Opening Casket (1)

1 In common people’s opinion, to prevent from the thief ransacking our houses and stealing our wealth, we used to bind the casket tightly, install iron bar before the windows and fasten our doors.

2 However, to a real grand larcenist, all those measures are useless. He carries the bag and casket on his shoulder, in which he instead is afraid if the casket is firmed or not; the binding is tight or not; the lock is steady or not.

3 In this viewpoint, our measures of prevention are done in fact for grand larcenist’s stealing. We may be bold to say that all the intelligence and knowledge we learned which are supposed designing to protect us, are ready for the grand larcenist’s stealing.

4 The so-called sage’s instruction and knowledge are not exception.

5 Let’s take some instances which happened in history to prove the rightness of the viewpoint.

6 Once upon a time, the State of Qi, covering two hundreds square li, was possessed of abundant resource, for example, the large population, dense cities and towns, many straight and tidy roads. The structure of a regular country should have according to the rule of the sage, such as state-temples, government and school, the sate of Qi equipped them all completely.


7 However, Tian Chengzi someday killed the King of Qi and then usurped his throne. On ascending the throne, he succeeded to the policies, laws and regulations from the King of Qi. Though people knew that Tian Chengzi was a bandit and murder who had killed the King of Qi, nobody stood out against him because he succeeded to the old governmental systems that were said to be built by the sage. He virtually became the King of Qi. Therefore, his throne was steady as the Yao’s and Shun’s. Small states dared not condemn him and the big states also did not promote the righteousness to penalize him.

8 Hence, Tian Chengzi’s descendants had rule the State of Qi for twelve generations with nobody doubting their validity. As we say, isn’t it the same that it is safe for the larcenist to steal the wealth and with holding the casket together?

9 In stealing the State of Qi, they can keep their lives without being convicted as a murder and enjoy high position and great wealth if they steal the constitutions and systems at the same time.

10 We may think it over carefully and then know that: Was there anything of the so-called great wisdom, knowledge and law that were not ready for the grand larcenists and didn’t hoard up for their wealth? Was there any sage whose instructions were not ready for the larcenists and their grand cases?

11 Let’s take some instances about failure. Once upon a time Longfeng was beheaded, Bigan was disemboweled, Changhong was sliced to death and Zixu was drowned. The four all were kind men, sages and gentlemen but they were too veracious and couldn’t escape of being killed.

12 Someday one of the big Robber Zhi’s disciples asked him if there was Tao that we as robber should abide by?

13 Robber Zhi replied seriously, “What the Tao you mentioned must be the codes of conduct and the moral rule. The codes of conduct exist in all fields, no exception to our job. ”

14 The sage of robber is the one who is fair to divide the robbed things and treat his mates by no tricks.

15 In robbing bank, he takes the lead to rush in and come out in the last turn to protect all mates, which is the righteousness.

16 He can analyze the situations in advance and makes out a considerate plan, which is the wisdom.

17 He is fair in rewarding mates in the terms of everyone’s contribution and his mates have no complaint, which is the benevolence.

18 You can’t be a real grand larcenist without the five characteristics.”

19 From the words of Robber Zhi, we understand that good men certainly need the Tao of sages to regulate them while such people as Robber Zhi also need the Tao of sages to be their codes of conduct.

20 In this world, kind men are few while the greedy men as Robber Zhi are found everywhere. So we may say so: the Tao of sages benefits this world less but spoils it more.

21 The saying goes like this: the teeth without lips suffer from direct cold wind. The King of Chu thought that the wine that the State of Lu sent to him was too mild, by which he consider the state of Lu less sincere and courtesy. So the State of Lu sent army to attack Handan, the capital of Chu. The conflict almost for nothing resulted from the meaningless 'courtesy'.

22 We must beware of the bane that the Tao of sage caused.

23 Based on such recognition, we could say aloud that the sage is the source of our robber resorting.

24 So we should desert the sages and release the larcenists in jails, only by which the world would become peaceful virtually.

25 You may see that when the rivers get dry, the valleys follow dry; when the hills are spaded flat, the abysses are stuffed flat; when the sage is cleaned, the bandit and gangster disappear.

26 If we expect to have more sages to govern our country, we would have more larcenists like Robber Zhi who prevail to bully people in our society.

27 People invented Dou measure for fairness in weighing of rice grain but the bandit robbed of it as well as the rice. Officials used the seal, the symbol and the small flag as the pass to distinguish enemy but do they really work? Weren’t they being stolen and used by the enemy?

28 People in the society mostly take the benevolence and righteousness as the standard of behaviors, but some malicious people make use of the benevolence and righteousness to feather their nest. In fact, the benevolence and righteousness are being embezzled.

29 It is so, isn’t it? Let us watch something happening around us. A person would be sentenced to death if he robbed a bank. However, if he stole a state where people advocated the benevolence and righteousness and abided by the constitutions and the laws of government, he would be the steady ruler of the state. Do we deem that all makes this happened, is because the new king steal the benevolence and righteousness, as well as the wisdom of sage and the constitutions system at the same time?

30 Making it clear, we may declare that those who abide by the codes of conduct of bandit would become the king and dukes someday. If we deprived them of the high position and wealth, those who bend their mind on the stealing benevolence, measure tool and high position could not procure the loot and receive severe punishment on the contrary, so their ideas of stealing possibly are given up before they take any actions.

31 It is essentially sages’ fault that we can’t stop those larcenists overrunning around us.