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At the Mercy of Ants - Part 2

Run with the horses and get trampled. It's impossible to get anywhere. Mount the chariot and take the reigns. The horses settle under the yoke. Bole trained them, Wangliang harnessed them, an enlightened master called for them. He did none of the work of training or tackling, but he drove them a thousand miles, admired by every expert charioteer.

The way of the prince is to do nothing but to get it done, to decide but not to play favourites. As soon as he does something, he's criticized, and when he does favours, he's courted. If he can't take criticism, he can be bullied, and if he can't resist flattery, he can be seduced.

In either case, when the power to appoint is at the mercy of others, it's impossible to maintain institutions. Since good foundations don't crumble, promises to preserve them mean nothing. He can keep them only through the grace of God.

They'll say he's reliable when he doesn't act impulsively. They'll say he's confident when he doesn't let it get to him. They'll feel safe when he's self-possessed, tolerant of others. They'll succeed when he manifests confidence, embodies forebearance.

That's why he doesn't command them, doesn't force them, but something motivates them, something makes them. He doesn't doubt their competence, doesn't do the work for them. 使 He respects rank and expects results, orders the government to run itself. He leads the way in ignorance, he's the boss to prevent abuse.

And just like that, his team is well in hand.

Notes

I started looking at this passage because it contains part of an obscure term () that also appears in chapter 5 of the Daodejing. I also looked closely at a passage in Lu Shi Chun Qiu that contains the full phrase (), and it turned out to be another warning on the dangers of micro-managing. The passage goes into some detail on how meritocracies end up with snarky, exhausted leadership, and adds a pointed question that makes me think it's not a stretch to interpret the full phrase to mean something like venting frustration on subordinates or taking it out on subordinates.

As the beached whale is at the mercy of ants, the activist prince is at the mercy of , office holders, bureaucrats, public servants, maybe the deep state, who knows? In any case, they eat him alive.

Doing a servant's work impairs a leader's , which I've chosen to interpret as judgement.

The organization the prince leads is the , the hundred departments, in which the are employed, and the word appears again in the punchline at the end of the chapter. Since the second half of the chapter compares the enlightened leader to a charioteer, is his team.

The person in question, what I've interpreted here as prince, is , a leader of men. While the word doesn't necessarily imply gender, and this passage applies equally well to any hierarchical organization of superior and subordinate, master and servant, boss and employee, I took the liberty of being specific about gender and rank to give the passage context in a feudal past.

Vocabulary

臼 134 + 8
and; with; to; for; give, grant
馬 187 + 0
horse; surname; KangXi radical 187
zhú
辵 162 + 7
chase, expel; one by one
zǒu
走 156 + 0
walk, go on foot; run; leave
jīn
竹 118 + 6
muscles; tendons
jué
糸 120 + 6
cut, sever, break off, terminate
一 1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
néng
肉 130 + 6
to be able; can, permitted to; ability
又 29 + 2
extend; reach; come up to; and
乙 5 + 2
also; classical final particle of strong affirmation or identity
shàng
一 1 + 2
top; superior, highest; go up, send up
chē
車 159 + 0
cart, vehicle; carry in cart
shè
手 64 + 18
take in, absorb; act as deputy; administer, assist
pèi
車 159 + 15
bridle of horse, reins
歹 78 + 2
die; dead; death
héng
行 144 + 10
measure, weigh, judge, consider
xià
一 1 + 2
under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
人 9 + 5
older brother; father's elder brother; senior male 'sire'; feudal rank 'count'
木 75 + 11
happy, glad; enjoyable; music
xiāng
目 109 + 4
mutual, reciprocal, each other
zhī
丿 4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
wáng
玉 96 + -1
king, ruler; royal; surname
liáng
艮 138 + 1
good, virtuous, respectable
彳 60 + 8
drive, ride; chariot; manage
míng
日 72 + 4
bright, light, brilliant; clear
zhǔ
丶 3 + 4
master, chief owner; host; lord
qiú
水 85 + 2
seek; demand, request; beseech
火 86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
láo
力 19 + 10
labor, toil, do manual work
ér
而 126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but
zhì
至 133 + 3
send, deliver, present; cause
qiān
十 24 + 1
thousand; many, numerous; very; (Cant.) a cheater, swindler
里 166 + 0
unit of distance; village; lane
shàn
口 30 + 9
good, virtuous, charitable, kind
chéng
丿 4 + 9
ride, ascend; avail oneself of; numerary adjunct for vehicles
rén
人 9 + 0
man; people; mankind; someone else
xián
貝 154 + 8
virtuous, worthy, good; able
jūn
口 30 + 4
sovereign, monarch, ruler, chief, prince
dào
辵 162 + 9
path, road, street; method, way
wèi
火 86 + 5
do, handle, govern, act; be
yǒu
月 74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
jiù
尢 43 + 9
just, simply; to come, go to; to approach, near
立 117 + 0
stand; let stand; establish, set
hǎo
女 38 + 3
good, excellent, fine; well
卩 26 + 5
promptly, quickly, immediately
言 149 + 13
consult, talk over, discuss
言 149 + 9
flatter, truckle
口 30 + 2
may, can, -able; possibly
duó
大 37 + 11
take by force, rob, snatch
yòu
言 149 + 7
persuade, entice, induce; guide
大 37 + 1
man, male adult, husband; those
人 9 + 3
by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
jiàn
廴 54 + 6
build, establish, erect, found
zhì
刀 18 + 6
system; establish; overpower
方 70 + 4
in, at, on; interjection alas!
zhě
老 125 + 4
that which; he who; those who
chí
手 64 + 6
sustain, support; hold, grasp
guó
囗 31 + 8
nation, country, nation-state
攴 66 + 5
ancient, old; reason, because
手 64 + 5
uproot, pull out
yán
言 149 + 0
words, speech; speak, say
xíng
彡 59 + 4
form, shape, appearance
wéi
口 30 + 8
only; yes
shén
示 113 + 5
spirit, god, supernatural being
huà
匕 21 + 2
change, convert, reform; -ize
牛 93 + 4
thing, substance, creature
艸 140 + 7
do not, is not, can not; negative
shèng
力 19 + 10
victory; excel, be better than
zhōng
丨 2 + 3
central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
欠 76 + 7
desire, want, long for; intend
chū
凵 17 + 3
go out, send out; stand; produce
wèi
言 149 + 9
say, tell; call, name; be called
lài
贝 154 + 9
rely, depend on; accuse falsely
wài
夕 36 + 2
out, outside, external; foreign
xié
邑 163 + 4
wrong, evil, depraved, vicious, perverse, heterodox
入 11 + 0
enter, come in(to), join
門 169 + 3
shut, close; obstruct, block up
人 9 + 5
what, why, where, which, how
shì
亅 6 + 7
affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
jié
竹 118 + 7
knot, node, joint; section
chéng
戈 62 + 2
completed, finished, fixed
yòng
用 101 + 0
use, employ, apply, operate; use
人 9 + 4
cut down, subjugate, attack
xún
彳 60 + 9
obey, comply with, follow
míng
口 30 + 3
name, rank, title, position
貝 154 + 4
one's responsibility, duty
shí
宀 40 + 11
real, true, solid, honest
使
shǐ
人 9 + 6
cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador
自 132 + 0
self, private, personal; from
口 30 + 2
take charge of, control, manage; officer
zhī
矢 111 + 3
know, perceive, comprehend
jìn
示 113 + 8
restrict, prohibit, forbid
艸 140 + 5
small, petty; harsh, rigorous
女 38 + 3
if, supposing; as if; like, as
止 77 + 2
this, these; in this case, then
刀 18 + 7
rule, law, regulation; grades
bǎi
白 106 + 1
one hundred; numerous, many
guān
宀 40 + 5
official, public servant
口 30 + 3
each, individually, every, all
suǒ
戶 63 + 4
place, location; numerary adjunct
kǎo
老 125 + 0
examine, test; investigate
shù
攴 66 + 11
number; several; count; fate
qióng
穴 116 + 10
poor, destitute, impoverished
八 12 + 6
his, her, its, their; that
zhì
日 72 + 8
wisdom, knowledge, intelligence