弘明集 4.42

4.42

釋曰。情仁義者寡。利仁義者眾。聞之莊書。非直孤說。未獲詳挍遽見彈責。夫在情既少。利之者多。不能遺賢曷云忘報。實吾前後勤勤以為不得配擬二儀者耳。復非篤論所應據正。若樂施忘報即為體仁。忘報而施便為合義。可去欲字并除向名。在斯不遠。誰不是慕。

[Zheng Daozi] explains: That those who genuinely feel benevolence and righteousness are few, while those who find them advantageous are many, is heard in the writings of Zhuangzi; it is not merely an isolated assertion. Before I could examine it in detail, I was hastily criticized. Now, if those who genuinely feel it are few and those who find it advantageous are many, and one cannot forget worthy men, how can one speak of forgetting recompense? This is indeed what I have diligently maintained throughout: that such cannot be matched with the Two Modes (Heaven and Earth). Furthermore, this is not what a serious discourse should rely upon as standard. If delighting in giving and forgetting recompense constitutes embodying benevolence, and giving while forgetting recompense conforms with righteousness, then one may discard the word “desire” and eliminate the name “aspiring toward.” If it is right here and not far off, who would not admire it?