7. XÚNZĬ 荀子

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Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

Translations

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 1. John Knoblock, tr., Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works, 3 vols. (Stanford: Stanford University, 1988-94)
2.  Burton Watson, tr., Basic Writings of Hsün Tzu (New York: Columbia University, 1963)

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 Extracts

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 A.

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 1.  墨子蔽於用而不知文。

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 2.  宋子蔽於欲而不知得。

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 3.  慎子蔽於法而不知賢。

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 0 4.  申子蔽於勢而不知知。

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 0 5.  惠子蔽於辭而不知實。

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 6.  莊子蔽於天而不知人。

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 7.  故由用謂之，道盡利矣。

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 8.      由欲謂之，道盡嗛矣。

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 9.      由法謂之，道盡數矣。

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 10.    由勢謂之，道盡便矣。

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 11.    由辭謂之，道盡論矣。

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 12.    由天謂之，道盡因矣。

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 13.  此數具者，皆道之一隅也。

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 14.  夫道者體常而盡變。

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0 15.  一隅不足以舉之。

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 16.  曲知之人觀於道之一隅，而未之能識也。

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 0 17.  故以為足而飾之。

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 18.  內以自亂，外以惑人，上以蔽下，下以蔽上。

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 19.  此蔽塞之禍。

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 B.

¶ 25 Leave a comment on paragraph 25 0 1. 類不可兩也。

¶ 26 Leave a comment on paragraph 26 0 2. 故知者擇一而壹焉。

¶ 27 Leave a comment on paragraph 27 0 3. 農精於田，而不可以為田師。

¶ 28 Leave a comment on paragraph 28 0 4. 賈精於市，而不可以為市師。

¶ 29 Leave a comment on paragraph 29 0 5. 工精於器，而不可以為器師。

¶ 30 Leave a comment on paragraph 30 0 6. 有人也，不能此三技，而可使治三官。

¶ 31 Leave a comment on paragraph 31 0 7. 曰：精於道者也。

¶ 32 Leave a comment on paragraph 32 0 8.  精於物者以物物。

¶ 33 Leave a comment on paragraph 33 0 9.  精於道者兼物物。

¶ 34 Leave a comment on paragraph 34 0 10. 故君子壹於道而以贊稽物。

¶ 35 Leave a comment on paragraph 35 0 11. 壹於道則正，以贊稽物則察。

¶ 36 Leave a comment on paragraph 36 0 12.  以正志行察論，則萬物官矣。

¶ 37 Leave a comment on paragraph 37 0 .   .   .

¶ 38 Leave a comment on paragraph 38 0 13.  故人心譬如槃水。

¶ 39 Leave a comment on paragraph 39 0 14.  正錯而勿動，則湛濁在下而清明在上。

¶ 40 Leave a comment on paragraph 40 0 15.  則足以見鬚眉而察理矣。

¶ 41 Leave a comment on paragraph 41 0 16.  微風過之，湛濁動於下，清明亂於上，則不可以得大形之正也。

¶ 42 Leave a comment on paragraph 42 0 17.  心亦如是矣。

¶ 43 Leave a comment on paragraph 43 0 18.  故導之以理，養之以清，物莫之傾，則足以定是非，決嫌疑矣。

¶ 44 Leave a comment on paragraph 44 0 19.  小物引之，則其正外易，其心內傾，則不足以決庶理矣。

¶ 45 Leave a comment on paragraph 45 0 C.

¶ 46 Leave a comment on paragraph 46 0 1. 水火有氣而無生。

¶ 47 Leave a comment on paragraph 47 0 2. 草木有生而無知。

¶ 48 Leave a comment on paragraph 48 0 3. 禽獸有知而無義。

¶ 49 Leave a comment on paragraph 49 0 4. 人有氣有生有知亦且有義。

¶ 50 Leave a comment on paragraph 50 0 5. 故最為天下貴也。

¶ 51 Leave a comment on paragraph 51 0 6. 力不若牛，走不若馬，而牛馬為用。何也？

¶ 52 Leave a comment on paragraph 52 0 7. 曰：人能群，彼不能群也。

¶ 53 Leave a comment on paragraph 53 0 8.  人何以能群？曰：分。

¶ 54 Leave a comment on paragraph 54 0 9.  分何以能行？曰：義。

¶ 55 Leave a comment on paragraph 55 0 10.  故義以分則和，和則一，一則多力，多力則彊，彊則勝物。

¶ 56 Leave a comment on paragraph 56 0 11.  故宮室可得而居也。

¶ 57 Leave a comment on paragraph 57 0 12.  故序四時，裁萬物，兼利天下。

¶ 58 Leave a comment on paragraph 58 0 13.  無它故焉，得知分義也。

PARTICLES AND GRAMMAR

¶ 60 Leave a comment on paragraph 60 0 a.  Major Particles

¶ 61 Leave a comment on paragraph 61 0 居 jū

¶ 62 Leave a comment on paragraph 62 0 In addition to its original verbal sense of “to dwell” or “to reside,” this character also functions in narratives to indicate the passage of time.  The standard pattern is 居 + unit of time, which would be translated as “after (unit of time).”  Thus 居三月 would mean “after three months” and 居有間 would mean “after an interval.”

TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY

¶ 64 Leave a comment on paragraph 64 0 A.  1. Master Mò was obscured by utility and did not know culture.  2. Master Sòng was obscured by [limiting] desires and did not know satisfaction.  3. Master Shèn [Dào] was obscured by law and did not know worthiness.  4. Master Shēn [Bùhài] was obscured by the force of circumstances and did not know wisdom.  5. Master Huì was obscured by fine words and did not know substance. 6. Master Zhuāng was obscured by Heaven and did not know humans.  7. Therefore, addressing it from [the perspective of] utility, the Way is entirely profit.  8. Addressing it from [limiting] desire, the Way is entirely modesty.  9. Addressing it from law, the Way is entirely numbers.  10. Addressing it from circumstance, the Way is entirely the expedient [or ‘advantageous’].  11. Addressing it from fine words, the Way is entirely discursive judgment. 12. Addressing it from Heaven, the Way is entirely accordance [or ‘following’].  13. These several elements are each one corner of the Way.  14. As for the Way, embodying constancy, it exhausts [all] changes. 15. One aspect is insufficient to give an inkling of it.  16. Men of distorted [or ‘restricted’] knowledge, examining one aspect of the Way, are not yet able to recognize it.  17. Therefore they take [their knowledge] to be sufficient and polish it. 18. On the inside, they thereby confuse themselves, and on the outside they thereby mislead others.  Being above, they thereby obscure their subordinates, and being below they thereby obscure their superiors.  19. This is the calamity of obstruction.

¶ 65 Leave a comment on paragraph 65 0 This passage, one of the earliest listings of masters in the Warring States period, begins with two grammatical formulas that are repeated many times.  Repetition is common in classical Chinese, with its emphasis on parallelisms and rhythms, but here it may serve a specific function of emphasizing the sheer numbers of masters and the consequent sense of fragmentation.  Sentences #1-6 follow the first formula–A 蔽於 B 而不知 C.  Each sentence plugs in the name of a different master, the obsession that blocks his perceptions, and the consequent point of ignorance or blindness.   The only difficulty for the reader is to know enough of the thinkers in question to recognize the point of the criticism.  Thus in our extracts from the Mòzĭ we have already seen the centrality of utility.  Here in Sentence #1, the emphasis on utility is held to result in a failure to appreciate the need for ornament and refinement.  More specifically, this refers to the Mohists’ criticism of music and elaborate funerary rites.  In Sentence #2, Master Sòng considers limiting desires to be the key to social order, and so he is accused of consequently not recognizing the need of obtaining things in order to satisfy genuine needs.  得 was also a central political virtue, indicating the ruler’s ability to attract talented people and rare objects, and it was homophonous and interchangeable with 德 dé, the potent virtue and generosity that underlay the ruler’s life-giving actions.  Thus to not know 得 was a grave failing. In Sentence #3, Shèn Dào is accused of knowing only the importance of legal systems, and consequently ignoring the need for worthy and excellent officials.  (This tension between 法 and 賢 will figure prominently in the writings attributed to Hán Fēi, including those in our extracts in Lesson Eight.) In Sentence #4, Shēn Bùhài is accused of obsession with the force of circumstances, and consequently ignoring the necessity of wisdom to guide correct action.  In Sentence #5, Huì Shī, famous for creating paradoxes and for drafting law codes, is accused of being interested only in language, and thus ignoring the realities to which language should refer.  In Sentence #6, Zhuāngzĭ is accused of knowing only Heaven, i.e., natural or cosmic patterns, and thus ignoring human society and morals.  Sentences #7-12 follow the second formula–由 A 謂之，道盡 B.  They repeat the list of “obsessions,” and then specify the limiting effect of each of them.  Thus, in Sentence #7, if utility is to be a universal standard, then all proper human conduct 道 will consist of seeking profit or benefit.  In Sentence #8, if restraint of desire is the sole necessary virtue, then humility would be the sole, universal guide.  In Sentence #9, if law is the standard, then conduct will only seek correct numbers.  (The links between number and law appears in various other texts, most notably the Shāng Jūn shū.  It refers to the need to define crimes and punishments in terms of measurable scales of severity.)  In Sentence #10, if force of circumstances is the sole concern, then one considers only expedience; if language (Sentence #11), then one considers only correctly formulated discriminating judgments; if natural/divine process (Sentence #12), then one considers only according with or following the patterns of nature.  In all cases, a single virtue or principle is held to be sufficient to guide all human conduct.  Sentence #13 sums up in a simple pattern of “subject (marked by the 者) = predicate 也,” with the 皆 indicating universality.  The 夫 that begins Sentence #14 indicates a statement of general or universal import.  The 者 after the 道 indicates that what follows is a definition or characterization, like Sentence #10 in Extract C of the Mencius about the word “husband.”  The 而 linking the two verb + object phrases shows that the core of the predicate is the “exhausting of all changes,” while “embodying constancy” is a background or manner.  This is the heart of the passage, because it insists on constant change and adaption as the characteristic form of action of the 道, thereby denying the possibility of a single virtue that would guide all actions.  Sentence #15 is built around the phrase 不足以 “not sufficient to, not able to.”  The sense here of 舉 “give an inkling of, suggest” is the same as that in Extract C, Sentence #10 of the Zhuāngzĭ as applied to the ocean. In Sentence #16 the use of 曲 as a modifier involves a play on its range of meanings.  In the sense of “corner, twist” it is synonymous with the 隅 of the preceding sentence, which also means “corner,” as well as “aspect.”  However, 曲 has the additional meaning of “twisted, deviant, wrong.”  Thus a 曲知之人 is someone who knows only one aspect (隅) of the way, but by shifting from 隅 to the synonymous 曲 the men of limited views are turned into those of incorrect and deviant knowledge.  The inversion of the verb and object in the second phrase (之能) is induced by the negative 未.  The 識 functions like the French connaître: looking at only one aspect of the Way, the men of limited/deviant knowledge cannot recognize it for what it is.  Sentence #17 does not specify any subject, so it simply carries forward the subject of Sentence #16, “the men of limited/deviant knowledge.”  It also picks up the 足 from the 不足以 of Sentence #15.  The views of the men of limited knowledge are not “sufficient,” but being unable to recognize the Way they mistakenly take them to be so.  The phrase 飾之 then plays on the two basic meanings of the verb 飾.  The false scholars “polish” their own doctrines, but they “cover up” the Way.  This sense of “cover up” also points back to the character 蔽, which was the theme of the opening passage of the extract and the subject of the chapter in the Xúnzĭ from which this extract is taken.  Sentence #18 consists of four parallel, four-character phrases built around two oppositions of location: “inner-outer” and “upper-lower,” and two oppositions of social relations: “self-other” and “subordinate-superior.”  This parallelism is important, because it shows that the characters 上 and 下 which begin the last two phrases (parallel with 內 and 外 and hence indicating the directions “above” and “below”) do not have the same meaning as the identical characters 下 and 上 that end the phrases (parallel with 自 and 人, hence indicating the people as “subordinates” and “superiors”).  自 (“self”) in the first phrase is semantically parallel with 下 in the third phrase because it forms the correlate pair with 人 (“others”), although as an adverb 自 precedes the verb rather than following it as an object, and hence is not parallel in its location.  This is important because it shows that the objects of criticism and the subjects of the phrases throughout the entire passage are the 曲知之人.  Sentence #19 is again a subject = predicate, with 此 as the subject and the rest as predicate.  蔽塞 is a synonym compound, probably in order to create a four-character predicate.

¶ 66 Leave a comment on paragraph 66 0 B.  1. As for categories, [things] cannot be in two of them.  2. Therefore the wise select one thing and focus themselves entirely on that.  3. The farmer concentrates on fields, but he cannot be a supervisor of fields.  4. The merchant concentrates on markets, but he cannot be a supervisor of markets. 5. The craftsman concentrates on vessels, but he cannot be a supervisor of vessel [manufacture].  6. There are men who are incapable of these three skills, but one should have them administer these three offices.  7. I say, “[This is because] they are those who concentrate on the Way.  8. Those who concentrate on objects take an object and treat it as such. 9. Those who concentrate on the Way embrace all objects and treat them as such. 10. Therefore the true gentleman focuses on the Way and thereby furthers the investigation of things.  11. If one is single-minded on the Way, then one is correct, and if one thereby furthers the investigation of things then one is discerning.  12. If with a correct focus one practices discerning judgments, then all things become one’s ministers.”  .  .  .

¶ 67 Leave a comment on paragraph 67 0 13. Therefore the human heart is like water in a tray [literally “trayed water”].  14. If one sets it correctly and does not disturb it, then the sinking and muddy will be below and the clear and illuminating will be on top.  15. Then it will be sufficiently [clear] to see beards and eyebrows and make out the lines [of individual hairs]. 16. If a slight wind passes over it, the sinking and muddy are stirred beneath and the clear and illuminating are agitated on top, then one cannot obtain a correct [image] of a large shape. 17. The mind is also like this.  18. Therefore, if you guide it with principles and nourish it with clarity, and as for objects, none upsets it, then it will be sufficient to settle what is right and wrong, and to resolve suspicions and doubts.  19. If petty objects tug it, then one’s rectitude is externally altered, and one’s mind is internally overthrown; then it will not be sufficient to decide on the numerous principles.

¶ 68 Leave a comment on paragraph 68 0 The first half of this extract is of interest in that it turns what amounts to a version of the “law of the excluded middle” into an argument for the division of labor and a defense of social hierarchy.  It applies in the social sphere the same opposition that was used in the preceding extract in the intellectual realm, that between a mastery of the comprehensive Way and knowledge of limited elements of it.  However, whereas in the preceding case the former was right and the latter was wrong, here the former is higher and the latter necessary but lower.  What is acceptable and necessary in a craftsman or farmer is deviant and dangerous in a scholar and administrator.  Sentence #1, which could scarcely be grammatically simpler, states that no object can belong to more than one category or genus.  This of course assumes we are dealing with a single level (thus the same object would belong to the category “human” as opposed to “plant” or “animal,” “man” as opposed to “woman” or “child,” “craftsman” as opposed to “merchant” or “farmer,” “potter” as opposed to “wheelwright” or “joiner,” etc.). In Sentence #2, the use of two graphic forms for the character meaning “one” may reflect an attempt to distinguish their different parts of speech.  The first is a noun, the object of the verb 擇 “select (one thing),” while the second is the verb “unites, focuses, concentrates (on this).”  The 焉 is the fusion of 於此 “preposition (in this case ‘in’) + this.”  The 精 that recurs in Sentences #3-5 and #7-9 works as a synonym of 壹, with a more specific focus on the aspects of energy, refinement, and skill.  In Sentences #3-5 the repeated formula–精於 A 而不可以為 A 師–indicates that one who is skilled in a single art cannot supervise it.  This seems to derive from a notion that knowing how to do something does not entail knowing the place of that activity within the larger order. The phrase 有人也 that begins Sentence #6 is often used to introduce hypothetical characters.  Note the distinction in this sentence between 能 “able to” (a question of skill and technique) and 可 “proper, should, acceptable.”  Likewise the parallel contrast of 技, often associated with manual skills and minor arts, and 官, with its associations of government and public service.  The 使 “to have [someone do something], to allow” makes sense here, but it is not really necessary.  It primarily performs a role of rhythmic balance, and suggests that a ruler is the intended audience.  In Sentence #7 the subject is 人, which was the subject of the two preceding phrases in Sentence #6, and which continues as the understood subject.  Sentences #8 and #9 are parallel, varying only in the substitution of 道 for 物 and 兼 for 以.  In both cases, the substitution indicates a shift from dealing with an individual thing or case to dealing with the collectivity of cases. These develop the earlier opposition between knowing a technique and supervising (師) it, or between 技 and 官.  In Sentence #10 壹 returns in place of 精.  The character 以 coming between two phrases has the sense of “thereby.”  The structure of Sentence #10 and Sentence #11 is: (Sentence #10) “Subject + Predicate₁ 而以 Predicate₂.” (Sentence #11) “If Predicate₁ then A; if Predicate₂ then B.”  Both the “if . . . then . . .” phrases in Sentence #11 are marked by the character 則.  (The character 壹 in this sentence means “single-minded”; the “one” in the translation is an English convention to mark an unspecified subject.) Sentence #12 is an “if . . . then . . .” sentence marked by 則. The initial 以 means “by means of, with.”

¶ 69 Leave a comment on paragraph 69 0 Sentence #13 states an analogy, marked by 譬如, literally, “as an analogy, it is like” or “if we analogize, it is like.”  This is a very common formula.  In Sentence #14 “if . . . then . . .” is again marked by the 則.  The “if” clause consists of two parallel, two-character phrases (adverb + verb) linked by 而; the “then” clause consists of two parallel, four-character phrases also linked by 而.  In the latter case the parallel characters are antonyms.  Sentence #15 features 足以, meaning “sufficient to,” followed by two “verb-object” phrases linked by 而.  Sentence #16 is again “if . . . then . . .” marked by 則, but in this case there are three “if” clauses, of which the second two are parallel consequences of the first.  得大形之正 literally means “to obtain the correctness (or ‘accuracy’ or ‘fidelity’) of a large shape,” but natural English requires the addition of a noun.  Sentence #17, which is grammatically straightforward, draws the image of water back to the mind.  Sentence #18 again features three “if” clauses followed by a 則. The first two “if” clauses are exactly parallel. The phrase 物莫之傾 again features the inversion of verb and object following a negative, while 物 is a pre-posed topic.  In Sentence #19 the 引 functions roughly as a weaker synonym of the 傾 in the preceding sentence, reflecting the fact that the 物 is 小.  The repeated use of 則 indicates a sequence of consequences, just as in Sentences #14-16, but here the “when . . . then . . .” sequence is explicitly stated.  The 正 that changes on the outside (外) echoes the earlier use (in Sentence #16) of 正 in reference to a 形 that is also by definition outer.  The final 理 refers to the defining “lines” which guide (導) the mind in Sentence #18, i.e., reason or principle.  However, the same word was applied earlier to the lines of the mustache or beard that are visible in clear water (Sentence #15).  Thus this final play on words, or pun, neatly reiterates the metaphor with which we began.  In both visual and mental “reflection” stillness leads to clarity and the perception of 理, while disturbance loses it, as well as 正.

¶ 70 Leave a comment on paragraph 70 0 C.  1. Water and fire have energy but have no life.  2. Plants have life but have no consciousness. 3. Animals have consciousness but have no duties.  4. People have energy, life, and consciousness, and they also have duties.  5. Therefore they are to the highest degree the nobility of all under Heaven. 6. Their strength is no match for an ox, their running is no match for a horse, but oxen and horses are employed [by them].  Why is this?  7. I say, “Men are able to form groups; the others cannot form groups.” 8. How can men form groups?  I say, “Division.” 9. And how can division be carried out?  I say, “Duty.” 10. Therefore if one is dutiful in order to make divisions, then there is harmony.  If there is harmony, then there is unity.  If there is unity then there is much strength.  If there is much strength, then one is strong.  If one is strong, then one masters things. 11. Therefore dwellings can be obtained and lived in. 12. Therefore one arranges the four seasons in order, controls all things, and universally benefits all under Heaven.  13. There is no other reason for this other than being able to know division and duty.

¶ 71 Leave a comment on paragraph 71 0 Sentences #1-3 are parallel (formula: X 有 A 而無 B; Y 有 B 而無 C; Z 有 C 而無 D).  They define a hierarchy of dynamic things through inserting the object of 無 in one sentence as the object of 有 in the next.  Sentence #4 then pounds home man’s comprehensive possession of these attributes through the repeated 有, with the redundantly emphatic 亦且 announcing the last and decisive “possession,” that of duty/righteousness.  The same formula of comprehensive = superior, which appeared in Extracts A and B in the intellectual and social realms, is reiterated here in the world of nature.  In Sentence #5 最為天下貴, 人 continues as the understood subject, 最 is an adverb, 為 is the verb, 貴 is the predicate adjective, and 天下 modifies 貴.  Sentence #6 is composed of three four-character phrases, the first two parallel around the recurring 不若 “not as good as,” and the 而 marking a pivotal “but.”  The 為 here forms what amounts to a passive voice “play the role of that which is used,” i.e., “are used.”  The method of describing a state of affairs and then asking 何也 (or 何邪) “why is that?” is very common.  Here (Sentences #6-9) the passage goes into a question-and-answer format that suggests a hypothetical interlocutor, or an exchange with students.  The question-and-answer exchanges in Sentences #8 and #9 are exactly parallel, with the answer to the first question becoming the topic of the second. The character 分 “division” has several applicable meanings here.  First, and the most clearly intended, it refers to hierarchical divisions within society.  Second, it can refer to the distribution of goods, a theme discussed at various points in the Xúnzĭ, and one that is important to maintaining a society.  Finally, it could refer to intellectual distinctions or analysis, another distinctive human trait that underpins social order.  Sentence #10 is one of the standard forms of argument employed in early China, the sorites, i.e., a series of propositions in which the predicate of the first proposition becomes the subject of the second, and so on.  If A then B; if B then C; if C then D, etc.  The sense of the initial 義以分 is the standard “verb₁ in order to verb₂” thus “be dutiful in order to achieve division.”  The sorites, the series of “if . . . then . . .” phrases marked by the repeated 則, culminates in the “conquest” or “mastery” of things that was posed as the first question (Sentence #6): How can humans master animals that are stronger and faster than they?  Note that throughout Sentence #10 the subject is never explicitly stated, but remains the understood subject 人.  This continues in Sentence #11, where 宮室 is a pre-posed topic: “as for houses, (people) can obtain them and dwell in them.”  “People” are also the understood subject of Sentence #12, which returns to the theme of universality.  The four seasons mark the entire annual cycle, 萬物 means “all things,” and the adverbial 兼 likewise universalizes. In Sentence #13 無它故焉 “there is no other reason for this,” followed by the reason, is a very common formula.  The 焉 once again is the fusion of 於此 “for this.”  In the last phrase 得 is the modal “able to,” 知 is the main verb, and 分義 is the object, either “division and duty,” or “hierarchical duties.”