Motse was angry with Keng Chu Tse. Keng Chu Tse said, “Am I really no better than other men?” Motse said, “If I were about to climb the T’ai-hang mountains, and were to drive a steed and a sheep, which of the two would I beat?” Keng Chu Tse said, “You would beat the steed.” Motse said, “Why would I beat the steed?” Keng Chu Tse said, “Because the steed is fit to be reproved.” Motse said, “And I too consider you fit to be reproved.”

Wu Ma Tse said to Motse, “Which are the brighter and wiser, the spirits [angels] or the sages?” Motse said, “The brightness and wisdom of the spirits, compared with the sages, are like the keen ear and the clear eye compared with the deaf and the blind. In ancient times K’ai, the lord of Hsia, ordered Fei Lien to break out metal in the mountains and rivers, and to have it moulded and cast at K’un-wu. Then he caused Weng Nan Chih-yi to divine with the tortoise of Pai Jo [seeking GOD’s sign], saying: ‘When the tripod is finished it will have three feet and be square; without fire it will cook of itself; without being lifted it will store itself away; without being moved it will go of itself. Offer sacrifice [to GOD] upon the ruins of K’un-wu.’ Chih-yi again spoke, giving the meaning of the cracks of the omen: ‘The offering is accepted! Rolling white clouds: one to the south, one to the north, one to the west, one to the east. When the nine tripods are finished they will be moved to three states.’ When the nine tripods were finished, they were moved to the three states. The house of Hsia lost them and the men of Yin received them; the men of Yin lost them and the men of Chou received them. That Hsia, Yin and Chou received them from one another was a matter of several hundred years. If a sage were to gather his good ministers and his outstanding counsellors to look into it, how could they know what would be after several hundred years? Yet the spirits knew it. Therefore I say: the brightness and wisdom of the spirits, compared with the sages, are like the keen ear and the clear eye compared with the deaf and the blind.”

Chih-t’u Yü and Hsien Tse-shih asked Motse, “In practising righteousness, what is the greatest task?” Motse said, “It is like building a wall. Those who can build, build; those who can pack the earth, pack the earth; those who can shovel, shovel; and then the wall is completed. Practising righteousness is the same. Those who can discourse and argue, discourse and argue; those who can expound books, expound books; those who can carry out affairs, carry out affairs; and then the work of righteousness is accomplished.”

Wu Ma Tse said to Motse, “You love the whole world universally, yet it cannot be said that you have benefited it; I do not love the world, yet it cannot be said that I have harmed it. Neither of us has achieved any result. Why do you alone approve yourself and condemn me?” Motse said, “Suppose a fire is burning here. One man carries water to pour on it; another holds a torch to add to it. Neither has yet accomplished anything. Which of the two do you esteem?” Wu Ma Tse said, “I approve the intention of the one who carries water, and condemn the intention of the one who holds the torch.” Motse said, “And I too approve my intention and condemn yours.”

Motse commended Keng Chu Tse to Ch’u. Two or three of his disciples passed through, and he fed them three sheng of grain; he did not entertain the guests generously. The disciples returned and reported to Motse, “Keng Chu Tse is of no benefit staying in Ch’u. When we passed through, he fed us three sheng and did not entertain us generously.” Motse said, “It cannot yet be known.” Before long he sent ten pieces of gold to Motse, saying, “I, a younger man, do not dare to die. Here are ten pieces of gold; I wish that you, Master, would use them.” Motse said, “Truly, it could not yet be known.”

Wu Ma Tse said to Motse, “In your practising righteousness, men do not see it and do not help you, and the spirits do not see it and do not enrich you; yet you do it. You have a madness.” Motse said, “Suppose you had two servants here. One of them works when he sees you, and does not work when he does not see you; the other works when he sees you, and works also when he does not see you. Which of these two do you esteem?” Wu Ma Tse said, “I esteem the one who works when he sees me and works also when he does not see me.” Motse said, “Then you too esteem a madness.”

The disciples of Tse Hsia asked Motse, “Does the gentleman fight?” Motse said, “The gentleman does not fight.” The disciples of Tse Hsia said, “Even dogs and pigs fight; how can there be a scholar who does not fight?” Motse said, “Alas! In speech they cite T’ang and Wen; in conduct they liken themselves to dogs and pigs. Alas!”

Wu Ma Tse said to Motse, “To pass over the men of today and extol the former kings is to extol dry bones. It is like a craftsman who knows dry timber but does not know living timber.” Motse said, “That by which the world lives is the teaching of the Way of the former kings. Now to extol the former kings is to extol that by which the world lives. What can be praised and is not praised is not benevolence.”

Motse said, “The jade disc of the House of Ho, the pearl of the Marquis of Sui, the Three Thorns and the Six Wonders: these are what the feudal lords call fine treasures. Can they enrich a state, multiply its people, order its law and government, and make secure the altars of the land and grain?” He was answered, “They cannot.” “What is called a valued fine treasure is valued because it can bring benefit. But the disc of Ho, the pearl of Sui, the Three Thorns and the Six Wonders cannot benefit men; therefore they are not the world’s fine treasures. Now if righteousness is used to govern a state, its people will surely multiply, its law and government will surely be ordered, and its altars of the land and grain will surely be secure. What makes a fine treasure valued is that it can benefit the people; and righteousness can benefit men. Therefore I say: righteousness is the world’s fine treasure.”

Yeh Kung Tse Kao asked Chung Ni about government: “How does one who governs well proceed?” Chung Ni answered, “One who governs well makes the distant near, and makes the old new.” Motse heard of it and said, “Yeh Kung Tse Kao did not get the meaning of his question, and Chung Ni did not get the right answer. Did Yeh Kung Tse Kao not know that one who governs well makes the distant near and the old new? He was asking how it is to be done. To tell a man, not what he does not know, but what he already knows—therefore Yeh Kung Tse Kao did not get the meaning of his question, and Chung Ni did not get the right answer.”

Motse said to Wen Chün of Lu Yang, “A great state’s attacking a small state is like children’s playing at making horses. When children play at making horses, their own feet are enough for use, yet they weary themselves. Now when a great state attacks a small one, the farmers of the attacked state cannot plough and the women cannot weave, because defence is their business; and the farmers of the attackers likewise cannot plough, and the women cannot weave, because attack is their business. Therefore a great state’s attacking a small state is like children’s playing at making horses.”

Motse said, “Words that suffice to be carried out in conduct, hold to constantly; words that do not suffice to be carried out in conduct, do not hold to constantly. To hold constantly to what does not suffice to be carried out is to rattle the mouth.”

Motse sent Kuan Ch’ien Ao to commend Kao Shih Tse in Wei. The lord of Wei, because of him, granted Kao Shih Tse a very generous emolument and established him as a minister. Three times at court Kao Shih Tse said all that he had to say, but none of his words was acted upon, and he left and went to Ch’i. He saw Motse and said, “Because of you, Master, the lord of Wei granted me a very generous emolument and established me as a minister. Three times at court I said all that I had to say, but none of my words was acted upon; therefore I left. Would the lord of Wei not think me mad?” Motse said, “If in leaving you are in accord with the Way, what harm is there in being thought mad? In ancient times Tan, the Duke of Chou, denounced Kuan Shu, resigned the office of the Three Dukes, and dwelt in the east at Shang-yen; probably all men called him mad. Yet later ages praised his virtue and spread his name, and it has not ceased to this day. Moreover, I, Ti, have heard that in practising righteousness one does not avoid censure to seek praise. If in leaving you are in accord with the Way, what harm is there in being thought mad?” Kao Shih Tse said, “When I left, how dared I not follow the Way? Formerly you, Master, said: ‘When the world lacks the Way, a benevolent scholar does not dwell in great generosity.’ Now the lord of Wei lacks the Way, and if I coveted his emolument and rank, I should be dwelling improperly in another man’s generosity.” Motse was pleased and summoned Ch’in Tse, saying, “Listen to this. Those who turn their backs on righteousness and face toward emolument I have often heard of; but one who turns his back on emolument and faces toward righteousness—in Kao Shih Tse I see it.”

Motse said, “The gentlemen of the common world, if they are poor and are called rich, are angry; if they have no righteousness and are called righteous, are pleased. Is that not perverse?”

Kung Meng Tse said, “Among those who go before others there is a rule: three, and no more.” Motse said, “Who goes before others, that you say there is a rule: three, and no more? You do not yet know that among men some come first, and afterwards some are born who oppose Motse; and as for those who oppose, how am I guilty? ‘I oppose, being later.’” Motse said, “That is like the three armies being routed, and the man who was left behind asking for a reward.”

Kung Meng Tse said, “The gentleman does not create; he only transmits.” Motse said, “Not so. Of men who are not gentlemen, some do not transmit the good of the ancients, and do not create the good of the present. The next kind of non-gentleman does not carry forward the good of the ancients, yet when he himself has something good he creates it, wishing the good to come out of himself. Now to transmit and not to create is no different from disliking to carry forward and yet creating. I hold that the good of the ancients should be transmitted, and the good of the present should be created, in the wish that good may increase the more.”

Wu Ma Tse said to Motse, “I differ from you. I cannot love universally. I love the men of Tsou more than the men of Yüeh; I love the men of Lu more than the men of Tsou; I love the men of my own district more than the men of Lu; I love my own family more than my district; I love my parents more than my family; I love my own person more than my parents, because it is nearer to me. If he strikes me, I feel pain; if he strikes another, I do not feel pain myself. Why should I not ward off what pains me, rather than ward off what does not pain me? Therefore, for my own sake I would kill him; I would not kill myself for the sake of gain.” Motse said, “Will you hide this righteousness of yours, or do you intend to tell it to others?” Wu Ma Tse said, “Why should I hide my righteousness? I will tell it to others.” Motse said, “Then if one man is pleased with you, one man will wish to kill you for his own gain; if ten men are pleased with you, ten men will wish to kill you for their own gain; if the whole world is pleased with you, the whole world will wish to kill you for its own gain. If one man is displeased with you, one man will wish to kill you, taking you for a spreader of baleful words; if ten men are displeased with you, ten men will wish to kill you, taking you for a spreader of baleful words; if the whole world is displeased with you, the whole world will wish to kill you, taking you for a spreader of baleful words. Those who are pleased with you wish to kill you, and those who are displeased with you wish to kill you. This is what is called the mouth that strangles: it kills the very person who holds to it constantly.” Motse said, “Your words are hostile to benefit. If they bring no benefit and still one speaks, that is rattling the mouth.”

Motse said to Wen Chün of Lu Yang, “Suppose there is a man here with sheep and oxen, grass-fed and grain-fed beasts, whose cook cuts and seasons them for him every day, so that he has food to the full. Yet when he sees another man’s uncooked cakes, he turns eagerly and steals them, saying, ‘Part with your food to me.’ I do not know whether, through all his days and months, he is not satisfied. Might he have a disease of stealing?” Wen Chün of Lu Yang said, “He has a disease of stealing.” Motse said, “The fields of Ch’u lie waste and overgrown, more than can be cleared; its wilderness stretches for several thousand li, more than can be seen; yet when it comes to the towns between Sung and Cheng, it turns eagerly and steals them. Is this different from that?” Wen Chün of Lu Yang said, “This is the same as that; truly it has a disease of stealing.”

Motse said, “Chi Sun Shao and Meng Po Ch’ang were governing the state of Lu, but they could not trust one another, and they prayed [to GOD] at the altar of the soil, saying, ‘Let us only be of one mind.’ This is like covering one’s eyes and looking at the altar. And if they should pray, ‘Let us all see,’ would that not be absurd?”

Motse said to Lo Hua Li, “I hear that you love courage.” Lo Hua Li said, “Yes. If I hear that in a village there is a brave man, I will surely go and kill him.” Motse said, “There is no one in the world who does not wish to give to what he loves and to take from what he hates. Now you hear that in a village there is a brave man, and you will surely go and kill him: this is not loving courage, it is hating courage.”