鐔津文集 7.37

7.37

章表民始至自京師。謂京師士人高歐陽永叔之文。翕然皆慕而為之。坐客悅聽。客有一生。遽曰。文興則天下治也。潛子謂客曰。歐陽氏之文言文耳。天下治在乎人文之興。人文資言文發揮。而言文藉人文為其根本。仁義禮智信人文也。章句文字言文也。文章得本則其所出自正。猶孟子曰取之左右逢其原。歐陽氏之文大率在仁信禮義之本也。諸子當慕永叔之根本可也。胡屑屑徒摸擬詞章體勢而已矣。周末列國嬴秦時孰不工文。而聖人之道廢。人文不足觀也。蓋其文不孰本乃爾。孔子無位其道不行。病此不得已。徒以六經春秋之文（或云春秋六經）載之以遺後世。故曰我欲載之空言不如。見於行事之深切著明也。聖人豈特事其空文乎。君臣父子師徒朋友。其文詞有本仁義禮信。靄然天下不治未之有也。易曰。觀乎人文則天下化成。豈不然哉。坐客聞吾說。皆諤然不辯（本或從辯）。

When Zhang Biaomin first arrived from the capital, he said that scholars in the capital held the prose of Ouyang Yongshu in high esteem, and that everyone admiringly imitated it. The guests seated about listened with delight. Among the guests was a student who blurted out: “When literature flourishes, all under Heaven is governed!”

Qianzi said to the guest: “The prose of Master Ouyang is merely verbal literature. The good order of all under Heaven lies in the flourishing of human culture. Human culture relies on verbal literature to be expounded, while verbal literature depends on human culture as its root. Benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness are human culture; chapters, sentences, and words are verbal literature. When literary composition attains its root, what emerges from it is naturally upright—just as Mencius said: ‘Drawing upon it from left and right, one meets with its source.’ Master Ouyang’s writing generally rests on the foundation of benevolence, trustworthiness, ritual propriety, and righteousness. You gentlemen should emulate Yongshu’s foundation; that would be proper! Why trouble yourselves merely to copy the forms and stylistic postures of rhetorical phrasing?

Toward the end of the Zhou dynasty, during the Warring States period and the time of the Qin of Ying, who was not skilled in literature? Yet the Way of the sages was abandoned, and their human culture was not worth beholding. It was simply that their literature had no mature foundation—it was as bad as that! Confucius held no office and his Way was not put into practice; distressed by this, having no choice, he merely used the literature of the Six Classics and the *Spring and Autumn Annals* to record it and leave it to later generations. Therefore he said: ‘I wished to record it in empty words, but that is not as deeply incisive and brightly clear as seeing it in actual deeds.’ How could a sage specifically devote himself to empty literature? When the literary words of sovereign and minister, father and son, teacher and disciple, and friend and friend are rooted in benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety, and trustworthiness, harmony fills the realm, and that all under Heaven should not be well-governed has never yet occurred. The *Book of Changes* says: ‘Contemplate human culture, and all under Heaven will be transformed and completed.’ How could this not be so?”

When the seated guests heard my discourse, they were all astonished and could not debate it.