The Difficulty of Persuasion

Generally speaking, the difficulty in persuasion is not the difficulty of knowing how to use reasoning to convince the other party, nor the difficulty of my eloquence being able to clarify my meaning, nor even the difficulty of daring to argue freely and exhaustively without any scruples. Generally speaking, the difficulty in persuasion lies in understanding the psychology of the person being persuaded, so as to adapt my words to him. If the person being persuaded pursues a lofty reputation, and the persuader advises him with the promise of substantial profit, he will be regarded as low in moral integrity and base in status, and will certainly be rejected and kept at a distance. If the person being persuaded pursues substantial profit, and the persuader advises him with talk of a lofty reputation, he will be regarded as lacking in practical sense and out of touch with reality, and his advice will certainly not be adopted. If the person being persuaded secretly pursues substantial profit but outwardly seeks a reputation, and the persuader advises him with talk of reputation, he will outwardly accept the persuader but actually keep him at a distance; if the persuader advises him with talk of profit, he will secretly adopt the persuader's words but outwardly reject him. These are things that cannot be overlooked.

Matters succeed through secrecy, and words fail through disclosure. It is not necessarily that the persuader himself has leaked the secret, but rather that the words have touched upon something the person being persuaded is hiding. In such a case, the persuader is in danger. If the person being persuaded appears to be doing one thing but is actually aiming to accomplish another, and the persuader not only knows what he is doing but also understands his intention in doing so, then the persuader is in danger. If the persuader plans an unusual matter that aligns with the ruler's intent, and a wise person from outside conjectures this matter, and the matter leaks to the outside, the ruler will certainly believe that the persuader leaked it. In such a case, the persuader is in danger. If the ruler's favor toward the persuader is not yet deep, and the persuader speaks his whole mind, and if the persuasion is adopted and achieves results, the ruler will forget the persuader's merit; if the persuasion is not adopted and leads to failure, the persuader will be suspected. In such a case, the persuader is in danger. If a person of high rank has a fault, and the persuader openly uses ritual and righteousness to point out his error, then the persuader is in danger. If a person of high rank sometimes comes up with a good idea and wants to claim sole credit for it, and the persuader also knows this idea, then the persuader is in danger. Forcing the ruler to do what he cannot do, or preventing the ruler from doing what he cannot stop, then the persuader is in danger. Therefore, when discussing high ministers with the ruler, he will think the persuader is alienating him; when discussing minor attendants with the ruler, he will think the persuader is showing off his influence. When talking about someone the ruler loves, he will think the persuader is seeking support; when talking about someone the ruler hates, he will think the persuader is testing him. If the persuader speaks directly and concisely, the ruler will think the persuader is unintelligent and regard him as clumsy; if the persuader speaks in trivial detail and cites extensively, the ruler will think the persuader talks too much and find him verbose. If the persuader states his views briefly, the ruler will say the persuader is timid and dares not speak his mind fully; if the persuader plans things broadly, the ruler will say the persuader is crude and arrogant. These are the difficulties of persuasion, and they cannot but be known.

Generally speaking, the key to persuasion lies in knowing how to beautify what the person being persuaded boasts about, and to cover up what he is ashamed of. If the person being persuaded has a private urgent matter, the persuader must encourage him to do it in the name of public righteousness. If the person being persuaded has a base intention but cannot restrain himself, the persuader should embellish the fine aspects of this intention and blame him for not acting on it. If the person being persuaded has lofty aspirations but cannot actually achieve them, the persuader should point out the faults in them, reveal their drawbacks, and praise him for not pursuing them. If the person being persuaded wants to show off his wisdom and ability, the persuader should cite other examples of the same kind, provide him with more evidence, so that he can borrow reasoning from the persuader's words, while the persuader pretends not to know, in order to help him display his wisdom. If the persuader wants to offer words that are acceptable to coexist with, he must explain them with a good name and imply that they are in line with the person being persuaded's private interests. If the persuader wants to state something harmful, he must openly say that doing so will invite slander and imply that it is in line with the person being persuaded's personal misfortunes. Praise those whose conduct is the same as the persuader's; plan matters similar to the persuader's schemes. If there is someone who shares the same blemish as the persuader, he must strongly embellish it, saying it does no harm; if there is someone who shares the same failure as the persuader, he must openly embellish it, saying it is not a fault. If the person being persuaded boasts of his strength, do not suppress him with what he finds difficult; if he prides himself on decisiveness as courage, do not provoke him with his faults; if he considers his plans wise, do not embarrass him with his failures. As long as the persuader's main points do not contradict the ruler anywhere, and his words do not clash with the ruler anywhere, then he can fully exercise his wisdom and eloquence. By this method, he can gain the ruler's closeness without being suspected, and can speak his whole mind. Yi Yin was a cook, and Baili Xi was a slave, both of them to gain employment by rulers. These two men were sages; yet they could not avoid entering service through base positions, so lowly were they! Now if my words are regarded as those of a cook or a slave, yet can be listened to and adopted to save the present age, this is by no means something a man of wisdom and ability would consider shameful. After a long time, when the ruler's favor has become deep, and the persuader's deep plans are not suspected, and his arguments are not blamed, then he can openly analyze benefits and harms to achieve merit, directly point out right and wrong to cultivate himself, and treat the ruler in this manner—this is the success of persuasion.

In former times, Duke Wu of Zheng wanted to attack Hu, so he first married his daughter to the ruler of Hu to please him. Then he asked his ministers, saying: "I want to use military force. Which state can be attacked?" The grand master Guan Qisi replied: "Hu can be attacked." Duke Wu was enraged and killed him, saying: "Hu is a brother state. You say it should be attacked—why?" When the ruler of Hu heard of this, he thought that Zheng was friendly toward him, and so did not guard against Zheng. The men of Zheng made a surprise attack on Hu and conquered it. There was a rich man in Song whose wall was damaged by rain. His son said: "If it is not repaired, there will certainly be thieves." The old man next door also said this. That night, a great amount of property was indeed lost. The family highly praised their son for being clever, but suspected the old man next door. The words of these two men were both appropriate, yet one was severely punished and the other lightly suspected. Thus it is not the knowledge of the matter itself that is difficult, but the handling of what is known that is difficult. Therefore, the words of Rao Chao were appropriate; he was considered a sage in Jin, yet was put to death in Qin. This cannot but be examined.

In former times, Mizi Xia was favored by the ruler of Wei. The law of Wei stated: Anyone who privately drove the ruler's chariot would be punished by having his feet cut off. Mizi Xia's mother fell ill, and someone took a shortcut to inform Mizi Xia at night. Mizi Xia pretended to have the ruler's order and drove the ruler's chariot out. When the ruler heard of it, he considered him virtuous and said: "How filial! For the sake of his mother, he forgot about the punishment of having his feet cut off." Another day, Mizi Xia was playing with the ruler in an orchard. He ate a peach that tasted very sweet, did not finish it, and gave the remaining half to the ruler. The ruler said: "How he loves me! Forgetting his own taste and giving it to me." When Mizi Xia's beauty faded and his favor waned, he offended the ruler, who said: "This man once pretended to have my order to drive my chariot, and also once gave me a half-eaten peach." So Mizi Xia's conduct had not changed from before, yet the reason it was considered virtuous earlier and became a crime later was that love and hatred had changed. Therefore, when a man is favored by the ruler, his wisdom seems appropriate and he becomes even more intimate; when he is hated by the ruler, his wisdom seems inappropriate and becomes a crime, and he is further distanced. So those who offer remonstrances and engage in persuasion must not fail to observe the ruler's love and hatred before they proceed to persuade.

The dragon, as a creature, can be tamed and ridden; however, beneath its throat there are inverted scales a foot in diameter. If anyone touches them, it will surely harm the person. Rulers also have such inverted scales. If a persuader can avoid touching the ruler’s inverted scales, he will come close to success.