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實知篇

儒者論聖人,以為前知千歲,後知萬世,有獨見之明,獨聽之聰,事來則名,不學自知,不問自曉,故稱聖,〔聖〕則神 矣。若蓍、龜之知吉凶,蓍草稱神,龜稱靈矣。

賢者才下不能及,智劣不能料,故謂之賢。夫名異則實殊,質同則稱鈞,以聖名論之,知聖人卓絕,與賢殊也。

孔子將死,遺讖書,曰:「不知何一男子,自謂秦始皇,上我之堂,踞我之床,顛倒我衣裳,至沙丘而亡。」其後,秦王 兼吞天下,號始皇,巡狩至魯,觀孔子宅,乃至沙丘,道病而崩。

又曰:「董仲舒、亂我書。」其後,江都相董仲舒,論思《春秋》,造著《傳記》。又書曰:「亡秦者、胡也。」 其後二世胡亥,竟亡天下。

用三者論之,聖人後知萬世之效也。

孔子生不知其父,若母匿之,吹律自知殷宋大夫子氏之世也。不案《圖》、《書》,不聞人言,吹律精思,自知其世,聖人前知千歲之驗也。

曰:此皆虛也。 案神怪之言,皆在讖記,所表皆效《圖》、《書》。「亡秦者胡」,《河圖》之文也。孔子條暢增益,以表神怪;或後人詐記,以明效驗。

高皇帝封吳王,送之,拊其背曰:「漢後五十年,東南有反者,豈汝邪?」到景帝時,濞與七國通謀反漢。建此言者, 或時觀氣見象,處其有反,不知主名;高祖見濞之勇,則謂之是。

原此以論,孔子見始皇、仲舒,或時但言「將有觀我之宅」、「亂我之書」者,後人見始皇入其宅,仲舒讀其書,則增益 其辭,著其主名。

如孔子神而空見始皇、仲舒,則其自為殷後子氏之世,亦當默而知之,無為吹律以自定也。孔子不吹律,不能立其 姓;及其見始皇,睹仲舒,亦復以吹律之類矣。

案始皇本事,始皇不至魯,安得上孔子之堂,踞孔子之床,顛倒孔子之衣裳乎?始皇三十七年十月癸丑出游,至雲夢,望祀虞舜 於九嶷。浮江下,觀藉柯,度梅渚,過丹陽,至錢唐,臨浙江,濤惡,乃西百二十里從陜中度。上會稽,祭大禹,立石刊頌,望于南海。 還過〔吳〕,從江乘〔渡〕。旁海上,北至琅邪。自琅邪北至(勞)〔榮〕成山,因至之罘,遂並海西。至平原津而病。崩於沙丘平臺。

既不至魯,讖記何見而云始皇至魯?至魯未可知,其言孔子曰「不知何一男子」之言,亦未可用。「不知何一男子」之言不可 用,則言「董仲舒、亂我書」,亦復不可信也。

行事,文記譎常人言耳,非天地之書,則皆緣前因古,有所據狀;如無聞見,則無所狀。凡聖人見禍福也,亦揆端推類,原始見終,從閭巷論朝堂,由昭昭察冥冥。讖書祕文,遠見未然,空虛闇昧,豫睹未有,達聞暫見,卓譎怪神,若非庸口所能言。

放象事類以見禍,推原往驗以處來事,〔賢〕者亦能,非獨聖也。

周公治魯,太公知其後世當有削弱之患;太公治齊,周公睹其後世當有劫弒之禍。見法術之極,睹禍亂之前矣。

紂作象箸而箕子譏,魯以偶人葬而孔子嘆,緣象箸見龍干之患,偶人睹殉葬之禍也。

太公、周公,俱見未然;箕子、孔子,並睹未有,所由見方來者,賢聖同也。

魯侯老,太子弱,次室之女,倚柱而嘯,由老弱之徵,見敗亂之兆也。婦人之知,尚能推類以見方來,況聖人君子、才高智明者乎?

秦始皇(十)〔七〕年,嚴襄王母夏太后(夢)〔薨〕。孝文王后曰華陽后,與文王葬壽陵,夏太后〔子〕嚴襄王葬於范陵,故夏 太后別葬杜陵,曰:「東望吾子,西望吾夫,後百年,旁當有萬家邑。」其後皆如其言。必以推類見方來為聖,次室、夏太后聖也。

秦昭王(十)〔七〕年,樗里子卒,葬于渭南章臺之東,曰:「後百年,當有天子宮挾我墓。」至漢興,長樂宮在其東,未 央宮在其西,武庫正值其墓,竟如其言。先知之效,見方來之驗也。如以此效聖,樗里子、聖人也;如非聖人,先知、見方來,不足以明聖。

然則樗里子見天子宮挾其墓也,亦猶辛有知伊川之當戎。昔辛有過伊川,見被髮而祭者,曰:「不及百年,此其戎乎!」其後百 年,晉遷陸渾之戎於伊川焉,竟如〔其言〕。辛有之知當戎,見被髮之兆也;樗里子之見天子〔宮〕挾其墓,亦見博平之墓也。

韓信葬其母,亦行營高敞地,令其旁可置萬家。其後竟有萬家處其墓旁。故樗里子之見博平王有宮臺之兆,猶韓信之睹高敞 萬家之臺也。先知之見方來之事,無達視洞聽之聰明,皆案兆察跡,推原事類。

春秋之時,卿、大夫相與會遇,見動作之變,聽言談之詭,善則明吉祥之福,惡則處凶妖之禍。明福處禍,遠圖未然,無神怪之 知,皆由兆類。

以今論之,故夫可知之事者,思慮所能見也;不可知之事,不學不問不能知也。不學自知,不問自曉,古今行事,未之有也。夫可知之事,惟精思之,雖大無難;不可知之事,厲心學問,雖小無易。故智能之士,不學不成,不問不知。

難曰:「夫項託年七歲教孔子。案七歲未入小學,而教孔子,性自知也。

孔子曰:『生而知之,上也;學而知之,其次也。』夫言生而知之,不言學問,謂若項託之類也。

王莽之時,勃海尹方年二十一,無所師友,性智開敏,明達六藝。魏都牧淳于倉奏:『方不學,得文能讀誦,論義引五經文, 文說議事,厭合人之心。』帝徵方,使射蜚蟲,筴射無(非)〔弗〕知者,天下謂之聖人。夫無所師友,明達六藝,本不學書,得文能讀,此聖人 也。不學自能,無師自達,非神如何?」

曰:雖無師友,亦已有所問受矣;不學書,已弄筆墨矣。兒始生產,耳目始開,雖有聖性,安能有知?項託七歲,其三 四歲時,而受納人言矣。尹方年二十一,其十四五時,多聞見矣。

性敏才茂,獨思無所據,不睹兆象,不見類驗,卻念百世之後,有馬生牛,牛生驢,桃生李,李生梅,聖人能知之乎?

臣弒君,子弒父,仁如顏淵,孝如曾參,勇如賁、育,辯如賜、予,聖人能見之乎?

孔子曰:「其或繼周者,雖百世可知也 。」又曰:「後生可畏,焉知來者之不如今也?」論損益,言「可知」;稱後生,言「焉知」。後生難處,損益易明也。

此尚為遠,非 所聽察也。

使一人立於牆東,令之出聲,使聖人聽之牆西,能知其黑白、短長、鄉里、姓字、所自從出乎?溝有流()〔澌〕, 澤有枯骨,髮首陋亡,肌肉腐絕,使〔聖〕人詢之,能知其農商、老少、若所犯而坐死乎?非聖人無知,其知無以知也。知無以知,非問不能知也。不能知,則賢聖所共病也。

難曰:「詹何坐,弟子侍,有牛鳴於門外。弟子曰:『是黑牛也,而白蹄。』詹何曰:『然,是黑牛也,而白其蹄 。』使人視之,果黑牛而以布裹其蹄。詹何、賢者也,尚能聽聲而知其色,以聖人之智,反不能知乎?」

曰:能知黑牛白其蹄,能知此牛誰之牛乎?白其蹄者以何事乎?夫術數直見一端,不能盡其實。雖審一事,曲辯問之,輒 不能盡知。何則?不目見口問,不能盡知也。

魯僖公二十九年,介葛盧來朝,舍于昌衍之上,聞牛鳴,曰:「是牛生三犧,皆已用矣。」或問:「何以知之?」曰:「其音 云。」人問牛主,竟如其言。此復用術數,非知所能見也。

廣漢楊翁仲〔能〕聽鳥獸之音,乘蹇馬之野,〔而〕田間有放眇馬〔者〕,相去〔數里〕,鳴聲相聞。翁仲謂其御曰 :「彼放馬知此馬而目眇。」其御曰:「何以知之?」曰:「罵此轅中馬蹇,此馬亦罵之眇。」其御不信,〔使〕往視之,〔馬〕目竟 眇焉。翁仲之知馬聲,猶詹何、介葛盧之聽牛鳴也,據術任數,相合其意,不達視、〔洞〕聽、遙見、流目以察之也。

夫聽聲有術,則察色有數矣。推用術數,若先聞見,眾人不知,則謂神聖。

若孔子之見獸,名曰狌狌;太史公之見張良,似婦人之形矣。案孔子未嘗見狌狌,至輒能名之;太史公與張良異世,而目 見其形。使眾人聞此言,則謂神而先知。然而孔子名狌狌,聞昭人之歌;太史公之見張良,觀宣室之畫也。陰見默識,用思深祕。眾人闊略 ,寡所意識,見賢聖之名物,則謂之神。

推此以論,詹何見黑牛白蹄,猶此類也。彼不以術數,則先時聞見於外矣。

方今占射事之工,據正術數,術數不中,集以人事。人事於術數而用之者,與神無異。詹何之徒、方今占射事者之類也。如以詹何之徒,性能知之,不用術數,是則巢居者先知風,穴處者先知雨。智明早成,項託、尹方其是也。

難曰:「黃帝生而神靈,弱而能言。帝嚳生而自言其名。未有聞見於外,生輒能言,稱其名,非神靈之 效,生知之驗乎?」

曰:黃帝生而言,然而母懷之二十月生,計其月數,亦已二歲在母身中矣。

帝嚳能自言其名,然不能言他人之名,雖有一能,未能通。所謂神而生知者,豈謂生而能言其名乎?乃謂不受而能知之,未 得能見之也。黃帝、帝嚳雖有神靈之驗,亦皆早成之才也。

人才早成,亦有晚就。雖未就師,家問室學。人見其幼成早就,稱之過度。云項託七歲,是必十歲;云教孔子,是必孔子問之; 云黃帝、帝嚳生而能言,是亦數月;云尹方年二十一,是亦且三十;云無所師友,有不學書,是亦遊學家習。世俗褒稱過實,毀敗踰惡。

世俗傳顏淵年十八歲升太山,望見吳昌門外有繫白馬。定考實顏淵年三十不升太山,不望吳昌門。項託之稱,尹方之譽,顏淵 之類也。 人才有高下,知物由學。學之乃知,不問不識。

子貢曰:「夫子焉不學?而亦何常師之有?」孔子曰:「吾十有五而志乎學。」五帝、三王,皆有所師。曰:「是欲為人法也。」

曰:精思亦可為人法,何必以學者?事難空知,賢聖之才能立也。

所謂「神」者,不學而知;所謂「聖」者,須學以聖。以聖人學,知其非聖。

天地之間,含血之類,無性知者。狌狌知往,鳱鵲知來,稟天之性,自然者也。如以聖人為若狌狌乎?則夫狌狌之類,鳥獸也。

僮謠不學而知,可謂神而先知矣。如以聖人為若僮謠乎?則夫僮謠者、妖也。

世間聖神,以為巫與?鬼神用巫之口告人。如以聖人為若巫乎?則夫為巫者、亦妖也。與妖同氣,則與聖異類矣。巫與聖異, 則聖不能神矣。不能神,則賢之黨也。同黨,則所知者無以異也。

及其有異,以入道也,聖人疾,賢者;賢者才多,聖人智多。所知同業,多少異量;所道一途,步騶相過。

事有難知易曉,賢聖所共關思也。若夫文質之復,三教之重,正朔相緣,損益相因,賢聖所共知也。古之水火、今之水火也,今之 聲色、後世之聲色也。鳥獸草木,人民好惡,以今而見古,以此而知來,千歲之前,萬世之後,無以異也。追觀上古,探察來世,文質之類,水 火之輩,賢聖共之;見兆聞象,圖畫禍福,賢聖共之;見怪名物,無所疑惑,賢聖共之。

事可知者,賢聖所共知也;不可知者,聖人亦不能知也。何以明之?

使聖空坐先知雨也,性能一事知遠道,孔竅不普,未足以論也。所論先知性達者,盡知萬物之性,畢睹千道之要也。如 知一不通二,達左不見右,偏駮不純,踦校不具,非所謂聖也。如必謂之聖,是明聖人無以奇也。詹何之徒聖,孔子之黨亦稱聖,是聖 無以異於賢,賢無以乏於聖也。賢聖皆能,何以稱聖奇於賢乎?

如俱任用術數,賢何以不及聖? 實者、聖賢不能(知性)〔性知〕,須任耳目以定情實。其任耳目也,可知之事,思之輒決;不可知之事,待問乃解。天下之事, 世間之物,可思而〔知〕,愚夫能開精;不可思而知,上聖不能省。

孔子曰:「吾嘗終日不食,終夜不寢,以思,無益,不如學也。」天下事有不可知,猶結有不可解也。(見)〔兒〕說善解結,結 無有不可解。結有不可解,(見)〔兒〕說不能解也。非(見)〔兒〕說不能解也,結有不可解;及其解之,用不能也。

聖人知事,事無不可知。事有不可知,聖人不能知。非聖人不能知,事有不可知;及其知之,用不知也。故夫難知之事,學問所能及也;不可知之事,問之學之,不能曉也。

Chapter XIII. The Real Nature of Knowledge (Shih-chih).

The Literati, discoursing on Sages, 1 are of opinion that they know thousands of years of the past, and ten thousand future generations. Merely by the keenness of their sight, and the subtlety of their hearing, they are able to give the proper names to new things. They know spontaneously, without learning, and understand of themselves, without inquiring, wherefore the term Sage is equivalent with supernatural. They are like milfoil and the tortoise, which know lucky and unlucky auguries, whence the milfoil plant is regarded as supernatural, and the tortoise as a divine creature.

The talents of Worthies 2 do not reach this standard; their intelligence is weaker and not so comprehensive, whence they are called Worthies. This difference of name implies a difference of nature, for the substance being the same, the name uses to be equal. As for the name Sage, it is known that Sages are something extraordinary and different from Worthies.

When Confucius was about to die, he left behind a book of prophecies 3 wherein he says, "I know not what sort of fellow, styling himself the First Emperor of Ch`in, comes to my hall, squats on my bed, and turns my clothes topsy-turvy. After arriving at Sha-ch`iu he will die." In course of time the king of Ch`in, having swallowed the empire, assumed the title of First Emperor. On a tour of inspection, he came to Lu and visited the home of Confucius. Then he proceeded to Sha-ch`iu, but on the road he was taken ill and expired.

Another entry is this, "Tung Chung Shu carries confusion into my book." Subsequently, the minister of Chiang-tu,4Tung Chung Shu made special researches into the Ch`un-ch`iu and wrote comments and notes on it. 5 The book of prophecies further says, "Ch`in will be ruined by Hu." Later on, the Second Emperor Hu Hai in fact lost the empire.

These three instances are used to bear out the statement that Sages foreknow ten thousand future generations.

Confucius ignored his descent, his father and mother having concealed it from him. He blew the flute and then of himself knew that he was a scion of Tse, a great officer of Sung of Yin.6 He did not consult books or ask anybody, his playing the flute and his genius alone revealed to him his generation. 7 This would appear to be a proof of the faculty of Sages to know thousands of years of the past.

I say that all this is fallacy. Such miraculous stories are recorded in prophecy books and all in the style of Hu destroying the Ch`in, told in many books, or of the text of the Plan of the River. 8 The plain illustrations of Confucius have been magnified with a view to prove wonders and miracles, or the stories were fabricated in later times to furnish evidence.

Kao Tsu having enfeoffed the king of Wu, and seeing him off, patted him on his shoulder saying, "Within fifty years hereafter, some one will revolt from the Han in the south-east. Will that not be you?" In the time of Ching Ti, Pi9 along with seven other States plotted a rebellion against the Han.10 Those who first made this statement had perhaps noticed the dispositions and the signs of the time, whence they surmised that a rebellion would come, but they ignored the name of the leader. Kao Tsu having observed the valour of Pi, then correctly hinted at him.

If from this point of view we consider Confucius' cognisance of Ch`in Shih Huang Ti and of Tung Chung Shu, it may be that at the time he merely spoke of somebody visiting his home and deranging his book, and, later on, people, remarking that Ch`in Shih Huang Ti entered his house, and that Tung Chung Shu studied his work, exaggerated the dicta of Confucius and wrote down the names of the principal persons.

If Confucius was endowed with supernatural powers, so that he could see the First Emperor and Tung Chung Shu ere they existed, then he ought to have at once been aware of his being a descendant of the Yin and a scion of Tse likewise, and have no need of blowing the flute to determine it. Confucius was unable to ascertain his family name without playing the flute, but his seeing the First Emperor and beholding Tung Chung Shu is like blowing the flute.

According to the narrative of Shih Huang Ti,11 he did not go to Lu; how then should he have entered the hall of Confucius, squatted down on his bed, and turned his clothes topsy-turvy? In the thirty-seventh year of his reign, on the kuei-ch`ou day of the tenth month, 12Ch`in Shih Huang Ti started on a journey to Yün-mêng. From afar he sacrificed to Shun in Chiu-yi.13 Floating down the Yangtse, he visited Chieh-ko,14 crossed the stream at Mei-chu,15 went over to Tan-yang, arrived at Ch`ien-t`ang, and approached the Chê river. The waves being very boisterous, he went 120 Li westward, crossed the stream at a narrow passage, 16 and went up to Kuei-chi, where he made an oblation to Great Yü, and erected a stone with an encomiastic inscription. Then turning to the southern Sea, he went back. Passing Chiang-ch`êng, he sailed along the seashore northward as far as Lang-yeh, whence still further north he arrived at the Lao and Ch`êng17 Mountains. Then he proceeded to Chefoo, and always keeping near the sea-shore, reached the P`ingyuan Ford, where he fell sick. He passed away on the P`ing Terrace in Sha-ch`iu.18

Since he did not go to Lu, wherefrom does the Book of Prophecies derive its knowledge that Shih Huang Ti came to Lu as it says? This journey to Lu not being a fact that might be known, the words ascribed to Confucius "I know not what sort of a fellow," & c. are not trustworthy either, and this utterance being unreliable, the remark about Tung Chung Shu deranging his book becomes doubtful also.

In case records of famous deeds seem rather queer, they are the work of common people. All books, unless they be directly written by Heaven and Earth, go back on former events, there being reliable evidence. Those without experience, of course, cannot utilise these sources. All Sages foreseeing happiness and misfortune, meditate and reason by analogies. Reverting to the beginning, they know the end; from their villages they argue on the palace, and shed their light into the darkest corners. Prophecy books and other mystic writings see from afar what has not yet come to pass; they are aware of what is going to happen in future, which, for the time being, is still a void and wrapt in darkness. Their knowledge is instantaneous, supernatural, and passing all understanding.

Although ineloquent persons may not be qualified for it, still it is possible to predict calamities by observing analogies, or to predetermine future events by going back to their sources and examining the past. Worthies have this faculty as well, 19 and Sages are not alone fit to do it.

When Chou Kung was governing Lu, T`ai Kung knew that his descendants would be reduced to impotence, and when T`ai Kung was ruling in Ch`i, Chou Kung saw that his scions would fall victims to robbery and murder. By their methods they foreknew the ultimate end, and perceived the signs of adversity and rebellion.

Chou having ivory chop-sticks made, Chi Tse administered reproof, 20 and Confucius sighed because dummies were buried in Lu. From the ivory chop-sticks the one inferred the misery attending the search for dragon-liver, whereas the other saw in the dummies the danger that living persons might be interred along with the dead. 21

T`ai Kung and Chou Kung were both cognisant of what had not yet come to pass, as Chi Tse and Confucius were aware of what had not yet taken place. As regards the source from which they drew the knowledge of the future, there is no diversity between Sages and Worthies.

The marquis of Lu being old, and the crown-prince weak, his daughter by a second wife leaned against a pillar, heaving a sigh. Old age and weakness were to her presages of future disorders and revolutions. Even a woman was clever enough to reason by analogies and thus discover the future. How much more should this be the case with Sages and superior men of exceptional parts and great intelligence?

In the 10th year of Ch`in Shih Huang Ti22 the mother of King Yen Hsiang,23 the queen-dowager Hsia, saw in a dream the consort of King Hsiao Wên24 who said, "The queen Hua Yang together with her husband Wên Wang25 is buried in Shou-ling, and the queen-dowager Hsia and King Yen Hsiang are buried in Fan-ling. For this reason the tomb of the queen-dowager Hsia is transferred to Tu-ling,26 so that I can say, `I see my son 27 in the east and my husband in the west. After a hundred years a city of ten thousand families will rise by my tomb.' " --- In course of time everything turned out as predicted. If those foreknowing the future from analogies be regarded as Sages, then the daughter of the second wife and the queen-dowager Hsia were Sages.

In the 10th year of King Chao of Ch`in,28Ch`u Li Tse29 died and was interred in Wei-nan,30 east of the Chang terrace. He said, "A hundred years hence, an emperor's palaces will hem in my tomb." --- After the rise of the Han dynasty, the Ch`ang-lo palace was built at his east and the Wei-yang palace at his west side. The arsenal was just on his tomb, exactly as he had said. This is a proof of his prescience and of his foreseeing future events. If such an evidence constitutes a claim to sagehood, then Ch`u Li Tse was a Sage. If he was not a Sage, then the knowledge of the future does not suffice to make a man a Sage.

Ch`u Li Tse seeing the emperor's palaces close by his grave, was like Hsin Yu, who knew that Yi-ch`uan31 would become the territory of the Jung.32 In ancient days Hsin Yu passing through Yi-ch`uan and noticing the inhabitants, wearing their hair long down on their back, performing sacrifices, said, "Within a hundred years this land will most likely belong to the Jung." A hundred years hence Chin33 transferred the Jung of Lu-hun34 to Yi-ch`uan, and what Hsiu Yu knew before became a reality. 35 From the omen of the long hair he inferred the expansion of the Jung, just as Ch`u Li Tse, on beholding the vast plain near his tomb, foresaw that the Son of Heaven would move quite close to his tomb.

Han Hsin,36 burying his mother, likewise had a vast and elevated place built, that by its side there might be room for ten thousand families. Subsequently, in fact ten thousand families settled near his tomb. Ch`u Li Tse's comprehending the presages indicative of the imperial buildings in the vast plain was like Han Hsin's perceiving the edifices of ten thousand families on the plateau. The foreknowing of things to come is not a knowledge requiring the faculty to look through obstacles or an exceptionally fine hearing; in all these cases omens are taken into account, traces followed up, and inferences drawn from analogous circumstances.

When in the Ch`un-ch`iu epoch ministers and high officers held a meeting, they had an eye for all abnormal proceedings and an ear for strange utterances. 37 If these were good they took them for indications of felicitous events, if they were bad they saw in them unlucky auguries. Thus they knew how to ascertain happiness and misfortune, and, long before, were aware of what had not yet come to pass. It was no divine or supernatural knowledge, but all derived from signs and analogies.

At present all things knowable may be grasped by reflection, but all things unknowable 38 remain incomprehensible without research or inquiry. Neither ancient nor modern history affords any instances of men knowing spontaneously without study or being enlightened without inquiry. For things knowable merely require earnest thought, then even big subjects are not difficult of apprehension, whereas things unknowable, how small soever, do not become easy through mental efforts or research. Consequently great savants are not apt to bring about anything without study or to know anything in default of inquiry.

An objection may be urged on the score that Hsiang T`o,39 at seven years of age, taught Confucius. At the age of seven, he could not yet have entered an elementary school, and yet he acted as teacher to Confucius. Therefore he must have been self-knowing by nature.

Confucius says that [those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those who learn, and so get possession of knowledge, are the next.] 40 Speaking of those born with knowledge, without referring to their studies, Confucius has in view men like Hsiang T`o.

In the time of Wang Mang,41Yin Fang of Po-hai42 was twenty-one years old. He had neither had a teacher nor a friend, but his inner light was fully developed, so that he was well versed in the Six Arts. 43 When the governor of Wei-tu,44Shun Yü Tsang, had written a memorial, Yin Fang, who had not studied, on seeing the document, could read it and argue on its purport. The quotations from the Five Classics he could elucidate and discourse on the subject to the gratification of all persons present. The emperor summoned him and gave him a theme "The flying insects," on which he wrote an excellent essay. Verily, he was endowed with great erudition, and all under Heaven called him a Sage. A man conversant with the Six Arts, without having had a teacher or a friend, and able to read a document placed before him, although he has not studied books formerly, is a Sage. Without study he possesses knowledge spontaneously, and without instruction he is enlightened of himself. If this is not divine, what is it?

My answer to this objection is this:---Although Yin Fang had no teacher or friend, yet he must himself have learned many things, and though he did not study books, he must himself have plied pen and ink. When an infant is born, and its eyes first open, it has no knowledge, even though it possess the nature of a Sage. Hsiang T`o was seven years old. At the age of three and four already he must have listened to other men's speeches. Yin Fang counted twenty-one years. At fourteen and fifteen years of age he has probably learnt a great deal.

When a man of great natural intelligence and remarkable parts is confined to his own thoughts and has no experience, neither beholding signs and omens nor observing the working of various sorts of beings, he may imagine that after many generations a horse will give birth to an ox, and an ox to a donkey, or that from a peach-tree plums may grow, or cherries from a plum-tree. Could a Sage know this? 45

If a subject assassinated his sovereign, or a son killed his father and if, on the other side, somebody were as kind-hearted as Yen Yuan, as dutiful a son as Tsêng Tse, as brave as Mêng Pên and Hsia Yü and as critical as Tse Kung and Tse Wo,46 would a Sage be apt to find this out?

Confucius says that [some other dynasty may follow the Chou, but though it should be at the distance of a hundred ages, its affairs may be known], 47 and elsewhere he remarks, ["A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?"] 48 In regard of abrogations and innovations he believes that they may be known, but he asks how the future of a youth could be known. The future of a youth is hard to be pre-ordained, whereas aborgations and innovations are easy to detect.

However, all this is very far away, and nothing that may be heard or investigated.

Let us suppose that somebody standing at the east side of a wall raises his voice, and that a Sage hears him from the west side, would he know whether he was of a dark or a pale complexion, whether he was tall or short, and which was his native place, his surname, his designation, and his origin? When a ditch is dug out and filled with water, affectionate care is bestowed on human skeletons excavated. Provided that the face and the hair of such a skeleton be deformed and partially destroyed, and the flesh decomposed and gone, would a Sage, upon inquiry, be apt to tell whether the deceased was a peasant or a merchant, young or old, or eventually the crime he had committed and for which he had to suffer death? Not that a Sage is devoid of knowledge, but this cannot be known through his knowledge. Something unknowable by knowledge may only be learned by inquiry. Being thus unable to know, Sages and Worthies equally fail.

An opponent might retort with the following story:---When Chan Ho49 was sitting in his room with a pupil in attendance upon him, a cow was heard lowing outside the gate. The pupil said, "This is a black cow, but is has white hoofs." Chan Ho concurred saying, "Yes, it is a black cow, but with white hoofs", and he sent somebody to look at it. In fact, it was a black cow with its hoofs wrapped in some stuff. Chan Ho being merely a Worthy, was still in a position to distinguish the sound of the cow and to know its colour; should a Sage with his superior insight not be qualified to know this?

I beg leave to put a counter-question:---If Chan Ho knew the cow to be black and to have white hoofs, did he also know to whom it belonged, and for what purpose its hoofs had been made white? With this manner of devices one barely finds out one point, but cannot exhaust the whole truth. People thus may learn one thing, but being questioned and cross-examined, they show that they do not possess the entire knowledge, for only what has been seen with the eyes and asked with the mouth, may be perfectly known.

In the 29th year of Duke Hsi of Lu, Ko Lu of Chieh50 came to court and stopped above Chang-yen. Hearing a cow lowing, he said, "This cow has already had three calves, but they have all been taken away from her." Somebody asking how he knew this, he replied that her voice disclosed it. The man applied to the owner of the cow, and it was really as Ko Lu had said. 51 This again is an instance of the use of some scheme and not knowable by knowledge alone.

Yang Wêng Chung of Kuang-han52 understood the voices of birds and brutes. Once, when he was driving a lame horse in the open country, another blind horse was grazing at some distance. Both horses took notice of each other by neighing. Yang Wêng Chung said to his charioteer, "That loose horse knows this one, although it be blind." The charioteer inquiring how it could know that, Yang Wêng Chung replied, "It abuses this horse in the shafts for being lame, and our horse, in turn, reviles the other because it is blind." The charioteer did not believe it; he went to look at it, and the eyes of the other horse were really blind. 53Yang Wêng Chung understood the voices of horses as Chan Ho and Ko Lu of Chieh could distinguish the lowing of cows.

They used a method and relied on a certain device. If both are combined it is not necessary to look or hear through, or to see at a distance and make distinctions, the eyes wandering about. For hearing sounds there is a method, and for discerning colours there is a device. Using these methods is like foreseeing. The public does not understand this, and under these circumstances speaks of a Sage with supernatural gifts.

Confucius seeing an animal named it rhinopithecus, and the Grand Annalist had the idea that Chang Liang looked like a woman. Confucius had never before seen a rhinopithecus, but when it arrived he 54 could give it its name. The Grand Annalist belonged to another age than Chang Liang, but his eyes beheld his shape. If the people at large had heard of this, they would have looked upon both as divine beings who were prescient. However Confucius could name the rhinopithecus, because he had heard the songs of the people of Chao, and the Grand Annalist knew Chang Liang from a picture which he had seen in the emperor's memorial hall. 55 They kept secret what they had seen, concealed their knowledge, and did not disclose their hidden thoughts. The great majority of people are thoughtless and know little. Noticing Worthies or Sages giving some creatures their proper names, they take them for supernatural beings.

From this point of view Chan Ho as well, who knew a cow to be black with white hoofs, comes under this category. Unless he was in possession of a peculiar method or device of his own, he must have got his information about the animal from without beforehand.

The present diviners look to their methods and calculations and, those being of no avail, contemplate the circumstances of the case. By combining these circumstances with their theory, they appear to be in possession of supernatural powers. Chan Ho and the like are the diviners of the present day. If Chan Ho and others had an intuitive knowledge and needed no theory, then they were like those animals living in nests which foresee a storm, or those cave-dwellers which foresee rain. 56 Their intellect was prematurely developed as was the case of Hsiang T`o and Yin Fang.

Against this it may be urged that Huang Ti, at his birth, was endowed with supernatural faculties, and that he could already speak as a babe. The emperor K`u could tell his name after he was born. They had not yet gained any experience from without and immediately after their births were able to talk and tell their names. Was not this a proof of their superhuman faculties and an instance of their innate knowledge?

I answer that, if Huang Ti could talk after his birth, his mother had carried him twenty months before she gave birth to him, and that, according to this computation of the months, he must have been about two years in his mother's womb. 57

The Emperor K`u could speak his own name, but he could not tell those of other people. Although he possessed this one gift it did not reach very far. Did his so-called divine and innate knowledge merely amount to his faculty to utter his name when he was born? The allegation that he knew it and did not learn it from any one, cannot be verified. Even if Huang Ti and Ti K`u should really have been in possession of supernatural powers, these would only have been some prematurely developed talents.

A man's talents may be precocious, or they may be completed rather late. Even in case he has been without a teacher, he has at home acquired the learning of his family. People upon remarking his precociousness and premature erudition, in their admiration exceed all bounds. If they say that Hsiang T`o was seven years of age, he must have been ten, and their assertion that he instructed Confucius shows only that Confucius put a question to him. If they say of Huang Ti and Ti K`u that, after their birth, they were able to talk, the time has, no doubt, been several months, and the twenty-one years which they ascribe to Yin Fang must have been about thirty. If they contend that he had no teacher nor a friend, and that he did not study, as a matter of fact, he travelled about to gather information and worked at home. But the masses are extravagant in their commendations, and in condemning they magnify the faults.

There is a popular tradition about Yen Yuan to the effect that, at the age of eighteen, he ascended Mount T`ai, whence, in the far distance, he viewed a white horse fastened outside the Chang gate in Wu.58 An investigation reveals the fact that Yen Yuan, at that time, was thirty years old, and did not ascend Mount T`ai, nor descry the Chang gate in Wu. The credit given to Hsiang T`o and the praise bestowed on Yin Fang are like the admiration of which Yen Yuan was the object.

Tse Kung asked, ["Why should the Master not study? But, on the other side, how could he always find a teacher?"] 59 And Confucius remarks that at the age of fifteen he had his mind bent on learning. 60 The Five Emperors and Three Rulers all had their teachers. I believe that this has been set up as an example for mankind.

Somebody may object that mere cogitation might be recommended as well, and that there is no need for learning. Things may be difficult to be grasped without any alien assistance, still the talents of Worthies and Sages are equal to it.

The so-called spirits have knowledge without learning, and the so-called Sages require learning, to become Sages. Since they are compelled to study we know that they are not Sages. 61

Among the creatures between Heaven and Earth that are not provided with innate knowledge, the rhinopithecus knows the past and the magpie, the future. 62 The heavenly nature which pervades them thus acts spontaneously. Should Sages resemble the rhinopithecus, then they ought to belong to the same class viz. of beasts and birds.

The queer ditties of boys are known without study, and may be described as supernatural and prescient. If Sages be put on a level with these songs, they would be uncanny like these songs.

Or are the divine Sages on earth held to be sorcerers? Ghosts and spirits speak to men through the mouths of sorcerers. If Sages be regarded as sorcerers, in this capacity they would likewise be preternatural. That which is of the same stuff as prodigies are, has nothing in common with Sages. Sorcerers differ from Sages, therefore the latter cannot be spiritual. Not being spiritual, they are akin to Worthies, and being akin to Worthies, their knowledge cannot be diverse.

As to their difference, Sages are quick in embracing the right principles, and Worthies, slow. Worthies have many talents, and Sages, great knowledge. Their objects of thought are the same, only the amount differs. They walk the same road, but in their progress one overruns the other.

Things are hard to be understood, or easy of apprehension, and call the attention of both Worthies and Sages. For example, the alternation of culture and simplicity, the repetition of the three systems of government, 63 the succession of the first days of the first moon, the concatenation of the abolitions from, and improvements upon the institutions of the various dynasties, all these things Worthies and Sages equally know. Water and fire of ancient times are the water and fire of the present day, and sounds and colours of the present are the sounds and colours of later ages. As regards beasts and birds, plants and trees, the goodness and wickedness of men, we learn to understand antiquity from the present, and from what is now infer what is to come. Between a thousand years back and ten thousand generations hereafter there is no diversity. In investigating remotest antiquity and in inquiring into future ages, in such matters as civilization and primitive simplicity, or water and fire, Worthies and Sages are equal. In observing omens and noticing signs as well as in drawing schemes showing people's destiny, Worthies and Sages are equal. Meeting with anomalies, they know their names and have no doubts about them, Worthies no less than Sages.

Things that may be known Worthies and Sages equally know, and things that may not be known, Sages do not comprehend either. I prove it thus:---

Suppose that a Sage by mental abstraction foresees a rainfall, then his nature excells in one thing, but if his understanding does not reach to the remotest principles with all their details, it is not worth speaking of. What we speak of is the gift of prescience, and an intelligent mind, completely understanding the natures of all creatures, and fully apprehending thousands of important methods. If somebody is familiar with one thing, but not with the second, or if he knows the left and ignores the right, he is one-sided and imperfect, crippled in mind and not accomplished, and not what we call a Sage. Should he pass for a Sage it would be evident that a Sage has no superiority, and men like Chan Ho would be Sages, as Confucius and his equals are considered Sages. Then Sages would not distinguish themselves from Worthies, or Worthies come short of Sages.

If Worthies and Sages both possess many abilities, wherefore are Sages held in higher respect than Worthies? If they are both dependent on their schemes and devices, why do not Worthies come up to the standard of Sages? As a matter of fact, neither Worthies nor Sages are apt to know the nature of things, and want their ears and eyes, in order to ascertain their real character. Ears and eyes being thus indispensable, things that may be known are determined by reflexion, and things that may not be known are explained after inquiry. If things under Heaven or worldly affairs may be found out by reflexion, even the stupid can open their minds, if, however, they are unintelligible, even Sages with the highest intelligence cannot make anything out of them.

Confucius said ["I have been the whole day without eating, and the whole night without sleeping---occupied with thinking. It was of no use. The better plan is to learn."] 64 Those things under Heaven which are incomprehensible are like knots that cannot be undone. By instruction one learns how to untie them, and there are no knots but can be undone. In case they cannot be untied, even instruction does not bring about this result. Not that instruction does not qualify to undo knots, but it may be impossible to untie them, and the method of undoing them is of no use. 65

The Sage knowing things, things must be knowable, if, however, things are unknowable, neither the Sage can understand them. Not that a Sage could not know them, but things may prove incomprehensible, and the knowing faculty cannot be used. Therefore things hard to grasp may be attained by learning, whereas unknowable things cannot be comprehended, neither by inquiry, nor by study.

Notes

1. .

2. .

3. See Vol. I, p. 319, Note 1.

4. In the Yang-chou prefecture, Kiangsu.

5. See Vol. I, p. 466.

6. Tse was the family name of the Yin dynasty. Wei Tse, the viscount of Wei, a clansman of the last emperor of the Yin dynasty, was made prince of Sung. He is believed to have been the ancestor of Confucius. Cf. Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. V, p. 284 seq. In the Liki (Legge, Sacred Books Vol. XXVII, p. 139) Confucius says himself, "I am a man of Yin."

7. Cf. Vol. I, p. 324, Note 4.

8. The Plan of the Yellow River containing the eight diagrams revealed to Huang Ti, see Vol. I, p. 294, Note 1.

9. King of Wu, a nephew of Han Kao Tsu.

10. This great rebellion broke out in b.c. 154. See Shi-chi chap. 11, p. 2r. (Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. II, p. 498).

11. As given in the Shi-chi chap. 6, p. 26v. from which the following narrative is abridged.

12. The 1st of November 211 b.c. (Chavannes, Mém. Hist. Vol. II, p. 184).

13. . The Shi-chi writes .

14. Ed. A. and B. have both a full stop after Chieh-ko, thus agreeing with Chavannes' punctuation (Mém. Hist. Vol. II, p. 185, Note 2). For the Shi-chi has .

15. evidently the correct reading for the of the Shi-chi, which Chavannes loc. cit. Note 3 justly regards as corrupt. Mei-chu lies in the Chien-p`ing district of Anhui, which is conterminous with Tan-yang-hsien in Kiangsu.

16. , the Shi-chi has .

17. cf. Vol. I, p. 231, Note 7.

18. See Vol. I, p. 232, Note 3.

19. . Ed. B. writes: .

20. Cf. Vol. I, p. 354.

21. The dummies had taken the place of living persons who were thus buried symbolically. Burying them alive would have been a relapse into the primitive custom. Cf. chap. XXXV.

22. In b.c. 237.

23. a misprint for Chuang Hsiang, king of Ch`in, 249-246 b.c.

24. This king of Ch`in reigned only three days in b.c. 250.

25. I. e., Hsiao Wên Wang.

26. East of Hsi-an-fu, Shensi.

27. King Yen Hsiang, who had been adopted by Queen Hua Yang. His real mother, the queen-dowager Hsia, was originally a concubine.

28. b.c. 297, the Shi-chi chap. 5 adduces the 7th year = b.c. 300.

29. , a member of the royal house.

30. Near Hsi-an-fu.

31. In the Sung district of Honan province.

32. Non-Chinese tribes in the west.

33. and Ch`in combined invited the Jung to change their residence.

34. In Kua-chou, Kansu.

35. Abridged from the Tso-chuan, Duke Hsi 22nd year, whence we learn that the Jung emigrated to Yi-ch`uan in 638 b.c.Hsin Yu predicted it, when King P`ing of Chou, to avoid the incursions of the Jung, transferred his capital from Chang-an to Lo-yi in 770 b.c. Consequently the hundred years of Hin Yu are only a round number. The Tso-chuan adds that Hsin Yu foresaw the event from the fact that in Yi-ch`uan the rules of ceremony were already lost. Wearing long or dishevelled hair is a sign of barbarity, therefore barbarians might well occupy the land.

36. The friend of Han Kao Tsu. Cf. Vol. I, p. 148, Note 5.

37. They were as superstitious as the old Romans.

38. Unknowable at first sight, not altogether.

39. . Cf. Huai Nan Tse XIX, 13v. The Shi-chi chap. 71, p. 9 v. where the same thing is told of this precocious lad, writes the second character . See also Giles, Biogr. Dict. No. 696, where we read that Hsiang T`o was merely qualified to be the teacher of the Sage.

40. Analects XVI, 9.

41. 9---22 a.d.

42. In Shantung.

43. Ceremonial, music, archery, charioteering, writing, mathematics.

44. . I suppose that the capital of Wei = Ta-liang, the modern K`aifêng-fu, is thus designated.

45. Even a Sage could not know the erroneousness of such suppositions. Pure thought alone does not provide true knowledge, there must be experience besides and reasoning by analogy.

46. The two former and the two latter were disciples of Confucius.

47. Analects II, 23.

48. Analects IX, 22.

49. A native of the Ch`u State in the Chou epoch.

50. A small State held by wild tribes, south of Kiao-chou, of which Ko Lu was the chief.

51. This story is told in the Tso-chuan, Duke Hsi 29th year.

52. Region in the province of Ssechuan.

53. The Pei-wên-yün-fu cites this passage, but calls the person Han-yang Wêng-chung i. e., Wêng-chung of Han-yang. I could not find any farther information on the man.

54. Here and elsewhere Wang Ch`ung uses simply for "then". This use seems to be quite common as I found it in many other authors. Our dictionaries omit it.

55. . Williams and Giles translate this word by "imperial palace," which is much too vague, Couvreur by "chancery", quoting two passages referring to the T`ang time. Originally it must have been a hall where the emperor used to sacrifice and pray to his ancestors for happiness. But other business was transacted there also. We read in the biography of Chia Yi, Shi-chi chap. 84, p. 14r. that Chia Yi was received there by the emperor Hsiao Wên Ti: . The commentator remarks that the was the principal room in front of the Wei-yang palace. The Pei-wên-yün-fu quotes two more passages from the Han-shu: .

56. Cf. Vol. I, p. 109.

57. Wang Ch`ung means to say that Huang Ti at his birth was as developed as a child of two years, so that his ability to talk would not be so marvellous. He only forgets to tell us how Huang Ti could learn speaking, while in his mother's womb.

58. See chap. XXIII.

59. Analects XIX, 22.

60. Analects II, 4.

61. Their wisdom is not supernatural.

62. Cf. Vol. I, p. 358, Notes 3---5, and Huai Nan Tse XIII, 14r.

63. See Vol. I, p. 475.

64. Analects XV, 30.

65. There are things plain and intelligible by reflexion, others require instruction to be understood, and many remain incomprehensible in spite of learning, baffling all our endeavours.

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