The Five Vermin

I n the high antiquity people were few and the beasts were many, and the people could not hold their own against the beasts and the snakes and the crawling things. Then a wise man arose. He showed them how to bind branches into nests, up off the ground and out of reach of the swarming dangers, and the people were glad of it and made him their king. They called him the Nest-Builder, Youchao. In the age of high antiquity, the people were few and the birds and beasts were many, and the people could not overcome the beasts, the insects and the snakes. A sage arose; he framed wood into nests so as to avoid the host of harms, and the people delighted in him and made him king over the world. He was styled the Youchao clan (Nest-Builder).

Back then people ate raw fruit and clams and mussels, food that stank and rotted in the belly, and they sickened from it. Then another wise man arose. He showed them how to bore wood for fire and cook the rot out of their food, and the people were glad of it and made him their king. They called him the Fire-Driller, Suiren. The people ate fruits, gourds, clams and mussels, which were rank and foul and injured their stomachs, so that the people had much sickness. A sage arose; he drilled the fire-sticks to take fire and so transformed the rank and foul, and the people delighted in him and made him king over the world. He was styled the Suiren clan (Fire-Driller).

In the middle antiquity the whole world flooded, and Gun and Yu cut channels to drain it. In the late antiquity the tyrants Jie and Zhou ran wild, and Tang and Wu marched out and put them down. Now suppose a man started binding nests and drilling fire in the age of the Xia: Gun and Yu would laugh at him. Suppose a man started cutting drainage channels in the age of Yin and Zhou: Tang and Wu would laugh at him. So anyone who today admires the ways of Yao, Shun, Tang, Wu and Yu and wants to run the present world by them — the wise men of the present age would laugh at him. In the age of middle antiquity there was a great flood over the world, and Gun and Yu opened the channels. In the age of late antiquity, Jie and Zhou were violent and disordered, and Tang and Wu went on punitive campaigns. Now if there were a man framing nests and drilling fire in the age of the Xia dynasty, he would surely be laughed at by Gun and Yu. If there were a man opening drainage channels in the age of Yin and Zhou, he would surely be laughed at by Tang and Wu. That being so, if someone today admires the way of Yao, Shun, Tang, Wu and Yu in the present age, he will surely be laughed at by the new sages.

“Every age has its own problem; to praise the old solutions now is to wait at the stump for a second hare.”

This is why the wise man does not set out to follow antiquity, nor take any fixed precedent as the rule that always holds. He studies the affairs of his own age and provides for them. For this reason the sage does not expect to cultivate antiquity, nor take a constant standard as the eternal norm; he assesses the affairs of his age and accordingly makes provision for them.

There was a farmer of Song. In his field stood a tree-stump. A hare came running, struck the stump, broke its neck, and died. So the farmer dropped his plough and stood watch over the stump, hoping for another hare. No second hare ever came, and he became the laughingstock of Song. Wanting to govern the people of the present age by the methods of the former kings is exactly this — standing watch over the stump. Among the men of Song there was one who tilled a field. In the field was a stump. A hare ran, struck the stump, broke its neck, and died. Thereupon he set down his plough and kept watch over the stump, hoping to get another hare. No further hare could be got, and he himself became the laughingstock of the state of Song. Now to wish to govern the people of the present age with the government of the former kings is all of the stump-watching sort.

In antiquity men did not plough, because the fruit of the wild plants was enough to feed them; women did not weave, because the hides of the beasts were enough to clothe them. They did no hard labor and had plenty, the people were few and goods were in surplus, so the people did not fight. That is why heavy rewards were not handed out and heavy punishments not used, and the people governed themselves. Today a man with five sons is not thought to have many, and each son has five sons of his own, so that a grandfather can have twenty-five grandsons while he is still alive. The people are many and goods are scarce; men toil hard and the return is thin. So they fight, and you may double the rewards and pile on the punishments and still not escape the disorder. In antiquity men did not till, for the fruits of the plants and trees were enough to eat; women did not weave, for the skins of the birds and beasts were enough to clothe them. They did not exert their strength yet their support was sufficient; the people were few and wealth was in surplus, therefore the people did not contend. For this reason rich rewards were not applied and heavy punishments not used, yet the people governed themselves. Now a man with five sons is not thought to have many, and the sons again have five sons each, so that before the grandfather has died there are twenty-five grandsons. Thus the people are many and goods and wealth are scarce, labor is toilsome and support is meager; therefore the people contend, and though one doubled the rewards and piled up the punishments, there would be no escape from disorder.

So in antiquity men were free with property — not because they were kind, but because property was plentiful. Today men fight and grab — not because they are mean, but because property is scarce. Men gave up the throne lightly — not because they were noble, but because the position was worth little. Men fight over a petty post today — not because they are base, but because the position carries real weight. So the wise man weighs how much and how little, judges thick reward against thin, and sets his policy by that. Light punishment is not mercy; harsh execution is not cruelty; he simply acts to fit the conditions. Measures follow the age, and the provision is fitted to the measures. Thus in antiquity their being free with goods was not benevolence, it was that goods were many; today's contending and seizing is not baseness, it is that goods are few. Lightly resigning the throne was not loftiness, it was that the power was slight; fighting over a petty office is not lowness, it is that the authority is weighty. So the sage deliberates the much and the little, judges the thin and the thick, and accordingly makes his government. Thus light punishment is not to be called kindness, and severe execution is not to be called cruelty: he acts in accord with the custom of the age. So affairs depend on the age, and provisions are fitted to the affairs.

Long ago King Wen held only the land between Feng and Hao, a hundred li square; he practiced benevolence and right conduct, won over the western tribes, and came to rule the world. King Yan of Xu held five hundred li in the region east of the Han; he practiced benevolence and right conduct, and thirty-six states ceded land and came to his court. King Wen of Jing, fearing Xu would harm him, raised an army, attacked, and wiped it out. So King Wen practiced benevolence and right conduct and won the world; King Yan practiced benevolence and right conduct and lost his state. Benevolence and right conduct worked in antiquity and do not work now. As the saying goes: the age changes, the business changes. Up in high antiquity men competed in virtue; in the middle age they chased after cunning schemes; in the present they fight with sheer force. In antiquity King Wen dwelt between Feng and Hao, his land a hundred li square; he practiced benevolence and righteousness and won over the western Rong, and at last ruled the world. King Yan of Xu dwelt east of the Han, his land five hundred li square; he practiced benevolence and righteousness, and thirty-six states ceded territory and came to court. King Wen of Jing, fearing he would harm him, raised troops, attacked Xu, and destroyed it. So King Wen practiced benevolence and righteousness and ruled the world, while King Yan practiced benevolence and righteousness and lost his state: this is benevolence and righteousness being usable in antiquity and not usable now. Therefore it is said: when the age differs, affairs differ. High antiquity competed in virtue, the middle age pursued cunning schemes, the present age contends in force.

Take a worthless son. His parents rage at him and he does not mend; the village shames him and he does not stir; his teacher instructs him and he does not change. Three good forces — a parent's love, the village's example, a teacher's wisdom — all brought to bear, and not a hair on his shin is moved. Then the district officer comes with the government's troops, enforcing the public law, hunting down criminals; now he is afraid, and he alters his conduct and changes his ways. So a parent's love is not enough to train a son; you have to wait for the strict punishments of the district. People grow spoiled on love and fall into line under force. Now suppose there is a good-for-nothing son. His parents rage at him, he does not reform; the villagers reproach him, he is not moved; his teachers and elders instruct him, he does not change. With a parent's love, the villagers' conduct, and the teachers' and elders' wisdom — these three excellent things applied to him — in the end not a hair on his shin is moved, he does not reform. But when the district officers wield the official arms and push the public law to seek out the wicked, only then is he afraid, alters his bearing and changes his conduct. So a parent's love is not enough to teach a son; one must wait for the strict punishments of the district. The people are surely spoiled by love and obedient under authority.

So the wise ruler makes his law steep and his punishments strict. Reward is best when it is generous and reliable, so the people will go after it; punishment is best when it is heavy and certain, so the people will fear it; law is best when it is uniform and fixed, so the people will know it. The ruler grants reward without wavering and carries out punishment without pardon. When praise backs his reward and disgrace follows his punishment, the able and the worthless alike will spend their full strength. So the enlightened king makes his law steep and his punishment severe. As for rewards, none is like making them generous and trustworthy, so the people find them profitable; as for punishments, none is like making them heavy and certain, so the people fear them; as for law, none is like making it uniform and firm, so the people know it. So the ruler bestows reward without shifting and carries out execution without pardon. When praise supports his reward and slander follows his punishment, then the worthy and the unworthy alike exhaust their strength.

Today it goes the opposite way. A ruler ennobles a man for his service, then looks down on him for holding office; rewards a man for his farming, then thinks little of his trade; spurns a man for refusing the harvest of office, yet praises him for despising the age; convicts a man for breaking the prohibitions, yet admires him for being brave. Blame and praise, reward and punishment, all cut against each other. So the law and the prohibitions fall apart, and the people grow more lawless. The man who attacks whoever wrongs his brother is called upright; the man who chases down whoever shames his friend is called loyal. These reputations for uprightness and loyalty form — and the ruler's law is broken in the making. Now it is not so. For a man's having merit they ennoble him, yet they belittle his serving in office; for his farming they reward him, yet they slight his household occupation; for his not taking office they keep him at a distance, yet they exalt his despising the age; for his violating the prohibitions they punish him, yet they esteem his having courage. What blame and praise, reward and punishment fall upon thus contradict one another, so the law and prohibitions are ruined and the people grow ever more disordered. Now when a man's brother is encroached upon and he must attack, that is called integrity; when a friend is insulted and he pursues the foe, that is called fidelity. These deeds of integrity and fidelity are accomplished — and the law of the ruler above is violated.

The scholars use their writings to throw the law into confusion; the knights-errant use their weapons to break the prohibitions — and the ruler honors them both. That is the road to ruin. The man who departs from the law should be a criminal, yet the various masters are taken up for their book-learning; the man who breaks the prohibitions should be executed, yet the swordsmen are kept on for their private blades. What the law condemns, the ruler takes up; whom the officers would execute, the throne keeps as retainers. Law and favor run four ways against each other, with nothing settled. With ten Yellow Emperors you still could not govern such a state. The Confucians (Ru) use their writing to disorder the law; the knights-errant (xia) use their force to violate the prohibitions — and the ruler treats both with courtesy: this is the cause of disorder. The man who departs from the law should be guilty, yet the various masters are taken up for their literary learning; the man who breaks the prohibitions should be executed, yet the band of knights are maintained for their private swords. So what the law condemns is what the ruler takes up; whom the officers would execute is whom the throne maintains. Law and the ruler's preference run in four mutually opposed directions, with nothing fixed; though there were ten Yellow Emperors, none could govern it.

And so the customs of a state in disorder. ITS SCHOLARS invoke the way of the former kings and lean on benevolence and right conduct, dressing up their manner and ornamenting their arguments, to cast doubt on the law of the present age and divide the ruler's mind. ITS TALKERS, speaking of the past, get up false pretexts and borrow outside force, to advance their private ends and throw over the good of the state. ITS SWORDSMEN gather bands of followers and set up codes of private honor, to make their names shine while breaking the prohibitions of the magistrates. ITS COURTIER-DEPENDENTS pile up at the private doors of the great, spend everything on bribes, and trade on the word of the men of weight to dodge the toil of war. ITS MERCHANTS AND ARTISANS turn out shoddy goods, amass cheap stock, hoard it and wait for the right moment, and skim off the farmer's profit. These five are the vermin of the state. Therefore the customs of a disordered state are these. Its scholars invoke the way of the former kings, take cover under benevolence and righteousness, make rich their bearing and dress and adorn their disputations, so as to throw doubt on the law of the present age and divide the ruler's mind. Its talkers, in speaking of antiquity, set up deceits and false claims, borrowing outside power so as to accomplish their private ends while casting away the benefit of the altars of state. Its swordsmen gather bands of followers and establish codes of conduct so as to make their names manifest, while violating the prohibitions of the Five Offices. Its courtier-dependents pile up at the private gates, exhaust their goods in bribes and use the introductions of the men of weight, so as to withdraw from the toil of war. Its merchants and artisans repair and produce crude, shoddy implements, gather worthless wares, hoard and accumulate awaiting the season, and so skim the farmers' profit. These five are the vermin (du) of the realm.

If the ruler does not clear away these five kinds of vermin, and does not nourish men of upright spine, then though the realm be full of broken and ruined states, of dynasties cut down and wiped out, there is nothing in it to wonder at. If the ruler does not remove these five vermin among the people, and does not nourish men of upright integrity, then though within the seas there be states broken and lost, courts cut down and extinguished, it likewise need cause no surprise.

五蠹 The original Chinese · honored as an artifact

上古之世，人民少而禽獸眾，人民不勝禽獸蟲蛇，有聖人作，搆木為巢以避群害，而民悅之，使王天下，號曰有巢氏。

Opening lines, classical Chinese · The Han Feizi 韓非子