Exemplary Figures / Fayan法言

Chapter 6. Asking about Illumination

Chapter 6 Asking about Illumination Verse Summary The man of illumined1 wisdom, resplendent and bright, shines everywhere like a torch,2 his influence without limits. Avoiding unforeseen dangers, he preserves the life that heaven conferred. Thus, I have composed chapter 6, “Asking about Illumination.” 6.1–2 Someone asked me about light.3 “It is faint.” Someone asked me, “But in what respect is faint light comparable with bright light, then?”4 “When that faint light becomes visible, how is its inherent brilliance negated?”5 “To hear and see clearly—is that not of supreme value? If one does not hear or see well, then one really may as well have no ears or eyes.”6 “I venture to ask about superior insight.” “It is dazzling indeed! Only heaven hears and sees that well. Now, a 1 In Analects 12.6, one of Kongzi’s disciples asked the meaning of “illumination” or being “illumined.” Kongzi described such a person in this way: “He who is influenced neither by being drenched with slander nor by an assault by denunciation may indeed be called ‘illumined’ [or ‘perspicacious’].” 2 More literally, a candle, but that does not convey a sense of strong light to Western readers. 3 The character ming 明 in Chinese, as in the English “bright,” conveys the senses of “brightness,” “perspicacity,” and “enlightenment.” 4 Meaning “How can the dim past possibly compare with present careerist impulses?” 5 An inherent brightness is indicated by the fact that something is visible even when faint. 6 Cf. the assessment of Yang’s teacher in Huayang guozhi (Ren Naiqiang ed.) 10A.532– 33: “If it was not right [to do so], he did not say anything. If it was not right, he did not act. If it was not right, he did not hear it.” 86 | 87 Exemplary Figures 6. Asking about Illumination 天也夫? 6.3 或問小每知之。可謂師乎。曰是何師與。是何師與。天下小事為 不少矣。每知之。是謂師乎。師之貴也。知大知也。小知之師。 亦賤矣。 6.4 孟子疾過我門而不入我室。或曰亦有疾乎。曰摭我華而不食我 實。 3 6.5 或謂仲尼事彌其年。蓋天勞諸病矣夫。曰天非獨勞仲尼。亦自勞 也。天病乎哉。天樂天。聖樂聖。 4 6.6 或問鳥有鳳。獸有麟。鳥, 獸皆可鳳, 麟乎。曰群鳥之於鳳也。群 3 Li Gui comments: “The flowers refer to the exquisitely worked fu, while the fruits refer to Exemplary Figures and Supreme Mystery.” As the Analects quotation is usually thought to refer to Yan Hui, a disciple of Kongzi who died young, the line may also hint at the early death of Yang’s son, supposedly a prodigy, in which case the “my” may be “our,” for Yang claimed that he wrote the Supreme Mystery with his son. Cf. Yanshi jia xun 11/50/5 (trans., Teng Ssu-yu, p. 59, 61). 4 Cf. Lüshi chunqiu 4/4.2 (C); Lüshi chunqiu jiaoshi, 223; Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 126, where the gloss reads, “The king takes pleasure in the reason why he is king; and he who loses a kingdom for his part also takes pleasure in the cause for the loss of his kingdom.” Cf. “Zhongyong,” Shisanjing zhushu, 53.7a, which first talks of heaven’s reason or wherewithal to be heaven and then describes the way or reason or wherewithal by which King Wen became patterned (wen 文), emphasizing the impossibility of greatness being otherwise than great unceasingly, as the commentary by Zheng Xuan remarks. Su Shi also follows Yang and the “Zhongyong,” writing, “It is the sage’s cheng [integrity] to like virtue, as if it were sensual pleasure, while disliking vices, as if they were foul odors.” Su Shi wenji, 2.61 (“Zhongyong lun”) is taken straight from Yang Xiong. Shanghai bowuguan cang Zhanguo Chu zhushu (2001–8, 1.271) uses the phrase le sheng (which I have translated “take pleasure in acting as sages”) but with different meanings (“the ear/hearing takes pleasure” 目之好色, 耳之樂聖), raising the question whether the phrase is older than Exemplary Figures. person who has the capacity to raise his sights to see all and bend his ear to hear all is undeniably like heaven,7 is he not?”8 6.3 Someone asked me whether a person who knows every small detail can be called a master and teacher. “What sort of a teacher would that be? What sort, indeed? There are an awful lot of minor matters in the world. Would it be right to call the person who knew every last one of them a real teacher? A teacher’s value depends upon his knowing what is important to know. A teacher with paltry bits of erudition is certainly not to be valued!”9 6.4 Mencius took it ill that some “went past his gates without entering his house...