禁藏 (Prohibition and Storing) — Chinese ink painting

管子 Guanzi · Chapter 53

禁藏

Prohibition and Storing

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禁藏於胸脅

Guarding Within the Breast

禁藏於胸脅之內,而禍避於萬里之外。能以此制彼者,唯能以己知人者也。

Guard and store within the breast, and calamity is kept at bay ten thousand li away. The one who can control others through this is the one who can know others through knowing himself.

法者天下之儀

Law: The Standard for All Under Heaven

夫不法法則治。法者天下之儀也,所以決疑而明是非也,百姓所懸命也。故明王慎之,不為親戚故貴易其法,吏不敢以長官威嚴危其命,民不以珠玉重寶犯其禁。

When law is not applied as law, then there is governance. Law is the standard for all under heaven, the means by which doubts are resolved and right and wrong are made clear — the very life-thread of the hundred families. Therefore the enlightened ruler is cautious with it: he does not change his laws for the sake of relatives and favorites; officials dare not use the authority of their positions to endanger it; and the people do not violate its prohibitions even for pearls and precious jade.

利之所在

Where Profit Lies

夫凡人之情,見利莫能勿就,見害莫能勿避。其商人通賈,倍道兼行,夜以續日,千里而不遠者,利在前也。漁人之入海,海深萬仞,就波逆流乘危百里,宿夜不出者,利在水也。故利之所在,雖千仞之山無所不上,深源之下,無所不入焉。

Human nature is such that when people see profit they cannot but pursue it, and when they see harm they cannot but avoid it. Merchants travel with goods, going double marches day and night, thinking nothing of a thousand li — because profit lies ahead. Fishermen enter the sea, plunging into depths of ten thousand fathoms, riding waves and fighting currents for hundreds of li, staying out overnight without returning — because profit lies in the water. Where profit lies, though the mountain be a thousand fathoms high there is nowhere one will not climb, and in the depths below the deep springs there is nowhere one will not enter.

Edition & Source

Text
《管子》 Guanzi
Edition
《四部叢刊》本
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