Guoyu Chuyu — 國語 楚語, traditionally attributed to Zuo Qiuming

The Guoyu, or Discourses of the States, is a collection of speeches and discourses drawn from the courts of eight states of the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods, extending in places into the early fifth century BCE. Like the Zuo Commentary, it is traditionally ascribed to Zuo Qiuming, an ascription that is ancient but cannot be verified. These two books preserve the discourses of Chu, eighteen episodes in all: Shen Shushi's counsel on tutoring the heir apparent; grandees who quietly set aside a dying lord's own instructions in the name of a higher propriety, as Zinang does over King Gong's posthumous name and Qu Jian over his father's sacrifice; Wu Ju's rebuke of King Ling for calling the terrace of Zhanghua beautiful while it wears out the state; Guan Yefu's account, given to King Zhao, of how Zhuanxu severed the way between Earth and Heaven and set the people and the spirits each to their own offices; Dou Ju's forecast of Zichang's fall from hoarding goods and horses; the flight and return of King Zhao before the invading army of Wu, and the loyalty shown him by the Duke of Yun and by Wei, Overseer of Lan; Wangsun Yu's account, given before Zhao Jianzi of Jin, of what a state truly treasures; and, at the close, Zigao's warning that raising up the vengeful Sheng, Duke of Bai, would bring chaos on Chu — a warning Zixi did not heed, and which came to pass in Sheng's revolt.

The two books are arranged discourse by discourse, each given its own heading in translation as in the Chinese text; speeches are rendered as continuous speech in the voice of the speaker. Wei Zhao's third-century commentary, printed throughout the source in interlinear notes, travels below in the source layer and is not translated here.

Names of persons, states, and places are given in Hanyu pinyin without tone marks, with the Chinese characters supplied at each figure's first appearance. Ranks follow the conventional five — duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron — alongside offices particular to Chu, such as chief minister (令尹) and marshal (司馬); 禮 is rendered ritual propriety throughout.

Translated directly from the classical Chinese printed in full below. We know of no complete published English translation of the Discourses of the States; no claim of firstness is made.

Contents

• Book 17 — Discourses of Chu, Part 1 (卷十七 楚語上)
  • Shen Shushi on the Way of Tutoring the Heir Apparent (申叔時論傅太子之道)
  • Zinang Deliberates on King Gong's Posthumous Name (子囊議恭王之謚)
  • Qu Jian Sacrifices to His Father and Does Not Offer Water Caltrop (屈建祭父不薦芰)
  • Sheng Zi of Cai on Chu's Talent Employed by Jin (蔡聲子論楚材晉用)
  • Wu Ju on the Beauty of the Terrace and the Peril of Chu (伍舉論臺美而楚殆)
  • Fan Wuyu: No State Has Ever Profited from Building Great Cities (范無宇論國為大城未有利者)
  • The Left Scribe Yixiang Admonishes Zi Wei, Governor of Shen (左史倚相儆申公子亹)
  • Bai Gong Zizhang Urges King Ling to Accept Remonstrance (白公子張諷靈王宜納諫)
  • The Left Scribe Yixiang Warns the Marshal Ziqi to Follow Only the Way (左史倚相儆司馬子期唯道是從)
• Book 18 — Discourses of Chu, Part 2 (卷十八 楚語下)
  • Guan Yefu on the Severing of the Way Between Earth and Heaven (觀射父論絕地天通)
  • Guan Yefu on the Victims of Sacrifice (觀射父論祀牲)
  • Zichang Asks About Hoarding Goods and Gathering Horses, and Dou Ju Declares He Must Fall (子常問蓄貨聚馬鬥且論其必亡)
  • Wei the Lan Yin Avoids King Zhao and Will Not Take Him Up (藍尹亹避昭王而不載)
  • Xin, Duke of Yun, and His Brother Huai — One Kept the Rites Toward His Ruler, the Other Toward His Father (鄖公辛與弟懷或禮於君或禮於父)
  • Wei the Lan Yin on the Coming Fall of Wu (藍尹亹論吳將斃)
  • Wangsun Yu on the Treasures of a State (王孫圉論國之寶)
  • Wenzi of Luyang Declines the Liang That King Hui Gave Him (魯陽文子辭惠王所與梁)
  • Zigao, Duke of She, Argues That Sheng, Duke of Bai, Will Bring Chaos on Chu (葉公子高論白公勝必亂楚國)

Translation

Book 17 — Discourses of Chu, Part 1 (卷十七 楚語上)

Shen Shushi on the Way of Tutoring the Heir Apparent (申叔時論傅太子之道)

King Zhuang (莊王) appointed Shi Wei (士亹) tutor to the heir apparent Zhen (箴). Shi Wei declined, saying: "Your servant is without talent. There is nothing I can add to him." The king said: "I count on your goodness to make him good." He replied: "Goodness lies with the heir apparent himself. If the heir apparent wants goodness, good men will come to him; if he does not want goodness, then goodness will not be used. So Yao had Danzhu, Shun had Shangjun, Qi had the Five Guan, Tang had Taijia, and King Wen had Guan and Cai. These five kings all had virtue of the first order, and yet each had a wicked son. Was it that they did not wish their sons to be good? They were unable, that is all. If the people are unruly, they can be taught and trained; but the Man, the Yi, the Rong, and the Di have been unsubmissive a long time, and the Middle States have not been able to make use of them." In the end the king made him the tutor.

Shi Wei asked Shen Shushi (申叔時) about it. Shushi said: "Teach him the Spring and Autumn, raising up the good in it and putting down the evil, so as to warn and to urge his heart; teach him the generations of the former kings, making bright virtue manifest in them and setting aside the dark and disordered, so as to gladden and to frighten his conduct; teach him the Odes, opening before him broad and manifest virtue, so as to make his purposes shine; teach him the rites, that he may know the rules of high and low; teach him music, to wash away his filth and weigh down what is frivolous in him; teach him the ordinances, that he may inquire into the business of the offices; teach him the discourses, that he may make his virtue clear and know how the former kings labored to use bright virtue upon the people; teach him the records of former ages, that he may know decline and rise and be warned and made afraid; teach him the instructions and canons, that he may know his kindred and make his conduct accord with what is right.

"If it is thus and still he does not follow, if he acts and does not amend, then use fine words and songs upon things to move him to act, and seek out the worthy and the good to support him. If he amends but is not firm, then spend your own person upon him, bring him in with many instructions, canons, and models, and make him steady with careful, sincere devotion. If he is firm but does not penetrate, then make clear giving and forbearing to lead him toward loyalty; make clear what endures long to lead him toward good faith; make clear measures and limits to lead him toward righteousness; make clear ranks and grades to lead him toward ritual propriety; make clear reverence and frugality to lead him toward filial devotion; make clear respect and vigilance to lead him toward the conduct of affairs; make clear kindness and love to lead him toward humaneness; make clear the showing of benefit to lead him toward the civil arts; make clear the removal of harm to lead him toward the martial arts; make clear a fine discernment of intent to lead him toward punishment; make clear upright virtue to lead him toward reward; make clear singleness and awe, so that he may shine when he comes to handle affairs. If it is thus and still nothing is accomplished, then it cannot be done.

"Moreover: recite the Odes to assist him; use dignified bearing to go before and behind him; use bodily deportment to stand at his left and right; use clear conduct to spread abroad and support him; set out restraint and righteousness to move him to act; use reverence and respect to watch over him; use diligence to encourage him; use filial obedience to draw him in; use loyalty and good faith to bring him out; use the sound of virtue to lift him up. One who, when the teaching is complete, still does not follow, is not a man. What could ever be made of him! When the young master takes the throne, then withdraw. If you withdraw of your own accord you will be honored; if you do not, you will be put to shame."

Zinang Deliberates on King Gong's Posthumous Name (子囊議恭王之謚)

King Gong (恭王) fell ill and summoned the grandees, saying: "I, the unworthy one, am without virtue. I lost the work of my late lord and overturned the army of Chu; the fault is mine. If I may keep my head and neck whole to the end, then as for the name by which at the spring and autumn sacrifices I am to follow my late lords, I ask that it be 'Ling' (靈) or 'Li' (厲)." The grandees consented.

The king died. When the burial came, Zinang (子囊) deliberated on the posthumous name. The grandees said: "The king left a command about it." Zinang said: "It will not do. One who serves his lord puts his lord's goodness first and does not follow his faults. Chu is a state of blazing splendor, and he ruled over it. He calmed and set in order the Southern Sea, and his instruction reached the Xia states. Great indeed was his glory. Having such glory, he yet knew his own fault. Can he not be called 'Gong' (恭), the Reverent? If we put the goodness of our late lord first, then I ask for 'Gong.'" The grandees followed him.

Qu Jian Sacrifices to His Father and Does Not Offer Water Caltrop (屈建祭父不薦芰)

Qu Dao (屈到) was fond of water caltrop. When he fell ill he summoned the elder of his clan and charged him: "When you sacrifice to me, you must use water caltrop." When the mourning sacrifice came and the clan elder was about to present water caltrop, Qu Jian (屈建) ordered it taken away. The clan elder said: "The master charged us with it." Zimu said: "Not so. The master upheld the government of Chu. His laws and punishments lie in the hearts of the people and are stored in the king's archives; looking upward, they may be set beside the former kings; looking downward, they may instruct later ages. Even were there no state of Chu behind him, there is no feudal lord who would not praise him. The canon of sacrifice has it: the ruler of a state has the ox-offering; the grandee has the sheep-presentation; the officer has the offering of piglet and dog; the commoner has the presentation of broiled fish; and the bamboo and wooden stands, the dried meat and the minced meat in sauce, are shared by high and low alike. They do not serve up rarities; they do not set out a multitude of extravagances. The master would not violate the canon of the state for a private appetite." And so it was not used.

Sheng Zi of Cai on Chu's Talent Employed by Jin (蔡聲子論楚材晉用)

Jiao Ju (椒舉) took a wife from the house of Ziniu (子牟), governor of Shen. Ziniu committed an offense and fled, and King Kang (康王) held that Jiao Ju had sent him away. Jiao Ju fled to Zheng, meaning to go on to Jin. Sheng Zi of Cai (蔡聲子) was on his way to Jin and met him in Zheng. He entertained him at a feast, pressing the food upon him with a jade disc, and said: "Eat well, sir. May our two departed fathers both aid you, and may you be able to serve the ruler of Jin and make him master of the feudal lords." Jiao Ju declined, saying: "That is not what I wish. If I may bring my bones home to Chu, then even dead I shall not decay." Sheng Zi said: "Eat well, sir. I will bring you home." Jiao Ju came down and bowed three times, and offered him his team of four horses; Sheng Zi accepted them.

On his return he saw the chief minister Zimu (子木). Zimu talked with him and said: "Though you of Cai are brothers to Jin, still Cai is our sister's son. Which of the two states has the better men?" He replied: "The ministers of Jin are not the equals of Chu's, but their grandees are worthy; their grandees are all of ministerial timber. Like qi and zi wood, like hides and leather, it is Chu that ships them there. Though Chu has the timber, it cannot use it."

Zimu said: "They have their own ducal kin, their nephews and their kin by marriage. How is it that we send them our timber?"

He replied: "Long ago, in the trouble of the chief minister Ziyuan (子元), someone slandered the royal grandson Qi (王孫啟) before King Cheng. The king did not set it right, and the royal grandson Qi fled to Jin, and the men of Jin employed him. When the battle of Chengpu came and Jin was on the point of withdrawing, the royal grandson Qi took part in the councils of war and said to Xian Zhen (先軫): 'This campaign — only Ziyu wanted it, and it goes against the king's heart. That is why only the Eastern Palace and the Western Guang have come. Of the feudal lords who followed him, half have fallen away, and the Ruo'ao clan has drawn apart. The army of Chu is bound to be beaten. Why leave?' Xian Zhen followed him and greatly defeated the army of Chu. That was the doing of the royal grandson Qi.

"Long ago, when King Zhuang was still young, Zi Yifu, governor of Shen, was his master and Prince Xie (王子燮) his tutor, and they sent Shi Chong and Zikong to lead an army against Shu. Xie and Yifu fastened crimes upon the two commanders and divided up their households. When the army came back, the two took the king off to Lu; and Ji Li of Lu killed them both and restored the king. Someone slandered Xi Gongchen (析公臣) before the king; the king did not set it right, and Xi Gong fled to Jin, and the men of Jin employed him. He it was whose words undid Chu and kept it from holding the eastern Xia. That was the doing of Xi Gong.

"Long ago the father and elder kinsmen of Yongzi (雍子) slandered Yongzi before King Gong. The king did not set it right; Yongzi fled to Jin, and the men of Jin employed him. When the battle of Yan came and Jin was on the point of withdrawing, Yongzi took part in the councils of war and said to Luan Shu (欒書): 'The army of Chu can be reckoned up. Its strength is the royal clansmen in the central army, and nothing else. If you shift the lower ranks of your center, Chu will surely be greedy for it. If they close and drive into our center, our upper and lower armies are certain to beat their left and right, and then with three converging bodies we may fall upon their royal clan and are certain to break it utterly.' Luan Shu followed him and greatly defeated the army of Chu, and the king himself was wounded in the face. That was the doing of Yongzi.

"Long ago Prince Xia of Chen (陳公子夏) took a wife for Yushu from the house of Duke Mu of Zheng, and she bore Zinan. Zinan's mother threw Chen into disorder and brought it to ruin, and caused Zinan to be put to death by the feudal lords. King Zhuang had granted the household of the Xia to Wuchen, governor of Shen (申公巫臣), and then gave it instead to Zifan, and in the end she went to Xianglao. Xianglao died at Bi, and the two men contended over her, and nothing was settled. King Gong sent Wuchen on a diplomatic visit to Qi, and he traveled with Xia Ji and then fled to Jin. The men of Jin employed him. It was he who opened the way between Wu and Jin, made his son Huyong an envoy at Wu, taught them archery and charioteering, and led them to attack Chu. It is a plague upon us to this day, and that was the doing of Wuchen, governor of Shen.

"Now Jiao Ju took a wife from Ziniu. Ziniu incurred guilt and fled, and those who hold power did not set it right, but said to Jiao Ju: 'It was you who sent him away.' In fear he fled to Zheng, and from far off he stretched his neck and looked southward, saying, 'Perhaps they will pardon my offense.' But again no thought was given to him, and so he has gone on to Jin, and the men of Jin have employed him too. If he lays plans against Chu, there is bound to be some great ruin."

Zimu's face fell, and he said: "How is it with the man? If he were summoned, would he come?" He replied: "A fugitive who is granted his life — why should he not come?" Zimu said: "And if he does not come, what then?" He replied: "The man will not stay in one place. Spring and autumn he will be about the business of embassies, wheeling his carriage among the feudal lords. If you were to bribe the brigands of Dongyang to kill him — would that do? Otherwise he will not come." Zimu said: "That will not do. I am a minister of Chu; to bribe brigands to murder a man in Jin is not righteous. Summon him for me, and I will double his household." So he sent Jiao Ming to summon his father and have him restored.

Wu Ju on the Beauty of the Terrace and the Peril of Chu (伍舉論臺美而楚殆)

King Ling (靈王) built the terrace of Zhanghua, and went up on it with Wu Ju (伍舉), saying: "The terrace is beautiful!" He replied: "Your servant has heard that a ruler of a state takes it for beauty to wear his honors worthily, takes it for joy to bring the people peace, takes it for keen hearing to listen to virtue, and takes it for clear sight to draw the distant to him. I have not heard that he takes for beauty the height of earth and timber, the vermilion pillars and the carved rafters, or takes for joy the swelling and clamorous multitude of bells and chimes, gourd-pipes and bamboo; I have not heard that he takes for clear sight great spectacles, extravagant sights, and excess of women, or takes for keen hearing anything but the discerning of clear and muddy tones.

"Our late lord King Zhuang built the terrace of Paoju. Its height went no further than to look out for the vapors over the state; its size no further than to hold the stands of a feast. Its timber did not encroach upon the defenses; its cost did not burden the offices; the people did not lose their seasonal work, and the officers did not alter the ordinary business of the court. Ask who feasted there: the Duke of Song and the Earl of Zheng. Ask who conducted the rites: Hua Yuan and Si Fei. Ask who assisted at the business: the Marquis of Chen, the Marquis of Cai, the Baron of Xu, and the Viscount of Dun, with their grandees in attendance upon them. By this our late lord put down disorder and overcame his enemies, and gave no offense to the feudal lords.

"Now my lord has made this terrace. The people of the state are worn out by it, the wealth of the state is spent upon it, the year's grain has failed because of it, the hundred offices are harried by it; the whole state was held to the work, and only after several years was it finished. My lord wished to have the feudal lords go up on it with him at its opening, and the feudal lords all refused, and not one came. Afterward my lord sent the grand steward Qijiang to make request of the Marquis of Lu, frightening him with the affair at Shu, and barely got him to come. My lord had comely, polished, and pretty youths assist at the ceremony, and men of long beards conduct the rites. Your servant does not know where the beauty is in it.

"As for beauty: when high and low, inner and outer, great and small, far and near take no harm from a thing, then it is called beautiful. If a thing is beautiful to the eye but drains the wealth away into want, then it is a gathering of the people's benefit to fatten oneself while starving the people. What beauty is in that? He who is lord of a state must dwell together with his people. If the people are lean, how shall the lord be fat? Moreover, when private desires are large and extravagant, virtue and righteousness grow scarce; and when virtue and righteousness are not practiced, those near at hand are troubled and fall away, and those far off keep their distance and turn against him. What makes the Son of Heaven honored is that he has dukes and marquises for the heads of his offices and earls, viscounts, and barons for his companies and regiments. What gives him a fair name is that he spreads good virtue over near and far, so that great and small are at peace in it. If a man gathers in the people's benefit to accomplish his private desires, and so wastes the people that they forget their peace and joy and set their hearts on going far away, then his evil is great indeed. What use is the pleasure of the eye?

"Therefore when the former kings made terraces and pavilions, the pavilion went no further than the drill of arms, and the terrace no further than watching for baleful and auspicious vapors. So the pavilion was measured by the quarters of the great host, and the terrace by a height sufficient to look out from. Its site did not take away the ploughland; the making of it did not drain the wealth; the work of it did not burden the business of the offices; its days did not spoil the seasonal labors. On barren, stony ground, there they made it; the timber left over from the city's defenses, that they used; in the leisure of the officers, then they attended to it; in the gaps between the four seasons, then they completed it. Thus a Zhou ode says:

He laid out the Sacred Terrace,
he laid it out and planned it.
The common folk worked at it,
and in no time it was done.
He began the laying out without haste,
and the common folk came like sons.
The king is in the Sacred Park,
where the doe and the deer lie at rest.

"The making of terraces and pavilions was meant to teach the people what benefits them; it was never heard of that they should be used to beggar them. If my lord calls this terrace beautiful and makes it the measure of what is right, then Chu is in peril!"

Fan Wuyu: No State Has Ever Profited from Building Great Cities (范無宇論國為大城未有利者)

King Ling walled Chen, Cai, and Bulang, and sent his charioteer Zixi (子皙) to put a question to Fan Wuyu (范無宇): "The Xia states do not submit to me but serve Jin alone. Why? Only because Jin is near them and I am far. Now I have walled three states, each with a levy of a thousand chariots, which already matches Jin; and Chu is to be added to them. Will the feudal lords come?"

He replied: "It stands in the records: no state that has made great cities has ever profited by it. Of old Zheng had Jing and Li; Wei had Pu and Qi; Song had Xiao and Meng; Lu had Bian and Fei; Qi had Quqiu; Jin had Quwo; Qin had Zheng and Ya. Shu Duan used Jing to trouble Duke Zhuang, and Zheng nearly failed to overcome him; the men of Li it was who kept the prince of Zheng from his place; Pu and Qi of Wei it was that drove out Duke Xian; Xiao and Meng of Song it was that assassinated Duke Zhao; Bian and Fei of Lu it was that weakened Duke Xiang; Quqiu of Qi it was that killed Wuzhi; Quwo of Jin it was that let in the army of Qi; Zheng and Ya of Qin it was that made trouble for Dukes Huan and Jing. All of them stand recorded among the feudal lords, and this is where the lack of profit lies.

"Moreover, the ordering of cities and towns is like the constitution of a body: there is the head and neck, the thighs and the arms, down to the fingers and thumb, the hair and the veins. The great can move the small, and so it shifts about without strain. Earth has high ground and low; Heaven has dark and light; a people has ruler and subject; a state has capital and countryside. Such is the ordering of antiquity. The former kings feared that men would not follow it, and so they ordered them by righteousness, marked them out by their robes, carried it through by ritual, distinguished them by titles, wrote them down in documents, and led them by words. Once this is lost, the fitness of things is turned about. The frontier is the tail of a state. Compare it to an ox or a horse: when the end of the heat has come and the gadflies and midges are many, and it cannot switch its tail — that too your servant fears. Were it not so, would these three walled cities not set the hearts of the feudal lords trembling?"

Zixi reported back. The king said: "This man knows a little of Heaven; what does he know of the rules for the people? These are empty words." The right minister Zige was in attendance and said: "The people are what Heaven gives life to. He who knows Heaven must know the people. These words of his are to be feared indeed!" Three years later the men of Chen, Cai, and Bulang brought in Qiji and assassinated King Ling.

The Left Scribe Yixiang Admonishes Zi Wei, Governor of Shen (左史倚相儆申公子亹)

The left scribe Yixiang (倚相) went to see Zi Wei (子亹), governor of Shen. Zi Wei did not come out, and the left scribe spoke ill of him, and Ju Bo reported it. Zi Wei came out in anger and said: "Is it not enough that you call me an old dotard and cast me aside — must you slander me as well!"

The left scribe Yixiang said: "It is precisely because you are old that I wished to see you and admonish you side by side. If you were still in your prime and able to manage a hundred affairs, I, Yixiang, would be running about to receive my orders in their turn, and would not have time enough for that; what leisure would I have to come and see you? Long ago Wu, duke of Wei (衛武公), was ninety-five years of age, and still he set out admonitions for his state, saying: 'From the ministers down to the masters, elders, and officers, whoever is at court, let none say I am an old dotard and cast me aside. You must be reverent and careful at court, and warn me morning and evening, one with another. When you hear a word or two, be sure to recite it and remember it and bring it in, to instruct and guide me.' In his carriage he had the rules of the guardsmen; at his station in the court he had the canons of the officers; leaning on his armrest he had the remonstrances of the reciters of instruction; in his bedchamber he had the admonitions of his intimate attendants; when he took up affairs he had the guidance of the blind musicians and the scribes; at his ease he had the recitations of the music masters and the blind singers. The scribes did not fail in their writing and the blind singers did not fail in their chanting, and by these he was instructed and guided; and thereupon he made the Yi warning to admonish himself. When he died, he was called Wu the Wise and Sage. If you, sir, are not wise and sage, what harm is that to Yixiang? The Documents of Zhou say: 'King Wen, till the sun had passed the noon and declined, had no leisure to eat. He was kind to the small people, and reverent in nothing but government.' Even King Wen did not dare to be proud. Now you grow old upon the state of Chu and want your own ease, and would fend off all such things. What then is the king to do? If it is always thus, Chu will be in hard case!" Zi Wei was afraid and said: "The fault is this old man's." And thereafter he saw the left scribe often.

Bai Gong Zizhang Urges King Ling to Accept Remonstrance (白公子張諷靈王宜納諫)

King Ling was cruel, and Bai Gong Zizhang (白公子張) remonstrated with him again and again. The king was vexed by it and said to Shi Lao: "I wish to put a stop to Zizhang's remonstrances. How is it to be done?" He replied: "To use them is truly hard; to stop them is easy. When he remonstrates, my lord need only say: 'In my left hand I hold the persons of the ghosts, in my right the palace of those who died young. Every admonition and remonstrance there is, I have heard them all. What need have I to hear another word?'"

Bai Gong remonstrated again, and the king said what Shi Lao had told him. Bai Gong replied: "Long ago Wuding of Yin was able to raise up his virtue until it reached the bright spirits. He went into the land of the He, and from the He he went on to Bo, and there for three years he kept silence and pondered the Way. His ministers and officers were troubled by it and said: 'A king speaks in order to issue commands. If he does not speak, there is no way to receive commands.' Wuding thereupon made a writing, saying: 'Since I am to set the four quarters right, I fear my virtue is not good; and for this reason I do not speak.' Even so, he had an image made from his dream and had them seek far and wide in the four quarters for a worthy man; and he obtained Fu Yue and brought him back and raised him up to be a duke, and set him to admonish him morning and evening, saying: 'If I am metal, I will use you for a whetstone. If I am a ford of water, I will use you for a boat. If Heaven is in drought, I will use you for a soaking rain. Open your heart, and water mine. If a medicine does not make the head swim, the sickness will not be healed. If a man walks barefoot and does not watch the ground, his foot will be hurt for it.' With such spiritual clarity as Wuding's, with a sagehood so wise and broad, with a wisdom without flaw, still he said of himself that he had not yet set things in order, and so for three years he kept silence and pondered the Way. And when he had found the Way, still he did not dare to rule by his own will, but had an image made and sought far and wide for a sage. And when he had got him for a helper, he still feared that he would grow careless and forgetful, and so he had him admonish, instruct, and remonstrate morning and evening, saying: 'You must mend me at my side; do not cast me off.' Now my lord may perhaps not come up to Wuding, and yet he hates those who admonish him. Is that not hard!

"Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin were neither of them the appointed heirs. They wheeled their carriages among the feudal lords and did not dare to indulge themselves; their hearts were set on the sound of virtue, and by virtue they gained their states. Ministers near at hand remonstrated with them, ministers far off criticized them, the common people chanted of them, and by this they instructed themselves. Therefore when they came in, their four borders did not make up a single tong of land, yet they came to hold domain lands and to gather the feudal lords, and to this day they are called good rulers. Huan and Wen were both such men. If my lord will not measure his cares against these two good rulers, and wishes only his own ease, is that not impermissible? A Zhou ode has it: 'What he does not do in his own person, the common people will not trust.' Your servant fears that the people will not trust my lord, and so he does not dare keep silent. Otherwise, why should he be in such haste to bring guilt upon himself by speaking?"

The king was pained by it and said: "Speak again, sir. Though I, the unworthy one, cannot use your words, I am at least willing to set them in my ears." He replied: "It is because I count on my lord to use them that I speak. If not — could all the rhinoceroses, yaks, wild oxen, and elephants of Ba and Pu ever be used up, that admonition should be made into ear-plugs besides?" Then he hurried out and withdrew; he went home, barred his gate, and did not come out. In the seventh month came the disorder at Ganxi, and King Ling died in it.

The Left Scribe Yixiang Warns the Marshal Ziqi to Follow Only the Way (左史倚相儆司馬子期唯道是從)

The marshal Ziqi (子期) wished to make his concubine his principal wife. He consulted the left scribe Yixiang, saying: "I have a concubine who is honest and careful, and I wish to give her the hairpin. May it be done?" He replied: "Long ago the late grandee Zinang went against the king's command concerning his posthumous name; Zixi was fond of water caltrop, and Zimu had the sheep-presentation made and no offering of caltrop. The noble man says: they went against, and yet they were in the Way. The page Guyang loved Zifan for his labors and offered him drink, and by it Zifan fell at Yan; Shen Hai the Yu Yin followed King Ling's desire, and by it perished at Ganxi. The noble man says: they followed, and yet they went contrary. What the noble man wants in his conduct is the Way; therefore in advancing and withdrawing and in every turn he follows only the Way. Zimu was able to go against the desire of Ruo'ao, and by the Way put away the offering of caltrop. You, sir, are the manager of the state of Chu, and yet you wish to offer caltrop and so violate it. Can that be done?" Ziqi then desisted.

Book 18 — Discourses of Chu, Part 2 (卷十八 楚語下)

Guan Yefu on the Severing of the Way Between Earth and Heaven (觀射父論絕地天通)

King Zhao (昭王) asked Guan Yefu (觀射父): "What is meant when the Documents of Zhou say that Chong and Li made it so that Heaven and Earth did not communicate? If it had not been so, would the people have been able to climb up to Heaven?"

He replied: "That is not what it means. In antiquity the people and the spirits were not mingled. There were among the people those whose essential brightness was undivided, and who could moreover be single and reverent, upright and centered; whose wisdom could match what is fitting above and below; whose penetration could shine far and spread clear; whose brightness could light things up; whose hearing could listen things through. Upon such the bright spirits came down: in a man he was called a xi, in a woman a wu. It was they who fixed the spirits' dwellings and places and the order of their precedence, and made for them the victims, the vessels, and the robes of the seasons. And then those descendants of the former sages who had brilliance in them, and who could know the names of the mountains and rivers, the tablets of the high ancestors, the business of the ancestral temple, the generations of the zhao and mu lines, the diligence of purification and reverence, the fitness of rite and measure, the rules of dignified bearing, the ordering of countenance, the substance of loyalty and good faith, and the robes of pure offering, and who were reverent toward the bright spirits — these were made the invocators. And those descendants of the named clans who could know the growth of the four seasons, the kinds of victims, the classes of jade and silk, the forms of the colored robes, the proportions of the ritual vessels, the measures of precedence, the stations of the screen and the stand, the places of the altar and the cleared ground, the spirits above and below, and the origins of the clans and surnames, and whose hearts followed the old canons — these were made the ritual masters. So there were officers of Heaven, of Earth, of the spirits, of the people, and of the classes of things, and these were called the Five Offices. Each attended to its own order and they did not confound one another. By this the people were able to keep loyalty and good faith, and the spirits were able to hold bright virtue; the people and the spirits had separate work, and there was reverence and no profaning. Therefore the spirits sent down good harvests, and the people made offering of their produce; calamity did not come, and what they sought for use was not lacking.

"When Shaohao declined, the Nine Li threw virtue into confusion. The people and the spirits were mingled together and could no longer be told apart. Every man made his own offerings; every household had its own medium and its own scribe; and there was no binding sincerity in it. The people were beggared by their sacrifices and knew nothing of their blessing. The offerings had no measure, and the people and the spirits stood in the same place. The people profaned their common oaths, and there was no awe or dread left. The spirits grew familiar with the people's rules and did not purify what they did. Good harvests did not come down; there was nothing left to offer. Calamity came again and again, and none lived out the breath given him. Zhuanxu took the matter up. He commanded Chong, governor of the South, to take charge of Heaven and gather the spirits, and commanded Li, governor of Fire, to take charge of Earth and gather the people, and made them return to the old constancy and no longer trespass upon or profane each other. This is what is called the severing of the way between Earth and Heaven.

"Afterward the Three Miao renewed the ways of the Nine Li, and Yao again fostered the descendants of Chong and Li, those who had not forgotten the old things, and made them take charge of it once more. So it went on down to Xia and Shang, and thus the houses of Chong and Li ordered Heaven and Earth generation after generation and kept their apportioned charges distinct. Under Zhou, Xiufu, earl of Cheng, was of their line; in the time of King Xuan he lost the charge of that office and became the house of Sima. They honored their ancestor and made a spirit of him, to take awe from the people, saying: 'Chong it was who lifted up Heaven, Li it was who pressed down Earth.' They met with an age of disorder, and no one could stop them. Were it not so — Heaven and Earth were completed and do not change; what joining of them could there be?"

Guan Yefu on the Victims of Sacrifice (觀射父論祀牲)

Ziqi sacrificed to King Ping, and sent the ox from the sacrifice on its stand to the king. The king asked Guan Yefu: "How far do the victims of a sacrifice extend?" He replied: "A sacrifice goes one degree beyond the ceremonial meal. The Son of Heaven takes the great set — ox, sheep, and pig — for his ceremonial meal, and sacrifices with an assembly of them; a feudal lord takes a single ox for his ceremonial meal, and sacrifices with the great set; a minister takes the lesser set — sheep and pig — for his ceremonial meal, and sacrifices with a single ox; a grandee takes a single beast for his ceremonial meal, and sacrifices with the lesser set; an officer eats broiled fish, and sacrifices with a single beast; a commoner eats vegetables, and sacrifices with fish. When high and low have their order, the people are not negligent."

The king said: "And what of their size?" He replied: "For the suburban and the di sacrifices, the horns go no further than a cocoon or a chestnut; for the zheng and the chang sacrifices, no further than a handful." The king said: "Why so small?" He replied: "The spirits are those who look upon the people with pure clarity; therefore what is sought is completeness in the things offered, not abundance and size. And so in the sacrifices of the former kings they brought the spirits down with the one purity, the two essences, the three victims, the four seasons, the five colors, the six pitch-pipes, the seven affairs, the eight kinds, the nine offerings, the ten days, and the twelve watches; and they served them with the hundred clan-names, the thousand grades, the ten thousand offices, the hundred thousand classes, and the regular revenue drawn from the full count of the lands that feed the myriad people. With bright virtue they made it manifest; with harmonious sound they gave it to be heard; and when the announcement had reached everywhere and all had come, there was nothing that did not receive their blessing. The hair was shown to display the kind, the blood presented to announce the killing; sincerity was joined to them, the offerings drawn and taken and presented complete: this was purity and reverence. Reverence cannot be kept up long, and the strength of the people cannot bear it; therefore they came before the spirits in singleness and awe."

The king said: "How long are the beasts kept in feed?" He replied: "The most distant no more than three months; the nearest no more than a full round of ten days." The king said: "Can sacrifice not be done away with?" He replied: "Sacrifice is the means of making filial devotion manifest and letting the people increase, of soothing the state and settling the people; it cannot be done away with. When the spirit of the people is let loose it sinks; sunk, it stagnates; and stagnating long without being roused, then living things do not multiply. If what they render is not obedient and what they raise does not multiply, no state can be held. Therefore in antiquity the former kings sacrificed daily, made offering monthly, offered by kind at the seasons, and sacrificed yearly. The feudal lords left off the daily; the ministers and grandees left off the monthly; the officers and commoners left off the seasonal. The Son of Heaven sacrificed to all the host of spirits and every class of thing; the feudal lords sacrificed to Heaven and Earth, to the three luminaries, and to the mountains and rivers of their own soil; the ministers and grandees sacrificed according to their rites; the officers and commoners went no further than their grandfathers. When sun and moon meet in the Dragon's Tail, the breath of the earth draws in and gathers, the brightness of Heaven rises in fullness, the hundred good things are all stored away, and the host of spirits go abroad together. Then the state holds the zheng and chang sacrifices, and the household holds its chang offering. The common people, husband and wife, choose an auspicious day, present their victims, reverence their grain offerings, cleanse away the refuse, are careful of their colored robes, purify their ale and their sweet wine, lead out their sons and their kinsmen, follow the seasonal offering, are respectful toward their ritual masters and invocators, and speak their words of accord, and so make manifest the sacrifice to their forebears, solemn and stately, as though someone were present. Then they bring together their districts and villages, their friends and their kin by marriage, and draw close their brothers and their relations. Then they put an end to their hundred harshnesses and blot out slander and malice, join in their good will and knit up their bonds of affection, bring peace to high and low, and so make their clan firm. This is how those above teach the people reverence, and how those below make manifest their service to those above. In the business of the di and the suburban sacrifices, the Son of Heaven must himself shoot the victim, and the queen must herself pound the grain; in the business of the ancestral temple, the feudal lord must himself shoot the ox, stab the sheep, and strike the pig, and his lady must herself pound the grain for the vessels. How much more the men below them — who among them would dare not to be fearful and trembling in serving the hundred spirits! The Son of Heaven himself pounds the grain for the di and the suburban sacrifices, and the queen herself reels the silk for the robes. From the dukes down to the commoners, who would dare not to be pure and reverent and to put forth his strength for the spirits! This is what holds the people fast. How could it be done away with?"

The king said: "What are the one purity, the two essences, and the seven affairs?" He replied: "The sage king sets straight his black robe and cap, and with a heart that does not go astray leads his host of ministers and their pure offerings to preside over the sacrificial feast, so that there is nothing harsh or corrupt toward the spirits: this is called the one purity. Jade and silk are the two essences. Heaven, Earth, the people, and the business of the four seasons are the seven affairs." The king said: "And what are the three affairs?" He replied: "The business of Heaven is martial; the business of Earth is civil; the business of the people is loyalty and good faith." The king said: "And what are the hundred clan-names, the thousand grades, the ten thousand offices, the hundred thousand classes, and the regular revenue from the full count of the lands for the myriad people?" He replied: "The offices by which the people reach the throne are a hundred. Those sons and younger brothers of kings and dukes who have the substance for it, who can speak and can listen and can carry their office through, are granted surnames according to their service, so as to oversee their offices: these are the hundred clan-names. Each surname has its grades that reach the throne, and ten to the king is what is called the thousand grades. The offices of the five kinds of things, with their attendant subordinates, come to ten thousand, and these are the ten thousand offices. Each office has ten classes, and this makes the hundred thousand classes. The Son of Heaven's fields are nine gai, and with them he feeds the myriad people; the king takes his regular revenue from them, and with it he feeds the ten thousand offices."

Zichang Asks About Hoarding Goods and Gathering Horses, and Dou Ju Declares He Must Fall (子常問蓄貨聚馬鬥且論其必亡)

Dou Ju (鬥且) went to see the chief minister Zichang (子常). Zichang talked with him and asked about hoarding goods and gathering horses. Dou Ju went home and said to his younger brother: "Is Chu to perish? If not, then will the chief minister at least not escape? I saw the chief minister, and the chief minister asked about hoarding and gathering and piling up substance like a starving jackal or wolf. He is surely bound to perish.

"In antiquity the gathering of goods did not encroach on the people's benefit in clothing and food, and the gathering of horses did not harm the people's wealth and use. The state's horses were enough to put an army in the field, and the duke's horses were enough to answer the levy, and they went no further than that. The duke's goods were enough for the entertainment of guests and for tribute, and a house's goods were enough for its common use, and they went no further than that. When goods and horses go beyond, then the people fall short; and when the people fall short in much, they get hearts that break away and rebel. How then shall a state be held?

"Long ago Dou Ziwen (鬥子文) three times left the office of chief minister, and had not a single day's store laid by, because he had pity on the people. King Cheng heard that Ziwen's morning did not reach to his evening, and thereupon at every court set out a bundle of dried meat and a basket of parched grain to offer him; and it is his regular allowance to this day. Whenever King Cheng brought out an increase of Ziwen's stipend, Ziwen always fled from it, and only when the king stopped did he come back. Someone said to Ziwen: 'Men in life seek riches, and you flee from them. Why?' He replied: 'One who takes part in government does so to shelter the people. When many of the people are empty and I take riches to myself, that is wearing out the people to fatten myself, and my death is not far off. I flee death; I do not flee riches.' Therefore in King Zhuang's generation, when the Ruo'ao clan was wiped out, only Ziwen's descendants remained; to this day they dwell at Yun and are good servants of Chu. Is this not to pity the people first and put one's own riches after?

"Now Zichang is the descendant of a former grandee, and he assists the ruler of Chu without a good name in the four quarters. The people grow lean and hungry, and worse every day. The four borders are full of ramparts; the dead upon the roads look upon one another; robbers and brigands are watching their chance, and the people have nothing to lean on. He does not pity this, and is never sated with hoarding and gathering; he has called down much resentment from the people. The heaped-up goods grow ever greater and the heaped-up resentment ever thicker. If not ruin, what is he waiting for?

"When the hearts of the people are angered, it is like damming a great river: when it bursts, what it breaks will surely be great. Can Zichang be better than King Cheng and King Ling? Cheng did not treat Mu with propriety; he asked to eat a bear's paw, and did not get it, and died. Ling took no thought for the people, and the whole state cast him off like a footprint left behind. Zichang holds the government, and his want of propriety and want of thought are worse than Cheng's and Ling's. What strength has he alone to withstand it?" Within the year came the battle of Boju; Zichang fled to Zheng, and King Zhao fled to Sui.

Wei the Lan Yin Avoids King Zhao and Will Not Take Him Up (藍尹亹避昭王而不載)

When the men of Wu entered Chu and King Zhao fled and was crossing at Chengjiu, he saw Wei the Lan Yin (藍尹亹) carrying his wife and children in his carriage. The king said: "Take me up." He replied: "From the former kings down, none has ever lost his state; that it should be lost in my lord's time is my lord's fault." And he left the king and went on.

When the king came back, Wei again asked for an audience. The king wished to seize him, but Zixi (子西) said: "Let his words be heard; he must have a reason." The king sent word to him: "At the affair of Chengjiu you cast off the unworthy one; now you dare to come. Why?" He replied: "In the past Wa did nothing but nurse old grudges, and by it was beaten at Boju, and so my lord came to this pass. Now to imitate him — would that not be wrong? Your servant kept away at Chengjiu in order to warn my lord: might he not repent and change? That I dare to come now is to look at my lord's virtue, and to say: might he not remember his fear and take warning from the evil that went before? If my lord will not take warning but nurses the grudge instead, then my lord truly has a state and does not cherish it; and what is my death to me? My death lies with the officer of justice. Let my lord consider it." Zixi said: "Let him be restored to his post, so that the former defeat is not forgotten." The king then received him.

Xin, Duke of Yun, and His Brother Huai — One Kept the Rites Toward His Ruler, the Other Toward His Father (鄖公辛與弟懷或禮於君或禮於父)

When the men of Wu entered Chu, King Zhao fled to Yun. Huai, younger brother of the Duke of Yun, was about to assassinate the king, and Xin, Duke of Yun (鄖公辛), stopped him. Huai said: "King Ping killed our father. Within the state he was our ruler; outside it he is our enemy. To see an enemy and not kill him is not to be a man." The Duke of Yun said: "One who serves his lord does not vary his conduct by inside or outside, and does not shift his action by abundance or want. Once he has taken a man for lord, high and low are all one to him. Moreover, from one's equals downward there are enemies; beyond that there is no enmity. When an inferior does violence to a superior it is assassination; when a superior does violence to an inferior it is chastisement — and how much more so with a ruler! When a ruler chastises a subject, what enmity is there in it? If all men held their rulers to be enemies, what would become of high and low? Our forefathers served their lords well and made a name for themselves among the feudal lords; from Dou Bobi down, they have never failed in this. Now you would bring calamity on it. It cannot be." Huai would not listen, and said: "I think of my father, and can look at nothing else." The Duke of Yun then fled with the king to Sui.

When the king came back, his rewards reached both the Duke of Yun and Huai. Zixi remonstrated: "My lord has two subjects: one of them may be rewarded, the other may be put to death. If the king treats them alike, the host of ministers will be afraid." The king said: "The two sons of Ziqi? I know them. The one kept the rites toward his ruler, the other kept the rites toward his father. Is it not right to treat them alike?"

Wei the Lan Yin on the Coming Fall of Wu (藍尹亹論吳將斃)

Zixi sighed at court. Wei the Lan Yin said: "I have heard that the noble man sighs only when he sits alone and thinks upon the endings and downfalls of former ages, or when he grieves at a coffining or a funeral; otherwise not. The noble man in office thinks of righteousness; in eating and drinking he thinks of ritual; at a feast in company he thinks of joy; and in his joy he thinks of goodness — there is no sighing in it. Now you, sir, sigh in office. Why?" Zixi said: "Helü was able to defeat our army. Helü has passed from the age, and I hear that his heir is worse still. That is why I sigh."

Wei replied: "Sir, be troubled that the virtue of your government is not cultivated; do not be troubled about Wu. Helü's mouth did not crave fine flavors, his ear took no pleasure in wanton music, his eye was not led astray by beauty, his body did not hanker after comfort. Morning and evening he drove his purpose on, and he pitied the people in their exhaustion. Hearing one good word, he was as though startled; gaining one good officer, he was as though he had been given a reward. Having a fault, he always mended it; finding anything not good in himself, he always took fright. Therefore he won the people, and by them accomplished his purpose. Now I hear that Fuchai delights in wearing out the people's strength to bring about his private pleasures, that he lets his faults run loose and screens off remonstrance. For a single night's lodging, terraces and pavilions, embankments and ponds must be finished; the six kinds of livestock and his playthings must all go with him. Fuchai has already defeated himself first — how should he be able to defeat others? Cultivate your virtue, sir, and wait for Wu. Wu is going to fall."

Wangsun Yu on the Treasures of a State (王孫圉論國之寶)

Wangsun Yu (王孫圉) went on a diplomatic visit to Jin. Duke Ding feasted him, and Zhao Jianzi (趙簡子) assisted at the ceremony with his girdle-jades chiming. He asked Wangsun Yu, "Is Chu's white heng-pendant (白珩) still in your keeping?" He replied, "It is." Jianzi said, "How many generations has it been a treasure?"

Yu said: "It has never been a treasure. What Chu treasures is Guan Yifu (觀射父), who can frame speech of instruction and conduct affairs with it among the feudal lords, so that they find in our unworthy ruler no matter for their mouths. We have also the Left Scribe Yixiang (倚相), who can expound the instructions and canons and set the hundred affairs in their order, and who morning and evening lays before our unworthy ruler examples of success and ruin, so that our ruler does not forget the work of the former kings; and who can further win the favor of the ghosts and spirits above and below, following and guiding what they desire and what they hate, so that the spirits hold no grudge or grievance against the state of Chu. We have also a marsh called Yunlian Tuzhou (雲連徒洲), where metal and timber, bamboo and arrow-shafts grow, and tortoise-shell, pearls, horn, ivory, hides, leather, feathers, and hair — the things with which we furnish our military levies and guard against what cannot be foreseen; the things with which we supply money and silk to entertain the feudal lords and present gifts to them. If the goods the feudal lords like are ready to hand, and we conduct the business with speech of instruction; if we have our preparation against what cannot be foreseen, and the great spirits assist us — then our unworthy ruler may escape blame among the feudal lords, and the people of the state are kept in safety. These are the treasures of the state of Chu. As for the white heng-pendant, it is a plaything of the former kings. What is there in it to treasure?

"I, Yu, have heard that a state has six treasures and no more. When an enlightened king or a sage can judge and deliberate upon the hundred affairs, and so assist the state — that is treasured. When jade is enough to shelter the good grain, so that there is no calamity of flood or drought — that is treasured. When the tortoise-shell is enough to lay down a rule of good and ill — that is treasured. When pearls are enough to ward off fire — that is treasured. When metal is enough to ward off war and disorder — that is treasured. When mountains and forests, marshes and meres are enough to furnish wealth and use — that is treasured. But as for the beauty of jingling and clatter: Chu may be a land of Man and Yi, yet it cannot treasure that."

Wenzi of Luyang Declines the Liang That King Hui Gave Him (魯陽文子辭惠王所與梁)

King Hui gave Liang to Wenzi of Luyang (魯陽文子). Wenzi declined it, saying: "Liang is a place of natural strength, and it lies on the border. I fear that among my descendants there will be one of divided heart. In serving a ruler one should carry no rancor; where there is rancor there is the danger of pressing hard upon him; where there is such pressing there is the danger of a divided heart. To be full and yet not press upon the ruler, to carry rancor and yet not be divided — for that I your servant can vouch for myself alone; of anyone else I cannot say. Even granting that I keep my head and neck whole to the end of my days, I fear that my descendants, trusting to the strength of Liang, would leave my sacrifices unserved." The king said, "Your benevolence does not forget your descendants, and its good reaches the state of Chu. Dare I not follow you?" And he gave him Luyang.

Zigao, Duke of She, Argues That Sheng, Duke of Bai, Will Bring Chaos on Chu (葉公子高論白公勝必亂楚國)

Zixi (子西) sent a man to summon Wangsun Sheng (王孫勝). Shen Zhuliang (沈諸梁) heard of it, went to see Zixi, and said, "I hear that you have summoned Wangsun Sheng. Is it true?" He said, "It is." Zigao said, "What use will you make of him?" Zixi said, "I have heard that Sheng is straight and hard. I mean to station him on the border."

Zigao said: "It cannot be. As a man he is true to his word but without good faith; loving but not benevolent; crafty but not wise; hard but not brave; straight but not upright within; close but not good. That he makes good on his word and gives no thought to his own safety — that is his truth to his word. That he loves men and lays no plan for the long run — that is his want of benevolence. That he uses scheming to overreach others — that is his craft. That he forces himself to bear anything and tramples on righteousness — that is his hardness. That he is straight and takes no thought for what should be veiled — that is his want of uprightness within. That he keeps his words close and casts virtue away — that is his want of goodness. These six virtues in him all have the flower and not the fruit. What use will you make of him?

"His father was put to death by Chu, and his heart, besides, is stubbornly self-willed and not clean. If he is so self-willed, he will not forget the old grudge, and he will not use cleanness to reform his character; he will think of nothing but repaying the grudge. Then his love is enough to win him men; his truth to his word is enough to make good what he has said; his craft is enough to lay the plan; his straightness is enough to lead the multitude; his closeness is enough to cover it over; and his uncleanness is enough to carry it through. Add to these his want of benevolence, and uphold them with unrighteousness, and there is nothing he will not overcome.

"Those who made Sheng's grudge are all gone. If he comes and receives no favor, that will only hasten his anger. If you do favor him — hard and greedy and never satisfied, already able to win men, and dazzled with great gain, with no benevolence to bring him up, brooding on the old grudge to shape his heart — then if the state has a crack in it, he will assuredly not stay in his place. If it is not you who must answer for it, who then? He will brood on the old grudge and want the great honors; he will move and win men to him; he will have his grudge and the means to serve it. If you do indeed employ him, harm may be looked for. I hold you dear, sir, and the marshal too; therefore I dare not keep silent."

Zixi said, "Will not kindness make him forget his grudge? I shall treat him well, and then he will be at peace."

Zigao said: "Not so. I have heard that only the benevolent man may be liked and may be disliked, may be raised high and may be set low. Like him, and he does not press upon you; dislike him, and he bears no grudge; raise him high, and he is not arrogant; set him low, and he is not afraid. With the man who is not benevolent it is otherwise. If men like him he presses upon them; if they dislike him he bears them a grudge; if they raise him high he grows arrogant; if they set him low he is afraid. In arrogance there is craving; in fear there is hatred; and craving, hatred, grudge, and pressing are what give birth to crafty schemes. What will you do then? If you summon him and set him below others, he will be aggrieved and afraid; and whoever stands above him will meet with anger and resentment. For a heart of crafty scheming there is no rest anywhere. A single unrighteousness is enough to ruin a state, and here you have five or six of them made one, and are determined to employ the man. Is that not asking for trouble? I have heard that when a state is about to fall it is sure to employ a wicked man and to relish the flavor that sickens it. Does that not mean you, sir?

"Who is without his ailments and blights? The able man clears them away early. An old grudge that wipes out a lineage is the ailment and blight of a state; a man may set bolt and bar, fence and hedge against it, and guard it off at a distance, and still be afraid it will come. That is what is called being daily on one's guard. If you summon him and bring him close, your death will not be many days off. Men have a saying: 'A wolf cub has a wild heart.' Such a man is a creature of grudge and injury. What good is there in him besides? If you do not believe me, why not seek out the clan of Ruo'ao, or the kin of Zigan and Zixi (子皙), and bring them close as well? What use is there in Sheng? How long can it last?

"Long ago in Qi, Zou Maxu put Duke Hu into the Ju River; Bing Chu and Yan Zhi cut down Duke Yi among the bamboos of the park; in Jin, Zhangyu Jiao killed the three Xi at the pavilion; in Lu, the groom Luo killed Ziban in his lodging. Whose doing were these? Was it anything but old grudges? All of this you have heard. Men seek to hear much of success and ruin in order to take warning by it. Now you hear it and cast it away — it is as though your ears were covered over. What good is it that I speak to you? All I know now is to flee."

Zixi laughed and said, "How you love to have the better of it, sir!" He did not follow the advice, and made Sheng the Duke of Bai. Zigao pleaded illness and lived in retirement at Cai. When the revolt of the Duke of Bai came, Zixi and Ziqi died. The Duke of She heard of it and said: "I bear him a grudge for casting away my words, but I count it a merit in him that he governed the state of Chu. The man who could bring Chu to an even balance and restore the work of the former kings was he. To set a small grudge above a great merit would be unrighteous in me. I shall go in and kill the man." He led the men from beyond Fangcheng and went in, killed the Duke of Bai and settled the royal house, and buried the kinsmen of the two who had fallen.

Colophon

This translation was prepared for the Chinese shelf of the Good Works Library, translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. Each of the eighteen discourses that make up Books 17 and 18 is kept as its own heading, speeches are rendered as continuous speech, and Wei Zhao's commentary, which the source carries as interlinear notes set off by 〔 〕, is printed complete in the source layer but has not been translated.

We know of no complete published English translation of the Discourses of the States; only selections and scholarly studies are known to circulate. No claim of firstness is made for this translation.

Chu's own offices are kept close to the Chinese rather than folded into a generic English rank: 令尹 chief minister, 司馬 marshal, 太宰 grand steward, and titles built on a place name, such as 藍尹 (Overseer of Lan) and 芋尹 (Overseer of Yu), are carried through consistently in this form.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

🌲

Source Text: 國語 楚語

Classical Chinese text in the Chinese Wikisource transcription, with the commentary of Wei Zhao (韋昭) set in 〔 〕 as the transcription carries it. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above; the commentary is not translated.

卷十七 楚語上

申叔時論傅太子之道

莊王使士亹傅太子箴，〔莊王，楚成王之孫、穆王之子旅也。士亹，楚大夫。審，恭王名也。　案：「審」，公序本作「箴」。札記：「案此當是『箴』，或作『審』，恭王名也。」〕辭曰：「臣不才，無能益焉。」王曰：「賴子之善善之也。」〔賴，恃也。〕對曰：「夫善在太子，太子欲善，善人將至；若不欲善，善則不用。故堯有丹朱，〔朱，堯子，封於丹。〕舜有商均，〔均，舜子，封於商。〕啟有五觀，〔啟，禹子。五觀，啟子，太康昆弟也。觀，洛汭之地。書序曰：「太康失國，昆弟五人，須于洛汭。」傳曰：「夏有觀、扈。」〕湯有太甲，〔太甲，湯孫，太丁之子。不遵湯法，伊尹不能正，放之於桐。〕文王有管、蔡。〔管、蔡，文王之子、周公之兄。〕是五王者，皆有元德也，而有姦子。夫豈不欲其善，不能故也。若民煩，可教訓。〔煩，亂也。〕蠻、夷、戎、狄，其不賓也久矣，〔賓，服也。〕中國所不能用也。」王卒使傅之。

問於申叔時，〔叔時，楚賢大夫申公。〕叔時曰：「教之春秋，而為之聳善而抑惡焉，以戒勸其心；〔以天時紀人事，謂之春秋。聳，獎也。抑，貶也。〕教之世，而為之昭明德而廢幽昏焉，〔世，謂先王之世繫也。昭，顯也。幽，闇也。昏，亂也。為之陳有明德者世顯，而闇亂者世廢也。〕以休懼其動；〔休，嘉也。動，行也。使之嘉顯而懼廢也。〕教之詩，而為之導廣顯德，以耀明其志；〔導，開也。顯德，謂若成湯、文、武、周邵僖公之屬，諸詩所美者也。〕教之禮，使知上下之則；〔案：此句下，公序本有注文「則，法也」三字。〕教之樂，以疏其穢而鎮其浮，〔疏，滌也。樂者，所以移風易俗，蕩滌人之邪穢也。鎮，重也。浮，輕也。〕教之令，使訪物官；〔令，謂先王之官法、時令也。訪，議也。物，事也。使議知百官之事業。〕教之語，使明其德，而知先王之務用明德於民也；〔語，治國之善語。〕教之故志，使知廢興者而戒懼焉；〔故志，謂所記前世成敗之書。〕教之訓典，使知族類，行比義焉。〔訓典，五帝之書。族類，謂若惇序九族。比義，義之與比也。〕

「若是而不從，〔案：此句下，公序本有注文「不見從也」四字。〕動而不悛，〔悛，改也。〕則文詠物以行之，〔文，文辭也。詠，風也。謂以文辭風託事物以動行也。〕求賢良以翼之。〔翼，輔也。〕悛而不攝，則身勤之，〔攝，固也。勤，勤身以勖勉也。〕多訓典刑以納之，〔刑，法也。〕務慎惇篤以固之。攝而不徹，〔徹，通也。〕則明施舍以導之忠，〔施己所欲，原心舍過，謂之忠恕。〕明久長以導之信，〔有信然後可以長久。〕明度量以導之義，〔義，宜也。言度量所宜。〕明等級以導之禮，〔等級，貴賤之品。〕明恭儉以導之孝，〔恭儉，所以事親。〕明敬戒以導之事，〔敬戒於事，則無敗功。〕明慈愛以導之仁，明昭利以導之文，〔昭，明也。明利，言利人及物。〕明除害以導之武，〔除害，去暴亂也。〕明精意以導之罰，〔明盡精意，斷之以情。〕明正德以導之賞，〔正德，謂不私於所愛。〕明齊肅以耀之臨。〔齊，壹也。肅，敬也。耀，明也。臨，臨事也。〕若是而不濟，不可為也。〔濟，成也。為，為師傅也。〕

「且夫誦詩以輔相之，威儀以先後之，體貌以左右之，明行以宣翼之，〔宣，遍也。〕制節義以動行之，恭敬以臨監之，勤勉以勸之，孝順以納之，忠信以發之，德音以揚之，教備而不從者，非人也。其可興乎！〔興，猶成也。〕夫子踐位則退，〔夫子，太子也。退，謙退也。〕自退則敬，〔自退，則見敬。〕否則赧。」〔赧，懼也。不自退，則常憂懼。〕

子囊議恭王之謚

恭王有疾，〔恭王，太子審也。疾在魯襄十三年。　案：「審」，公序本作「箴」。〕召大夫曰：「不穀不德，失先君之業，〔業，伯業也。〕覆楚國之師，不穀之罪也。〔覆，敗也。謂鄢陵之戰為晉所敗。〕若得保其首領以歿，〔保首領，免刑誅也。〕唯是春秋所以從先君者，請為『靈』若『厲。』〔亂而不損曰「靈」，殺戮不辜曰「厲」。言春秋禘、祫，當以立諡，序昭穆，從先君於廟堂也。〕大夫許諾。

王卒，及葬，子囊議諡。〔子囊，恭王弟令尹公子貞也。〕大夫曰：「王有命矣。」子囊曰：「不可。夫事君者，先其善不從其過。〔先其善，先舉君之善事以為其稱，不從其過行。〕赫赫楚國，而君臨之，〔赫赫，顯盛也。〕撫征南海，訓及諸夏，其寵大矣。〔撫，安也。征，正也。南海，群蠻也。訓，教也。寵，榮也。教及諸夏，謂主盟會、班號令也。〕有是寵也，而知其過，可不謂『恭』乎？〔諡法，既過能改曰「恭」。〕若先君善，〔先其善事。〕則請為『恭』。」大夫從之。

屈建祭父不薦芰

屈到嗜芰。〔屈到，楚卿，屈蕩之子子夕。芰，蔆也。〕有疾，召其宗老而屬之，〔家臣曰老。宗老，謂宗人也。〕曰：「祭我必以芰。」及祥，〔祥，祭也。〕宗老將薦芰，屈建命去之。〔建，屈到之子子木也。〕宗老曰：「夫子屬之。」〔夫子，屈到也。〕子木曰：「不然。夫子承楚國之政，〔承，奉也。〕其法刑在民心而藏在王府，上之可以比先王，下之可以訓後世，雖微楚國，諸侯莫不譽。〔微，無也。雖使無楚國之稱，諸侯猶皆譽之以為善。〕其祭典有之曰：國君有牛享，〔諸侯以太牢。〕大夫有羊饋，〔羊饋，少牢也。〕士有豚犬之奠，〔士以特牲。〕庶人有魚炙之薦，〔庶人祀以魚。〕籩豆、脯醢則上下共之。〔共之，以多少為差也。〕不羞珍異，不陳庶侈。〔羞，進也。庶，眾也。侈，猶多也。〕夫子不以其私欲干國之典。」遂不用。〔干，犯也。〕

蔡聲子論楚材晉用

椒舉娶於申公子牟，〔椒舉，楚大夫，伍參之子、伍奢之父伍舉也。子牟，楚申公王子牟也。〕子牟有罪而亡，〔亡，奔也。〕康王以為椒舉遣之，〔康王，恭王之子康王昭也。〕椒舉奔鄭，將遂奔晉。〔鄭小而近，故欲奔晉。〕蔡聲子將如晉，〔蔡聲子，蔡公孫歸生子家也。唐云：「楚滅蔡，蔡聲子為楚大夫。」昭謂：蔡時尚存，聲子通使於晉、楚耳。在魯襄二十六年。〕遇之於鄭，饗之以璧侑，〔饗，食也。璧侑，以璧侑食也。〕曰：「子尚良食，〔尚，猶彊也。良，善也。〕二先子其皆相子，〔相，助也。二先子，謂椒舉之父伍參，聲子之父子朝也。傳曰：「楚伍參與蔡太師子朝友，其子伍舉與聲子相善也。」〕尚能事晉君以為諸侯主。」〔主，盟主也。〕辭曰：「非所願也。若得歸骨於楚，死且不朽。」〔自謂不朽。〕聲子曰：「子尚良食，吾歸子。」〔使子得歸也。〕椒舉降三拜，〔拜善言也。〕納其乘馬，聲子受之。〔四馬曰乘，受而不辭，定其心也。〕

還見令尹子木，〔子木，屈建也。傳曰「聲子通使於晉，還如楚」也。〕子木與之語，曰：「子雖兄弟於晉，然蔡吾甥也，〔蔡、晉同姓。謂吾舅者，吾謂之甥也。〕二國孰賢？」對曰：「晉卿不若楚，〔順說之辭。言時趙武為晉正卿，不及子木之忠，然而有德。〕其大夫則賢，〔賢於楚大夫。〕其大夫皆卿材也。若杞梓、皮革焉，楚實遺之，〔杞梓，良材也。皮革，犀兕也。〕雖楚有材，不能用也。」子木曰：「彼有公族甥、舅，若之何其遺之材也？」對曰：「昔令尹子元之難，〔子元，楚武王子、文王弟王子善也，欲蠱文夫人，遂處王宮，鬥班殺之。在魯莊二十八年及三十年。〕或譖王孫啟於成王，〔啟，子元子也。成王，文王子也。或譖啟與父同罪。〕王弗是，〔是，理也。〕王孫啟奔晉，晉人用之。及城濮之役，晉將遁矣，〔晉、楚戰於城濮，在魯僖二十八年。遁　逃退也。〕王孫啟與於軍事，謂先軫〔先軫，晉中軍帥。〕曰：『是師也，唯子玉欲之，〔子玉，楚令尹得臣也。〕與王心違，〔王不欲戰，子玉固請，王怒，少與之師。〕故唯東宮與西廣寔來。〔東宮、西廣，楚軍營名。〕諸侯之從者，叛者半矣，〔叛，舍子玉。〕若敖氏離矣，〔若敖氏，子玉同族。離，謂不欲戰也。〕楚師必敗，何故去之！』先軫從之，大敗楚師，則王孫啟之為也。

「昔莊王方弱，〔方弱，未二十。〕申公子儀父為師，〔儀父，申公鬥班之子，大司馬鬥克也。〕王子燮為傅，〔燮，楚公子。〕使師崇、子孔帥師以伐舒。〔師崇，楚太師潘崇也。子孔，楚令尹成嘉也。舒，群舒也。〕燮及儀父施二帥而分其室。〔施罪於二帥。二帥，子孔、潘崇也。室，家資也。〕師還至，則以王如廬，〔師，子孔、潘崇之師。二子懼，故以王如廬。廬，楚邑也。傳曰：「初，鬥克囚于秦，秦有殽之敗，而使歸求成，成而不得志，公子燮求令尹不得，故作亂。城郢，而使賊殺子孔，弗克而還。」〕廬戢黎殺二子而復王。〔戢黎，廬大夫也。二子，燮及儀父。〕或譖析公臣於王，〔析公臣，楚大夫。或譖之，言與知二子之亂。〕王弗是，析公奔晉，晉人用之。寔讒敗楚，使不規東夏，則析公之為也。〔規，猶有也。東夏，蔡、沈也。傳曰：「繞角之役，晉將遁矣，析公曰：『楚師輕窕，易震蕩也。若多鼓鈞聲，以夜軍之，楚師必遁。』晉人從之，楚師宵潰。晉人遂侵蔡，襲沈，獲其君。鄭於是不敢南面，楚失諸華。」繞角之役，在魯成六年。〕

「昔雍子之父兄譖雍子於恭王，〔雍子，楚大夫。父兄，同宗之父兄。〕王弗是，雍子奔晉，晉人用之。及鄢之役，晉將遁矣，〔鄢，鄢陵。役在魯成十六年。〕雍子與於軍事，謂欒書曰：『楚師可料也，〔欒書，晉正卿。料，數也。〕在中軍王族而已。〔唐云：「族，親族，同姓也。」昭謂：族，部屬也。傳曰：「欒、范以其族夾公行。」時二子將中軍，中軍非二子之親也。〕若易中下，楚必歆之。〔中下，中軍之下也。歆，猶貪也。易，易欒、范之行，示之弱，以誘楚也。傳曰：「欒、范易行以誘之。」鄭司農以為易行，中軍與上下軍易卒伍也。中軍之卒良，故易之。〕若合而陷〔案：「臽」原作「函」。攷異卷四引述聞，以「函」為「臽」之誤，據改。注同。〕吾中，〔合，合戰也。陷，入也。中，中軍也。〕吾上下必敗其左右，〔晉上下軍必敗楚之左右軍也。〕則三萃以攻其王族，必大敗之。』〔萃，集也。時晉有四軍，言三集者，中軍先入，而上下及新軍乃三集以攻也。　案：發正卷十七引王引之說，以為「三萃」當據左傳襄二十六年作「四萃」。〕欒書從之，大敗楚師，王親面傷，則雍子之為也。〔王，楚恭王也。面傷，謂呂錡射其目。〕

「昔陳公子夏為御叔娶於鄭穆公，〔公子夏，陳宣公之子、御叔之父也，為御叔娶鄭穆公少妃姚子之女夏姬也。〕生子南。子南之母亂陳而亡之，〔子南，夏徵舒之字。御叔早死，陳靈公與孔寧、儀行父淫夏姬，徵舒弒靈公。楚莊王以諸侯討之而滅陳。〕使子南戮於諸侯。〔言為諸侯所戮。在魯宣十一年。〕莊王既以夏氏之室賜申公巫臣，則又畀之子反，卒於〔案：「於」，攷異卷四引考正，疑為「與」之訛。〕襄老。〔畀，與也。巫臣，楚申公屈巫子靈也。子反，司馬公子側也。襄老，楚連尹也。初，莊王欲納夏姬，巫臣諫曰：「不可。君召諸侯，以討罪也。今納夏姬，貪其色也。貪色為淫，淫為大罰。」王乃止，將以賜巫臣，則又與子反。子反欲取，巫臣又難之，卒與襄老。〕襄老死于邲，二子爭之，未有成。〔晉、楚戰於邲，在魯宣十二年。晉智莊子射襄老，獲之，以其尸歸。二子，子反、巫臣也。爭，爭夏姬。成，猶定也。〕恭王使巫臣聘於齊，以夏姬行，〔巫臣導夏姬使歸，託以求襄老之尸，恭王遣焉。巫臣聘諸鄭，鄭伯許之。及使適齊，至鄭，遂以夏姬行焉。〕遂奔晉。晉人用之，寔通吳、晉使其子狐庸為行人於吳，〔子反殺巫臣之族，巫臣在晉，請使於吳，吳子壽夢說之，乃通吳于晉，使其子為吳行人。〕而教之射御，導之伐楚。至于今為患，則申公巫臣之為也。

「今椒舉娶於子牟，子牟得罪而亡，執政弗是，〔執政，卿也。〕謂椒舉曰：『女實遣之。』彼懼而奔鄭，緬然引領南望，〔緬，猶邈也。領，頸也。〕曰：『庶幾赦吾罪。』又不圖也，乃遂奔晉，晉人又用之矣。彼若謀楚，其亦必有豐敗也哉。」〔豐，猶大也。〕

子木愀然，〔愀，愁貌。〕曰：「夫子何如，召之其來乎？」對曰：「亡人得生，又何不來為。〔案：「又何不來為」，札記：「補音本或曰『又何來為』，無『不』字。丕烈案：下文云『不然，不來矣』，或本是也。」〕子木曰：「不來，則若之何？」對曰：「夫子不居矣，〔不居，言當奉命於他國。〕春秋相事，以還軫於諸侯。〔軫，車後橫木。言四時相聘問之事，迴車於諸侯。〕若資東陽之盜使殺之，其可乎？〔資，賂也。東陽，楚北邑。〕不然，不來矣。」子木曰：「不可。我為楚卿，而賂盜以賊一夫於晉，非義也。子為我召之，吾倍其室。」〔倍其室，益其家也。〕乃使椒鳴召其父而復之。

伍舉論臺美而楚殆

靈王為章華之臺，〔靈王，楚恭王之庶子、靈王熊虔也。章華，地名。吳語曰：「乃築臺於章華之上。」〕與伍舉升焉，曰：「臺美夫！」〔伍舉，椒舉也。椒，邑也。〕對曰：「臣聞國君服寵以為美，〔服寵，謂以賢受寵服，以是為美。〕安民以為樂，〔以能安民為樂。〕聽德以為聰，〔聽用有德也。〕致遠以為明。〔能致遠人也。〕不聞其以土木之崇高、彤鏤為美，〔彤，謂丹楹。鏤，謂刻桷。〕而以金石匏竹之昌大、囂庶為樂；〔金，鍾也。石，磬也。匏，笙也。竹，簫管也。昌，盛也。囂，譁也。庶，眾也。〕不聞其以觀大、視侈、淫色以為明，而以察清濁為聰。〔察，審也。清濁，宮羽也。〕

「先君莊王為匏居之臺，〔匏居，臺名。〕高不過望國氛，〔氛，祲氣也。〕大不過容宴豆，〔言宴有折俎籩豆之陳。〕木不妨守備，〔不妨城郭守備之材。〕用不煩官府，〔材用不出府藏。〕民不廢時務，官不易朝常。問誰宴焉，則宋公、鄭伯；〔言二國朝事楚。〕問誰相禮，則華元、駟騑；〔相，相導也。華元，宋卿，華御事之子、右師元也。騑，鄭穆公之子子駟也。〕問誰贊事，則陳侯、蔡侯、許男、頓子，〔贊，佐也。〕其大夫侍之。〔各侍其君。〕先君以是除亂克敵，而無惡於諸侯。今君為此臺也，國民罷焉，財用盡焉，年穀敗焉，〔敗，廢民之時務。〕百官煩焉，〔為之徵發。〕舉國留之，〔留，治之也。〕數年乃成。願得諸侯與始升焉，諸侯皆距無有至者。而後使太宰啟疆請於魯侯，〔啟疆，楚卿薳子也。魯侯，昭公也。事在昭七年。〕懼之以蜀之役，〔蜀，魯地。魯宣公使求好於楚，楚莊王卒，宣公薨，不克作好。成公即位，受盟於晉，楚子怒，使公子嬰齊帥師侵魯，至蜀，魯人懼之，使孟孫賂楚以請盟。在魯成二年。〕而僅得以來。〔僅，猶劣也。〕使富都那豎贊焉，〔富，富於容貌。都，閑也。那，美也。豎，未冠者也。言取美好不尚德。〕而使長鬣之士相焉，〔長鬣，美鬚髯也。〕臣不知其美也。

「夫美也者，上下、內外、小大、遠近皆無害焉，故曰美。若於目觀則美，〔於目則美，於德則不美。〕縮於財用則匱，〔縮，言取也。〕是聚民利以自封而瘠民也，胡美之為？〔封，厚也。胡，何也，何以為美。〕夫君國者，將民之與處；民實瘠矣，君安得肥？〔安得獨肥，言將有患。〕且夫私欲弘侈，則德義鮮少；德義不行，則邇者騷離而遠者距違。〔騷，愁也。離，叛也。邇，境內。遠，鄰國。〕天子之貴也，唯其以公侯為官正，〔正，長也。〕而以伯子男為師旅。〔帥師旅也。〕其有美名也，唯其施令德於遠近，而小大安之也。若斂民利以成其私欲，使民蒿焉忘其安樂，而有遠心，〔蒿，耗也。遠心，叛離。〕其為惡也甚矣，安用目觀？

「故先王之為臺榭也，〔積土為臺。無室曰榭。〕榭不過講軍實，〔講，習也。軍實，戎事也。〕臺不過望氛祥。〔凶氣為氛，吉氣為祥。〕故榭度於大卒之居，〔大卒，王士卒也。度，謂足以臨見也。〕臺度於臨觀之高。〔足以臨下觀上，使屋榭不蔽目明而已。〕其所不奪穡地，〔稼穡之地。〕其為不匱財用，〔為，作也。〕其事不煩官業，〔業，事也。〕其日不廢時務。〔以農隙也。〕瘠磽之地，於是乎為之；〔不害穀土也。磽，确也。〕城守之木，〔案札記：「依解云『城守之餘』，『木』當是『末』字之誤也。」攷異卷四：「案周禮掌固鄭司農注引國語作『木』，疑韋解有訛脫。」〕於是乎用之；〔城守之餘，然後用之。〕官僚之暇，於是乎臨之；〔暇，閑也。〕四時之隙，於是乎成之。〔隙，空閑時也。〕故周詩曰：『經始靈臺，〔經，謂經度之，立其基址也。天子曰靈臺。〕經之營之。庶民攻之，不日成之。〔攻，治也。不日，不程課以期日。〕經始勿亟，庶民子來。〔亟，疾也。子來，如子為父也。〕王在靈囿，麀鹿攸伏。』〔囿，域也。麀，牝鹿。攸，所也。視牝鹿所伏，息愛牸任之類。〕夫為臺榭，將以教民利也，〔臺，所以望氛祥而備災害；榭，所以講軍實而禦寇亂：皆所以利民者。〕不知其以匱之也。〔知，聞也。〕若君謂此臺美而為之正，〔以為得事之正。〕楚其殆矣！」〔殆，危也。〕

范無宇論國為大城未有利者

靈王城陳、蔡、不羹，〔三國，楚別都也。魯昭八年，楚滅陳，使穿封戍為陳公。十一年，滅蔡，使公子棄疾為蔡公。今潁川定陵西北有不羹亭，襄城西北有不羹城。〕使僕夫子皙問於范無宇，〔子皙，楚大夫僕皙父也。范無宇，楚大夫芋尹申無宇也。〕曰：「吾不服諸夏而獨事晉何也，〔不服，心不服也。〕唯晉近我遠也。今吾城三國，賦皆千乘，亦當晉矣。〔禮，地方十里為成，出長轂一乘，馬四匹，牛十二頭，步卒七十二人，甲士三人。三國各千乘，其地三千成。〕又加之以楚，諸侯其來乎？」對曰：「其在志也，國為大城，未有利者。〔志，記也。言在書籍所記，國作大城，未有利也。〕昔鄭有京、櫟，〔京，莊公弟叔段之邑。櫟，鄭子元之邑。魯桓十五年，鄭厲公因櫟人殺檀伯，遂居櫟。檀伯，子元也。〕衛有蒲、戚，〔蒲，甯殖之邑。戚，孫林父之邑。〕宋有蕭、蒙，〔蕭、蒙，宋公子鮑之邑。〕魯有弁、費，〔弁、費，季氏之邑。〕齊有渠丘，〔渠丘，齊大夫雍廩之邑。〕晉有曲沃，〔曲沃，欒盈之邑。〕秦有徵、衙。〔徵、衙，桓公之子、景公之弟公子鍼之邑。〕叔段以京患莊公，鄭幾不克，〔叔段圖篡莊公，不克，出奔。在魯隱元年。〕櫟人寔使鄭子不得其位。〔魯莊十四年，厲公自櫟侵鄭，獲大夫傅瑕，與之盟而赦之，使殺鄭子而納厲公。鄭子，莊公子子儀也。〕衛蒲、戚寔出獻公，〔甯殖、孫林父逐衛獻公，獻公奔齊。在魯襄十四年。〕宋蕭、蒙寔弒昭公，〔昭公兄鮑弒昭公而立。在魯文十六年。〕魯弁、費寔弱襄公，〔襄公十一年，季武子卑公室，作三軍，而自征之。二十九年，又取弁以自予。〕齊渠丘寔殺無知，〔魯莊八年，無知弒襄公而立。九年，雍廩殺之。〕晉曲沃寔納齊師，〔欒盈奔齊，齊莊公納之，盈以曲沃之甲，晝入為賊於絳。在魯襄二十三年。〕秦徵、衙寔難桓、景，〔公子鍼有寵於桓，如二君於景。難，謂侵偪也。魯昭元年，鍼奔晉，其車千乘。〕皆志於諸侯，此其不利者也。〔皆見記錄於諸侯。〕

「且夫制城邑若體性焉，有首領股肱，至于手拇毛脈，〔拇，大指也。毛，鬚髮也。〕大能掉小，故變而不勤。〔掉，作也。變，動也。勤，勞也。〕地有高下，天有晦明，民有君臣，國有都鄙，古之制也。先王懼其不帥，〔帥，循也。〕故制之以義，旌之以服，行之以禮，〔謂名位不同，禮亦異數。〕辯之以名，〔名，號也。〕書之以文，〔書其名位，及所掌主。〕道之以言。既其失也，易物之由。〔易物，易其尊卑服物之宜。〕夫邊境者，國之尾也，譬之如牛馬，處暑之既至，〔處暑，在七月節。處，止也。〕虻䗽之既多，而不能掉其尾，臣亦懼之：〔虻䗽即牛虻，大曰虻，小曰䗽不能掉尾，益重也，以言三國亦將然也。〕不然，是三城也，豈不使諸侯之心惕惕焉。」〔惕惕，懼也。〕

子皙復命，王曰：「是知天咫，安知民則？〔咫，言少也。此言少知天道耳，何知治民之法。〕是言誕也。」〔誕，虛也。〕右尹子革侍，〔。〕曰：「民，天之生也。知天，必知民矣。是其言可以懼哉！」三年，陳、蔡及不羹人納棄疾而弒靈王。〔子革，楚大夫，故鄭國大夫子然之子然丹也。〕

左史倚相儆申公子亹

左史倚相廷見〔案：「廷見」，述聞卷二一：「『廷』當為『迋』。『迋』与『往』同，謂往至子亹之家而請見，故下文曰『子亹不出』也。說文：『迋』，往也。」〕申公子亹〔。子亹怒而出，曰：「女無亦謂我老耄而舍我，而又謗我！」，〔！」〕〕子亹不出，左史謗之，舉伯以告。〔倚相，楚左史也。子亹，楚申公史老也。廷見，見於廷也。〕子亹怒而出，曰：「女無亦謂我老耄而舍我，而又謗我！」〔舉伯，楚大夫也。〕

左史倚相曰：「唯子老耄，故欲見以交儆子。〔交，夾也。〕若子方壯，能經營百事，倚相將奔走承序，〔承受事業次序。〕於是不給，而何暇得見？〔給，供也。〕昔衛武公年數九十有五矣，〔武公，衛僖公之子、共伯之弟武公和也。〕猶箴儆於國，〔箴，刺也。儆，戒也。〕曰：『自卿以下至於師長士，〔師長，大夫。士，眾士。〕苟在朝者，無謂我老耄而舍我，〔舍，謂不諫誡。〕必恭恪於朝，朝夕以交戒我；聞一二之言，必誦志而納之，以訓導我。』〔言，謗譽之言也。志，記也。〕在輿有旅賁之規，〔規，規諫也。旅賁，勇力之士，掌執戈盾，夾車而趨，車止則持輪。〕位宁有官師之典，〔中庭之左右謂之位，門屏之間謂之宁。師，長也。典，常也。〕倚几有誦訓之諫，〔誦訓，工師所誦之諫，書之於几也。〕居寢有褻御之箴，〔褻，近也。〕臨事有瞽史之導，〔事，戎祀也。瞽，樂太師，掌詔吉凶。史，太史也，掌詔禮事。〕宴居有師工之誦。〔師，樂師也。工，瞽矇也。誦，謂箴諫時世也。〕史不失書，矇不失誦，以訓御之，〔御，進也。〕於是乎作懿戒〔案：「懿戒」，述聞卷二一：「『戒』字涉注文『戒書』而衍。」〕以自儆也。〔三君云：「懿，戒書也。」昭謂：懿，詩大雅抑之篇也。「懿」，讀之曰「抑」，毛詩序曰：「抑，衛武公刺厲王，亦以自儆也。」〕及其沒也，謂之睿聖武公。〔睿，明也。書曰：「睿作聖。」諡法曰：「威彊睿德曰『武。』」〕子實不睿聖，於倚相何害。〔害，傷也。〕周書曰：『文王至於日中昃，不皇暇食。〔日昳曰昃。易曰：「日中則昃。」〕惠於小民，唯政之恭。』文王猶不敢驕。〔案：「驕」，公序本作「惰」。〕今子老楚國而欲自安也，〔老，老恃楚國。〕以禦數者，王將何為？〔禦，止也。數者，謂箴戒誹謗也。為人臣而尚如此，王將復何為也。〕若常如此，楚其難哉！」〔難以為治。〕子亹懼，曰：「老之過也。」〔老，子亹名。〕乃驟見左史。

白公子張諷靈王宜納諫

靈王虐，白公子張驟諫。〔子張，楚大夫白公也。〕王患之，謂史老曰：「吾欲已子張之諫，若何？」〔史老，子亹。已，止也。〕對曰：「用之寔難，已之易矣。若諫，君則曰：『余左執鬼中，右執殤宮，〔中，身也。禮曰：其中退然。夭死曰殤；殤宮，殤之居也。執，謂把其錄籍，制服其身，知其居處，若今世云「能使殤矣」。〕凡百箴諫，吾盡聞之矣，寧聞他言？』」〔不欲聞諫也。〕

白公又諫，王如史老之言。對曰：「昔殷武丁能聳其德，至於神明，〔武丁，高宗也。聳，敬也。至，通也。通于神明，謂夢見傅說。〕以入於河，〔遷於河內。〕自河徂亳，〔從河內往都亳也。〕於是乎三年，默以思道。〔默，諒闇也。思道，思君人之道也。書曰：「高宗諒闇，三年不言，言乃雍。」〕卿士患之，〔患其不言。〕曰：『王言以出令也，若不言，是無所稟令也。』〔稟，受也。〕武丁於是作書，〔作書，解卿士也。賈、唐云：「書，說命也。」昭曰：非也，其時未得傅說。〕曰：『以余正四方，余恐德之不類，茲故不言。』〔類，善也。茲，此也。〕如是而又使以象夢〔案述聞卷二一：「『象夢』，當為『夢象』，謂以所夢見之人作象而使求之也。」〕旁求四方之賢，〔思賢而夢見之，識其容狀，故作其象，而使求之。〕得傅說以來，升以為公，〔公，上公也。書序曰：「高宗夢得說，使百工營求諸野，得之傅巖，作說命。」〕而使朝夕規諫，曰：『若金，用女作礪。〔使磨礪也。〕若津水，用女作舟。〔喻遭津水。〕若天旱，用女作霖雨。〔天旱，自比苗稼也。雨三日已上為霖。〕啟乃心，沃朕心。〔啟，開也。以賢者之心比霖雨也。〕若藥不瞑眩，厥疾不瘳。〔以藥喻忠言也。瞑眩頓瞀，攻己之急也。瘳，愈也。〕若跣不視地，厥足用傷。』〔以失道比徒跣而不視地，必傷也。〕若武丁之神明也，〔通於神明。〕其聖之睿廣也，其智之不疚也，猶自謂未乂，〔乂，治也。〕故三年默以思道。既得道，猶不敢專制，使以象旁求聖人。既得以為輔，又恐其荒失遺忘，故使朝夕規誨箴諫，曰：『必交修余，無余棄也。』今君或者未及武丁，而惡規諫者，不亦難乎！〔難以保國。〕

「齊桓、晉文，皆非嗣也，〔言非嫡嗣。〕還軫諸侯，不敢淫逸，〔還軫，謂出奔也。〕心類德音，以德有國。〔類，善也。〕近臣諫，遠臣謗，輿人誦，以自誥也。〔輿，眾也。誦，誦善敗也。誥，告也。〕是以其入也，四封不備一同，〔備，滿也。地方百里曰同。方欲美之，故尤小焉。〕而至於有畿田，〔方千里百畿。〕以屬諸侯，〔屬，會也。〕至於今為令君。桓、文皆然，君不度憂於二令君，而欲自逸也，無乃不可乎？周詩有之曰：『弗躬弗親，庶民弗信。』〔言為政不躬親之，則眾民不信。〕臣懼民之不信君也，故不敢不言。不然，何急其以言取罪也？」

王病之，曰：「子復語。〔病不能然，故復使語。〕不穀雖不能用，吾憖寘之於耳。」〔憖，猶願也。〕對曰：「賴君用之也，故言。〔賴，恃也。〕不然，巴浦之犀、犛、兕、象，其可盡乎，其又以規為瑱也？」〔犛，犛牛也。規，諫也。瑱，所以塞耳。言四獸之牙角可以為瑱難盡，而又以規諫為之乎？今象出徼外，其三獸則荊、交有焉。巴浦，地名。或曰：「巴，巴郡。浦，合浦。」〕遂趨而退，歸，杜門不出。七月，乃有乾谿之亂，靈王死之。〔乾谿，楚之東地。〕

左史倚相儆司馬子期唯道是從

司馬子期欲以妾為內子，〔子期，楚平王之子、子西之弟公子結也，為大司馬。卿之嫡妻曰內子。〕訪之左史倚相，曰：「吾有妾而願，欲笄之，其可乎？」〔愿，愨也。笄，內子首飾衡笄也。〕對曰：「昔先大夫子囊違王之命謚；〔違『厲』以為『恭』。〕子夕嗜芰，子木有羊饋而無芰薦。〔子木違父命，以羊饋易芰薦。〕君子曰：違而道。〔違命合道。〕穀陽豎愛子反之勞也，而獻飲焉，以斃於鄢；〔穀陽豎，子反之內豎也。斃，踣也。魯成十六年，晉、楚戰於鄢，楚恭王傷目。明日，將復戰，王召子反，穀陽豎獻飲於子反，醉不能見。王曰：「天敗楚也。」乃宵遁。子反自殺。〕芋尹申亥從靈王之欲，以隕於乾谿。〔芋尹申亥，申無宇之子。乾谿之役，申亥曰：「吾父再干王命，王不誅，惠孰大焉。」乃求王，遇諸棘圍以歸。王縊，申亥以二女殉葬之。〕君子曰：從而逆。〔從，從其欲。〕君子之行，欲其道也，〔欲得其道。〕故進退周旋，唯道是從。夫子木能違若敖之欲，〔若敖，子夕。〕以之道而去芰薦，吾子經營楚國，〔經，經緯也。〕而欲薦芰以干之，〔干，犯也。言以妾為妻，猶以芰當祭。〕其可乎？」子期乃止。

卷十八 楚語下

觀射父論絕地天通

昭王問於觀射父，〔昭王，楚平王之子昭王熊軫。觀射父，楚大夫。〕曰：「《周書》所謂重、黎寔使天地不通者，何也？〔《周書》，周穆王之相甫侯所作呂刑也。重、黎，顓頊掌天地之臣。呂刑曰：「乃命重、黎，絕地天通。」謂少皞之末，民神雜糅，不可方物，顓頊受之，乃命南正重司天以屬神，火正黎司地以屬民，是謂絕地與天相通之道也。〕若無然，民將能登天乎？」〔若重、黎不絕天地，民豈能上天乎？〕

對曰：「非此之謂也。古者民神不雜。〔雜，會也。謂司民、司神之官各異。〕民之精爽不攜貳者，而又能齊肅衷正，〔爽，明也。攜，離也。貳，二也。齊，一也。肅，敬也。衷，中也。〕其智能上下比義，〔義，宜也。〕其聖能光遠宣朗，〔聖，通也。朗，明也。〕其明能光照之，其聰能聽徹之，〔徹，達也。〕如是則明神降之，〔降，下也。〕在男曰覡，在女曰巫。〔巫、覡，見鬼者。周禮，男亦曰巫。〕是使制神之處位次主，〔處，居也。位，祭位也。次主，次其尊卑先後。〕而為之牲器時服，〔牲，牲之毛色、小大也。器，所當用也。時服，四時服色所宜。〕而後使先聖之後之有光烈，〔烈，明也。〕而能知山川之號、〔號，名位也。〕高祖之主、〔高祖，廟之先也。〕宗廟之事、昭穆之世、〔父昭，子穆，先後之次也。春秋躋僖公，謂之逆祀。〕齊敬之勤、〔齊，莊也。〕禮節之宜、威儀之則、容貌之崇、〔崇，飾也。〕忠信之質、〔質，誠也。〕禋絜之服，〔絜祀曰禋。〕而敬恭明神者，以為之祝。〔祝，太祝，掌祈福祥。〕使名姓之後，能知四時之生、〔名姓，謂舊族，若伯夷，炎帝之後，為堯秩宗。生，嘉穀韭卵之屬。〕犧牲之物、玉帛之類、采服之儀、彝器之量、〔彝，六彝。器，俎豆。量大小也。〕次主之度、〔疏數之度。〕屏攝之位、〔周氏云：「屏，並也。攝，主人之位。」昭謂：屏，屏風也。攝，形如今要扇。皆所以明尊卑，為祭祀之位。近漢亦然。〕壇場之所、〔除地曰場。〕上下之神、氏姓之出，〔所自出也。〕而心率舊典者為之宗。〔宗，宗伯，掌祭祀之禮。〕於是乎有天地神民類物之官，是謂五官，〔類物，謂別善惡、利器用之官。〕各司其序，不相亂也。民是以能有忠信，神是以能有明德，〔明德，謂降福祥，不為災孽。〕民神異業，〔業，事也。〕敬而不瀆，故神降之嘉生，〔嘉生，善物。〕民以物享，禍災不至，求用不匱。

「及少皞之衰也，九黎亂德，〔少皞，黃帝之子金天氏也。九黎，黎氏九人，蚩尤之徒也。　案：「蚩尤之徒也」五字原脫，據尚書呂刑疏引韋注補。〕民神雜糅，不可方物。〔同位故雜糅。方，猶別也。物，名也。〕夫人作享，家為巫史，〔夫人，人人也。享，祀也。巫，主接神。史，次位序。言人人自為之。〕無有要質。〔質，誠也。〕民匱於祀，而不知其福。〔言民困匱於祭祀，而不獲其福。〕烝享無度，民神同位。民瀆齊盟，無有嚴威。〔齊，同也。嚴，敬也。威，畏也。〕神狎民則，不蠲其為。〔狎，習也。則，法也。蠲，絜也。其為，所為也。〕嘉生不降，無物以享。禍災薦臻，莫盡其氣。〔薦，重也。臻，至也。氣，受命之氣也。〕顓頊受之，〔少皞氏歿，顓頊氏作。受，承服也。〕乃命南正重司天以屬神，〔南，陽位。正，長也。司，主也。屬，會也。所以會群神，使各有分序，不相干亂也。周禮，則宗伯掌祭祀。〕命火正黎司地以屬民，〔唐尚書云：「『火』，當為『北。』」北，陰位也。周禮，則司徒掌土地民人者也。〕使復舊常，無相侵瀆，〔侵，犯也。〕是謂絕地天通。〔絕地民與天神相通之道。〕

「其後，三苗復九黎之德，〔其後，高辛氏之季年。三苗，九黎之後。高辛氏衰，三苗為亂，行其凶德，如九黎之為也。堯興而誅之。〕堯復育重、黎之後，不忘舊者，使復典之。〔育，長也。堯繼高辛氏，平三苗之亂，紹育重、黎之後，使復典天地之官，羲氏、和氏是也。〕以至於夏、商，故重、黎氏世敘天地，而別其分主者也。〔敘，次也。分，位也。〕其在周，程伯休父其後也，當宣王時，失其官守，而為司馬氏。〔程，國。伯，爵。休父，名也。失官守，謂失天地之官，而以諸侯為大司馬。詩曰「王謂尹氏，命程伯休父」是也。〕寵神其祖，以取威於民，曰：『重寔上天，黎寔下地。』〔寵，尊也。言休父之後世，尊神其祖，以威耀其民，言重能舉上天，黎能抑下地，令相遠，故不復通也。〕遭世之亂，而莫之能禦也。〔亂，謂幽、平以下。禦，止也。〕不然，夫天地成而不變，〔天地體成，不復變改。〕何比之有？」〔言不相比近也。〕

觀射父論祀牲

子期祀平王，〔子期，楚平王之子結。平王，恭王之子、昭王之父。〕祭以牛俎於王，〔致牛俎於昭王。〕王問於觀射父，曰：「祀牲何及？」〔王惑俎肉，而問牲用所及。〕對曰：「祀加於舉。〔加，增也。舉，人君朔望之盛饌。〕天子舉以大牢，祀以會；〔大牢，牛羊豕也。會，會三大牢。舉，四方之貢。〕諸侯舉以特牛，祀以太牢；〔特，一也。〕卿舉以少牢，祀以特牛；〔少牢，羊豕。〕大夫舉以特牲，祀以少牢；〔特牲，豕也。〕士食魚炙，祀以特牲；庶人食菜，祀以魚。上下有序，則民不慢。」

王曰：「其小大何如？」對曰：「郊禘不過繭栗，〔角如繭栗。郊禘，祭天也。〕烝嘗不過把握。」〔把握，長不出把。〕王曰：「何其小也？」對曰：「夫神以精明臨民者也，故求備物，不求豐大。〔備物，體具而精絜者。〕是以先王之祀也，以一純、二精、〔一純，心純一而絜者。二精，玉帛也。〕三牲、四時、五色、六律、七事、八種、〔七事，天、地、民、四時之務。八種，八音也。〕九祭、十日、十二辰以致之，〔九祭，九州助祭。十日，甲至癸。十二辰，子至亥。擇其吉日令辰，以致神。〕百姓、千品、萬官、億醜，兆民經入畡數以奉之，〔百姓，百官受氏姓也。千品，姓有徹品，十為千品。五物之官，陪屬萬為萬官。官有十醜，為億醜。天子之田九畡，以養兆民，王取經入，以食萬官。〕明德以昭之，〔昭，昭孝敬也。〕和聲以聽之，〔中和之聲，使神聽之。〕以告遍至，則無不受休。〔至，神至也。休，慶也。〕毛以示物，〔物，色也。〕血以告殺，〔明不因故也。〕接誠拔取以獻具，為齊敬也。〔接誠於神也。拔毛取血，獻其備物也。齊，絜也。《詩》云：「執其鸞刀，以啟其毛，取其血膋。」〕敬不可久，民力不堪，故齊肅以承之。」〔肅，疾也。承，奉也。〕

王曰：「芻豢幾何？」〔草養曰芻，穀養曰豢。〕對曰：「遠不過三月，近不過浹日。」〔遠，謂三牲。近，謂雞鶩之屬。浹日，十日也。〕王曰：「祀不可以已乎？」〔已，止也。〕對曰：「祀所以昭孝息民、〔昭孝養，使民蕃息也。〕撫國家、定百姓也，不可以已。夫民氣縱則底，〔氣，志氣也。縱，放也。底，著也。〕底則滯，滯久而不振，〔滯，廢也。振，懼也。言無祭祀，則民無所畏忌；無所畏忌，則志放縱；志放縱，則遂廢滯難復恐懼也。〕生乃不殖。〔生，生物也。殖，長也。生物不長，神不降以福也。　案：「生，生物也。」原作「生，生人物也。」攷異卷四：「『人』字衍。下云『生物不長』，蒙上而言可證。」據刪。〕其用不從，〔不從上令也。〕其生不殖，不可以封。〔封，封國也。〕是以古者先王日祭、月享、時類、歲祀。〔告以事類曰類。日祭於祖、考，月薦於曾、高，時類及二祧，歲祀於壇墠。〕諸侯舍日，〔有月享也。〕卿、大夫舍月，〔有時祭也。〕士、庶人舍時。〔歲乃祭也。〕天子遍祀群神品物，〔品物，謂若八蜡所祭貓虎昆蟲之類。〕諸侯祀天地、三辰及其土之山川，〔三辰，日、月、星。祀天地，謂二王之後，非二王之後，祭分野星、山川而已。〕卿、大夫祀其禮，〔禮，謂五祀及祖所自出。〕士、庶人不過其祖。〔祖，王父也。〕日月會于龍𧱓，〔𧱓，龍尾也。〕謂周十二月、夏十月，日月合辰於尾上。月令：「孟冬，日在尾。」土氣含收，〔含收，收縮。萬物含藏。〕天明昌作，〔昌，盛也。作，起也。謂天氣上也。是月，純坤用事。〕百嘉備舍，〔嘉，善也。時物畢成，舍入室也。〕群神頻行。〔頻，並也。言並行欲求食也。〕國於是乎蒸嘗，家於是乎嘗祀，〔蒸，冬祭也。嘗，嘗百物也。月令：「孟冬，大飲烝。」傳曰：「閑蟄而蒸。」〕百姓夫婦擇其令辰，〔辰，十二辰。〕奉其犧牲，敬其粢盛，絜其糞除，慎其采服，禋其酒醴，帥其子姓，〔禋，絜也。子，眾子。姓，同姓也。〕從其時享，虔其宗祝，〔宗，主祭祀。祝，主祝祈。〕道其順辭，以昭祀其先祖，肅肅濟濟，如或臨之。於是乎合其州鄉朋友婚姻，比爾兄弟親戚。〔合，會也。比，親也。〕於是乎弭其百苛，殄其讒慝，〔弭，止也。苛，虐也。殄，覆也。止、覆，謂解怨除恨。〕合其嘉好，結其親暱，〔合、結，謂於此更申固之。〕億其上下，〔億，安也。〕以申固其姓。上所以教民虔也，下所以昭事上也。天子禘郊之事，必自射其牲，〔牲，牛也。〕王后必自舂其粢；〔粢，器實也。〕諸侯宗廟之事，必自射牛、刲羊、擊豕，〔刲，刺也。擊，殺也。〕夫人必自舂其盛。〔在器曰盛。上言粢，此言盛，互其文也。〕況其下之人，其誰敢不戰戰兢兢，以事百神！天子親舂禘郊之盛，〔帥后舂之。〕王后親繰其服，〔服，祭服。祭義云：「夫人繰，三盆，則王后一盆與。」周語曰：「王耕一墢，班三之。」〕自公以下至於庶人，其誰敢不齊肅恭敬致力於神！民所以攝固者也，若之何其舍之也！」〔攝，持也。舍，廢也。〕

王曰：「所謂一純、二精、七事者，何也？」對曰：「聖王正端冕，以其不違心，帥其群臣精物以臨監享祀，無有苛慝於神者，謂之一純。〔端，玄端之服。冕，大冠也。監，視也。不違心，謂心思端正、服則端正也。〕玉、帛為二精。〔明絜為精。〕天、地、民及四時之務為七事。」王曰：「三事者，何也？」對曰：「天事武，〔乾稱剛健，故武。〕地事文，〔地質柔順，故文。易曰：「坤為文。」〕民事忠信。」〔以忠信為行。〕王曰：「所謂百姓、千品、萬官、億醜、兆民經入畡數者，何也？」對曰：「民之徹官百。〔徹，達也。自以名達於上者，有百官也。〕王公之子弟之質能言能聽徹其官者，〔質，有賢質。能言，能言其官職也。〕而物賜之姓，以監其官，是為百姓。〔物，事也，以功事賜之姓。官有世功，則有官族，若太史、司馬之屬。〕姓有徹品，十於王謂之千品。〔謂一官之職，其僚屬徹於王者有十品，百官，故有千品。〕五物之官，陪屬萬為萬官。〔五物，謂天、地、神、民、類物之官也。臣之臣為陪屬。謂有僚屬轉陪貳相佐助，復有十等，千品，故萬官也。〕官有十醜，為億醜。〔醜，類也。以十醜承萬為十萬，十萬曰億，古數也。今以萬萬為億。〕天子之田九畡，以食兆民，〔九畡，九州之內有畡數也。食兆民，民稱耕而食其中也。天子曰兆民。〕王取經入焉，以食萬官。」〔經，常也。常入，征稅也。〕

子常問蓄貨聚馬鬥且論其必亡

鬥且廷見〔案述聞卷二一：「『廷』亦『迋』之訛。」參見楚語上。〕令尹子常，〔鬥且，楚大夫。子常，子囊之孫囊瓦也。〕子常與之語，問蓄貨聚馬。歸以語其弟，曰：「楚其亡乎！不然，令尹其不免乎。吾見令尹，令尹問蓄聚積實，如餓豺狼焉，〔實，財也。〕殆必亡者也。

「夫古者聚貨不妨民衣食之利，聚馬不害民之財用，〔貨，珠玉之屬，自然物也。貨、馬多，則養求者眾，妨財力也。〕國馬足以行軍，〔國馬，民馬也。十六井為丘，有戎馬一匹、牛三頭，足以行軍。〕公馬足以稱賦，〔公馬，公之戎馬。稱，舉也。賦，兵賦也。〕不是過也。公貨足以賓獻，〔賓，饗贈也。獻，貢也。〕家貨足以共用，〔家，大夫也。〕不是過也。夫貨、馬郵則闕於民，〔郵，過也。闕，缺也。〕民多闕則有離叛之心，將何以封矣。〔封，封國也。〕

「昔鬥子文三舍令尹，〔子文，鬥伯比之子於菟也。舍，去也。〕無一日之積，恤民之故也。〔積，儲也。〕成王聞子文之朝不及夕也，〔成王，楚文王之子頵也。〕於是乎每朝設脯一束、糗一筐，以羞子文。〔糗，寒粥也。筐，器名也。羞，進也。〕至於今〔案：「今」下原有「令尹」二字，考異卷四：「『令尹』二字疑涉上文而衍，周禮酒正先鄭注賈疏引國語作『至于今秩之』，可證。」今據刪。〕秩之。〔秩，常也。〕成王每出子文之祿，必逃，王止而後復。〔祿，俸也。復，反也。〕人謂子文曰：『人生求富，而子逃之，何也？』對曰：『夫從政者，以庇民也。〔庇，覆也。〕民多曠者，而我取富焉，〔曠，猶空也。〕是勤民以自封也，〔勤，勞也。封，厚也。〕死無日矣。我逃死，非逃富也。』故莊王之世，滅若敖氏，唯子文之後在，至於今處鄖，為楚良臣。〔莊王，成王孫也。若敖氏，子文之族也。魯宣四年，子文之弟子鬥椒為亂，莊王滅若敖氏之族，子文之孫箴尹克黃使齊而還，自拘於司敗。王思子文之治楚也，曰：「子文無後，何以勸善。」使復其所。其子孫當昭王時為鄖公。〕是不先恤民而後己之富乎？

「今子常，先大夫之後也，〔先大夫，子囊也。〕而相楚君無令名於四方。民之羸餒，日已甚矣。〔羸，瘠也。言日日又甚。〕四境盈壘，〔盈，滿也。壘，壁也。言壘壁滿於四境之內。〕道殣相望，〔道冢曰殣。詩云：「行有死人，尚或殣之。」〕盜賊司目，民無所放。〔放，依也。〕是之不恤，而蓄聚不厭，其速怨於民多矣。〔速，召也。〕積貨滋多，蓄怨滋厚，不亡何待。

「夫民心之慍也，〔慍，怒也。〕若防大川焉，潰而所犯必大矣。〔犯，敗也。〕子常其能賢於成、靈乎？成不禮於穆，願食熊蹯，不獲而死。〔成，成王，穆王商臣之父，欲黜商臣而立其弟職。商臣圍成王，王請食熊蹯而死，不聽，遂自殺。蹯，掌也。〕靈不顧於民，一國棄之，如遺跡焉。〔靈王不君，罷弊楚國，三軍叛之，如行人之遺棄其跡。〕子常為政，而無禮不顧甚於成、靈，其獨何力以待之！」〔待，禦也。〕期年，乃有柏舉之戰，子常奔鄭，昭王奔隨。〔柏舉，楚地。隨，漢東之國。初，蔡昭侯朝於楚，子常欲其珮。唐成公亦朝焉，子常欲其驌驦馬。二君不與，而留之三年。後與之，乃得歸。歸與吳伐楚，大敗之。在魯定四年。奔隨，自鄖奔隨也。〕

藍尹亹避昭王而不載

吳人入楚，昭王出奔，濟於成臼，〔吳人，闔閭也。出奔隨也。濟，渡也。成臼，津名。〕見藍尹亹載其孥。〔藍尹亹，楚大夫。妻子曰孥。〕王曰：「載予。」對曰：「自先王莫墜其國，〔墜，失也。〕當君而亡之，君之過也。」遂去王。王歸，又求見，王欲執之，子西曰：「請聽其辭，夫其有故。」〔子西，平王之子、昭王之庶兄、令尹公子申也。故，猶意也。〕王使謂之曰：「成臼之役，而棄不穀，今而敢來，何也？」〔而，女也。〕對曰：「昔瓦唯長舊怨，以敗於柏舉，故君及此。〔瓦，子常名。長，猶積也。〕今又效之，無乃不可乎？臣避於成臼，以儆君也，庶悛而更乎？〔悛，改也。〕今之敢見，觀君之德也，曰：庶憶懼而鑒前惡乎？〔鑒，鏡也。〕君若不鑒而長之，君實有國而不愛，臣何有於死，〔案：此句下，公序本有注文「何惜於死」四字。〕死在司敗矣！〔楚謂司寇為司敗。〕惟君圖之！」子西曰：「使復其位，以無忘前敗。」〔言見亹則念前敗。〕王乃見之。

鄖公辛與弟懷或禮於君或禮於父

吳人入楚，昭王奔鄖，〔鄖，楚邑。〕鄖公之弟懷將弒王，〔鄖公，令尹子文玄孫之孫蔓成然之子鬥辛也。〕鄖公辛止之。懷曰：「平王殺吾父，〔平王，昭王考也。父，蔓成然也。成然立平王，貪求無厭，平王殺之。〕在國則君，在外則讎也。見讎弗殺，非人也。」鄖公曰：「夫事君者，不為外內行，〔不為外內易行。〕不為豐約舉，〔豐，盛也。約，衰也。舉，動也。〕苟君之，尊卑一也。且夫自敵以下則有讎，〔敵，敵體也。〕非是不讎。下虐上為弒，上虐下為討，而況君乎！君而討臣，何讎之為？若皆讎君，則何上下之有乎？吾先人以善事君，成名於諸侯，自鬥伯比以來，未之失也。今爾以是殃之，不可。」〔殃，病害也。〕懷弗聽，曰：「吾思父，不能顧矣。」鄖公以王奔隨。〔避懷也。〕

王歸而賞及鄖、懷，子西諫曰：「君有二臣，或可賞也，或可戮也。君王均之，群臣懼矣。」〔均，同也。言賞罰無別，故懼。〕王曰：「夫子期之二子耶？吾知之矣。〔子期，成然字。〕或禮於君，或禮於父，均之，不亦可乎！」

藍尹亹論吳將斃

子西歎於朝，藍尹亹曰：「吾聞君子唯獨居思念前世之崇替，〔崇，終也。替，廢也。詩云：「曾不崇朝。」〕與哀殯喪，〔塗木曰殯。〕於是有歎，其餘則否。君子臨政思義，〔思公義也。〕飲食思禮，同宴思樂，在樂思善，無有歎焉。今吾子臨政而歎，何也？」子西曰：「闔廬能敗吾師。〔柏舉之戰。〕闔廬即世，吾聞其嗣又甚焉。〔嗣，嗣子夫差也。甚，謂政德過於父。〕吾是以歎。」

對曰：「子患政德之不修，無患吳矣。夫闔廬口不貪嘉味，耳不樂逸聲，〔逸，淫也。〕目不淫於色，身不懷於安，朝夕勤志，卹民之羸，〔羸，病也。〕聞一善〔案攷異卷四：「後漢書文苑傳注，文選孔文舉薦彌衡表、潘安仁楊荊州誄注引國語，『善』下有『言』字。」〕若驚，得一士若賞，〔若受賞也。〕有過必悛，〔悛，改也。〕有不善必懼，是故得民以濟其志。〔濟，成也。志，戰克。〕今吾聞夫差好罷民力以成私好，縱過而翳諫，〔翳，鄣也。〕一夕之宿，臺榭陂池必成，六畜玩好必從。夫差先自敗也已，焉能敗人。子修德以待吳，吳將斃矣。」

王孫圉論國之寶

王孫圉聘於晉，〔王孫圉，楚大夫。〕定公饗之，趙簡子鳴玉以相，〔定公，晉頃公之子午也。簡子，趙鞅也。鳴玉，鳴其佩玉以相禮也。〕問於王孫圉曰：「楚之白珩猶在乎？」〔珩，佩上之橫者。〕對曰：「然。」簡子曰：「其為寶也，幾何矣。」〔幾何世也。〕

曰：「未嘗為寶。楚之所寶者，曰觀射父，〔言以賢為寶。〕能作訓辭，以行事於諸侯，〔言以訓辭交結諸侯。〕使無以寡君為口實。〔口實，毀弄。〕又有左史倚相，能道訓典，以敘百物，〔敘，次也。物，事也。〕以朝夕獻善敗於寡君，使寡君無忘先王之業；又能上下說於鬼神，順道其欲惡，〔說，媚也。〕使神無有怨痛於楚國。〔痛，疾也。〕又有藪曰雲連徒洲，金木竹箭之所生也。〔楚有雲夢藪，澤名也。連，屬也。水中可居者曰洲，徒其名也。〕龜、珠、角、齒、皮、革、羽、毛，所以備賦，以戒不虞者也。〔龜，所以備吉凶。珠，所以禦火災。角，所以為弓弩。齒，象齒，所以為珥。皮，虎豹皮也，所以為茵鞬。革，犀兕也，所以為甲冑。羽，鳥羽，所以為旍。毛，氂牛尾，所以注竿首。賦，兵賦。虞，度也。〕所以共幣帛，以賓享於諸侯者也。〔享，獻也。〕若諸侯之好幣具，而導之以訓辭，〔導，行也。〕有不虞之備，而皇神相之，〔能媚於神，故皇神相之。皇，大也。相，助也。〕寡君其可以免罪於諸侯，而國民保焉。〔保，安也。〕此楚國之寶也。若夫白珩，先王之玩也，何寶之焉？〔玩，玩弄之物。〕

「圉聞國之寶六而已。明王聖人能制議百物，〔案：此句公序本無「明王」、「人」三字。〕以輔相國家，則寶之；玉足以庇廕嘉穀，使無水旱之災，則寶之；〔玉，祭祀之玉。〕龜足以憲臧否，則寶之；〔憲，法也，取善惡之法。〕珠足以禦火災，則寶之；〔珠，水精，故以禦火災。〕金足以禦兵亂，則寶之；〔金，所以為兵也。〕山林藪澤足以備財用，則寶之。若夫譁囂之美，〔譁囂，猶讙譁，謂若鳴玉以相。〕楚雖蠻夷，不能寶也。」〔微刺簡子。〕

魯陽文子辭惠王所與梁

惠王以梁與魯陽文子，〔惠王，昭王子，越女之子章。梁，楚北境也。文子，平王之孫、司馬子期子魯陽公也。〕文子辭，曰：「梁險而在境，懼子孫之有貳者也。〔貳，二心也。〕夫事君無憾，憾則懼偪，〔憾，恨也。無恨，謂得志也。偪，偪上也。〕偪則懼貳。〔偪則懼誅，故貳也。〕夫盈而不偪，〔盈，志滿也。〕憾而不貳者，臣能自壽，〔壽，保也。〕不知其他。〔他，子孫也。〕縱臣而得全其首領以沒，〔案：「全其首領」原作「以其首領」。攷異卷四：「文選注（褚淵碑文注引國語），『以』作『全』。」今據改。〕懼子孫之以梁之險，而乏臣之祀也。」〔恃險而貳，將見誅絕。〕王曰：「子之仁，不忘子孫，施及楚國，敢不從子。」與之魯陽。

葉公子高論白公勝必亂楚國

子西使人召王孫勝，〔王孫勝，故平王太子建之子白公勝也。初，費無極為太子少師，無寵，太子娶於秦而美，勸王納之，遂譖太子曰：「建將叛。」太子奔鄭。又與晉謀鄭，鄭人殺之，勝奔吳。在魯哀十六年。〕沈諸梁聞之，〔沈諸梁，楚左司馬沈尹戌之子葉公子高。〕見子西曰：「聞子召王孫勝，信乎？」曰：「然。」子高曰：「將焉用之？」曰：「吾聞之，勝直而剛，欲寘之境。」〔寘，置也。傳曰：「召之，使處吳境，為白公。」　案：「使處吳境」，述聞卷一九：「今本韋注，『境』上有『吳』字，乃後人依誤本左傳加之，與正文不合。」〕

子高曰：「不可。其為人也，展而不信，〔展，誠也。誠，謂復言而非忠信之道。〕愛而不仁，〔外愛人，內無仁心也。〕詐而不智，〔以詐行謀，而非智道也。智人不詐。〕毅而不勇，〔毅，果也。〕直而不衷，〔衷，中也。君子惡訐以為直。〕周而不淑。〔周，審也。淑，善也。〕復言而不謀身，展也；〔復言，言可復，不欺人也。不謀身，不計身害也。〕愛而不謀長，不仁也；〔外愛人，不計終身也。〕以謀蓋人，詐也；〔蓋，掩也。〕彊忍犯義，〔案：「彊忍犯義」，札記引段玉裁說：「『犯義』二字當是注，誤為正文。」〕毅也；〔彊，彊力。忍，忍犯義也。〕直而不顧，不衷也；〔不顧隱諱。〕周言棄德，不淑也。〔取周其言，而不以德。〕是六德者，皆有其華而不實者也，將焉用之。

「彼其父為戮於楚，其心又狷而不絜。〔狷者，直己之志，不從人也。不絜，非絜行。〕若其狷也，不忘舊怨，而不以絜悛德，〔悛，改也。〕思報怨而已。則其愛也足以得人，其展也足以復之，〔復，復其前言。〕其詐也足以謀之，其直也足以帥之，〔帥，帥眾也。〕其周也足以蓋之，〔言其周密足以覆蓋其惡。〕其不絜也足以行之，而加之以不仁，奉之以不義，蔑不克矣。

「夫造勝之怨者，皆不在矣。〔怨，謂譖太子者費無極之徒。〕若來而無寵，速其怒也。〔速，疾也。〕若其寵之，毅貪無厭，既能得入，〔案：「既能得入」，述聞卷二一：「『入』當為『人』，『能得人』，即上文所謂愛也，足以得人也。『耀之以大利』，謂示其人以大利也。下文『動而得人』，即承此句言之。若作『入』字，則義不可通。』」〕而耀之以大利，〔耀，示也。〕不仁以長之，〔長其利欲。〕思舊怨以修其心，〔修其報讎之心。〕苟國有釁，必不居矣。〔釁，隙也。〕非子職之，其誰乎？〔職，主也，言子西將主此禍。〕彼將思舊怨而欲大寵，〔大寵，令尹、司馬也。〕動而得人，〔愛，故得人。〕怨而有術，〔父死而怨，故有術也。〕若果用之，害可待也。余愛子與司馬，故不敢不言。〔司馬，子西之弟子期。〕

子西曰：「德其忘怨乎！〔言綏之以德，必忘怨也。〕余善之，夫乃其寧。」〔寧，安也。〕子高曰：「不然。吾聞之，唯仁者可好也，可惡也，可高也，可下也。好之不偪，惡之不怨，高之不驕，下之不懼。不仁者則不然。人好之則偪，惡之則怨，高之則驕，下之則懼。驕有欲焉，〔欲專寵也。〕懼有惡焉，〔惡其上也。〕欲惡怨偪，所以生詐謀也。子將若何？若召而下之，將戚而懼；為之上者，將怒而怨。詐謀之心，無所靖矣。〔靖，安也。〕有一不義，猶敗國家，今壹五六，而必欲用之，不亦難乎？吾聞國家將敗，必用姦人，而嗜其疾味，其子之謂乎？〔嗜，貪也。疾味，味為己生疾害，喻好不善也。〕

「夫誰無疾眚！〔眚，猶災也。〕能者早除之。舊怨滅宗，國之疾眚也，為之關籥蕃籬而遠備閑之，猶恐其至也，〔蕃籬，壁落閑闌也。〕是之為日惕。〔惕，懼也。〕若召而近之，死無日矣。人有言曰：『狼子野心，怨賊之人也。』其又何善乎？若子不我信，盍求若敖氏與子干、子皙之族而近之？〔若敖氏，莊王所滅鬥椒也。子干、子皙，恭王庶子公子比、公子黑肱也。平王所殺而代之，何獨不召而近也？〕安用勝也，其能幾何？〔言危不久。〕

「昔齊騶馬繻以胡公入於具〔案：「具水」原作「貝水」。攷異卷四：「案『貝』當作『具』，水經巨洋水注引國語作『具水』。」今據改，注文同。〕水，〔騶馬繻，齊大夫也。胡公，齊太公玄孫之子胡公靖也。具，水名。胡公虐馬繻，馬繻弒胡公，內之具水。〕邴歜、閻職戕懿公於囿竹，〔戕，殘也。歜、職皆齊臣。懿公，齊桓公之子商人也。為公子時，與邴歜之父爭田，弗勝。及即位，乃掘而刖之，而使歜僕納閻職之妻，而使職驂乘。魯文十八年，懿公遊於申池，二子弒公，而納諸竹中。〕晉長魚矯殺三郤於榭，〔長魚矯，晉大夫。三郤，錡、至、犨也。犨與矯爭田，執而梏之，與其父母妻子同一轅。既矯嬖於厲公，譖而殺三郤於榭。〕魯圉人犖殺子般於次，〔圉人，養馬者。子般，魯莊公太子。次，舍也。雩，講於梁氏，女公子觀之，犖自牆外與之戲，子般鞭之。莊公薨，子般即位，次於黨氏，公子慶父通於夫人，夫人欲立之，慶父使犖賊子般於黨氏。在魯莊三十二年。〕夫是誰之故也，非唯舊怨乎？〔故，事也。〕是皆子之所聞也。人求多聞善敗，以監戒也。今子聞而棄之，猶蒙耳也。〔蒙，覆也。〕吾語子何益，吾知逃也已。」〔逃，逃勝之難。〕

子西笑曰：「子之尚勝也。」〔言子論議好尚勝也。〕不從，遂使為白公。子高以疾閒居於蔡。〔蔡，故蔡國，楚滅之，葉公兼而治焉。〕及白公之亂，子西、子期死。〔白公請伐鄭以報父讎，子西既許之，未起師，晉伐鄭，楚又救之，與之盟。白公怒，遂作亂，殺二子於朝。在魯哀十六年。〕葉公聞之，曰：「吾怨其棄吾言，而德其治楚國，楚國之能平均以復先王之業者，夫子也。〔夫子，子西。〕以小怨寘大德，吾不義也，將入殺之。」〔殺白公也。〕帥方城之外以入，殺白公而定王室，〔定王室，謂兼令尹、司馬以平楚國。既定，乃使子西之子甯為令尹，子期之子寬為司馬，而老于葉。〕葬二子之族。〔子西、子期之族多見害，故皆為葬之。〕

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Discourses of the States (articles 國語/卷17, 國語/卷18, revisions of 19 October 2020 to 4 December 2020), inspected from a witness copy captured on 22 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header, navigation links, license templates, and modern contributors' footnotes have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

🌲