YEN HUI WENT TO SEE Confucius and asked
permission to take a trip
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to Wei.”
“What will you do there?”
“I have heard that the ruler of Wei is very young. He acts in an independent
manner, thinks little of how he rules his state, and fails to see his faults.
It is nothing to him to lead his people into peril, and his dead are reckoned
by swampfuls like so much grass.2 His people have nowhere to turn. I have heard
you say, Master, `Leave the state that is well ordered and go to the state in
chaos! At the doctor’s gate are many sick men.’ I want to use these words as my
standard, in hopes that I can restore his state to health.”
“Ah,” said Confucius, “you will probably go and get yourself executed, that’s
all. The Way doesn’t want things mixed in with it. When it becomes a mixture,
it becomes many ways; with many ways, there is a lot of bustle; and where there
is a lot of bustle, there is trouble - trouble that has no remedy! The Perfect
Man of ancient times made sure that he had it in himself before he tried to
give it to others. When you’re not even sure what you’ve got in yourself, how
do you have time to bother about what some tyrant is doing?
“Do you know what it is that destroys virtue, and where
wisdom comes from? Virtue is destroyed by fame, and wisdom comes out of
wrangling. Fame is something to beat people down with, and wisdom is a device
for wrangling. Both are evil weapons - not the sort of thing to bring you
success. Though your virtue may be great and your good faith unassailable, if
you do not understand men’s spirits, though your fame may be wide and you do
not strive with others, if you do not understand men’s minds, but instead
appear before a tyrant and force him to listen to sermons on benevolence and
righteousness, measures and standards - this is simply using other men’s bad
points to parade your own excellence. You will be called a plaguer of others.
He who plagues others will be plagued in turn. You will probably be plagued by
this man.
“And suppose he is the kind who actually delights in worthy men and hates the
unworthy-then why does he need you to try to make him any different? You had best
keep your advice to yourself! Kings and dukes always lord it over others and
fight to win the argument. You will find your eyes growing dazed, your color
changing, your mouth working to invent excuses, your attitude becoming more and
more humble, until in your mind you end by supporting him. This is to pile fire
on fire, to add water to water, and is called `increasing the excessive.’ If
you give in at the beginning, there is no place to stop. Since your fervent
advice is almost certain not to be believed, you are bound to die if you come
into the presence of a tyrant.