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孔子见老聃而语仁义。老聃曰：“夫播穅眯目，则天地四方易位矣；蚊虻噆肤，则通昔不寐矣。夫仁义憯然，乃愤吾心，乱莫大焉。吾子使天下无失其朴，吾子亦放风而动，总德而立矣，又奚杰然若负建鼓而求亡子者邪？夫鹄不日浴而白，乌不日黔而黑。黑白之朴，不足以为辩；名誉之观，不足以为广。泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫，不若相忘于江湖。” |
| The Revolution of Heaven:...: |
At an interview with Lao Dan, Confucius spoke to him of benevolence and righteousness. Lao Dan said, 'If you winnow chaff, and the dust gets into your eyes, then the places of heaven and earth and of the four cardinal points are all changed to you. If musquitoes or gadflies puncture your skin, it will keep you all the night from sleeping. But this painful iteration of benevolence and righteousness excites my mind and produces in it the greatest confusion. If you, Sir, would cause men not to lose their natural simplicity, and if you would also imitate the wind in its (unconstrained) movements, and stand forth in all the natural attributes belonging to you!-- why must you use so much energy, and carry a great drum to seek for the son whom you have lost? The snow-goose does not bathe every day to make itself white, nor the crow blacken itself every day to make itself black. The natural simplicity of their black and white does not afford any ground for controversy; and the fame and praise which men like to contemplate do not make them greater than they naturally are. When the springs (supplying the pools) are dried up, the fishes huddle together on the dry land. Than that they should moisten one another there by their gasping, and keep one another wet by their milt, it would be better for them to forget one another in the rivers and lakes.' |
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孔子见老聃归，三日不谈。弟子问曰：“夫子见老聃，亦将何归哉？”孔子曰：“吾乃今于是乎见龙。龙合而成体，散而成章，乘乎云气而养乎阴阳。予口张而不能嗋，予又何规老聃哉！”子贡曰：“然则人固有尸居而龙见，雷声而渊默，发动如天地者乎？赐亦可得而观乎？”遂以孔子声见老聃。 |
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From this interview with Lao Dan, Confucius returned home, and for three days did not speak. His disciples (then) asked him, saying, 'Master, you have seen Lao Dan; in what way might you admonish and correct him?' Confucius said, 'In him (I may say) that I have now seen the dragon. The dragon coils itself up, and there is its body; it unfolds itself and becomes the dragon complete. It rides on the cloudy air, and is nourished by the Yin and Yang. I kept my mouth open, and was unable to shut it - how could I admonish and correct Lao Dan?' Zi-gong said, 'So then, can (this) man indeed sit still as a representative of the dead, and then appear as the dragon? Can his voice resound as thunder, when he is profoundly still? Can he exhibit himself in his movements like heaven and earth? May I, Ci, also get to see him?' Accordingly with a message from Confucius he went to see Lao Dan. |
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老聃方将倨堂而应微曰：“予年运而往矣，子将何以戒我乎？”子贡曰：“夫三王、五帝之治天下不同，其系声名一也。而先生独以为非圣人，如何哉？”老聃曰：“小子少进！子何以谓不同？”对曰：“尧授舜，舜授禹，禹用力而汤用兵，文王顺纣而不敢逆，武王逆纣而不肯顺，故曰不同。” |
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Lao Dan was then about to answer (his salutation) haughtily in the hall, but he said in a low voice, 'My years have rolled on and are passing away, what do you, Sir, wish to admonish me about?' Zi-gong replied, 'The Three Kings and Five Dis ruled the world not in the same way, but the fame that has accrued to them is the same. How is it that you alone consider that they were not sages?' 'Come forward a little, my son. Why do you say that (their government) was not the same?' 'Yao,' was the reply, 'gave the kingdom to Shun, and Shun gave it to Yu. Yu had recourse to his strength, and Tang to the force of arms. King Wen was obedient to Zhou (-xin), and did not dare to rebel; king Wu rebelled against Zhou, and would not submit to him. And I say that their methods were not the same.' |
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老聃曰：“小子少进！余语汝三皇、五帝之治天下。黄帝之治天下，使民心一，民有其亲死不哭而民不非也。尧之治天下，使民心亲，民有为其亲杀其杀而民不非也。舜之治天下，使民心竞，民孕妇十月生子，子生五月而能言，不至乎孩而始谁，则人始有夭矣。禹之治天下，使民心变，人有心而兵有顺，杀盗非杀，人自为种而天下耳，是以天下大骇，儒、墨皆起。其作始有伦，而今乎妇女，何言哉！余语汝：三皇、五帝之治天下，名曰治之，而乱莫甚焉。三皇之知，上悖日月之明，下睽山川之精，中堕四时之施。其知憯于蛎虿之尾，鲜规之兽，莫得安其性命之情者，而犹自以为圣人，不可耻乎？其无耻也！”子贡蹴蹴然立不安。 |
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Lao Dan said, 'Come a little more forward, my son, and I will tell you how the Three Huangs and the Five Dis ruled the world. Huang-Di ruled it, so as to make the minds of the people all conformed to the One (simplicity). If the parents of one of them died, and he did not wail, no one blamed him. Yao ruled it so as to cause the hearts of the people to cherish relative affection. If any, however, made the observances on the death of other members of their kindred less than those for their parents, no one blamed them. Shun ruled it, so as to produce a feeling of rivalry in the minds of the people. Their wives gave birth to their children in the tenth month of their pregnancy, but those children could speak at five months; and before they were three years old, they began to call people by their surnames and names. Then it was that men began to die prematurely. Yu ruled it, so as to cause the minds of the people to become changed. Men's minds became scheming, and they used their weapons as if they might legitimately do so, (saying that they were) killing thieves and not killing other men. The people formed themselves into different combinations - so it was throughout the kingdom. Everywhere there was great consternation, and then arose the Literati and (the followers of) Mo (Di). From them came first the doctrine of the relationships (of society); and what can be said of the now prevailing customs (in the marrying of) wives and daughters? I tell you that the rule of the Three Kings and Five Dis may be called by that name, but nothing can be greater than the disorder which it produced. The wisdom of the Three Kings was opposed to the brightness of the sun and moon above, contrary to the exquisite purity of the hills and streams below, and subversive of the beneficent gifts of the four seasons between. Their wisdom has been more fatal than the sting of a scorpion or the bite of a dangerous beast. Unable to rest in the true attributes of their nature and constitution, they still regarded themselves as sages: was it not a thing to be ashamed of? But they were shameless.' Zi-gong stood quite disconcerted and ill at ease. |
