Mair 11:3

[Marblehead]

Long ago, the Yellow Emperor disturbed the minds of men with humaneness and righteousness.  Consequently, Yao and Shun worked themselves to the bone, till there was not a hair left on their legs, toiling to nourish the bodies of all under heaven.  They tormented their five viscera with the exercise of humaneness and righteousness; they depleted blood and vital breath to set up laws and regulations, but still there were some who would not submit.  For this reason, Yao and Shun banished Huan Tou to Mount Ch'ung, expelled the Three Miao tribes to Sanwei, and exiled Kungkung to Yutu.  {{Although all three of these individuals are mentioned in the Classic of Documents (supposedly China's earliest book of history but of mixed date and reliability), they are mythological in nature.  Several of the personal names and place names mentioned here have transparent meanings, e.g., Sanwei ("Triply Dangerous"), Kungkung ("Superintendent of Works"), Yutu ("Secluded Capital"), Mount Ch'ung ("Mount Lofty").}}  This shows that they could not make all under heaven submit.  Their ways were practiced down to the kings of the Three Dynasties, by which time all under heaven were in a great panic.

Of the lower type of character
there were Chieh and Footpad;
Of the higher type of character
there were Tseng Shen and Shih Ch'iu;
And finally the Confucians and the Mohists arose.

As a result,

The happy and the angry doubted each other,
The stupid and the wise cheated each other,
The good and the bad censured each other,
The boastful and the sincere jeered at each other,
So that all under heaven declined.

Great integrity became disparate, so that nature and destiny were dissipated.  All under heaven were fond of knowledge, so that the hundred clans {{Literally, "the hundred surnames."  This is generally understood to mean "the people," but the lowest classes in ancient China did not have surnames.}} were bewildered.  Thereupon,

Axes and saws were used to control them,
Ropes and cords to kill them,
Hammers and chisels to execute them.

All under heaven were reduced to a riot of great confusion.  The criminal cause of all this was the disturbing of men's minds.  Therefore, worthy men hid themselves away at the foot of great mountains and rugged cliffs, while lords of ten thousand chariots trembled with anxiety in their ancestral halls.  In the present age, the bodies of those who have been executed lie pillowed upon each other, those who are forced to wear shackles and cangues {{A heavy wooden yoke that is carried on the shoulders and through which the neck and arms pass.  It was used as a form of punishment for minor criminals in China.}} bump into each other on the roads, and those who have been tortured and mutilated gaze upon each other in the markets, while the Confucians and Mohists begin to swagger and gesticulate among the fettered and manacled masses.  Ai!  This is too much!  Their shamelessness and impudence are simply too much!  Why haven't we realized that the knowledge of the sages may well be the bars of shackles and cangues, that humaneness and righteousness may well be the rivets of fetters and manades?  How do we know that Tseng Shen and Shih Ch'iu may not be whistling arrows that presage a tyrant like Chieh or a Robber Footpad?  Therefore it is said, "Abolish sagehood and abandon knowledge, and all under heaven will be well governed."

Edited August 13, 2017 by Marblehead

[Taoist Texts]

33 minutes ago, Marblehead said:

while lords of ten thousand chariots trembled with anxiety in their ancestral halls. 

 

does not sound too bad of an outcome

[Marblehead]

3 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

 

does not sound too bad of an outcome

True, however, Chuang Tzu honored his personal freedom.  Although those lords had machines of war and were well protected by their personal guards they couldn't walk outside amongst the people and feel free.

 

What good are all the chariots if you are attached to them?

 

[dawei]

This seems to be ZZ condemning the role of the Five Emperors, which are encased in Confucian 'Emperor Kings' mentality. 

[Marblehead]

Yep.  Another hit at Confucius.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

An interesting example of Chuang Tzu directly elaborating on the DDJ.

[Marblehead]

5 hours ago, Michael Sternbach said:

An interesting example of Chuang Tzu directly elaborating on the DDJ.

That's an interesting statement.  It is argued whether or not Chuang Tzu ever actually read the DDJ if it was already in its complete form during his lifetime.

 

He does, however, speak of a person we acknowledge as Lao Tzu and he does speak to many of the concepts in the DDJ but these are more ancient concepts within Chinese culture.