level with the high one. If these works are still continued, not only will the low land be on a level, but even higher than the high land. The high ground will then become the low one. Let us suppose that the human natures are partly good, partly bad; as the land may be either high or low. By making use of the good effects of education goodness can be spread and generalized. Reformation being pushed on and instruction persevered in, people will change and become still better. Goodness will increase and reach a still higher standard than it had before, just as low ground, filled up with hoes and spades, rises higher than the originally elevated ground. |
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“赐不受命，而货殖焉。”赐本不受天之富命，所加货财积聚，为世富人者，得货殖之术也。夫得其术，虽不受命，犹自益饶富。性恶之人，亦不禀天善性，得圣人之教，志行变化。世称利剑有千金之价，棠溪、鱼肠之属，龙泉、太阿之辈，其本铤，山中之恒铁也，冶工鍜鍊，成为銛利。岂利剑之鍜与鍊，乃异质哉？工良师巧，鍊一数至也。试取东下直一金之剑，更熟鍜鍊，足其火，齐其銛，犹千金之剑也。夫铁石天然，尚为鍜鍊者变易故质，况人含五常之性，贤圣未之熟鍜鍊耳，奚患性之不善哉？古贵良医者，能知笃剧之病所从生起，而以针药治而已之。如徒知病之名而坐观之，何以为奇？夫人有不善，则乃性命之疾也，无其教治，而欲令变更，岂不难哉？ |
| Shuaixing: |
Ci though not predestinated thereto, made a fortune. His capital increased without a decree from Heaven which would have him rich. The accumulation of wealth is due to the cleverness of the rich men of the time in making a fortune. Through this ability of theirs they are themselves the authors of their growing wealth without a special decree from Heaven. Similarly, he who has a wicked nature changes his will and his doings, if he happens to be taught by a Sage, although he was not endowed with a good character by Heaven. One speaks of good swords for which a thousand jin are paid, such as the Yuchang sword of Tangqi and the Tai'a sword of Longquan. Their blade is originally nothing more than a common piece of iron from a mountain. By the forger's smelting and hammering they become sharp-edged. But notwithstanding this smelting and hammering the material of good swords is not different from others. All depends on excellent workmanship and on the blade-smith's ability in working the iron. Take a sword worth only one jin from Dongxia, heat it again, and forge it, giving it sufficient fire, and smoothing and sharpening its edge, and it will be like a sword of a thousand jin. Iron and stones are made by Heaven, still being worked, they undergo a modification of their substance. Why then should man, whose nature is imbued with the five virtues, despair of the badness of his character, before he has been thoroughly worked upon by Worthies and Sages? The skillful physicians that in olden days were held in high esteem, knew the sources where virulent diseases sprang from, and treated and cured them with acupuncture and medicines. Had they merely known the names of the complaints, but done nothing besides, looking quietly on, would there have been anything wonderful in them? Men who are not good have a disease of their nature. To expect them to change without proper treatment and instruction would be hopeless indeed. |
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天道有真伪，真者固自与天相应，伪者人加知巧，亦与真者无以异也。何以验之？《禹贡》曰：“璆琳琅玕”者，此则土地所生真玉珠也。然而道人消烁五石，作五色之玉，比之真玉，光不殊别。兼鱼蚌之珠，与《禹贡》“璆琳”，皆真玉珠也。然而随侯以药作珠，精耀如真，道士之教至，知巧之意加也。阳遂取火于天，五月丙午日中之时，消鍊五石，铸以为器，磨砺生光，仰以向日，则火来至，比真取火之道也。今妄以刀剑之钩月，摩拭朗白，仰以向日，亦得火焉。夫钩月，非阳遂也，所以耐取火者，摩拭之所致也。今夫性恶之人，使与性善者同类乎？可率勉之，令其为善；使之异类乎？亦可令与道人之所铸玉、随侯之所作珠、人之所摩刀剑钩月焉，教导以学，渐渍以德，亦将日有仁义之操。 |
| Shuaixing: |
The laws of Heaven can be applied in a right and in a wrong way. The right way is in harmony with Heaven, the wrong one owes its results to human astuteness, but cannot in its effects be distinguished from the right one. This will be shown by the following. Among the "Tribute of Yu" are mentioned jade and white corals. These were the produce of earth and genuine precious stones and pearls. But the Daoists melt five kinds of stones, and make five-coloured gems out of them. Their lustre, if compared with real gems, does not differ. Pearls in fishes and shells are as genuine as the jade-stones in the Tribute of Yu. Yet the Marquis of Sui made pearls from chemicals, which were as brilliant as genuine ones. This is the climax of Daoist learning and a triumph of their skill. By means of a burning-glass one catches fire from heaven. Of five stones liquefied on the Bingwu day of the 5th moon an instrument is cast, which, when polished bright, held up against the sun, brings down fire too, in precisely the same manner as, when fire is caught in the proper way. Now, one goes even so far as to furbish the crooked blades of swords, till they shine, when, held up against the sun, they attract fire also. Crooked blades are not burning-glasses; that they can catch fire is the effect of rubbing. Now, provided the bad-natured men are of the same kind as good-natured ones, then they can be influenced, and induced to do good. Should they be of a different kind, they can also be coerced in the same manner as the Daoists cast gems, Sui Hou made pearls, and people furbish the crooked blades of swords. Enlightened with learning and familiarized with virtue, they too begin by and by to practise benevolence and equity. |
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黄帝与炎帝争为天子，教熊罴貔虎以战于阪泉之野，三战得志，炎帝败绩。尧以天下让舜，鲧为诸侯，欲得三公而尧不听，怒其猛兽，欲以为乱，比兽之角可以为城，举尾以为旌，奋心盛气，阻战为强。夫禽兽与人殊形，犹可命战，况人同类乎？推此以论，“百兽率舞”，“潭鱼出听”，“六马仰秣”，不复疑矣。异类以殊为同，同类以钧为异，所由不在于物，在于人也。 |
| Shuaixing: |
When Huang Di fought with Yan Di for the empire, he taught bears, leopards, and tigers to combat for him in the wilds of Banquan. After three battles he gained his end, and Yan Di was routed. Yao yielded the empire to Shun. Gun, one of his vassals, desired to become one of the three chief ministers, but Yao did not listen to this request. Thereupon Gun became more infuriated than even ferocious animals are, and wished to rebel. The horns of animals, all in a line, served him as a rampart, and their lifted tails were his banners. They opposed and tackled their foe with the utmost determination and energy.---If birds and beasts, which are shaped otherwise than man, can nevertheless be caused to fight, how much more so man's own kindred? Proceeding on this line of argument we have no reason to doubt that (by music) the multitudinous animals were made to dance, the fish in the ponds to come out and listen, and the six kinds of horses to look up from their fodder. The equalization of what varies in different categories as well as the differentiation of what is the same in similar classes, does not depend on the thing itself, but is man's doing. |
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凡含血气者，教之所以异化也。三苗之民，或贤或不肖，尧、舜齐之，恩教加也。楚、越之人，处庄、岳之间，经历岁月，变为舒缓，风俗侈也。故曰：“齐舒缓，秦慢易，楚促急，燕戆投。”以庄、岳言之，四国之民，更相出入，久居单处，性必变易。夫性恶者，心比木石，木石犹为人用，况非木石！在君子之迹，庶几可见。 |
| Shuaixing: |
It is by instruction that living beings are transformed. Among the Three Miao tribes some were honest, some disreputable. Yao and Shun made them all alike by conferring the boon of instruction upon them. Suppose the men of Chu and Yue to settle down in Zhuang or Yue. Having passed there months and years, they would become pliant and yielding, and their customs changed. They say that the people of Qi are soft and supple, those of Qin unsteady and versatile, of Chu lively and passionate, of Yan dull and simple. Now let us suppose that people of the four States alternately went to live in Zhuang and Yue for a certain time, the prolonged stay in a place remote from their country would undubitably bring about a change of their character. A bad natured man's heart is like wood or stone, but even wood and stone can be used by men, why not what really is neither wood nor stone? We may hope that it will still be able to understand the precepts of superior men. |
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有痴狂之疾，歌啼于路，不晓东西，不睹燥湿，不觉疾病，不知饥饱，性已毁伤，不可如何，前无所观，郤无所畏也。是故王法不废学校之官，不除狱理之吏，欲令凡众见礼义之教。学校勉其前，法禁防其后，使丹朱之志，亦将可勉。何以验之？三军之士，非能制也，勇将率勉，视死如归。且阖庐尝试其士于五湖之侧，皆加刃于肩，血流至地。句践亦试其士于寝宫之庭，赴火死者，不可胜数。夫刃、火，非人性之所贪也，二主激率，念不顾生。是故军之法轻刺血，孟贲勇也，闻军令惧。是故叔孙通制定礼仪，拔剑争功之臣，奉礼拜伏，初骄倨而后逊顺，教威德，变易性也。不患性恶，患其不服圣教，自遇而以生祸也。 |
| Shuaixing: |
Only in the case of insanity, when a person sings and weeps in the streets, knowing neither east nor west, taking no heed of scorching heat or humidity, unaware of his own madness and unconscious of hunger and satiety, nature is deranged and upset, and there is no help. As such a man sees nothing before him, he is afraid of nothing. Therefore the government does not abolish the officers of public instruction or dispense with criminal judges, wishing thereby to inculcate the observance of the moral laws. The schools guide people at first, the laws control and restrain them later on. Even the will of a Dan Zhu might be curbed; the proof is that the soldiers of a big army are kept in order by reproofs. Men and officers are held in check to such an extent, that they look at death as a return. He Lu put his soldiers to the test by the "Five Lakes." They all cut their arms with swords, that the blood trickled down to the ground. Gou Jian also gave his men a trial in the hall of his inner palace. Those who jumped into the fire and perished, were innumerable. Human nature is not particularly fond of swords and fire, but the two rulers had such a power over their men, that they did not care for their lives. It is the effect of military discipline to make light of cuts and blood. Meng Ben was bold, but on hearing the order for the army he became afraid. In the same way the officers who were wont to draw their swords to fight out, whose merits were first, went through all the ceremonial, and prostrated themselves (before the emperor), when Shusun Tong had fixed the rites. Imperious and overbearing first, they became obedient and submissive. The power of instruction and the influence of virtue transform the character. One need not sorrow that a character is bad, but it is to be regretted, if it does not submit to the teachings of the sages. Such an individual owes his misfortune to himself. |
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豆麦之种，与稻梁殊，然食能去饥。小人君子，禀性异类乎？譬诸五谷皆为用，实不异而效殊者，禀气有厚泊，故性有善恶也。残则授不仁之气泊，而怒则禀勇渥也。仁泊则戾而少愈，勇渥则猛而无义，而又和气不足，喜怒失时，计虑轻愚。妄行之人，罪故为恶。人受五常，含五脏，皆具于身。禀之泊少，故其操行不及善人，犹或厚或泊也，非厚与泊殊其酿也，麴孽多少使之然也。是故酒之泊厚，同一麴孽；人之善恶，共一元气。气有少多，故性有贤愚。西门豹急，佩韦以自缓；董安于缓，带弦以自促。急之与缓，俱失中和，然而韦弦附身，成为完具之人。能纳韦弦之教，补接不足，则豹、安于之名可得参也。贫劣宅屋，不具墙壁宇达，人指訾之。如财货富愈，起屋筑墙，以自蔽鄣，为之具宅，人弗复非。 |
| Shuaixing: |
Beans and wheat are different from rice and millet, yet their consumption satisfies the appetite. Are the natures of low and superior men then of a different kind? They resemble the Five Grains, all have their use. There is no fundamental difference between them, only their manifestations are unlike. The fluid men are endowed with, is either copious or deficient, and their character correspondingly good or bad. The wicked have received but a small dose of kindness, the irascible, plenty of temper. If kindness be unsufficient, people do wrong, and there is not much hope for an improvement. With plenty of temper, people become violent, and have no sense of justice. Moreover, their feeling of sympathy is defective, joy and anger do not happen at the proper time, and they have baseless and irreasonable fears. Reckless men like that commit outrages, therefore they are considered bad. Man has in his body the Five Qualities and the Five Organs. If he got too little of them, or if they are too small, his actions do not attain to goodness. Man himself is either accomplished or deficient, but accomplishment and deficiency do not mean a difference of organisation. Use leaven in big, or in small quantities, and the result will be similar. In rich as well as in poor wine there is the same leaven. Good men as well as bad ones are permeated by the same original fluid. According to its greater or smaller volumen the mind of the individual is bright or dull. Ximen Bao would tighten his leathern belt, whenever he wanted to relax himself. Dongan Yu loosened his girdle strings, when he was going to rouse himself. Yet neither passion nor indolence is the right medium. However, he who wears a belt or a girdle on his body is properly dressed. When the question arises, how deficiencies can be made good by means of belts and strings, the names of Ximen Bao and Dongan Yu must be mentioned together. Houses of poor, wretched people are not in a proper state. They have holes in the walls under the roof, to which others take objection. When rich and well-to-do people build houses, they have the walls made in a way, that they find there real shelter. The whole house is in good repair, and nobody could say anything against it. |
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魏之行田百亩，邺独二百，西门豹灌以漳水，成为膏腴，则亩收一锺。夫人之质犹邺田，道教犹漳水也，患不能化，不患人性之难率也。雒阳城中之道无水，水工激上洛中之水，日夜驰流，水工之功也。由此言之，迫近君子，而仁义之道数加于身，孟母之徙宅，盖得其验。 |
| Shuaixing: |
In Wei the land was divided in lots of a hundred mu, in Ye alone the lots measured two hundred mu. Ximen Bao irrigated his land with water from the Zhang and made it so fertile, that it yielded one bushel per mu. Man's natural parts are like the fields of Ye, tuition and education, like the water from the Zhang. One must be sorry for him that cannot be transformed, but not for a man whose character it is difficult to govern. In the streets of the city of Luoyang there was no water. It was therefore pulled up from the Luo by watermen. If it was streaming quickly day and night, it was their doing. From this point of view kindness and justice must increase manifold in him who comes into close contact with an excellent man. Mencius' mother changed her domicile, for she had ascertained this truth. |
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人间之水污浊，在野外者清洁。俱为一水，源从天涯，或浊或清，所在之势使之然也。南越王赵他，本汉贤人也，化南夷之俗，背畔王制，椎髻箕坐，好之若性。陆贾说以汉德，惧以圣威，蹶然起坐，心觉改悔，奉制称蕃，其于椎髻箕坐也，恶之若性。前则若彼，后则若此。由此言之，亦在于教，不独在性也。 |
| Shuaixing: |
Water amongst men is dirty and muddy, in the open country it is clear and limpid. It is all the same water, and it flows from the confines of heaven; its dirtiness and limpidity are the effects of its environments. Zhao Ta, king of the southern Yue, was originally an honourable man of the Han State, but he took to the habits of the southern barbarians, disregarded the imperial commands, dressed his hair in a tuft, and used to squat down. He was so fond of this, as if it had been his nature. Lu Jia spoke to him of the virtues of the Han, and impressed him with their holy power, so that he suddenly rose up, and felt remorse. He received the commands of his sovereign, and communicated them to the savages. Against his hair-dress and to his squatting he felt something like a natural repugnancy. First he acted in the aforesaid manner, afterwards thus. It shows what force instruction also has, and that nature is not the only factor. |
