聖人

聖人者何? 聖者二通也，道也，聲也。

道無所不通，明無所不照，聞聾知情，與天地合德，日月合明，四時合序， 鬼神合吉凶。

《禮別名記》曰:"五人曰茂，十人曰選，百人曰俊，千人曰英，倍英曰賢，萬人曰傑，萬傑曰聖。"

聖人未沒時，寧知其聖乎? 曰:知之。《論語》曰:"太宰問子貢曰:"夫子聖者 歟?"" 孔子曰:""太宰知我乎? "聖人亦自知聖乎? 曰:知之。孔子日:"文王既 沒，文不在茲乎?"

何以知帝王聖人也?《易》曰:"古者伏羲氏之王天下也"，"於是始作八卦。" 又曰:"聖人之作《易》也。"又曰:"伏羲氏沒，神農氏作。" "神農[氏]沒，黃 帝、堯、舜氏作。" 文俱言"作"，明皆聖人也。

《論語》曰:" 聖乎! 堯、舜其由病 諸。" 何以言禹、湯聖人? 《論語》曰:"巍巍乎舜、禹之有天下而不預焉。" 與舜比方巍巍，知禹、湯聖人。 《春秋傳》曰:" 湯以聖德故放桀。"

何以言文王、武王、周公皆聖人?《詩》曰:"文王受命。" 非聖不能受命。《易》曰:"湯、武革命，順乎天。" 湯、武與文王比方。 《孝經》曰:" 周公其人也。"下言 "夫聖人之德，又何以加於孝乎?"

何以言皋陶聖人也?以自篇" 曰若稽古皋陶"。聖人而能為舜陳道。"朕言惠可底行"，又"旁施象刑維明"。

又聖人皆有(表異) [異表]。

《傅》曰:" 伏羲[日]祿衡連珠，(唯)大目 (鼻)[山准] 龍 (伏)[狀]。 作《易》八卦以應樞。"黃帝[龍]顏，得天匡陽，上法中宿，取象文昌。顓頊戴(午)[干]， 是謂清明，發節移度，蓋象招搖。帝嚳駢齒,上法月參,康度成紀，取理陰陽。堯眉八彩， 是謂通明，曆象日月，嫙璣玉衡。舜重瞳子，是謂玄景，上應攝提，以象三光。

《禮》曰: " 禹耳三漏，是謂大通，興利除害，決河踈江。皋陶(鳥) [馬]喙， 是謂至誠，決獄明白，察於人情。湯臂三肘,是謂柳、翼，攘去不義，萬民蕃息。文王四乳，是謂至仁， 天下所歸，百姓所親。武王望羊，是謂攝揚，盱目陳兵，天下富昌。周公背僂，是謂俊，成就周道， 輔於幼主。孔主反宇，是謂尼甫，立德澤所(與)[興]，藏元通流。"

聖人所以能獨見前覬，與神通精者，蓋皆天所生也。

XXIII. Sages

161---General Remarks (III A. 18a).

a. What is meant by a 'Sage' shêng-jên? ¹Shêng 'sage' means t'ung 'to be in communication with', tao 'the Way', shêng 'sound' ². The way of a Sage is in communication with everything, his understanding illuminates everything, he knows the nature of everything the sound of which he hears.

b. "His spiritual power is in harmony with [that of] Heaven and Earth, his lustre is in harmony with [that of] the sun and the moon, his orderly procedure is in harmony with [that of] the four seasons, his relation to what is fortunate and what is calamitous is in harmony with the spirits" ³.

c. The Li pieh ming chi⁴ says: "[The best among] five men is called 'talented' mao, [the best among] ten men is called 'distinguished' hsüan; [the best among] a hundred men is called 'refined' tsun, [the best among] a thousand men is called 'excellent' ying, he who is worth two ying is called 'worthy' hsien, [the best among] ten thousand men is called 'hero' chieh, [the best among] ten thousand heroes is called 'Sage' shêng" ⁵.

162---The Recognition of a Sage (III A. 18b).

When a sage has not yet passed away how is it possible to recognize his sageness? It can be recognized. The Lun yü says: "The [great officer of Wu, P'i, who had the rank of] t'ai-tsai asked Tzŭ-kung, saying: Is not the Master a Sage? Confucius [hearing about it] said: Does the t'ai-tsai know me?" ⁶ Does a Sage himself know that he is a Sage? He knows. Confucius has said: "Since King Wên has died has not [the cause of] the Way descended upon me?" ⁷.

163---The Ancient Sages (III A. 18b-19a).

a. How do we know that the [ancient] Emperors and Kings were Sages? The I says: "Anciently, when Fu-hsi ruled all under Heaven he began by creating the Eight Trigrams" ⁸. It further says: "When the Sages created the I" ⁹. Again it says: "On the death of Fu-hsi Shên-nung continued the work of creation, on the death of Shên-nung Huang-ti, Yao, and Shun proceeded with the work of creation" ¹⁰. In all these statements the word 'to create' is used, meaning in every case [to refer to] a Sage ¹¹. The Lun yü says: "Sages indeed were Yao and Shun; still, how solicitous they were about [their sageness]" ¹².

b. Why is it said that Yü ¹³ was a Sage? The Lun yü says: "How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yü held possession of all under Heaven, without having striven for it" ¹⁴. Yü ¹⁵ is [here] compared with Shun ¹⁶. How ¹⁷ do we know that T'ang ¹⁸ was a Sage? The Ch'un ch'iu chuan says: "T'ang by his sage spiritual power was able to conquer Chieh" ¹⁹.

c. Why are King Wên, King Wu, and the Duke of Chou said to have been Sages? The Shih says: "King Wên received the mandate [from Heaven]" ²⁰. Were he not a Sage, he could not have received the mandate [from Heaven]. The I says: "T'ang and Wu deprived [Chieh and Chou] of their mandates, in accordance with [the will of] Heaven" ²¹. T'ang and Wu are [thus] compared with King Wên. The Hsiao ching says: "The Duke of Chou was the man [who first associated the father with Heaven in the sacri- fices]" ²². [Further] below it says: "In the spiritual power of the Sages what was there besides greater than filial piety?" ²³

d. Why is it said that Kao-yao was a Sage? Because the Mu p'ien [says]: "Ah, he who has examined [and followed] antiquity". [This refers to] Kao Yao, who was a Sage, and, in the service of Shun, was able to display the Way ²⁴. [He said:] "My words are reasonable, and may be put into practise" ²⁵. [Kao Yao] had on all sides applied the punishments by images with enlightenment ²⁶.

164---The Different Appearances of the Sages (III A. 19a-20a).

a. Further, the Sages all had different [ways] of displaying [their sageness].

b. The Chuan²⁷ says: "Fu-hsi had on his forehead a protuberance like a string of pearls ²⁸; he had large eyes, a nose like a mountain ²⁹, and a dragon-like countenance; he created the Eight Trigrams of the I to correspond with the Polestar ³⁰. Huang-ti had the face of a dragon; he had obtained the light of the [constellation] T'ien-k'uang ³¹; above he modelled himself on the middle [of the twenty-eight zodiacal] mansions, taking his example from [the constellation] Wên-ch'ang ³². Chuan-hsü had a shield [-like protuberance] on his head ³³, meaning that he was pure and enlightened; he emitted [an air of] chastity and decorum, for he represented [the star] Chao-yao ³⁴. Ti-k'u had a double set of teeth; above he modelled himself on the moon and [the constellation] Ts'an ³⁵, he invigorated the measures and perfected the norms, he regulated [the interactions of] the yin and the yang. Yao had eyebrows in eight colours, indicating his penetrating intelligence; he calculated and delineated the movements and phases of the sun, the moon ³⁶, and [the stars] hsüan-chi and Yü-hêng ³⁷. Shun had double pupils in his eyes, indicating his charity and benevolence; above he corresponded to [the planet] Shê-t'i ³⁸, [in his lustre] he resembled the Three Luminary Bodies".

c. The Li shuo³⁹ says: "Yü had ears with three orifices, indicating his great understanding; he promoted welfare and removed misery, he dammed the [river] Ho and widened the [river] Chiang ⁴⁰. Kao Yao had a horse's mouth, indicating his perfect sincerity ⁴¹; in deciding lawsuits he was intelligent in his examination of the nature of man. T'ang had arms with three elbows ⁴², indicating [his capacity to] shelter like a willow-tree; the unprincipled he expulsed, to the myriads of people he gave protection and rest. King Wên had four nipples, indicating his utmost consideration for others; he was the resort of all under Heaven, the [object of] love of the Hundred Clans. King Wu had the appearance of a sheep gazing into the distance ⁴³, meaning that his deportment was imposing and proud; his eyes were dilated, and when he marshalled his army all under Heaven was to attain prosperity and glory. The back of the Duke of Chou was bent, indicating his strength and heroism; he accomplished the Way of the Chou, acting as the support of young King [Ch'êng. The head of] Confucius was like a vault upside down ⁴⁴, therefore he was called Muddy Hill ⁴⁵; he made the spiritual power which had descended ⁴⁶ upon him flourish, and caused the hidden sources to stream again."

d. The reason why Sages alone can look into the future is that they share the essence of the spiritual beings, in fact they are begotten of Heaven ⁴⁷.