| 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. |
