THE PERSUASION OF KUEI KU TZU
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY
DING-REN TSAO
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
NOVEMBER, 1985
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To Pang-ta Fung, my grandfather-
He firmly believes in education.
He has the highest hope in my success.
He is ninety years old.
He firmly believes in education.
He has the highest hope in my success.
He is ninety years old.
I have never seen him, but,
I know, he will be pleased that
I have finally done it.
I know, he will be pleased that
I have finally done it.
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CONTENTS
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I. INTRODUCTIONA. SOME BASIC CONSIDERATIONS .......
B. KUEI KU TZU: THE PERSON AND THE BOOK 9
C. THE PRACTICE OF PERSUASION IN ANCIENT CHINA 32
D. A NOTE ON TRANSLATION. 42
E. PLAN FOR THE THESIS 47
II. KUEI KU TZU IN TRANSLATION
A. PAI-HO: OPENING UP AND CLOSING DOWN 48
B. FAN-YING: REFLECTION AND RESPONSES 56
C. NEI-CHIEN: INTERNAL BONDS 64
D. TI-HSI: DEALING WITH FISSURES 70
E. FEI-CH'IEN: jMAKING FLY AND MANACLING 75
F. WU-HO: DISAGREEMENT AND AGREEMENT 78
G. CH'UANG: FIGURING OUT 82
G. CH'UANG: FIGURING OUT 82
H. MO: STROKING 86
I. CH'UAN: WEIGHING 91
I. CH'UAN: WEIGHING 91
J. MOU: PLANNING 96
K. CHUEH: DECIDING 102
L. FU-YEN: THE EFFECTIVE SPEECH 105
III. DISCUSSION
A. THE NATURE OF PERSUASION ACCORDING TO KUEI KU TZU 113
1. The Nature of Persuasion 114
2. On Silence and Secrecy..122
3. Tools of Expressing and Knowing 127
4. The Ideal Persuader 131
B. THE ROLE OF CH'ING IN PERSUASION 134
1. The Importance of ch'ing 135
2. Methods of Gathering ch'ing 140
K. CHUEH: DECIDING 102
L. FU-YEN: THE EFFECTIVE SPEECH 105
III. DISCUSSION
A. THE NATURE OF PERSUASION ACCORDING TO KUEI KU TZU 113
1. The Nature of Persuasion 114
2. On Silence and Secrecy..122
3. Tools of Expressing and Knowing 127
4. The Ideal Persuader 131
B. THE ROLE OF CH'ING IN PERSUASION 134
1. The Importance of ch'ing 135
2. Methods of Gathering ch'ing 140
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C. FOUR SPECIFIC METHODS 145
1. Nei-chien: The Internal Bonds 146
2. Ti-hsi: Dealing with Fissures 150
3. Fei-ch'ien and Wu-ho 152
D. CHUEH: DECIDING 157
IV. CONCLUSION
A. A SUMMARY 160
B. SOME RERLECTIONS ON KUEI KU TZU 168
C. CONTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION 179
D. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 185
BIBLIOGRAPHY 188
APPENDICES 197
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
A. SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
The purpose of this work is to provide an introduction to the practice of persuasion in ancient China through the work of Kuei Ku Tzu.
If we define persuasion as "communication intended to influence choice," a then it is rather apparent that persuasion is an essential force in molding cooperation in any human society. However, practice is one thing; a conscious effort in observing, describing and studying with the intention of improving the effectiveness of practice is quite another. It may require a certain level of sophistication in thinking and expression in a given culture to be able to do the latter. That each major civilization of the world has recorded in its early
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a winston L. Brembeck and William S. Howell, Persuasion: A Means of Social Influence, 2nd ed., Englewood cliff: Prentice Hall, 1976, p.19.
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documents its observation and reflections upon this characteristically human interaction is not surprising.
However, observation and reflection upon the practice of persuasion do not necessarily constitute a systematic study of it. Few would disagree that the Greeks were the only early people who made the study of persuasion a separate discipline and regarded it as an integral part of education. Greek practice carried over into Roman education, and consequently, affected the Western world through the centuries down to the present.
Greek education in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. legitimized the significance of the discipline and channelled sufficient scholarly attention to form a tradition that has persisted in Western culture. Although rhetoric, as the Greeks designated that discipline, had its high tides and low ebbs, and although its content was diversified to include more than persuasion by eloquence, western rhetoric constitutes a body of knowledge about conducting persuasion that is unique among the civilizations of the world.
Recently, the fervent discussions in the renewed search for definitions and directions of rhetoric is indicative of the vitality of that tradition. a It is
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a See, e.g., Chaim Perelman, The Realm of Rhetoric, trans. William Kluback, Dame Press, South Bend, Indiana: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1982 ; Chaim Perelman and L. Notre Obrechts-Tyteca, The New Rhetoric, trans. John Wilkinson and Purcell Weaver, South Bend, Indiana: , 1969; Ernesto Grassi, Rhetoric as Philosophy: The Humanists Tradition, University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State Univ. Press, 1980; and Michael Mooney, Vico in the Tradition of Rhetoric , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press, 1985.
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still alive and well, responding actively to the various changes in human society. New media effected new forms of human communication. Increased contact with people of the world brought about new questions in persuasion: What should be the proper subject matter to be included in the discipline? What methods should be used? These problems are intensified by the speed with which the changes are taking place now.
Never in history have human beings experienced the need to communicate so much information so quickly. Never in history have human beings been compelled to communicate with and to persuade people from so many different cultural experiences. And never in the tradition of rhetorical studies have so many scholars contemplated on the directions that the discipline should go.
of the numerous ideas offered and discussed, the following two are worth special attention.
One is Scott's "On Not Defining Rhetoric. "a He suggests that instead of finding one definition which applies to all rhetorical studies, we should allow ourselves
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a Robert L. Scott, "On Not Defining Rhetoric, "Philosophy and Rhetoric, 6 (1973), 81-96.
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the flexibility to define rhetorical terms in a manner suitable to "the circumstance in which we wish to use them." This view frees us always looking for from the confinement of the substance and methods for rhetorical studies in the channels carved out by the classical tradition.
The other is the notion of "Systems of Rhetoric", proposed separately by Ehninger and Scott. a According to Ehninger, "System is an organized, consistent, coherent way of talking about something." Working from the thesis that "Rhetoric is in theory as well as in fact a time and culture bound phenomenon--something which arises out of a felt need and is shaped in part by the need, in part by the intellectual and cultural environment in which the need emerges," b they surveyed the Western rhetorical tradition and were able to detect dominant traits rhetorics of significant periods in history.
One implication of viewing rhetorics systemically is the potential of developing a meta-system of rhetorics that may have global applicability. Such an end, however, will depend on identifying and studying non-western
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a Robert L. Scott, "A Synoptic View of Systems of Western Rhetoric, " Quarterly Journal of Speech, 61, (1975), 439-443; and Douglas Ehninger, "On Rhetoric and Rehtorics," Western Speech, 31, (1967), 242-249; systems of Rhetoric," Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1, (1968), 131-144. "on
b Douglas Ehninger, "Systems", pp.131 and 140.
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systems as well as western. Their proposal is an invitation to consider studies of rhetorics across history and beyond one single culture.
It is with such considerations in mind that I would like to proceed with the work of Kuei Ku Tzu.
Kuei Ku Tzu was said to have lived during the Era of Warring States (481-221 B.C.). Philosophers in those turbulent years were also persuaders.
Their "philosophical" thoughts were actually practical proposals of statecraft, and they travelled from prince to prince, hoping to convince them of the usefulness of their proposals. They had to debate among themselves to prove the superiority of their proposal and to win followers.
Not all of these Pre-Ch'in philosophers enjoyed debating, yet debate they did. was. Mencius lamented that debating far from his liking, but he was obliged to do it.a Even the Taoists, particularly Chuang Tzu, who stood staunchly against persuasion, rejecting it as inadequate
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a James Legge, trans., the Works of Mencius, in the Chinese Classics, Vol.2, Hongkong: Hongkong University Press, 1960. p.279. Mencius said, "Indeed, I am not fond of disputing, but I am compelled to do it." This passage is one of the best known of the entire Mencius. It is frequently cited by Chinese, even today, to describe a reluctant obligation of presenting any form of public argument or speech.
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and unnecessary, had to employ lengthy arguments to state his point. a
The prevalence of persuasive activities at the time is reflected in the rich literature on the subject, which one can extract from the voluminous philosophical treatises of the pre-ch'in period, particularly those from the Era of Warring States. The arguments commonly dealt with were what should constitute the proper content and purpose of persuasion and in many instances, methods of persuasion and argument.
Among these persuader-philosophers, Tsung-heng philosophers and Ming-chia philosophers stood out singularly. They were reputed for their enthusiasm in persuasion and were frequently referred to as "the persuaders." However, the differences among them were significant, too.
Ming-chia persuaders had their origin in the li kuan 禮 官 (Officers of Ceremonies). Ming literally means Names, and their persuasion and arguments were based upon their
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a This mood is prevalent throughout Chuang Tzu, but particularly in "The Equality of Things", in Wing-tsit Chan, trans., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 179-190. The same chapter was translated into "The Identity of Contraries" by Herbert A. Giles in Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist and Social Reformer, Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., 1926, pp.12-33; and "The Sorting Which Evens Things Out, by A. C. Grahm in Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981, pp. 48-61.
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insistence of the "Rectification of Names and Reality" (cheng-ming, 正名).
Tsung-heng literally means Vertical and Horizontal. They had their origin in the hsing kuan 行官, (Traveling officers), the diplomats of the earliest days, and their work somewhat resembled "shuttle diplomacy" of modern days. Crump in his study of the Chan-kuo Tse 戰國策(Intrigues of Warring States) properly called them the "peripatetic rhetors", a They travelled extensively, persuading the lords and princes to form or to dissolve alliances, and were highly utilitarian oriented. To this day, Chinese often equate Tsung-heng philosophers with persuaders and are ever ready to recognize Su Ch'in and Chang I (蘇秦與張儀) from that school as prime persuaders in Chinese history. Their preeminence and triumph were proverbial, as in the statement: "The eloquence of one man was more weighty than the precious nine tripods; a tongue three inches long was stronger than a million troops. Brilliant and scitillating, [Su Ch'in] carried the six seals; rich and opulent, [Chang I] was enfeoffed with five cities".b
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a James Crump and John Dreher, "Peripatetic Rhetors. of the Warring Kingdoms," Central States Speech Journal, II:2 (1951), 15-17.
b Vincent Yu-chung Shih, trans., The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, by Liu Hsieh, Taipei Chung-hwa Book Co., 1971, p.154. The original work in Chinese was dated around A.D. 500. The first edition of the English translation by the same translator was published by the Columbia University Press in 1957. This 1971 edition was published bilingually.
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Kuei Ku Tzu was regarded as the master founder of the school and the text bearing his name is the only surviving major treatise. An understanding of this treatise should bring us one step further in the attempt to study a dif ferent system as part of the effort of building a meta system of rhetorical theory.
It is rather amazing that actually survived to this the Kuei day. Since Ku Tzu has the reign of moralistic Confucian philosophy in China, from the early Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -A.D. 200) onwards, most of the other schools of philosophers that flourished before Ch'in have been harsh silenced. However, condemnation as perhaps the few experienced Tsung-heng philosophers. Throughout the ages, they were praised for their skills in persuasion, but at the same time accused of being ingra tiating, treacherous troublemakers. Yet, the reputation of Kuei Ku Tzu has continued to grow to the extent that he has become a mythical hero. The book Kuei-ku Tzu, though ostracized from the orthodox curriculum, has been read and commented upon by intellectuals for centuries. His influence on the Chinese mood is perhaps greater than many would care to admit.
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It would be valuable to determine if any significant relationship can be established between Kuei Ku Tzu and present-day Chinese persuasion. To do this, a first step is to find out what Kuei Ku Tzu has said. Does he offer any interesting insight into what we already know about persuasive communication? Thus, this study is conducted with the intention of understanding Kuei Ku Tzu as a persuader-communicator and of contributing to the theory of rhetoric--a systematic study of persuasion.
B. KUEI KU TZU: THE PERSON AND THE BOOK
In Chinese history, there was a person called Kuei Ku Tzu and there is a book entitled Kuei Ku Tzu. Literally, Kuei means ghost, Ku means valley. Tzu is an honorific title, as in Lao Tzu or K'ung Tzu (Confucius). When referred to as the person Kuei Ku Tzu, he is also called Master Kuei Ku. A number of ancient books are attributed to Kuei Ku Tzu, but only one bears his name as the title. But, exactly, who is this man Kuei Ku Tzu? What kind of book is Kuei Ku Tzu? In the following pages, these two questions will be pursued.
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When studying an ancient text, one inevitably encounters the problem of authenticity. Did the attributed author actually exist? Did he actually produce such a piece of work? Did he do the entire piece? And many other related but important questions.
These problems are also pertinent, perhaps even more pronounced, when dealing with Kuei Ku Tzu, due to a few compounding elements. Firstly, there is the long stretch of time. Time is like a river. In its course of travelling something is washed out and something else is added. Certain documents or records may exist at one time but have been corrupted or lost. Then, something which was originally non-existent may have been created and mixed in. Kuei Ku Tzu, like most characters of the pre-Ch'in period, did not have a valid biography. Stories of his life and work are abundant, but almost all lack reliable support. Throughout the long span of history, many new stories were added and the identity of Kuei Ku Tzu becomes increasingly vague. Although regarded as the founding master of the Tsung-heng school, he has also been looked upon as a military strategist, a mystic in Taoist religion, and a master of divination and fortune telling.
In all of these roles, legends abound, describing him as possessing superior or supernatural power. As a result of such snowballing of legends, Kuei Ku Tzu has t become a errific myth. His name is readily recognized by a contempory Chinese,
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but scarcely any more than a recognition of the name accompanied by some sense of awe.
Kuei Ku Tzu also appeared in various historical and provincial geographical accounts. "However," wrote Hsiao Teng-fu (蕭登福) in Kuei Ku Tzu yen-chiu鬼谷子研究(Studies of Kuei Ku Tzu), "most of these accounts were fabricated by people of much later times, or were written according to legends. Generally speaking only the ones in the Shih-chi (Records of the Grand Historian) and a few other accounts of the Han Dynasty bear any credibility. "a
The Shih-chi was the first attempt ever in China to record systematically a history of Chinese civilization from the earliest time down to the time of the author, Ssu-ma Ch'ien 司馬遷(145-90 B.C.) . Ssu-ma Ch'ienSsu-ma Ch'ien drew freely upon all the literature of the past, both the Confucian Classics and the works of the philosophers, using any facts or anecdotes that he considered reliable and important. "b It is through this work, that we gain the greatest amount of knowledge of things, events, and people of the pre-Ch'in dynasties, including the lives and activities of the philosophers. The credibility of the
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a Hsiao, Teng-fu, Kuei Ku Tzu yen-chiu 鬼谷子研究(Studies of Kuei Ku Tzu), Taipei: Wen-chin Book Co., 1984, p. 12. Trnaslation of the quoted passage is mine.
b Burton Watson, Ssu-ma Ch'ien Grand Historian of China, New York: Columbia University Press, 1958, p.176.
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work has been further enhanced by the validation of its content by recent archeological findings.a
Other accounts of Kuei Ku Tzu were found in Wang Ch'ung's I 王充(A.D. 27-100) Lun Heng 論衡(Balanced Inquiries) and Yang Hsiung's 楊雄(53 B.C.-A.D. 18) Fa-yen 法言(Model Sayings).b A simple and matter-of-fact style and the absence of far-fetched mystical writing characterized all of these accounts of the Han Period.
A synthesis of these accounts leads to a conclusion that Kuei Ku Tzu lived during the Era of Warring States in the territory of Ch'i 齊(Shangtung province), and was the teacher of Su Ch'in and Chang I. Tsung-heng was rather popular at the time and all who had learned the methods of Tsung-heng regarded Master Kuei Ku as their teacher.
Accounts after Han were numerous and in much greater detail. Unfortunately, the great disparity among them prevents one from accepting them seriously.
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a The excavation in An-yang for the remains of the Yin Dynasty, during the first half of the 20th century and in Ma-wang Tui for the remains of the Han Dynasty which started in 1972, resulted in findings which supported and strengthened the authenticity of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's writing. Ssu-ma's carefulness in writing was further testified in Te-kun Cheng, Chou China in Archeology in China, Vol.3, Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1963, p.xxii; and in Kwang-chih Chang, The Archeology of Ancient China, 3rd ed., New Haven, Conneticut: Yale Univ. Press, 1977.
b Wang Ch'ung, "Ta-nin pien"答佞篇, in Balanced Inquiries; Yang Hsiung, "Yuan-ch'ien pien" 淵騫篇in Model Sayings. (The translated titles of these two books are taken from Wing-tsit Chan's Source Book in Chinese Philosophy.)
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The second compounding element is the problem of the traditional Chinese attitude toward authorship. Throughout Chinese history, the ownership of intellectual property was never considered an issue. Up to the first part of the Chou Dynasty (1111-771 B.C.), only the royal families and nobles had access to education, and consequently, the execution and utilization of recording were restricted to official life. The comparative "popularization" of education in the second half of the Chou Dynasty contributed to the flowering of the "Hundred Schools" of philosophy. However, few masters wrote down their own thoughts.
Ordinarily, the treatises based on their thinking the records of their students and disciples. Confucius' remark that "I transmit but do not create" a might have depicted the mood, or perhaps, even the norm, of the intellectuals of the time. What was valued were the thoughts, and the teaching was conducted orally. Only those who failed to win the ears of the desired audience, like Han Fei (韓非, ?-223 B.C.), resorted to writing as an alternative means of expression and consequently, to seek fame. So, Han Fei is known to have written the Han Fei Tzu, but Mencius did not write the Meng Tzu, nor was
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a D. C. Lau, trans., The Analects, by Confucius, New York: Penguin Books, 1979, p.86.
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it likely that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, or Kuei Ku Tzu Kuei Ku Tzu, for that matter.
As writing evolved into a medium for artistic expression and more and more creative works came into being, the idea of "authorship" still was not important. No one ever thought of "protecting" his work from being copied and imitated. Copying and imitating were seen as means of circulating and spreading the work, and therefore desirable.
The lack of protective regard for authorship enhanced an appreciation of good work without the urgent desire to identify the authors. Another result of this attitude was the tendency for the less reputed or even unknown authors to "hitch hike" on the reputation of the already famous names. Many of the existing ancient texts may contain more chapters or volumes than earlier editions due to these "hitch hikers'" contributions.
The traditional approach to bibliography reveals the nature of the problem. From the earliest time, all bibliographical entries recorded only the title, the number of volumes and the name of author.a The authenticity of texts and editions were often not considered.
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a For a thorough discussion, see Ch'ang, Pi-teh, "Chung-kuo mu lu hsüeh te yüan liu"中國目錄學的源流 (A History of Chinese Bibliogrphical Studies), in Pan pen mu lu hsuen lun ts'ung 版本目錄學論叢(Collected Essays on Editions and bibliographical Studies), Vol.2, Taipei: Hsuan-hai Publishing Co., 1977, pp.129-173.
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Thus, as there is almost no restriction on what one can or cannot do to a text, harsh abridgement, radical addition and gross mistakes occur frequently. It was not until around the middle of the Ch'ing Dynasty in the first part of the nineteenth century, that text editions and year of publishing were added as part of the bibliographical entries. With this new attention paid to the authenticity of text and the efforts at comparing and contrasting contents of different editions, came the question of authorship, and the effort at telling the "forged" apart from the "real" content.
However, the forged part of the text, even if identified, often survived with the real. Scholars' opinions and conclusions vary and it is still difficult to disregard completely the forged part--partly for fear of throwing out the real with the forged, and partly because the forged material may bear certain value in its own right. Consequently, the old texts that have come down to us often contain "all things possible": the real stuff, the forged content, mistakes, and various notations. It requires great care and discernment in dealing with them.
These first two problems are easier to deal with when there are a number of different historical accounts or different text editions to compare, which is often the case with Confucian Classics. For works not included in the mainstream Confucianism, the quest for authenticity
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is especially complicated. And this is the third compounding element that must be addressed.
The "flowering of the philosophers" during the Era of the Warring States was quickly smothered by the unification of China and the establishment of the Ch'in Dynasty (221-206 B.C.). In all significant aspects, Ch'in was the first real empire in Chinese history with a powerful central government that ruled the entire territory with unprecedented uniformity. In addition to the unified systems of writing, currency, and transportation, the most important measure was the adoption of the Legalist philosophy as the creed of the empire, while all other
schools were abolished and strictly forbidden to the extent that all volumes on topics other than divination, farming and medicine were confiscated.
The Han Dynasty followed the short-lived Ch'in. Confucianism was declared the only legitimate doctrine and all other schools became outcasts. Since Confucian teachings were primarily based on a corpus of ancient literature, the triumph of Confucianism resulted in the restoration of ancient books after the Ch'in destruction.a In 191 B.C., the law against possession of books abolished. Systematic and large scale recovery of ancient books did not begin until the reign of Emperor Wu (r.140-87 B.C.).
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a Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin, Written on Bamboo and Silk, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1962, p.13.
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In 26 B.C., Liu Hsiang劉向(77-6B.C.), the grand librarian of the court, was made responsible for the organizing and classifying of the restored books. A great many of the Pre-Ch'in texts that have come down to us were results of his genius and labor. The quest for ancient texts persisted through all the subsequent dynasties.
However, one must not ignore the impact of Confucio-centrism on the process of selection and compilation which Liu initiated and which was to be continued by various scholars in centuries to come. As the Confucian authority became more and more established and deeply rooted, its bias on intellectual activities became more immediate and profound.
In addition to the censorship carried out in the name of Confucianism, the system of civil administrators which was established during the T'ang Dynasty (618-907) also took its toll. Under the reign of Confucianism, the only way to get ahead in these national examinations was to study thoroughly the Confucian Classics; while the "other" philosophers were rarely studied. Consequently the efforts at collecting and preserving their works became comparatively inadequate.
Although Confucius did recognize the importance of communication skills and apparently was a competent and flexible communicator himself, Confucianism's overall
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attitude toward persuasion and eloquence was one of suspicion and something that is practiced only as a necessary evil. Mencius, as mentioned earlier, renowned for his persuasive power in argument.
Yet, upon hearing compliments about his eloquence, exclaimed, "Not that I enjoy debating, but I must."a And the Analects of Confucius contained plenty of sayings warning against those who are fluent in speech and effective in persuasion while encouraging slowness and caution in speech as a sign of benevolence. "It is rare, indeed, for a man with cunning words and an ingratiating face to be benevolent" [I:3].b
"The gentleman desires to be halting in speech but quick in action" [IV:24]. "The mark of the benevolent man is that he is loath to speak" [XII:3]. "Artful words will ruin one's virtue" [XV:27]. "I detest clever talkers who overturn states and noble families" [XVII:18].
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a The critical word here is pien辯. I checked four different versions of translation. Legge rendered it as "dispute". Dobson, "argue". Ware, "discussion". Lyall, "wrangling". of these four, Dobson's is probably the best. However, none of these seems appropriate enough. So, I used "debate". James Legge, op. cit., p. 179; W.A.C.H. Dobson, trans. Mencius: A New Trnaslation and Annotated for the General Reader, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1963, p.56; James R. Ware, trans., The Sayings of Mencius, New York: Mentar Books, 1962, p.94; Leonard A. Lyall, trans., Mencius, London: Longman, Green and Co., 1932, pp.94-5.
b The following five passages are all taken from D. C. Lau's translation of the Analects. The Roman numbers in the brackets indicate chapter number and the arabic number following the semicolon are section numbers.
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It is not surprising that Tsung-heng philosophers were not appreciated by the Confucians. While they were praised because "when they are aroused, the princes tremble, when they tremble, but when they are at ease, the whole world is quiet," Mencius condemned their "compliance" (with what the situation requires) as "the proper course for women, "a Hsun Tzu, another major Confucian and Mencius' younger contemporary, grouped the ranks of Su Ch'in and Chang I as "the ingratiating courtiers" who "were inadequate in uniting people domestically; inadequate in confronting enemies externally, unable to win affinity of the people nor trust of the nobles. But they were skillful at crafty persuasion and good at courting favor from the high ranks. He who uses the ingratiating courtiers is bound to perish."b
And, later, Liu Tsung-yuan ( 柳宗元, 773-819) commented on the Kuei Ku Tzu as "dangerous and unscrupulous"c Sung Lien ( 宋濂, 1310-1381) condemned it as "the wisdom of mean people and of the snake and rat type. If used in a family, the family will perish; used in a state,
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a Dobson, Mencius, pp.124-5.
b Hsün Tzu, "Ch'en-tao p'ien"臣道篇 (Chapter on the way of being a minister). The quoted translation is mine.
c Liu, Tsung-yuan, Liu Tsung-yuan che hsueh hsuan chi 柳宗元哲學選集(Selected Collection of Liu Tsung-yuan on Philosophical Works), ed. by Hou, Wai-lu, Peking: Chung hwa Book Co., 1964, p.23.
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the state will be destroyed; used in the world, the world will be lost."a Hu Ying-lin (胡應麟, ca.1600) called it "shallow and simple minded. "b Lu Wen-shao (盧文弨 , 1717-95) wrote, "Kuei Ku Tzu is a book of the mean people...which can only be applied to foolish princes. "c As a result of this critical attitude, Tsung-heng philosophers, and Kuei Ku Tzu in particular, were little studied, and sometimes only in secrecy. d
Against all these odds: the long stretch of time, the Chinese disregard for authenticity and the discrimination against non-Confucian philosophers, now we have in our possession this book entitled Kuei Ku Tzu which probably is the product of the Tsung-heng philosophers of the Warring States Period.
In addition to some sense of amazement that it has actually survived to this day, one also wonders about the
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a Sung, Lien, Chu-tzu p'ien 諸子辯(Discourses on Philosophers), Hongkong: Tai-ping Book Co., 1963, pp. 23-4.
b Hu, Ying-lin, Ssu-pu cheng e四部正譌 (on Authentic and Inauthentic Texts), Hongkong: Tai-ping Book Co., 1963, pp.33-5.
c Lu, Wen-chao, "Kuei Ku Tzu pa" 鬼谷子跋(Epilogue on Kuei Ku Tzu), in the 1806 edition of Kuei Ku Tzu, rpt. in Taipei, Kuang-wen Book co., 1975, pp.97-9.
d For example, Su Hsun (1009-1066), a most famous and popular poet in Chinese history, has been well known for his interest in the writings of Tsung-heng school. How ever, while he "studied Chan-kuo Ts'e most often,... [it was] a fact which was kept secret while he lived." In J. I. Crump, Jr. Intrigues: Studies of the Chan-kuo Ts'e, Ann Arbor: the Univ. of Michigan Press, 1964, p.43.
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authenticity of this work. Is it really a work of the Pre-Ch'in period? Can it, or at least part of it, be forged?
To answer the first question, we must look at the earliest evidence about the existence of this book. In the Shih-chi, Ssu-ma Ch'ien did mention the person Kuei Ku Tzu, but no remark was made about the book Kuei Ku Tzu. In the "Biography of Su Ch'in", he wrote, "And he learned from Master Kuei Ku ... and therefore obtained the chapter Chou Shu Yin Fu 周書陰符(Secret Talisman from the Book of Chou), and studied it..."a In the preface, he quoted someone without giving credit: "Therefore it is said that the sages are incorruptible, and they keep up with the changes of time. Emptiness is the normality of the Way; Following is the precept of a prince." b This passage was identified as "taken from the Kuei Ku Tzu" in Ssu-ma Chen's 司馬貞 Shih-chi So-yin史記索隱（ Commentary Seeking the Hidden Meaning of the Shih-chi, ca. 715).c Ssu-ma Chen lived during T'ang Dynasty. This indicates that by the time of the Shin-chi, around the first century B.C.,
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a Ssu-ma, Ch'ien, "Biography of Su Ch'in" in Shih-chi, Peking: Chung-hwa Book Co., 1959, pp. 2241-2, (in Vol.7).
b Ibid., p.3292, (in Vol.10).
c Ibid, p.3293.
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there was a book which had persisted to T'ang and was known as Kuei Ku Tzu.
Although, Liu Hsiang did not include Kuei Ku Tzu in his bibliography, in Shuo Yuan 說苑 (The Garden of Tales, ca. 26 B.C.), a separate book edited by him, there was a direct quotation attributed to Kuei Ku Tzu.a Unfortunately, this quotation is not to be found in the existing Kuei Ku Tzu. However, this problem can be accounted for without great difficulty, as the most complete edition of Kuei Ku Tzu , claims to have at least two chapters missing, and it is not impossible that this quotation may be from a portion that has been lost. Thus , it lends some support to the existence of a text by Kuei Ku Tzu at Liu Hsiang's time.
To answer the second question, that the book, or part of it, might have been forged, we must carefully assess the major charges against the standing proposition that Kuei Ku Tzu is a genuine Pre-Ch'in text.
Firstly, there is the accusation that this book was not listed in the "Bibliogrphical Monograph" of the Han shu (漢書，經藉志ca. A.D.75), and therefore did not exist before Han and therefore must be a forged work by people
a Lu, Yüen-chun, Shuo yuan chin chu chin i說苑今注今譯 Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Printing House, 1976, p.349.
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of later generations.a Regarding the validity of this accusation, Hsiao Teng-fu argued, "If we say that whatever is not listed in the Han-shu "Bibliographic Monograph" is forged, then we must first confirm that Han Monograph has exhausted every single Pre-Ch'in book without failure... However, if we cannot affirm this major premise, then no such conclusion can be made. This, unfortunately, is not accomplished by any bibliographical undertaking in any period.... Thus, we know that not being included in bibliography is not a sufficient evidence that the work is forged."b
Then, there is the accusation that "the style [of the Kuei Ku Tzu] does not resemble that of the Warring States Period. "c Hsiao rejected this accusation as "vague and ambiguous" saying that it is as absurd as "a judge who pronounces the verdict entirely on the basis of whether or not the accused looked like a good person".d If no criteria for "style of the period" can be established, this accusation should not be considered valid.
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a sources holding this view are numerous. Among them, Liu Tsung-yuan, Hu Ying-lin and Yao Chi-heng. For the first two sources, see notes c, p.19 and b, p.20. For Yao's work, see Yao, Chi-heng姚際恆, Ku chin wei shu kao pu cheng 古今偽書補正， ed. by Huang, Yun-mei, Shangtung: Chi-lu Publishing Co., 1980, p. 135.
b Hsiao, Studies, p.33.
c Hu, Ssu-pu chenq-e, p.35.
d Hsiao, Studies, p.33.
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While we argue that style does not furnish sufficient evidence in the judgment of the authenticity of a text, the content itself may offer a more useful insight into its own story.
Kuei Ku Tzu as a book in three volumes was first recorded in the "Bibliographical Monograph" of the Sui shu (History of Sui) which was compiled in the seventh century. of the ten different editions of the text currently available on the market, six were "complete" wih all three volumes. a The first volume contains chapters one through four; The second volume contains five through twelve with chapters thirteen and fourteen missing; and the third volume contains the Seven Chapters "Yin Fu", "Chih Shu" and "Chung Chin". Five of these six editions were based on the Taoist Canon edi tion.b And the remaining one which was published in 1806 was based on a text from the Sung Dynasty which had fewer
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a For a listing of these editions, see ibid., p.44.
b The Taoist Canon is a cumulative, gigantic collec tion of books related with religious Taoism. The undertaking started off a listing of Taoist Classics in as the "Bibliographic Monograph" of the Han-shu. A more comprehensive and persistent effort at collecting and cataloging began during the 5th century. The collection took its present shape between 1446 and 1608. For a detailed discussion, see Cheng, Kuo-fu, Tao tsang yuan liu kao, 道藏源流考,(An Inquiry into the origin of the Taoist Canon), Peking: Chung-hwa book Co., 1963.
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errors and omissions than any of the Taoist Canon editions and is considered as the best of all editions, a
Another edition published in Osaka, Japan, in 1774 is composed of two volumes.b However, after a close comparison of the content, we find volume one of the Osaka edition contains chapters one through nine, volume two contains the remaining chapters, including "Yin Fu", "Chih Shu" and "Chung Chin". What we find in these two volumes is identical with what we find in the three volumes. We also find it to be based on the Taoist Canon.
After painstakingly analyzing the contents chapter by chapter, Hsiao concluded that the chapters in volumes one and two should be considered as one unit, while volume three forms a separate unit. The first unit, being devoted entirely to the discussion of methods and strategies of persuasion, is more certain to be a work of the Pre-Ch'in period. The second unit, having mixed in a significant amount of material obviously influenced by the Taoist
-----------------------
a Book printing became more widely practiced during the Sung Dynasty. During the subsequent Ming Dynasty, more commercial printing was done, but usually of inferior qualities. It is generally agreed that books of Sung edition tend to be neater and with fewer mistakes. For more on texts and editions, see Mao, Chuen-hsiang, Ku shu pan pen ch'ang t'an 古書版本常談 (Conversations on Ancient Texts and Editions), Shangai: Chung-hwa Book Co., 1965.
b This edition was found in the Research Institute of the Humanitic Sciences at Kyoto. A comparison of its content with other editions revealed that it was based upon the Taoist Canon.
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Religion and Buddhism, must have been composed after the introduction of religious Taoism and Buddhism which took place during the end of the Han Dynasty.a
Theannotation of an ancient text often provides additional information in the quest for authenticity. Thus far, from our account of the history of Kuei Ku Tzu, there are two major gaps that need to be bridged. One is that this work, though referred to and quoted during the Han Dynasty, did not appear in any major bibliography until the seventh century. Is there anything happening in between that can fill in the void of seven hundred years? in If Hsiao is correct that the second half of the existing Kuei Ku Tzu was added after the appearance of religious Taoism and Buddhism, then, when was this done? Can the annotations of Kuei Ku Tzu help in these problems?
There have been four documented annotators of Kuei Ku Tzu: Huang-fu Mi (皇甫謐,215-282), Yueh I (樂壹,?, but surely before seventh century), T'ao Hung-ch'ing (陶宏景. 452-536) and Yin Chih-chang (尹知章, ？-718). Sui Mono-graph, under the heading of Tsung-heng philosophers, had "Kuei Ku Tzu, in three volumes, annotated by Huang-fu Mi ...; Kuei Ku Tzu, in three volumes, annotated by Yuah I. "b
a Hsiao, Studies, p.47.
b Wei Cheng (ed.) "The Bibliographic Monograph", in Sui Su, Peking: Chung-hwa Book Co., 1973, p.1005, (in vol. 4).
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This piece of information very quickly helped us with the two questions. Even though, nothing is known about Yueh I, we can see that the Kuei Ku Tzu had taken its "complete" form at least in the third century A.D., if not before. And this date does accommodate the fact that Buddhism arrived and started to become popular in China in the East Han period.
From as early as the Sung Dynasty, the existing editions in China all attributed the annotation to T'ao Hung ch'ing. The Chung-hsing Shu-mu 中興書目(Chung-hsing Bibliography, ca. 1179) noted, "...one copy contained complete annotation by T'ao Hung-ch'ing. In another copy, the annotations of the chapters "Pai-ho", "Fan-yin", "Nei chien", and "Ti-hsi" were of unknown author. The annotations for the second and third volumes were identical with that of T'ao."a Thus, were we at least can infer that by the 12th century, there were at least two different annotations attributed to two different persons. T'ao Hung-ch'ing was one of them. The T'ung-cheh (通志ca. 12th century)
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a This passage was quoted by Wang, Po-hou, in Yu-hai vol.53, first published in 1267, rpt. 1739. Chung-hsing Bibliography was originally compiled by Chen wei 陳騤 in 1179. It was reconstructed by Chao, S.W. in 1932 and published by Chinese Library Association in Peking in 1933.
There are also fragments of annotation in T'ai-p'ing yu-lan太平御覽 (ca. A.D. 976) that read differently from T'ao Hung-ching's annotation. It is not clear who did these nor if they are the ones which Chung-hsing
Bibliography referred to.
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reported annotated volumes by all four. Unfortunately, no effort at comparing these annotations were made. a
So, here we are faced with a new set of questions.
Why would any decent scholar want to work on a book like Kuei Ku Tzu when Confucianism was already well established as the orthodox doctrine? And, who exactly did the annotation that we have now?
Although we find no chronology for Yueh I, we can somewhat comfortably assume that he lived before Sui and after Han, a period in Chinese history often referred to as "the Six Dynasties",b when Huang-fu and T'ao also lived. It was a time of great political turbulence, the importation of Buddhism, and of Ching-t'an 清談--"Pure Conversation"-- in which intellectuals exchanged views on
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a one characteristic of T'ung Cheh 通志 was that the author, Cheng Chao 鄭樵, believed that he should list all titles which were existent at his time as well as those that were known to have existed before. As a result, his bibliogrphy was perhaps the most comprehensive up to his time. But he made no effort at comparing the different copies which he listed. See Ch'ang Pe-teh, op. cit., p. 147.
b Yue I's name was mentioned in the" Bibliographic Monograph" of Sui-shu is evident enough that he lived before the Sui Dynasty.
The Six Dynasties is often used to indicate the period which stretched between the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Sui Dynasty (A.D. 220-589). During this period, Wu of the Three Kingdoms, East Chin, the four regimes which constitute the Nan Dynasty built their capitals in Nanking. This is the origin of the title "Six Dynasties".
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philosophy, literature, and everything else except politics.
Pure Conversation generated not only interesting material for quality conversation, but also the need to perfect one's skill at conversation, and argumentation. The Shih-shuo hsin-yu世說新語 (A New Account of Tales of the World, ca.A.D.430), for instance, was regarded as good resource to learn better conversation.a Jen-wu chih 人物志 (The Study of Human Abilities, ca. A.D. 250), contained a chapter spelling out the method for discussion is another example.b
It would not be surprising that if the Kuei Ku Tzu was around, it should be studied and discussed. It would not be surprising either if some person decided to do a detailed annotation. Of the four annotations, there is little dispute about Huang-fu's and Yueh's as they are considered lost. But, we still are faced with this question: who, T'ao or Yin, did the annotation that we have today? Once again, we need to go to history for any helpful information.
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a Liu, Yi-ch'ing, Shih-shuo hsin-yu 世說新語(A New Account of Tales of the World), trans, Richard Mather, Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1976. p. xiv. The notion that Shih-shuo as an aid to enhance skills at conversation was taught in the standard high school Chinese textbook in Taiwan.
b Liu, Shao, Jen-wu Chin 人物志 (The Study of Human Abilities), trans. J. Shryock, New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1937.
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T'ao Hung-ch'ing, son of a professional transcriber, was a Taoist alchemist who resigned from the administration and retreated into the mountains. However, he was frequently sought after by the Emperors for advice and was referred to as "the prime minister in the mountains. " He read widely and "was deeply ashamed if there was anything that he did not know." He also mastered the method of Yin Yang, the Five Phases, the calculation of astronomy, and geography among other things. He wrote abundantly, most of which has been lost. Among the remaining few titles, the annotation of Kuei Ku Tzu does not appear.a
Yin Chih-chang was also well read and served in the T'ang government. He was a well known Confucian and edited and annotated texts extensively. The Kuei Ku Tzu is recorded as one of them and "was widely popular".b
Scholars' opinions are not conclusive on this issue. Chou Kuang-yeh周廣業 (1730-1898) thought the annotator should be Yin, while Ch'in En-fu 秦恩復(, 1760-1839) considered Chou's argument weak due to lack of strong evidence.c Hsiao Teng-fu, however, is of the opinion
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a sources for this description are: Nan Shin南史, (History of the Nan Dynasty), Chapter on Hermits; Liang Shih 梁史(History of Liang), And Mao Chuang-hsiang, op. cit., p.73.
b see Chiu T'an Shu 舊唐書 chapter on Confucian Scholars.
c Ch'in En-fu, "Preface" in Kuei Ku Tzu, Taipei: Kuang-wen Book Co., 1975, p.ii. Chou's comment is included in the same book, pp.94-5.
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that this annotation is not by Yin. His reason: Yin is known to have annotated Kuan Tzu, another pre-Ch'in text. A chapter in Kuan Tzu, "Chiu-shou" (九守), is very similar, almost parallel to Chapter L, "Fu-yen" (符言) in Kuei Ku Tzu. However, upon comparing the annotations for these two chapters, Hsiao found that they were drastically different, even contradicting each other at some points. Thus, he concluded, "The annotators for Kuan Tzu and Kuei Ku Tzu must not be the same person. If it is true that Yin annotated Kuan Tzu, then it is not likely that he was also the presumed annotator of the Kuei Ku Tzu. "a
As to the question why the 1774 Osaka edition should have Yin as the annotator, Hsiao suggested that the editor probably possessed a copy that does not bear any annotator's name, as is the case with some other editions of Kuei Ku Tzu. He might have arbitrarily added Yin's name under the influence of Ch'ao Kung-wu's 晁公武 Chung-chai tu shu chih (郡齋讀書志 ,ca. 1161) which contained a passage stating that the Bibliographic Monographs of Chiu T'ang-shu 舊唐書(old History of T'ang) and Hsin T'ang-shu 新唐書(New History of T'ang) both regarded Yin Chih-chang as the annotator. "b
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a Letter from Hsiao Teng-fu, dated December 13, 1984.
b Ibid.
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To summarize, we see that there have been four recorded annotators for Kuei Ku Tzu: Huang-fu Mi, Yueh I, T'ao Hung-ch'ing and Yin Chih-chang. Huang-fu's annotation is completely lost.
There is a major disagreement over the author of the only existing annotation--is it by T'ao or Yin? Both of them had good reasons for doing the annotation, and both had equally good reasons for not having done it. As there is evidence suggesting that Yin did not do it, we will, for the time being, hold that T'ao Hung-ch'ing did the existing annotation of Kuei Ku Tzu.
C. THE PRACTICE OF PERSUASION IN ANCIENT CHINA
In the extended history of Western rhetoric, we know that the practice of persuasion does bear its unique cultural characteristics. China, having developed its early culture very much isolated from other major civilizations, can be expected to have its practice of persuasion bear its own cultural character. How was persuasion practiced in ancient China? To get a general picture, it is helpful first to describe the sociopolitical structure in which the persuasion took place.
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The ancient Chinese socio-political order was built upon a tightly constructed set of rules. Before and during the first part of Chou Dynasty, the distinction between the nobles and the common people was rigid almost impenetrable. The conduct of the nobles, and ruling class, was prescribed by li 禮(Rites and Proprieties), while the conduct of the common people, the ruled, was regulated by fa 法(Law) And, "The rules of li do not go down to the common people. The rules of fa do not go
up to the high officers", a
The Li Ki 禮記(Book of Rites), describes in great detail the proper conduct, including speech patterns, in the maintenance of the Five Relationships: between the prince and his ministers, father and son, husband and wife, the elder and the younger, and friends. The keeping of these relationships, often at the expense of individual expression, was considered essential for an orderly society. The common people, even though exempted from strict observance of li, were not entirely immune from its influence. They also had to abide by the rules prescribed by li whenever applicable.
This strict social stratification and heavy emphasis on social order obviously had some serious impact on the
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a James Legge, trans., Li Ki 禮記(Book of Rites), ed. Ch'u Chai and Winberg Chai, New York: University Books, 1967, Vol.1, p.90. Legge's original translation. used "ceremony" and "penal statute" instead of li and fa.
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practice of persuasion. Firstly, it severely inhibited the motivation to communicate and the choices available in the act of communication. This can be considered the primary impact, which influenced directly the practice of persuasion itself.
Another adverse impact was the negative attitude generated towards those who practiced persuasion as having the potential of disturbing the established order. Amongst various regulations, there were four types of criminal offenses which warranted automatic of execution without proper hearings:
Splitting words so as to break (the force of) the laws; confounding names so as to change what had been definitely settled; practicing corrupt ways so as to throw government into confusion; all guilty of these things were put to death. Using licentious music; strange garments; wonderful contrivances and extraordinary implements, thus raising doubts among the multitudes: all who used or formed such things were put to death. Those who were persistent in hypocritical conduct and disputations in hypocritical speeches; who studied what was wrong, and went on to do so more and more, and whoever increasingly followed what was wrong so as to bewilder the multitude; these were put to death. Those who gave false reports about (appearances of) spirits, about seasons and days, about consultings of the tortoise-shell and stalks, so as to perplex the multitudes: these were put to death.a
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a Ibid., Vol.1, pp. 237-8.
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of these four categories, three were conveyed through speech behavior!
On the one hand, suspicion and censorship discouraged ordinary people from demonstrating their responsiveness through speech. On the other hand, they forced the more tactful people into persuading with careful and concealed planning. Thus, more suspicion and censorship were imposed onto those who were articulate. A climate which discouraged open communication thus came into being. This sort of vicious cycle, although it did not affect the practice of persuasion directly, might have had an even more devastating and lasting effect.
The common people were allowed an extremely passive role in the process of government. They were taught the laws and the policies and were expected to obey. The only feedback they could possibly offer was to report if the policies worked and how well. However, it was not the common people themselves or their elected representatives who provided the reports, but the officers designated by the Imperial court who represented the ruling class. Even among the ruling class, the officers, one did not easily express his viewpoint unless requested to do so, and, even then, cautiously.
However, this did not mean that this tightly structured institution did not provide channels for persuasive communication. The channels did exist and were rather
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formalized. In all "up-down" relationships, such as prince-minister, father-son, husband-wife and elder younger, position carried extraordinary power and authority when the person in the higher position wanted to persuade persons in the lower position. Thus, it was natural for persons in the lower position to obey, to suppress their wills and interest so that the higher persons could have their way.
The system also provided for persuasion upwards, including the proper ways to do so:
According to the rules of propriety for a minister, he should not remonstrate with his ruler openly. If he have thrice remonstrated and is still not listened to, he should leave (his service). In the service of his parents by a son, if he have thrice remonstrated and is still not listened to, he should follow (his remonstrance) with loud crying and tears.a
Also,
One in the position of a minister and inferior might remonstrate (with his ruler), but not speak ill of him; might withdraw (from the state), but not (remain and ) hate (its head); might praise him, but not flatter; might remonstrate, but not give himself haughty airs (when his advice was followed). b
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a Ibid., Vol.1, p.114.
b Ibid., Vol.2, p. 73.
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Confucius also noted on the manner of persuading parents: "In serving your father and mother you ought to dissuade them from doing wrong in the gentlest way. If you see your advice being ignored, you should not become disobedient but remain reverent.. You should not complain even if in so doing you wear yourself out. "a
While the ministers in their duties were required to advise against the prince, or the emperor, the latter did not always take the advice seriously. Often the opposite was true. Bayle's observation from the seventeenth century France that "man rarely acts according to his principles, but according to his passions" was certainly true for the despotic monarchies. in ancient China.b The prince often listened only to those he liked to listen to, and listened only for what he liked to hear. The minister should consider himself fortunate if his advice was received only with indifference. In many worse situations his own life and the lives of his entire family were at stake.
Han Fei Tzu in his famous treatise "The Difficulties of Persuasion" observed:
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a D. C. Lau, The Analects, p.74.
b George R. Havens, The Age of Ideas: From Reaction to Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France, New York: The Free Press, 1955, p.39.
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"If you gain the ruler's love, your wisdom will be appreciated and you will enjoy his favor as well; but if he hates you, not only will your wisdom be rejected, but you will be regarded as a criminal and thrust aside.... The beast called the dragon can be tamed and trained to the point where you may ride on its back. But on the underside of its throat it has scales a foot in diameter that curl back from the body, any one who chances to brush against them is sure to die. The ruler of men too has his bristling scales. Only if a speaker can avoid brushing against them will he have any hope for success." a
Indeed, in those days, a minister or a subordinate did assume a very high stake in persuading.
However, ministers were not the only ones prescribed the duty to persuade. While ministers were to persuade within the court under a ruler, emissaries, or diplomats, were sent to persuade in the courts of other rulers. Again, they must observe a set of rules to conduct them selves properly. For example, "In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed. 'b "When one prince sends a message to another, the messenger speaks of himself as 'the ancient of my poor ruler". c
Here, the purpose and dynamics might be different,
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a Burton Watson, trans., "On the Difficulty of Persuasion", in Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu and Han Fei Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press, 1967, Part on Han Fei Tzu, p.79
b James Legge, Li Ki, Vol., p.63.
c Ibid., Vol.1, p.112.
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but the stakes were just as high, if not higher. They needed not only to court favor of their own princes, to avoid brushing against the "bristling scales", but also of the rulers whom they were sent to persuade.
In the second half of the Chou when the established order began to decay, the boundaries between the nobles and common people were no longer impenetrable. The nobles of conquered states were banished into the ranks of common people and the talented and learned of the common people could be presented to the court with proper introduction. This latter group, often called Shih (士), became a new breed of self-made persuaders whose activities made possible the vivacious political scene of the Warring States and the blooming of hundred schools of philosophers.
Self-made or prescribed by court protocol, these persuaders persuaded openly in court and exerted their influences. However, this was not the only form of persuasive force at work.
The target of persuasive activities was the person who had the power to make decisions. The more powerful the person was, the more eager the persuasive effort might be. Channels through which he exerted his power were also channels through which he could be persuaded. In ancient China, the ruler had the ultimate, if not the absolute power. He not only had power in court, but also at home.
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The persuasive attempts were made not only in court, but at home, too. In court, he dealt with the "legitimate persuaders": his ministers, emissaries and other self-made persuaders. At home, he was under influence of the other "illegitimate persuaders": his women, the relatives and close servants.
According to prescribed ritual, there should be strict separation between domestic and public affairs. "The men should not speak of what belongs to the inside nor the women of what belongs to the outside.... Things spoken inside should not go out, words spoken outside should not come in." a But this was not always easy to do, least of all in the households of powerful rulers.
Over and over again, women were involved in state affairs, either used as gifts to court favor of certain rulers or as persuaders, after having successfully gained the favor of the rulers.
The privilege to persuade in cases of those self-made and other "illegitimate" persuaders was not given, but won. The Shih won the privilege by their talents and gallantry, and others by relation and seduction.
However, this privilege won did not guarantee that they had an easier time or greater success in persuading. Whoever became involved in any persuasion was taking a risk.
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a Ibid., Vol.2, pp.454-5.
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The rulers, when pleased, offered rewards in terms of power, wealth and fame, abundantly. When crossed, bestowed punishment relentlessly.
The only goal of all successful persuasion was to be listened to. What the persuadee valued and treasured was what the persuaders must appeal to. The maintenance of the status quo and the interest of the ruler were held supreme. "Truth, " which was so highly regarded as an ideal goal for rhetorical pursuit in the Western world, was forced to take a back seat in ancient China.
By way of summary, in ancient China, the practice of persuasion was highly restricted and regulated. In this tightly stratified society, where position carried extra ordinary power and authority, it was much easier for people in the higher positions to carry out persuasion toward people in the lower position. When the direction of persuasion was reversed: when a son wanted to persuade his parents, or when a minister wanted to persuade his ruler, they must observe the code prescribed by li.
Persuasion in court, however, was much more complex than li could prescribe, especially when the structure upheld by li was disintegrating. Self-made peripatetic persuaders joined the arena where ministers, emissaries and other people who had access to the ruler were already active. Their objectives were to have their proposals
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listened to. And pleasing the listener was a prerequisite to achieve that objective.
D. A NOTE ON TRANSLATION
The translation and the ensuing analysis of Kuei Ku Tzu is based on the copy edited by Ch'in En-fu and published in Chiang-tu (江都) in 1806. This is regarded as the best copy available for the following two reasons:
First, it was taken from the Shu-ku T'ang Collection (述古堂藏書) and was originally from a copy of the Sung Dynasty. Compared with all other existing editions which were based on the Taoist Canon, it contained fewer obvious errors. Particularly in Chapter three, Nei-chien, Ch'in found that Taoist edition had omitted 412 characters of the body of text and the annotation.
In addition to Ch'in, this edition was also edited by Lu Wen-chao. Both Lu and Ch'in were renowned philologists. According to Mao Chung-hsiang, an ancient text, once edited by any of them, "can be considered as 'Shan Ren' 善本 (quality edition), "and therefore, "definitely usable", a
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a Mao, Ku Shu, p.89.
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This 1806 edition was reprinted in Taipei by Kuang Wen Book Company in 1975.
Since this is a study of Kuei Ku Tzu's persuasion, the second unit of the Kuei Ku Tzu which was considered forgery from some later time and which deals primarily with personal cultivation in religious Taoism and Buddhism tradition, will not be translated. I shall translate the first unit in full into English. When appropriate, part of T'ao Hung-ch'ing's annotation and Hsiao Teng-fu's notes will also be incorporated.
Ever since the first effort was initiated in rendering Buddhist literature into Chinese, the "Chinese Language and Foreign Ideas" has been a problem.a How does one introduce an idea into a language which does not have the vocabulary for it? This problem is particularly complicated due to the nature of the Chinese language.
Chinese language, being "an uninflected isolating langauge... [is] structurally ... most unsuitable for the expression of [the foreign] ideas, for it was deficient in the notations of number, tense, gender, and relationships. ...Moreover, Chinese characters as individual symbols.
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a Arthur F. Wright, "The Chinese Language and Foreign Ideas," in his Studies in Chinese Thought, Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1953, pp.286-304. The major ideas and the various quotations from this and the following pages are taken from this article. The bracketed number following each quote indicates the page number from which the passage is taken.
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had a wide range of meanings accumulated in the long history of the language plus a still wider range of allusive meanings derived from their use in a richly developed literary tradition" [p.287].
Translators have dealt with this problem in three ways. First is "translation": "to choose an existing Chinese word which seems to have an equivalent meaning." The advantage of this device is that "it introduces the unknown in terms of the known and mitigates the strangeness and the outlandishness of the foreign idea by expressing it in words that are familiar...symbols" [p.288]. The problem with this approach is that "a key term tended to lose its specific [Indian] meaning and to take on the accumulated meanings of the Chinese term" [p.289].
One alternative was transliteration which circumvented the problem of translation but created problems of its own. "Since the foreign words so rendered are usually polysyllabic, transliteration creates units of vocabulary which are awkward and attenuated. In the classical style they destroy the compactness and balance of a sentence; in a vernacular style they are destructive of rhythm.....One of the disadvantages of transliteration, then, is uncouthness" [p.296].
The third method is somewhat of a compromise of the first two. Neologism is a "translation into Chinese characters used in specified technical sense or new or rare
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combinations of characters" [p.291]. Thus, "... by its very strangeness, is a signal to the reader that it has special meaning" [p.294]. It may still produce some uncouthness, but not so brutally uncouth.
Now, the effort at translation from Chinese is in a reversed direction, and the problem is accordingly reversed. From a language which is non-specific about number, gender, tense and relationship to one which is. But the creation of such relationships often results in limitation and confusion. And then, when some important concept entailing a wide range of meanings in the original Chinese fails to find an equivalent concept in the existing vocabulary of English, a translater also has three choices.
One choice is choosing an existing English word that has part of the meaning and "sacrificing" the rest to render a smooth, but somewhat diminished reading. A second choice is transliteration coupled with abundant annotation and explanation. A most significant example is the translation of Tao. There is some degree of awkwardness in doing this. But the problem perhaps is not severe as foreign ideas transliterated into Chinese. As Chinese words are monosyllabic, the incorporation of Chinese sounds into an English sentence is not likely to alter radically its structure and rhythm.
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Finally, neologism is also a viable choice. By "preserving the verbal images and conceits of the original text, this effort can result in 'barbarization' of normal English idiom."a Within a certain limitation, it is nonetheless a desirable approach to this difficult problem.
For the translation of Kuei Ku Tzu, I will strive for the rendition of a close but smooth reading. Where the original Chinese cannot be rendered in a convenient equivalence in English, transliteration is used. The names of persons and books are Romanized in Wade-Gile system, followed by the Chinese characters. Where these names appear for the first time, the approximate dates of their existence will also follow in parenthesis. The transliterated terms, except personal names, will be underlined. When paraphrases or words that are not part of the original text which are added in order to produce meaningful and smooth reading, they are put in brackets.
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a Richard Mather, trans., Shih-shuo Hsin Yu, p.xxxi.
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E. PLAN FOR THE THESIS
There will be three parts to the remainder of this thesis. Chapter Two is the translation of the first unit of Kuei Ku Tzu which consists of twelve chapters. Chapter Three is devoted to a discussion of Kuei Ku Tzu, using some theories and concepts in (rhetorical) persuasion from the Western tradition. Chapter Four, as the conclusion, will provide a summary, some reflections upon Kuei Ku Tzu in conjunction with some relevant ideas from both Chinese and Western experience, and, finally, suggestions for further studies.
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please continue to Part II on page 48
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