Yang Zhu, Chapter 12, Part 1

SELF-SACRIFICE AND SELF-AGGRANDIZEMENT

YANG CHU said:

"Po-chêng-tse-kao would not part with a hair of his body for the benefit of others. He quitted his country and became a ploughman. The great Yü did not profit by his own body, which grew quite emaciated.

"If the ancients by injuring a single hair could have rendered a service to the world, they would not have done it; and had the universe been offered to a single person, he would not have accepted it.

"As nobody would damage even a hair, and nobody would do a favour to the world, the world was in a perfect state."

Ch’in-Tse asked Yang Chu:

"If by pulling out a hair of your body you would aid mankind, would you do it?"

Yang Chu answered:

"Mankind is surely not to be helped by a single hair."

Ch’in-Tse said:

"But supposing it possible, would you do it?"

Yang Chu gave no answer.

Translator of Yang Zhu's Garden of Pleasure is Anton Forke. If you missed any posts in this series, please utilize the Yang Zhu label below.