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復 古 第 六

大 夫 曰 : 「 故 扇 水 都 尉 彭 祖 寧 歸 , 言 : 『 鹽 、 鐵 令品 , 令 品 甚 明 。 卒 徒 衣 食 縣 官 , 作 鑄 鐵 器 , 給 用 甚 眾 ,無 妨 於 民 。 而 吏 或 不 良 , 禁 令 不 行 , 故 民 煩 苦 之 。 』

令 意 總 一 鹽 、 鐵 , 非 獨 為 利 入 也 , 將 以 建 本 抑 末 , 離 朋 黨, 禁 淫 侈 , 絕 并 兼 之 路 也 。 古 者 , 名 山 大 澤 不 以 封 , 為 下 之 專 利 也 。 山 海 之 利 , 廣 澤 之 畜 , 天 地 之 藏 也 , 皆 宜 屬 少 府 ; 陛 下 不 私 , 以 屬 大 司 農 , 以 佐 助 百 姓 。 浮 食 奇 民 , 好 欲 擅 山 海 之 貨 , 以 致 富 業 , 役 利 細 民 , 故 沮 事 議 者 眾 。

鐵 器 兵 刃 , 天 下 之 大 用 也 , 非 眾 庶 所 宜 事 也 。 往 者 , 豪 強 大 家 , 得 管 山 海 之 利 , 采 鐵 石 鼓 鑄 , 煮 海 為 鹽。 一 家 聚 眾 , 或 至 千 餘 人 , 大 抵 盡 收 放 流 人 民 也 。 遠 去 鄉 里 , 棄 墳 墓 , 依 倚 大 家 , 聚 深 山 窮 澤 之 中 , 成 姦 偽 之 業 , 遂 朋 黨 之 權 , 其 輕 為 非 亦 大 矣 ! 今 者 , 廣 進 賢 之 途, 練 擇 守 尉 , 不 待 去 鹽 、 鐵 而 安 民 也 。 」

文 學 曰 : 「 扇 水 都 尉 所 言 , 當 時 之 權 , 一 切 之 術 也 , 不 可 以 久 行 而 傳 世 , 此 非 明 王 所 以 君 國 子 民 之 道 也。 詩 云 : 『 哀 哉 為 猶 , 匪 先 民 是 程 , 匪 大 猶 是 經 , 維 邇 言 是 聽 。 』 此 詩 人 刺 不 通 於 王 道 , 而 善 為 權 利 者 。 孝 武 皇 帝 攘 九 夷 , 平 百 越 , 師 旅 數 起 , 糧 食 不 足 。 故 立 田 官, 置 錢 , 入 穀 射 官 , 救 急 贍 不 給 。 今 陛 下 繼 大 功 之 勤 ,養 勞 倦 之 民 , 此 用 麋 鬻 之 時 ;

公 卿 宜 思 所 以 安 集 百 姓 ,致 利 除 害 , 輔 明 主 以 仁 義 , 修 潤 洪 業 之 道 。 明 主 即 位 以來 , 六 年 於 茲 , 公 卿 無 請 減 除 不 急 之 官 , 省 罷 機 利 之 人。 人 權 縣 太 久 , 民 良 望 於 上 。 陛 下 宣 聖 德 , 昭 明 光 , 令 郡 國 賢 良 、 文 學 之 士 , 乘 傳 詣 公 車 , 議 五 帝 、 三 王 之 道, 六 藝 之 風 , 冊 陳 安 危 利 害 之 分 , 指 意 粲 然 。 今 公 卿 辯 議 , 未 有 所 定 , 此 所 謂 守 小 節 而 遺 大 體 , 抱 小 利 而 忘 大 利 者 也 。 」

大 夫 曰 : 「 宇 棟 之 內 , 鷰 雀 不 知 天 地 之 高 ; 坎 井 之 蛙 , 不 知 江 海 之 大 ; 窮 夫 否 婦 , 不 知 國 家 之 慮 ; 負 荷之 商 , 不 知 猗 頓 之 富 。 先 帝 計 外 國 之 利 , 料 胡 、 越 之 兵, 兵 敵 弱 而 易 制 , 用 力 少 而 功 大 , 故 因 勢 變 以 主 四 夷 ,地 濱 山 海 , 以 屬 長 城 , 北 略 河 外 , 開 路 匈 奴 之 鄉 , 功 未卒 。 蓋 文 王 受 命 伐 崇 , 作 邑 于 豐 ; 武 王 繼 之 , 載 尸 以 行, 破 商 擒 紂 , 遂 成 王 業 。 曹 沬 棄 三 北 之 恥 , 而 復 侵 地 ;管 仲 負 當 世 之 累 , 而 立 霸 功 。 故 志 大 者 遺 小 , 用 權 者 離 俗 。 有 司 思 師 望 之 計 , 遂 先 帝 之 業 , 志 在 絕 胡 、 貉 , 擒 單 于 , 故 未 遑 扣 扃 之 義 , 而 錄 拘 儒 之 論 。 」

文 學 曰 : 「 鷰 雀 離 巢 宇 而 有 鷹 隼 之 憂 , 坎 井 之 蛙 離 其 居 而 有 蛇 鼠 之 患 , 況 翱 翔 千 仞 而 游 四 海 乎 ? 其 禍 必 大 矣 ! 此 李 斯 之 所 以 折 翼 , 而 趙 高 沒 淵 也 。 聞 文 、 武 受 命, 伐 不 義 以 安 諸 侯 大 夫 , 未 聞 弊 諸 夏 以 役 夷 、 狄 也 。 昔 秦 常 舉 天 下 之 力 以 事 胡 、 越 , 竭 天 下 之 財 以 奉 其 用 , 然 眾 不 能 畢 ; 而 以 百 萬 之 師 , 為 一 夫 之 任 , 此 天 下 共 聞 也。 且 數 戰 則 民 勞 , 久 師 則 兵 弊 , 此 百 姓 所 疾 苦 , 而 拘 儒 之 所 憂 也 。 」

Chapter VI. Back to Ancient Truths

a. The Lord Grand Secretary: In his report on the salt and iron regulations the former military commander at Shan-shui, P'êng-tsu Ning, 1 has stated that said regulations were very explicit; the conscripted laborers receive food and clothing from the district magistrates and they make and mould iron implements in great plenty to meet the need, with no hindrance from the people. However, there may be subordinate officers who are not disinterested and do not give effect to the regulations, with the result that the people are disturbed and distressed.

b. The present plan for unifying the salt and iron monopoly is not alone that profit may accrue [to the state], but that in the future the fundamental [of agriculture] may be established and the non-essential repressed, cliques dispersed, extravagance prohibited, and plurality of offices stopped. In ancient times the famous mountains and great marshes were not given as fiefs to be the monopolized profit of inferiors, because the profit of the mountains and the sea and the produce of the broad marshes are the stored up wealth2of the Empire3and by rights ought to belong to the privy coffers of the Crown; but Your Majesty has unselfishly assigned them to the State Treasurer4to assist and succor the people. Ne'er-do-wells andupstarts5desiring to appropriate the produce of the mountains and the seas as their own rich inheritance, exploit the common people. Therefore many are those who advise to put a stop to these practices.6

c. Iron implements and soldiers' weapons are important in the service of the Empire and should not be made the gainful business of everybody. Formerly the great families, agressive and powerful, obtained control of the profit of the mountains and sea, mined iron at Shih-ku 7 and smelted it, and manufactured salt. One family would collect a host of over a thousand men, mostly exiles who had gone far 8 from their native hamlets, abandoning the tombs of their ancestors. Attaching themselves to a great house and collecting in the midst of mountain fastnesses and barren marshes, they made wickedness and counterfeiting their business, seeking to build up the power of their clique. Their readiness to do evil was also great. Now since the road of recommending capable men has been opened wide, by a careful selection of the supervising officers, restoring peace to the people does not wait on the abolition of the salt and iron monopoly.

d. The Literati: What the commander at Shan-shui said was to the benefit 9 of the administration at the time; but all these artifices are not to be continued interminably, for generation after generation. This is not the way of an enlightened Ruler in administering the country and patronizing the people. It is said in the Odes:

"Alas! our formers of plans
Do not take the ancients for their pattern,
And do not regulate them by great principles.
They only hearken to shallow words. . . ." 10
The poet here slashes at those who are not in accord with the Kingly Way, but are skillful at 11 power and profit. The Emperor Wu 12 put down the nine barbarian tribes and pacified the hundred Yüeh, 13 repeatedly raising armies. As grain was insufficient, he established officers in charge of the fields to procure money flowing into the grain-dispatching office 14 to tide over the crisis when food supplies were not being delivered. Now Your Majesty succeeds to a task of great merit in nourishing the burdened and wearied people. This is a time of using thin gruel! 15

e. The high officers of state should bethink themselves as to how to pacify and bring together the people, attain profitable ends and abolish evils. They should help the Enlightened Lord 16 with their benevolence and righteousness and prepare ways of benefiting his Vast Heritage. 17 The Enlightened Lord came to the throne more than six years ago. 18 Among the high officials there is no one who has yet demanded that unnecessary offices be abolished and profiteers be dismissed. While others have left the matter in abeyance too long, the people have fixed their hope on the Emperor. Proclaiming Your holy virtue and showing forth Your brilliance, Your Majesty has commanded the worthies and the learned from the provinces and demesnes to come up post-haste at public expense 19 to discuss the ways of the Five Emperors and the Three Kings, 20 and the principles of the Six Arts. 21 We have set forth the difference between peace and danger, profit and harm, clearly and fully 22 according to our ideas. Now the high officers of the state have made great argument without arriving at a decision. This is what is called sticking to trifles and ignoring the main body, clinging to small advantages and forgetting greater advantages.

f. The Lord Grand Secretary: Within the universe the swallows and sparrows know nothing of the distance from earth to heaven; the frogs in a well know nothing of the vastness of rivers and seas; poverty stricken bumpkins and their stupid wives know nothing of the cares of statecraft. Peddlers with packs on their backs know nothing of the wealth of I Tun. 23 The former Emperor, 24 pondering on the profit to be got from foreign countries, estimated the opposing forces of the barbarians as weak and easily overwhelmed. Exerting himself but little, his achievement was great; and the result was that by availing himself of circumstances 25 he made himself master of the four I. 26 Territories from the mountain slopes to the shores of the sea were brought within the Great Wall. He opened roads into the country of the Hsiung Nu beyond the River on the northern boundary. The task is not yet completed. After Wên Wang 27 received the mandate to attack Ch'ung, 28 and built a city at Fêng, 29 Wu Wang 30 succeeded him and carrying his corpse on the march, 31 conquered Shang, captured Chou, 32 and built up a kingly heritage. Ts'ao Mo, despite the humiliation of three defeats, recovered the lost territory. Kuan Chung, though bearing on his shoulders the complicated affairs of his age, established the glory of the Hegemony. 33 Thus we see that those of great determination ignore small things, and those who employ exceptional measures 34 suited to the circumstances, differ from the commonplace. Those in office think to emulate the plans of the tutor Wang 35 and complete the task of the late Emperor. Their aim is to destroy the barbarian Hu and Hê 36 and cut off the chiefs of the Hsiung Nu. Therefore they have no time for deliberations behind closed doors, and recording the discussions of bigoted Confucianists. 37

g. The Literati: The swallows and sparrows on leaving their nests for the sky have their troubles from eagles and hawks; the frogs in the wells on leaving their habitations have worries from snakes and rats. What if they should soar a thousand cubits or swim in the four seas? Their disaster would be great. This is how Li Ssŭ 38 broke his wings and Chao Kao 39 drowned in the deep. We have heard that Wên and Wu 40 received the mandate to punish the unrighteous in order to bring peace to the nobles and ministers; we have not heard of ruining all the Chinese people that warfare be carried on against the I and the Ti. 41 Formerly the Ch'in 42 dynasty frequently raised the forces of the Empire and used them against the Hu and Yüeh. 43 With the use to exhaustion of the wealth of the Empire they could not achieve success. Moreover a million expeditionaries were used for one fellow's affair. This is universally known. Furthermore, much fighting overburdens the people; long campaigns ruin the soldiers. This is the grievance of the people and the concern of your "bigoted Confucianists".

Notes

1. 扇 水 都 尉 彭 祖 寧, otherwise unknown.

2. 藏, here not "treasure house", "magasin" (Chavannes), "Vorratskammer" (Franke, op. cit., 7), as in the original passage in the Shih-chi.

3. Wang's note: Chang suggests reading 天 地 for 天 下, following the Shih-chi, ch. XXX, and the Han-shu, ch. XXIV.

4. The revenues derived from "salt and iron" should be paid into the shao-fu 少 府, the personal treasury of the Emperor, and not into the ta-nung 大 農, the public treasury. Cf. Chavannes, Mém. hist., III, 570, note 4. 大 司 農 "State Treasurer", actually "Minister of Agriculture and Commerce", a title established in 104 B.C. Ibid., II, 519.

5. 浮 食: itinerants, vagabonds, "des gens dont les moyens d'existence sont incertains". Chavannes, Mém. hist., III, 570.

6. The Shih-chi, ch. XXX, reads 其 沮 事 之 議 者 不 可 勝 聽. "Les délibérations qu'on a entendues sur les moyens d'arrêter ces pratiques sont innombrables". Chavannes, Mém. hist., III, 57]. The passage is based upon the Shih-chi, loc. cit., the celebrated address to the Throne of K'ung Chin and Tung-kuo Hsien-yang in advocacy of the state control of salt and iron. The memorial of these two former industrialists, manufacturers of iron and salt, who now had come to identify their interests with the government as ardent advocates of the new fiscal system, has been translated by Chavannes (Mém. hist., III, 570—571), and by Franke (Staatssozialistische Versuche, 7). Cf. also Gale, Hist. Evidences relating to Early Chinese Public Finance, for the rôle of these persons in establishing the public control of salt and iron at this time.

7. 石 鼓, a place-name, "Stone-drums".

8. 大 抵 盡 [ 收 ] 放 流 人 民 [也 ] 遠 去 etc. Wang states that 收 crept in due to its similarity in shape to 放, while 也 is also superfluous.

9. 利權: "profit and power".

10. Shih-ching, II. v. I. 4 (Hsiao Ya, Ode 小 旻), Legge's translation.

11. 善 為, i.e., clever at doing [the things which bring them power and profit].

12. 孝 武 皇 帝, the Han Emperor (140—86 B.C.) whose reign of fifty-four years is renowned in the military annals of the Chinese Empire.

13. 夷, 越.

14. 穀 射 官.

15. 麋 鬻 chou chu: "hard times".

16. 明 主, the Emperor, a term favored by the Legalists.

17. 修 潤 洪 業: restore and enrich the Empire.

18. This indicates the time of the debate, equivalent to 81 B.C. See Introduction.

19. 乘 傳, 公 車. The latter may be taken also as "central depot", "capital", as well as an office in charge of memorials, rescripts, etc., where persons awaiting Imperial orders were boarded temporarily.

20. 五 帝、三 王: the five legendary Emperors of remote antiquity, T'ai Hao 太 昊, Yen Ti 炎 帝, Huang Ti 黃 帝, Shao Hao 少 昊 and Chuan Hsü 顓 頊; the three Kings, traditional founders of the Hsia, Shang and Chou dynasties.

21. 六 藝:禮 ceremonial observances, 樂 music, 射 archery, 御 charioteering, 書 writing, 數 mathematics.

22. 粲 然, lit. "brilliantly".

23. 猗 頓.

24. Han Wu Ti, the Military Emperor, cf. note supra.

25. 勢, an expression employed by the fa-chia writers in this sense. Cf. ch. VII.

26. 四 夷: barbarian tribes.

27. 文 王.

28. 崇.

29. 豐.

30. 武 王.

31. 載 尸 以 行 is not to be taken literally. The Shih-chi, ch. IV, relates how Wu Wang made a tablet of wood representing his ancestor Wên Wang and had it carried on a chariot in the centre of his army. Chavannes, Mém. hist., I, 165, note 1

32. 商, 紂.

33. Ts'ao Mo 曹 沬, Kuan Chung 管 仲. For these personages and the episodes referred to, see the glossary.

34. 權, another fa chia term. Cf. ch. VII.

35. This is evidently 太 公 望 who was counsellor to both Wên Wang and Wu Wang. See Giles, Biog. Dict., No. 1862.

36. 胡、貉: barbarian tribes. Maspero, who characterizes early China as "un îlot civilisé au milieu des barbares", has assembled the notices of the aboriginal tribes China in his study, "Les origines de la civilization chinoise", in Annales de Géogr., 1926, 138—142. (See also La Chine Antique, 5—11).

37. 儒 is here rendered "Confucianist", a term which found its own special definition in the Han dynasty. It cannot, however, have obtained at this time the precision attached to the later Confucianist school, for, as has been indicated (see Introduction), the Literati are under influences which can be associated with both the Legalist and Taoist schools. It would seem to mean firstly "a scholar", "a man of learning"; "a ju is said to be one who understands heaven, earth and man", said Yang-tzŭ 通 天 地 人 曰 儒 ( 揚 子 ). The ju chia are those who make use of the six classics 六 經, who make benevolence and righteousness 仁 義 their end, who pattern after Yao and Shun, and Wên and Wu, and who follow Chung Ni 仲 尼 as their master. Cf., sub 儒 家, the Ch'ien-han-shu, XXX.

38. 李 斯.

39. 趙 高.

40. 文、武.

41. 夷、狄.

42. 秦.

43. 胡, 越.

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