Sacred Texts  Taoism  Index  Previous  Next 

(A Description of Evil-Doers.)

Yet[28] there are some people whose behavior is unrighteous. (317-322)

Their deportment is irrational.[29] (323-326)

In evil they delight.[30] (327-330)

With brutality they do harm and damage. (331-334)

Insidiously they injure the good and the law-abiding. (335-338)

Stealthily they despise their superiors and parents. (339-342)

They disregard their seniors and rebel against those whom they serve. (343-350)

They deceive the uninformed. (351-354)

They slander their fellow-students. (355-358)

Liars they are, bearing false witness, deceivers, and hypocrites; malevolent exposers of kith and kin[31]; mischievous and malignant; not humane; cruel and irrational; self-willed. (359-374)

{p. 55}

Right and wrong they confound. Their avowals and disavowals are not as they ought to be.[32] (375-382)

They oppress their subordinates and appropriate their merit. (383-386)

They cringe to superiors to curry favor. (387-390)

Insentient to favors received, they remember their hatred and are never satisfied. (391-398)

They hold in contempt the lives of Heaven's people.[33] (399-402)

They agitate and disturb the public order. (403-406)

They patronize the unscrupulous and do harm to the inoffensive. (407-413)

They murder men to take their property, or have them ousted to take their places. (414-422)

They slay the yielding and slaughter those who have surrendered. (423-426)

They malign the righteous and dispossess the wise. (427-430)

They molest orphans and wrong widows. (431-434)

Disregarders of law they are, and bribe takers. They call crooked what is straight, straight what is crooked, and what is light they make heavy. (435-450)

When witnessing an execution, they aggravate it by harshness. (451-454)

{p. 56}

Though they know their mistakes they do not correct them; though they know the good they do not do it. (455-462)

In their own guilt they implicate others.[34] (463-466)

They impede and obstruct the professions and crafts.[35] (467-470)

They vilify and disparage the holy and the Wise. (471-474)

They ridicule and scorn reason and virtue.[36] (475-478)

They shoot the flying, chase the running, expose the hiding, surprise nestlings, close up entrance holes, upset nests, injure the pregnant, and break the egg. (479-494)

They wish others to incur loss. (495-498)

They disparage others that achieve merit. (499-502)

They endanger others to save themselves. (503-506)

They impoverish others for their own gain. (507-510)

For worthless things they exchange what is valuable. (511-514)

For private ends they neglect public duties. (515-518)

They appropriate the accomplishments of their neighbor and conceal his good qualities. They make known his foibles and expose his

{p. 57}

secrets. They squander his property and cause divisions in his family.[37] (519-542)

They attack that which is dear to others. (543-547)

They assist others in doing wrong. (548-551)

Their unbridled ambition makes for power, and through the degradation of others they seek success. (552-558)

They destroy the crops and fields of others. (559-562)

They break up betrothals. (563-566)

Improperly they have grown rich, and withal they remain vulgar. (567-570)

Improperly they shirk[38] without shame. (571-574)

They claim having done acts of favor and disclaim being at fault. (575-578)

They give away evil in marriage[39] and they sell wrongs. (579-582)

They sell and buy vainglory. (583-586)

They conceal and keep a treacherous heart. (s87-59o)

They crush that which is excellent in others. (591-594)

They are careful in hiding their shortcomings. (595-598)

Being on a high horse they threaten and intimidate. (599-6012)

{p. 58}

With unrestrained barbarism they kill and stab. (603-606)

Recklessly they cut cloth to waste.[40] (607-610)

Without festive occasions they prepare cattle for food.[41] (611-614)

They scatter and waste the five cereals.[42] (615-618)

They trouble and annoy many people. (619-622)

They break into others' houses to take their property and valuables. (623-630)

They misdirect the water and light fires to destroy the people's homes. (631-638)

They upset others' plans so as to prevent their success. (639-646)

They spoil a worker's utensils to hamper his efficiency. (647-654)

When seeing the success and prosperity of others they wish them to run down and fail. (655-662)

Seeing the wealth of others, they wish them bankrupt and ruined. (663-670)

They cannot see beauty without cherishing in their hearts thoughts of seduction. (671-678)

Being indebted to others for goods or property, they wish their creditors to die. (679-686)

When their requests are not granted they begin to curse and wax hateful. (687-694)

{p. 59}

Seeing their neighbor lose his vantage they gossip of his failure. (695-702)

Seeing a man imperfect in his bodily features they ridicule him. (703-711)

Observing the talent and ability of a man worthy of praise, they suppress the truth. (712-720)

They use charms[43] for the sake of controlling others.[44] (721-724)

They employ drugs to kill trees. (725-728)

Ill-humored and angry they are towards teachers and instructors. (729-732)

They resist and provoke father and elders. (733-736)

With violence they seize, with violence they demand. (737-740)

They delight in fraud, they delight in robbery, they make raids and commit depredations to get rich. (741-748)

By artful tricks they seek promotion. (749-752)

They reward and punish without justice. (753-756)

They indulge in comforts and enjoyments without measure. (757-761)

They harass and tyrannize over their subordinates. (762-765)

They terrify and threaten to overawe others. (766-768)

{p. 60}

They accuse heaven and find fault with man. (769-772)

They blame the wind and rail at the rain. (773-776)

They stir up party strife and law suits. (777-780)

Unprovoked they join factious associations.[45] (781-784)

They rely on their wives' and other women's gossip. (785-788)

They disobey the instructions of father and mother. (789-792)

They take up the new and forget the old. (793-796)

Their mouth asserts what their heart denies. (797-800)

Shamelessly greedy they are for wealth. (801-804)

They deceive their father and their superiors. (805-808)

They invent and circulate vile talk, traducing and slandering innocent men. (809-816)

They slander others, yet themselves feign honesty. (817-820)

They rail at spirits and claim to be right themselves. (821-824)

They reject a good cause and espouse a wrong cause, spurning what is near, longing for the distant.[46] (825-832)

{p. 61}

They point at heaven and earth[47] to make them witnesses of their mean thoughts. (833-839)

They even call on bright spirits to make them witness their degrading deeds. (840-846)

When they ever give charity they regret it afterwards. (847-850)

They borrow and accept without intention to return. (851-854)

Beyond their due lot they scheme and contrive. (855-858)

Above their means they plot and plan. (859-862)

Their lusty desires exceed all measure. (863-866)

Their heart is venomous while they show a compassionate face. (867-870)

With filthy food they feed the poor. (871-874)

With heresies they mislead others. (875-878)

They shorten the foot, they narrow the measure, they lighten the scales, they reduce the peck. (879-886)

They adulterate the genuine, and they seek profit[48] in illegitimate business. (887-894)

They compel respectable people to become lowly. (895-898)

They betray and deceive the simple-minded. (899-902)

They are greedy and covetous without satiety. (903-906)

{p. 62}

They curse and swear to seek vindication. (907-910)

Indulging in liquor they become rebellious and unruly. (911-914)

With the members of their own family[37] they are angry and quarrelsome. (915-918)

As husbands[49] they are neither faithful nor kind. (919-922)

As wives[49] they are neither gentle nor pliant. (923-926)

As husbands they are not in harmony with their wives;[50] as wives they are not respectful to their husbands. (927-934)

As husbands they delight in bragging and conceit. (935-938)

Always as wives they practice jealousy and suspicion. (939-952)

As husbands they behave unmannerly toward their wives and children. (943-947)

As wives they lack propriety to their father-in-law and their mother-in-law. (948-952)

They make light of the spirit of their ancestor. (953-956)

They disobey and dislike the commands of their superiors. (957-960)

They make and do what is not useful. (961-964)

They harbor and keep a treacherous[51] heart. (965-968)

{p. 63}

They curse themselves[52], they curse others. (969-972)

They are partial in their hatred and partial in their love. (973-976)

They step over the well and they step over the hearth. They jump over the food and jump over a person.[53] (977-984)

They kill the baby and cause abortion of the unborn. (985-988)

They do many clandestine and wrong deeds. (989-992)

The last day of the month and the last day of the year they sing and dance.[54] The first day of the month, the first day of the year, they start roaring and scolding. (993-1000)

Facing the north, they snivel and spit; facing the hearth, they sing, hum and weep.[55] (1001-1012)

Further, with hearth fire they burn incense,[56] and with filthy fagots they cook their food. (1013-1018)

In the night they rise and expose their nakedness.[57] (1019-1022)

On the eight festivals of the seasons they execute punishment.[58] (1023-1030)

They spit at falling stars and point at the many-colored rainbow.[59] (1031-1036)

Irreverently they point at the three

{p. 64}

luminaries;[60] intently they gaze at the sun and at the moon. (1037-1044)

In the spring they hunt with fire.[61] (1045-1048)

Facing the north, they use vile language.[55] (1049-1052)

Causelessly they kill tortoises and snakes. (1053-1058)


Next: Punishments for Evil-Doers