The ruler of Lu said to Motse: “I fear that Ch’i will attack me. Can it be averted?” Motse said: “It can. Formerly the sage-kings of the Three Dynasties, Yü, T’ang, Wen and Wu, were lords of but a hundred li; they delighted in loyalty and practised righteousness, and took the empire. The tyrant kings of the Three Dynasties, Chieh, Chou, Yu and Li, bred hatred and practised cruelty, and lost the empire. I wish that my lord, above, would revere Heaven [GOD] and serve the spirits [angels], and below would love and benefit the people; that he would prepare generous gifts of furs and silks, humble his words, and pay courteous respects to all the neighbouring lords on every side; and that he would bring the whole state to serve Ch’i. Then the danger can be averted. Apart from this there is nothing that can be done.”

When Ch’i was about to attack Lu, Motse said to Hsiang Tzu Niu: “To attack Lu would be a great error on the part of Ch’i. Formerly the king of Wu attacked Yüeh in the east and shut them up on Kuei Chi; he attacked Ch’u in the west and kept King Chao in shelter at Sui; he attacked Ch’i in the north and took the crown prince of the state back to Wu. The feudal lords avenged their hatred, and the people, suffering from his toil, would not be used by him; so his state became a ruin and he himself was put to death. Formerly Chih Po attacked the houses of Fan and Chung Hang and annexed the lands of the Three Chin; the feudal lords avenged their hatred, and the people, suffering from his toil, would not be used by him; so his state became a ruin and he himself was put to death. This was the reason. Therefore when a great state attacks a small one, they injure one another, and the error must return upon that state.”

Motse saw the Great King of Ch’i and said: “Suppose here is a sword. If one tried it on a man’s head and it cut the head off at a stroke, could it be called sharp?” The Great King said: “Sharp.” Motse said: “If one tried it on many men’s heads and it cut them off at a stroke, could it be called sharp?” The Great King said: “Sharp.” Motse said: “The sword is sharp, but who will receive the calamity of it?” The Great King said: “The sword receives its sharpness; the one who tries it receives the calamity.” Motse said: “To annex states and overthrow armies, to ravage and oppress the people: who will receive the calamity of this?” The Great King bowed his head and raised it, and thought upon it, and said: “I shall receive the calamity.”

Lord Wen of Lu Yang was about to attack Cheng. Motse heard of it and stopped him. He said to Lord Wen of Lu Yang: “Suppose that within the four borders of Lu the great cities attacked the small cities, and the great houses assailed the small houses, killing their people and taking their oxen, horses, dogs, pigs, cloth, silk, rice, millet and goods. What would you think of it?” Lord Wen of Lu Yang said: “All within the four borders of Lu are my subjects. If the great cities attacked the small cities and the great houses assailed the small houses and robbed them of their goods, I should surely punish them severely.” Motse said: “GOD’s possession of the whole world is like the lord’s possession of all within his four borders. Now you raise troops to attack Cheng; will GOD’s punishment not come?” Lord Wen of Lu Yang said: “Master, you stop me from attacking Cheng; but my attack on Cheng accords with the will of GOD. For three generations the people of Cheng have killed their fathers; GOD visited punishment upon them and caused three years of failed harvests. I mean to assist GOD’s punishment.” Motse said: “For three generations the people of Cheng have killed their fathers, and GOD has visited punishment upon them and caused three years of failed harvests; GOD’s punishment is enough. Now you raise troops again to attack Cheng, saying: ‘My attack on Cheng accords with the will of GOD.’ Suppose a man has a son who is wilful and good for nothing, so that his father beats him; and the father of a neighbouring house lifts a stick and strikes the son, saying: ‘My striking him accords with the will of his father.’ Would that not be perverse?”

Motse said to Lord Wen of Lu Yang: “If a man attacks his neighbouring state, kills its people, and takes its oxen, horses, millet, rice and goods, then he writes it on bamboo and silk, carves it on metal and stone, and makes an inscription on bells and tripods, to hand down to his descendants in later ages, saying: ‘No one has taken as much as I.’ Now suppose I, a lowly man, also attacked my neighbour’s house, killed his people, and took his dogs, pigs, food, grain, clothing and furs, and also wrote it on bamboo and silk, and made an inscription on my mats and dishes, to leave to my descendants in later ages, saying: ‘No one has taken as much as I.’ Would that be permissible?” Lord Wen of Lu Yang said: “No. Judging by your words, what the world calls permissible is not necessarily so.”

Motse said to Lord Wen of Lu Yang: “The gentlemen of the common world all know the small things but do not know the great. Now if a man steals a dog or a pig, they call him unjust; but if he steals a state or a city, they count it righteousness. It is like looking at white in a small amount and calling it white, and looking at it in a large amount and calling it black. This is what is meant by saying that the gentlemen of the common world know the small things and do not know the great.”

Lord Wen of Lu Yang said to Motse: “South of Ch’u there is a country of man-eaters. When the eldest son of the family is born, they cut him up and eat him, and call it ‘being good for the younger brother.’ If he is tasty, they present him to their ruler; and if the ruler is pleased, he rewards the father. Is that not a hateful custom?” Motse said: “Even the customs of the Central States are the same. To kill the father and reward the son: how does it differ from eating the son and rewarding the father? If benevolence and righteousness are not practised, by what can we blame the barbarians for eating their sons?”

A favourite of the ruler of Lu died, and the ruler composed a eulogy for him, and the people of Lu, being pleased with it, adopted it for their own use. Motse heard of it and said: “A eulogy tells the aims of the dead. Now to adopt it because it pleases is like making the head that comes follow the clothes.”

Lord Wen of Lu Yang said to Motse: “Someone has told me about a loyal minister: bid him bow and he bows, bid him look up and he looks up; when he is at rest he is still, when called he answers. Can he be called a loyal minister?” Motse said: “Bid him bow and he bows, bid him look up and he looks up: he is like a shadow. At rest he is still, called he answers: he is like an echo. What will you gain from a shadow and an echo? As for what I call a loyal minister: when his superior has faults, he gently admonishes him; when he himself has something good, he refers it to his superior and does not dare to tell it abroad; outwardly he corrects his superior’s crookedness and brings in his goodness; he conforms upward and does not form cliques below; so that praise and goodness rest with the superior, and resentment and enmity with those below; ease and joy rest with the superior, and anxiety and grief with the minister. This is what I call a loyal minister.”

The ruler of Lu said to Motse: “I have two sons. One loves learning; the other loves to share his wealth with others. Which should I make the crown prince?” Motse said: “It cannot yet be known. Perhaps what they do is for the sake of reward and praise. The angler’s courtesy is not a gift to the fish; baiting a rat with worms is not love for it. I wish my lord to combine their intentions and their achievements, and then observe them.”

A man of Lu sent his son to study under Motse. The son died in battle, and the father reproached Motse. Motse said: “You wished your son to study; now his study is complete, and he has died in battle, and you are angry. This is like wishing to sell grain and then being angry when the buyer comes. Is it not unreasonable?”

In the southern border of Lu there was a man called Wu Lü, who made pottery in winter and ploughed in summer, and compared himself to Shun. Motse heard of him and went to see him. Wu Lü said to Motse: “Righteousness, only righteousness! What need is there to talk of it?” Motse said: “What you call righteousness: does it mean using one’s strength to labour for others and one’s wealth to share with others?” Wu Lü said: “It does.” Motse said: “I have calculated it. I have reckoned that if I ploughed to feed the people of the world, at the very most it would equal the ploughing of one farmer; divided among the world, it could not give each man a sheng of grain. Even supposing that each did get a sheng of grain, it is already plain that it could not satisfy the hunger of the world. I have reckoned that if I wove to clothe the people of the world, at the very most it would equal the weaving of one woman; divided among the world, it could not give each man a foot of cloth. Even supposing that each did get a foot of cloth, it is already plain that it could not warm the cold of the world. I have reckoned that if I put on armour and took up the sharp weapon to save the feudal lords from distress, at the very most it would equal the fighting of one man; and it is already plain that the fighting of one man cannot withstand three armies. I think it better to recite the Way of the former kings and seek its meaning, to master the words of the sages and examine their language, and to persuade, first, kings, dukes and great men, and next, common men and men on foot. If kings, dukes and great men use my words, their states will surely be well governed; if common men and men on foot use my words, their conduct will surely be improved. Therefore I think that though I do not plough and yet feed the hungry, do not weave and yet clothe the cold, my merit is greater than that of those who plough and feed and weave and clothe. So I think that though I do not plough or weave, my merit is greater than the ploughing and weaving.” Wu Lü said to Motse: “Righteousness, only righteousness! What need is there to talk of it?” Motse said: “Suppose the world did not know how to plough: of the one who teaches men to plough and the one who does not teach but ploughs alone, whose merit is greater?” Wu Lü said: “The merit of the one who teaches men to plough is greater.” Motse said: “Suppose they were attacking an unrighteous state: of the one who beats the drum and makes the multitude advance to battle and the one who does not beat the drum but advances to battle alone, whose merit is greater?” Wu Lü said: “The merit of the one who beats the drum and advances the multitude is greater.” Motse said: “Among the common men and men on foot of the world, few know righteousness; and he who teaches the world righteousness has great merit too. Why then do you not speak of it? If I may beat the drum and advance men to righteousness, will not my own righteousness advance all the more?”

Motse sent Kung Shang Kuo to travel to Yüeh. Kung Shang Kuo persuaded the king of Yüeh, and the king of Yüeh was greatly pleased and said to Kung Shang Kuo: “If you, Master, can bring Motse to Yüeh to teach me, I will cut off five hundred li square of the old land of Wu and enfeoff Motse with it.” Kung Shang Kuo agreed, and prepared fifty carriages with which to fetch Motse from Lu. He said: “I spoke to the king of Yüeh of your Way, Master, and the king of Yüeh was greatly pleased and said to me: ‘If you can bring Motse to Yüeh to teach me, I will cut off five hundred li square of the old land of Wu and enfeoff him with it.’” Motse said to Kung Shang Kuo: “What do you think of the purpose of the king of Yüeh? If he will listen to my words and use my Way, then I will go; I will measure my belly and eat, measure my body and dress, and count myself among his ministers; what need have I of a fief? But if Yüeh will not listen to my words and will not use my Way, and I go, then I am selling righteousness. If I must sell it, I can sell it in the Central States; why must it be in Yüeh?”

Motse travelled, and Wei Yüeh said: “When you have come to see the gentlemen of the four quarters, what will you speak of first?” Motse said: “In whatever state one enters, one must choose the urgent task and set to work on it. If the state is dark and disordered, tell them of exalting the worthy and agreement with the superior. If the state is poor, tell them of economy in expenditure and simplicity in funerals. If the state delights in music and sinks in drunkenness, tell them of the condemnation of music and of fatalism. If the state is licentious, perverse and without propriety, tell them to revere GOD and serve the spirits. If the state is bent on seizing and aggression, tell them of universal love and the condemnation of attack. This is what is meant by choosing the urgent task and setting to work on it.”

Motse sent Ts’ao Kung Tzu to Sung. After three years he returned, and, seeing Motse, said: “When I first came to your gate, I wore a short coarse coat and ate bean-leaf soup; if I had it in the morning, I had it not at evening; I offered sacrifices [to GOD] and honoured the spirits. Following your government, Master, my house has become richer than at the beginning. Having a prosperous house, I carefully offered sacrifices [to GOD] and honoured the spirits. Yet my people and retainers mostly die, my six kinds of domestic animals do not multiply, and I myself am sunk in sickness. I do not know that your Way, Master, can be used.” Motse said: “It is not so. The spirits desire many things of men: they desire that those who hold high rank and emolument yield them to the worthy, and that those who have much wealth share it with the poor. Would [GOD] desire only the plucked millet and the pressed lung? Now you hold high rank and emolument and do not yield it to the worthy: that is the first misfortune. You have much wealth and do not share it with the poor: that is the second misfortune. Now in serving the spirits you do nothing but sacrifice [to GOD], and yet you ask whence the sickness comes. It is like having a hundred gates and closing one, and asking from where the thief comes in. How can one thus seek blessing from uncanny ghosts [instead of GOD]? Is it possible?”

An invoker of Lu offered a single pig in sacrifice [to GOD] and asked a hundred blessings [of Him]. Motse heard of it and said: “This is not permissible. If one gives to others meanly and hopes for much from them, they only fear that he has bestowed a gift upon them. Now to sacrifice a single pig and ask a hundred blessings [of GOD], when the spirits [angels] would only fear that he would offer oxen and sheep! The sage-kings of old served the spirits, and merely sacrificed [for GOD’s sake]. Now if one sacrifices a pig and asks a hundred blessings, his wealth will be no better than his poverty.”

P’eng Ch’ing Sheng Tzu said: “The past can be known; what is to come cannot be known.” Motse said: “Suppose your parents were a hundred li away and had met with calamity, and the time was fixed at one day: if you reached them they would live, if not they would die. Now here is a strong carriage and fine horses, and here is a poor horse and a carriage with square wheels. If you were made to choose, which would you ride?” He answered: “I would ride the fine horses and the strong carriage, that I might arrive quickly.” Motse said: “Where, then, is your ‘what is to come cannot be known’?”

Meng Shan praised Prince Lü, saying: “Formerly, in the calamity of the Duke of Po, he seized Prince Lü, with axe and halberd hooked about his waist and a straight blade pointed at his heart, and said to him: ‘If you become king you shall live; if you do not become king you shall die.’ Prince Lü said: ‘How you insult me! You have killed my kin and would please me with the state of Ch’u. If I could gain the world by unrighteousness, I would not do it; how much less for Ch’u!’ And in the end he did not become king. Was Prince Lü not benevolent?” Motse said: “It was hard, indeed, but it was not yet benevolence. If he thought the kingship wicked, why did he not accept it and govern? If he thought the Duke of Po unrighteous, why did he not accept the kingship, punish the Duke of Po, and then give back the kingship? Therefore I say: it was hard, indeed, but it was not yet benevolence.”

Motse sent Sheng Ch’o to serve Hsiang Tzu Niu. Hsiang Tzu Niu three times invaded the land of Lu, and Sheng Ch’o three times went with him. Motse heard of it and sent Kao Sun Tzu to ask for him and recall him, saying: “I sent Ch’o in order to check the proud and correct the favoured. Now Ch’o, with a generous salary, yields deceitfully to his master; his master three times invaded Lu and Ch’o three times went with him. This is laying the whip on a horse at the bridle. I have heard that to speak of righteousness and not practise it is to offend against what is plain. It is not that Ch’o does not know this; salary has overcome righteousness.”

Formerly the men of Ch’u and the men of Yüeh fought in boats on the river. The men of Ch’u advanced with the current and retreated against it; when they saw advantage they advanced, but when they saw disadvantage their retreat was difficult. The men of Yüeh advanced against the current and retreated with it; when they saw advantage they advanced, and when they saw disadvantage their retreat was swift. By this the men of Yüeh defeated the men of Ch’u as easily as if grasping a case. Kung Shu Tzu went south from Lu to travel in Ch’u, and began to make instruments for fighting in boats. He made the equipment of the hook and the thrust: the one who retreated he hooked, the one who advanced he thrust; and he measured the length of the hook and the thrust and fashioned weapons accordingly. The weapons of Ch’u were regulated, and the weapons of Yüeh were not regulated; by this the men of Ch’u defeated the men of Yüeh as easily as if grasping a case. Kung Shu Tzu, pleased with his skill, said to Motse: “In my fighting in boats I have the hook and the thrust. I do not know whether your righteousness, Master, also has a hook and a thrust?” Motse said: “The hook and the thrust of my righteousness are better than the hook and the thrust of your fighting in boats. My hook and thrust: I hook with love and I press with reverence. If I do not hook with love, there is no closeness; if I do not press with reverence, there is quickly contempt; and where there is contempt without closeness, they quickly part. Therefore mutual love and mutual reverence are like mutual benefit. Now you hook and stop others, and others hook and stop you; you thrust and keep off others, and others thrust and keep off you. Mutual hooking and mutual thrusting are like mutual harm. Therefore the hook and the thrust of my righteousness are better than the hook and the thrust of your fighting in boats.”

Kung Shu Tzu shaved bamboo and wood to make a magpie. When it was finished he set it flying, and for three days it did not come down. Kung Shu Tzu thought it the height of skill. Motse said to Kung Shu Tzu: “Your making of the magpie is not equal to my making of a linchpin for a cart. In a moment I shave a piece of wood three inches long, and it bears a load of fifty shih. Therefore what is done skilfully, if it benefits men, is called skilful; if it does not benefit men, it is called clumsy.”

Kung Shu Tzu said to Motse: “Before I had the chance to see you, I wished to gain Sung. Since I have seen you, if I were given Sung and it were unrighteous, I would not do it.” Motse said: “Before I had the chance to see you, you wished to gain Sung. Since I have seen you, if you were given Sung and it were unrighteous, you would not do it; so it is I who give you Sung. If you strive to practise righteousness, I shall further give you the world.”