廣弘明集 5.42

5.42

The goodness of the world is one, yet it is now teacher, now monstrous; the correct way of the world is one, yet it is said that the correct turns into the bizarre. This contradiction is something my humble view cannot fathom. Sheng, courtesy name Anguo, served the Jin dynasty as Attendant Gentleman and Director of the Palace Library. In his youth he roamed through the ancient classics and kept historical records in his heart. Therefore he said: 'Worthy men and sages are profound and distant, understood beyond words; benevolence and love proceed from oneself to mold and influence the myriad things; in their gradual permeation, nothing surpasses the classics and histories.' He authored the Jinyang chunqiu in over thirty fascicles, evaluating Laozi as being of the class of middling worthies. Thus we know that when composing texts for the Yin, his ancestral lineage was based on evidence. Master Ji said: 'Laozi studied the arts of the nine immortals from Master Juan.' Investigating gymnastics and nourishing life, these words have proof. As for a sage, it is not said that he learns. Hence the saying goes: 'Those who are born with knowledge are the highest; those who learn and so acquire knowledge come next.' What position did Wang [Bi] and He [Yan] occupy to comprehend such grand designs? Therefore, Ban Gu's classification of people into nine ranks placed Confucius and his peers in the upper-upper rank, all of which are sages; Li Er and his peers were placed in the middle-upper rank, all of which are worthies. Among sages there are supreme sages and secondary sages; among worthies there are great worthies and middling worthies. Because their spiritual capacity can be sharp or dull, the functioning of their wisdom proceeds gradually or suddenly. Sheng described Lao[zi] as not being a great worthy, noting his leisurely detachment and self-discipline, and his inability to universally benefit the world: he sat watching the decline of Zhou and fled to the western border; traveling as far as the Qin lands, he died in Fufeng and was buried in Huaili. That he was not an immortal who fled heaven is truly credible.