難言

It is not that your minister Fei finds speaking itself difficult. What makes speaking difficult is this: if one's words are smooth, flowing, and eloquent, one is judged ornamental but insubstantial. If one is earnest, respectful, and thorough, one is judged clumsy and incoherent. If one speaks at length with abundant references and analogies, one is judged empty and impractical. If one is terse and concise, direct and unadorned, one is judged sharp-tongued and inarticulate. If one speaks with urgency and familiarity, probing into human motives, one is judged slanderous and presumptuous. If one speaks in grand and sweeping terms, profound and unfathomable, one is judged extravagant and useless. If one discusses household accounts and speaks in concrete numbers, one is judged petty. If one speaks of contemporary affairs in inoffensive terms, one is judged a coward who flatters his superiors. If one speaks of matters remote from common experience, strange and unsettling, one is judged absurd. If one is quick-witted and rhetorically deft, rich in literary flourish, one is judged a mere scribe. If one abandons literary refinement and speaks plainly and honestly, one is judged vulgar. If one quotes the Odes and Documents and invokes ancient precedent, one is judged a mere reciter. These are the reasons why your minister Fei finds speaking difficult and deeply fears the consequences.

Thus even if one's standards and measures are correct, one will not necessarily be heeded; even if one's moral reasoning is flawless, one will not necessarily be employed. If the great king takes this as untrustworthy, then at best I will be accused of slander and defamation, and at worst I will suffer calamity, disaster, and death upon my person.

Wu Zixu was a brilliant strategist, yet Wu executed him. Confucius was a gifted persuader, yet the people of Kuang besieged him. Guan Zhong was truly worthy, yet Lu imprisoned him. Were these three great ministers not worthy? It was their rulers who lacked discernment.

In high antiquity, Tang was supremely sagacious and Yi Yin was supremely wise. Yet when supreme wisdom tried to persuade supreme sagacity, it took seventy attempts before he was accepted. Yi Yin had to take up the tripod and chopping block to serve as a cook, drawing close through familiarity, before Tang barely recognized his worth and employed him. Thus the saying: when supreme wisdom persuades supreme sagacity, acceptance is not guaranteed -- this is the case of Yi Yin and Tang. When wisdom tries to persuade stupidity, it will certainly not be heeded -- this is the case of King Wen and Zhou of Shang.

King Wen persuaded Zhou, and Zhou imprisoned him. The Marquis of Yi was roasted alive. The Marquis of Gui was made into dried meat. Bi Gan had his heart cut out. Mei Bo was minced into paste. Guan Zhong was bound in fetters. Cao Ji fled to Chen. Baili Xi begged for food on the road. Fu Yue was sold as a convict laborer. Sun Bin had his kneecaps cut off in Wei. Wu Qi wept at the bank gate, grieving that the West River lands had fallen to Qin, and was ultimately dismembered in Chu. Gongshu Cuo recommended a man as a 'vessel of state,' only to be thought mad. Gongsun Yang fled to Qin. Guan Longfeng was beheaded. Chang Hong was disemboweled. Yin Zi was cast into a pit of thorns. Sima Ziqi was killed and his body floated down the river. Tian Ming was shot and killed unjustly. Mi Zijian and Ximen Bao were put to death without even a fight. Dong Anyu was killed and his body displayed in the marketplace. Zai Yu could not escape Tian Chang. Fan Sui had his ribs broken in Wei.

These dozen-odd men were all humane, worthy, loyal, and capable scholars who possessed the arts of governance. They were simply unfortunate enough to encounter perverse, chaotic, benighted, and confused rulers, and so they died. If even sages and worthies cannot escape death and avoid execution and humiliation, why is this? Because fools are impossible to persuade -- and rulers of this kind are not few. Moreover, words that reach the ultimate truth grate upon the ear and unsettle the mind; none but a sage can bear to hear them. I beg the great king to consider this carefully.