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通 有 第 三

大 夫 曰 : 「 燕 之 涿 薊 , 趙 之 邯 鄲 , 魏 之 溫 軹 , 韓 之 滎 陽 , 齊 之 臨 淄 , 楚 之 宛 、 陳, 鄭 之 陽 翟 , 三 川 之 二周 , 富 冠 海 內 , 皆 為 天 下 名 都 , 非 有 助 之 耕 其 野 而 田 其地 者 也 , 居 五 諸 之 [衝] , 跨 街 [衢] 之 路 也 。 故 物 豐 者 民 衍 ,宅 近 市 者 家 富 。 富 在 術 數 , 不 在 勞 身 ; 利 在 勢 居 , 不 在力 耕 也 。

文 學 曰 : 「 荊 、 揚 南 有 桂 林 之 饒 , 內 有 江 、 湖 之 利 , 左 陵 陽 之 金 , 右 蜀 、 漢 之 材 , 伐 木 而 樹 穀 , 燔 萊 而 播 粟 , 火 耕 而 水 耨 , 地 廣 而 饒 財 ; 然 民 鮆 窳 偷 生 , 好 衣 甘 食 , 雖 白 屋 草 廬 , 歌 謳 鼓 琴 , 日 給 月 單 , 朝 歌 暮 戚 。趙 、 中 山 帶 大 河 , 纂 四 通 神 衢 , 當 天 下 之 蹊 , 商 賈 錯 於 路 , 諸 侯 交 於 道 ; 然 民 淫 好 末 , 侈 靡 而 不 務 本 , 田 疇 不修 , 男 女 矜 飾 , 家 無 斗 筲 , 鳴 琴 在 室 。 是 以 楚 、 趙 之 民, 均 貧 而 寡 富 。 宋 、 衛 、 韓 、 梁 , 好 本 稼 穡 , 編 戶 齊 民, 無 不 家 衍 人 給 。 故 利 在 自 惜 , 不 在 勢 居 街 衢 ; 富 在 儉 力 趣 時 , 不 在 歲 司 羽 鳩 也 。 」

大 夫 曰 : 「 五 行 : 東 方 木 , 而 丹 、 章 有 金 銅 之 山; 南 方 火 , 而 交 趾 有 大 海 之 川 ; 西 方 金 , 而 蜀 、 隴 有 名 材 之 林 ; 北 方 水 , 而 幽 都 有 積 沙 之 地 。 此 天 地 所 以 均 有 無 而 通 萬 物 也 。 今 吳 、 越 之 竹 , 隋 、 唐 之 材 , 不 可 勝 用, 而 曹 、 衛 、 梁 、 宋 , 采 棺 轉 尸 ; 江 、 湖 之 魚 , 萊 、 黃之 鮐 , 不 可 勝 食 , 而 鄒 、 魯 、 周 、 韓 , 藜 藿 蔬 食 。 天 地 之 利 無 不 贍 , 而 山 海 之 貨 無 不 富 也 ; 然 百 姓 匱 乏 , 財 用不 足 , 多 寡 不 調 , 而 天 下 財 不 散 也 。 」

文 學 曰 : 「 古 者 , 采 椽 不 斲 , 茅 茨 不 翦 , 衣 布 褐, 飯 土 硎 , 鑄 金 為 鉏 , 埏 埴 為 器 , 工 不 造 奇 巧 , 世 不 寶 不 可 衣 食 之 物 , 各 安 其 居 , 樂 其 俗 , 甘 其 食 , 便 其 器 。是 以 遠 方 之 物 不 交 , 而 昆 山 之 玉 不 至 。 今 世 俗 壞 而 競 於 淫 靡 , 女 極 纖 微 , 工 極 技 巧 , 雕 素 樸 而 尚 珍 怪 , 鑽 山 石 而 求 金 銀 , 沒 深 淵 求 珠 璣 , 設 機 陷 求 犀 象 , 張 網 羅 求 翡 翠 , 求 蠻 、 貉 之 物 以 眩 中 國 , 徙 邛 、 筰 之 貨 , 致 之 東 海, 交 萬 里 之 財 , 曠 日 費 功 , 無 益 於 用 。 是 以 褐 夫 匹 婦 ,勞 罷 力 屈 , 而 衣 食 不 足 也 。 故 王 者 禁 溢 利 , 節 漏 費 。 溢 利 禁 則 反 本 , 漏 費 節 則 民 用 給 。 是 以 生 無 乏 資 , 死 無 轉 尸 也 。 」

大 夫 曰 : 「 古 者 , 宮 室 有 度 , 輿 服 以 庸 ; 采 椽 茅 茨 , 非 先 王 之 制 也 。 君 子 節 奢 刺 儉 , 儉 則 固 。 昔 孫 叔 敖 相 楚 , 妻 不 衣 帛 , 馬 不 秣 粟 。 孔 子 曰 : 『 不 可 , 大 儉 極 下 。 』 此 蟋 蟀 所 為 作 也 。 管 子 曰 : 『 不 飾 宮 室 , 則 材 木 不 可 勝 用 , 不 充 庖 廚 , 則 禽 獸 不 損 其 壽 。 無 末 利 , 則 本 業 無 所 出 , 無 黼 黻 , 則 女 工 不 施 。 』 故 工 商 梓 匠 , 邦 國 之 用 , 器 械 之 備 也 。 自 古 有 之 , 非 獨 於 此 。 弦 高 販 牛 於 周 , 五 羖 賃 車 入 秦 , 公 輸 子 以 規 矩 , 歐 冶 以 鎔 鑄 。 語 曰: 『 百 工 居 肆 , 以 成 其 事 。 』 農 商 交 易 , 以 利 本 末 。 山 居 澤 處 , 蓬 蒿 墝 埆 , 財 物 流 通 , 有 以 均 之 。 是 以 多 者 不 獨 衍 , 少 者 不 獨 饉 。 若 各 居 其 處 , 食 其 食 , 則 是 橘 柚 不 鬻 , 朐 鹵 之 鹽 不 出 , 旃 罽 不 市 , 而 吳 、 唐 之 材 不 用 也 。」

文 學 曰 : 「 孟 子 云 : 『 不 違 農 時 , 穀 不 可 勝 食 。蠶 麻 以 時 , 布 帛 不 可 勝 衣 也 。 斧 斤 以 時 入, 材 木 不 可 勝 用。 田 漁 以 時 , 魚 肉 不 可 勝 食 。 』 若 則 飾 宮 室 , 增 臺 榭 ,梓 匠 斲 巨 為 小 , 以 圓 為 方 , 上 成 雲 氣 , 下 成 山 林 , 則 材 木 不 足 用 也 。 男 子 去 本 為 末 ,雖 雕 文 刻 鏤 , 以 象 禽 獸 , 窮 物 究 變 , 則 穀 不 足 食 也 。 婦 女 飾 微 治 細 , 以 成 文 章 , 極 伎 盡 巧 , 則 絲 布 不 足 衣 也 。 庖 宰 烹 殺 胎 卵 , 煎 炙 齊 和 ,窮 極 五 味 , 則 魚 肉 不 足 食 也 。 當 今 世 , 非 患 禽 獸 不 損 ,材 木 不 勝 , 患 僭 侈 之 無 窮 也 ; 非 患 無 旃 罽 橘 柚 , 患 無 狹 廬 糠 糟 也 。 」

Chapter III. Circulation of Goods

a. The Lord Grand Secretary: Tso and Chi of Yen, Han Tan of Chao, Wên and Chih of Wei, Ying Yang of Han, Lin Tsê of Ch'i, Wan Ch'iu of Ch'u, Yang Chai of Chêng, the two Chou of San Ch'uan, 1 in riches surpassing all within the seas, are famous municipalities of the world. 2 They are so not because there has been some one who has helped them to cultivate their country side and till their fields, but because they are situated on the intersecting routes of the five feudal states 3 and sit astride the network of highways. In other words, where products abound, the people multiply; when the house is near the market, the family will get rich. Getting rich depends on `methods' and `statistical calculation', not on hard manual labor; profits depend on `circumstances', 4 not on strenuous farming. 5

b. The Literati: In Ching Yang, there is the fertile land of Kuei Lin to the south, the facilities of the rivers and the lakes within its borders, the gold of Ling Yang to the left and the timber supply of Shu and Han 6 to the right. Forests were cut down in order to raise grain, and brush was burnt to give room for the sowing of millet. Through clearing by fire for farming and water-weeding, 7 arable land was extended and natural resources were abundant. Thereupon evil habits of idleness imperceptibly grew up. People wear fine clothes and eat delicate food. Even in humble cottages and straw-thatched huts, we hear ballad-singing and playing on stringed instruments; wanton for a day, in want for a month, carolling in the morning, mourning in the evening. Chao and Chung Shan 8 border the great River; 9 they form the connecting center of the radiating roads and are situated on the highway of the world. Merchants throng the ways. Princes meet on the streets. But the people's trend is to the non-essential persuits. They grow luxurious, disregarding the fundamentals. The fields are not cultivated, while the men and women vie with one another in dress. Without a peck of reserve 10 in the house, the lute thrums in the hall. This is why of the people of Ch'u and Chao 11 most are poor and few rich. On the other hand, the people in Sung, Wei, Han and Liang 12 adhere to the fundamental and till the soil. Among the common people and yeomanry 13 every house prospers and every person is satisfied. Therefore profit comes from care for one's self, not from favorable location on the highways. Riches come from thrift and labor at the right season and not from having supervising officials throughout the year and in increasing the display in the ceremonies. 14

c. The Lord Grand Secretary: According to the theory of the Five Elements, 15 the East pertains to Wood, but at Tan Chang 16 we have mountains containing gold and copper. The South pertains to Fire, but in Chiao Chih 17 we have rivers as big as the ocean. The West pertains to Metal, but in Shu and Lung 18 we find forests of famous timber. The North pertains to Water, but in Yü Tu 19 we find the land of heaped up sand. This is how Heaven and Earth compensate scarcity with abundance and facilitate the circulation of all goods. Now the supply of bamboo in Wu and Yüeh, 20 and the timber in Sui and T'ang 21 is more than can be used while in Ts'ao, Wei, Liang and Sung 22 they are forced to use coffins over again for the dead. 23 The fish of the regions of the great River and the lakes and the globe fish of Lai and Huang 24 are too many for local consumption, while in Tsou, Lu, Chou and Han 25 they have only vegetable fare. The wealth of nature is not deficient, and the treasures of the mountains and the seas are indeed rich, and yet the people still remain necessitous and the available wealth is not adequate. The reason is that surplus and scarcity have not been adjusted and the wealth of the world has not been circulated.

d. The Literati: In olden times, the rafters were not carved, and the hut-thatch was left untrimmed. People wore plain clothes 26 and ate from earthenware. They cast metal into mattocks and shaped clay into containers. Craftsmen did not fashion novel, clever articles. The world did not value things that could not be worn or eaten. Each was satisfied with his own dwelling, enjoyed his own customs, found his own food and implements satisfactory. Hence, things from distant lands were not exchanged and the jade of K'un Shan 27 did not arrive. Nowadays manners have degenerated in a race of extravagance. Women go to the extreme in finery and the artisans aim at excessive cleverness. Unadorned raw materials 28 are carved and strange objects prized. They bore into the rocks to get gold and silver. They dive into the watery deeps looking for pearls. Pitfalls are devised to trap rhinoceri and elephants. 29 Nets are spread for the kingfisher. Barbarian products are sought out to dazzle the Middle Kingdom. The goods of Kung and Tso 30 are transported to the Eastern Sea at a cost of ten thousand miles. Time and labor are spent for nothing. This is why the common men 31 and women, weary and heavy-laden, wear themselves out without getting enough to clothe and feed themselves. Hence the true King would prohibit excessive profits, and cut off unnecessary expenses. When undue gain is prohibited, people return to the fundamental. When unnecessary expenses are cut off, people have enough to spend. Hence people will not suffer from want while alive, nor from exposure of their corpses when dead.

e. The Lord Grand Secretary: In ancient times, reasonable limits were set to the style of palaces and houses, chariots and liveries. Plain rafters and straw thatch were not a part of the system of the Ancient Emperors. The true gentleman, while checking extravagance, would disapprove of parsimoniousness because over-thriftiness tends to narrowness. 32 When Sun-shu Ao was the prime minister of Ch'u 33 and his wife did not wear silk nor his horses feed on grain, Confucius said: One should not be too thrifty so as to be hard on one's inferiors.34 This is how the poem The Cricket35 was written. Kuan-tzŭ said: 36If palaces and houses are not decorated, the timber supply will be over-abundant. If animals and fowls are not used in the kitchens, there will be no decrease in their numbers. Without the hankering for profit, the fundamental occupation will have no outlet. Without the embroidered ceremonial robes, the seamstresses37will have no occupation. Therefore, artisans, merchants, carpenters and mechanics are all for the use of the state and to provide tools and implements. They have existed from ancient times and are not a unique feature of the present age. Hsien Kao fed cattle at Chou. 38 Wu Ku carried on a cart-renting business in order to enter Ch'in. 39 Kung-shu Tzŭ 40 was an expert in the compass and square and Ou Yeh 41 in founding. Thus the saying goes: The various craftsmen dwell in their booths that they may do their work effectively.42 Farmers and merchants exchange their goods so that both the fundamental and the accessory pursuits may be benefited. People who live in the mountains and marshes, or on moors and sterile uplands, depend on the effective circulation of goods to satisfy their wants. Thus it would not be only those who have abundance that have a surplus and only those who have little that would starve. If everybody stays where he lives and consumes his own food, then oranges and pumaloes would not be sold, Ch'ü Lu 43 salt would not appear, rugs and carpets would not be marketed and the timber of Wu and T'ang 44 would not be used.

f. The Literati: Mencius 45 says that if the seasons of husbandry are not disturbed there will be more grain than can be eaten. If silkworms and hemp are raised according to the seasons, cloth and silk will be more than what is required for wear. If the axes and bills enter the forest according to season, the timber supply will be more than the demand. Hunting and fishing according to season, fish and game will be more than can be eaten. If you do not do all these things according to the seasons, and on the other hand, you decorate the palaces and dwelling houses and raise terraces and arbors higher and higher, and if carpenters and mechanics carve the large into the small, the round into the square, so as to represent clouds and mists above and mountains and forests below, then there will not be enough timber for use. If the men folk abandon the fundamental in favor of the non-essential, carving and engraving in imitation of the forms of animals, exhausting the possibilities of manipulation of materials, then there will not be enough grain for consumption. If the women folk decorate the small things and work on the minute and form elaborate articles to the best of their skill and art, then there will not be enough silk and cloth for wear. If the cooks boil and slaughter the immature, fry and roast and mix and blend, exhausting all the varieties of the Five Flavors, 46 then there will not be enough fish and meat for food. At present while there is no question of suffering from fowls and animals not declining in number, and of the timber supply being more than can be consumed, the trouble is that we are extravagant without limit; and while we do not suffer from the lack of rugs, carpets, oranges and pumeloes, the trouble is that we have no hovels and husks and chaff.

Notes

1. 燕 之 涿 薊 , 趙 之 邯 鄲 , 魏 之 溫 軹 , 韓之 滎 陽 , 齊 之 臨 淄 , 楚 之 宛陳 , 鄭 之 陽 翟 , 三 川 之 二周.

2. 都, i.e., cities with ancestral temples, or residences of feudal lords.

3. The feudal states in the "five directions", 五 方, east, south, west, north and the center.

4. 術, "political methods"; 數, "statistical calculations"; 勢 "conditions", "influences", "power". These are typical expressions of the legalist school. Duyvendak, The Book of Lord Shang, 92 seq. discusses these fa chia terms at length.

5. Chang quotes the Shih-chi, ch. CXXIX: Agriculture cannot be compared with practising some craft, practising a craft cannot be compared with commerce, sticking the needle in [trading in] rich embroideries cannot be compared to getting a favorable place at the market gate, 農 不 如 工 工 不 如 商 刺 繡 文 不 如 倚 市 門.

6. 荊 揚, 桂 林 ,陵 陽 之 金 ,蜀 、 漢.

7. 水 耨: Shih-chi, ch. CXXIX. The field was flooded, destroying the weeds but not harming the rice plants. This was done after the grass and brush had been burned. Cf. Ch'ien-han-shu, ch. VI, quoted by Chavannes, Mém. hist., III, 589, note 1. These easy ways of cultivation in the south accounted for the "evil habits of idleness".

8. 趙, 中 山.

9. 大 河: the Yellow River.

10. 斗 筲: peck or hamper, having a derogatory sense. Cf. Lun-yü, XIII, 20, 斗 筲 之 人.

11. 楚 趙.

12. 宋 , 衛 , 韓 , 梁.

13. 編 戶 薺 民.

14. 歲 司 羽 鳩. The phrase is rather obscure. Chang refers to the Tso-chuan, Chao Kung, XVII, where are enumerated the "bird-officers" of the Emperor Shao-hao. The five "turtle-dove" officers 鳩 (assemble, settle) the people. On the other hand 羽 are the rows of pantomimes used in ceremonial dances. Thus "increase 鳩 of the rows of pantomimes" is an outward show of wealth. A reference to this use of 鳩 in the Shu-ching is found in Couvreur, Dictionnaire classique, 1047.

15. 五 行. The Five Elements or Primordial Essences are Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Earth. Upon these perpetually active principles of Nature, the whole scheme of Chinese philosophy, as originated in the "Great Plan" of the Shu-ching, is based. Cf. Mayers, Chinese Reader's Manual, Pt. II, 333.

16. 丹 章.

17. 交 趾.

18. 蜀, 隴.

19. 幽 都.

20. 吳, 越.

21. 隋, 唐.

22. 曹 , 衛 , 梁 , 宋.

23. 采 棺 轉 尸: "turn out corpses in search for coffins".

24. 萊, 黃.

25. 鄒, 魯, 周, 韓.

26. 衣 布 褐 : 褐 is translated by Legge (Mencius II. i. ii. 4, 7; III. i. iv. 1, 4) according to the dictionaries as `hair cloth'. The implication is that it was unwoven, and worn by the lower classes. It may have been felt such as used by the Mongols. On the other hand, there is reason to believe that the term may mean actual fur garments, such as the sheepskins worn by the shepherds and camel-drivers of northern China today, in the winter season. See below 褐 衣 "the common men".

27. 昆 山 之 玉. Jade in China has been dealt with in various aspects by Laufer in Jade A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion, (Chicago, 1912).

28. 樸: a word favored by Taoists in their preaching of the simple life. Employed by the Han "Confucianists", it indicates that the later Taoist and Confucianist schools had not yet become distinctly differentiated. The word frequently appears in the Shang-tzŭ, cf. Duyvendak, op. cit., passim.

29. 犀 象: the animals, not "ivory" as above. The actual existence of the rhinoceros in China has been discussed by Laufer and H. Giles.

30. 邛 、筰.

31. 褐 衣: cf. note above.

32. 儉 則 固: a paraphrase of the Lun-yü, VII, xxxv.

33. 孫 叔 敖: Chang has Chi Wên Tzŭ 季 文 子 (the minister of Lu who used to think thrice before acting, Lun-yü, V, xix) instead of Sun-shu Ao, and Lu 魯 for Ch'u 楚. The parsimoniousness of Sun-shu Ao is also confirmed by Hanfei-tzŭ, ch. 外 諸 說.

34. This quotation, not identified, seems to represent a general sentiment of the Chinese social order, for which Confucius is here made the high authority.

35. 蟋 蟀: Shih-ching, 國 風, 唐I, a poem written in criticism of Duke 僖 of Chin's parsimoniousness. Cf. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. IV, Pt. I, 174, for the translation.

36. Not in the present Kuan-tzŭ text. `Hankering after profit' 味 利; Lu suggests 未. `Will have no outlet' 本 業 所 出, undoubtedly a mistake, as Lu points out, with 不 or 無 missing.

37. 女 紅: the latter character is pronounced kung in the special sense of a "weaving woman", as Chang indicates. Cf. Couvreur, Dictionnaire Classique, sub rad. 120.

38. 弦 高...周.

39. 五 羖...秦.

40. 公 輸 子.

41. 歐 冶.

42. The source, really the Lun-yü, ch. XIX, 7, reads 成 for 致, 百 工 居 肆 , 以 成 其 事.

43. 朐 鹵 之 鹽: salt made from the (?) rock salt of Ch'ü, a place name. Cf. 朐 邴, Ping of Ch'ü, a person later mentioned in the YTL. See glossary.

44. 吳 、 唐.

45. Cf. Legge, I, i, iii, 3, paraphrased as follows: YTL.: 不 違 農 時 , 穀 不 可 勝 食 。蠶 麻 以 時 , 布 帛 不 可 勝 衣 也 。 斧 斤 以 時 入, 材 木 不 可 勝 用。 田 漁 以 時 , 魚 肉 不 可 勝 食. Menc.: 不 違 農 時 , 穀 不 可 勝 食 。也 數 罟 不 入 洿 池 魚 虌 不 可 勝 食 也 。 斧 斤 以 時 入, 山 林 材 木 不 可 勝 用 也 . This is an example of either Huan K'uan's carelessness in quotation, or an indication that the extant Mencius differs from the text of the Han era.

46. 五 味: Salt, Bitter, Sour, Acrid, Sweet, 鹹, 苦, 酸, 辛, 甘.

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