又曰：「《五经》亦只是史。史以明善恶，示训戒；善可为训者，时存其迹以示法；恶可为戒者，存其戒而削其事以杜奸。」
爱曰：「存其迹以示法，亦是存天理之本然；削其事以杜奸，亦是遏人欲于将萌否？」
先生曰：「圣人作经，固无非是此意，然又不必泥著文句。」
爱又问：「恶可为戒者，存其戒而削其事以杜奸，何独于《诗》而不删郑、卫？先儒谓『恶者可以惩创人之逸志』，然否？」
先生曰：「《诗》非孔门之旧本矣。孔子云：『放郑声，郑声淫。』又曰：『恶郑声之乱雅乐也。』、『郑、卫之音，亡国之音也。』此是孔门家法。孔子所定三百篇，皆所谓雅乐，皆可奏之郊庙，奏之乡党，皆所以宣畅和平，涵泳德性，移风易俗，安得有此？是长淫导奸矣。此必秦火之后，世儒附会，以足三百篇之数。盖淫泆之词，世俗多所喜传，如今闾巷皆然。『恶者可以惩创人之逸志』，是求其说而不得，从而为之辞。」
又说：「《五经》也只是史。史用来明善恶、示训戒：善可以作榜样的，特存其事迹以示法则；恶可以作鉴戒的，保留其警戒而删去其具体行事，以杜绝奸邪。」
徐爱说：「保存善迹以示法则，也就是保存天理的本然；删去恶行以杜绝奸邪，也就是把人欲遏止在将萌之时吧？」
先生说：「圣人作经，固然无非是这个意思，但也不必拘泥于文句。」
徐爱又问：「恶可为戒的，保留其警戒而删其行事以杜绝奸邪，为什么唯独《诗经》不删去郑卫之风？先儒说『恶的可以惩戒人的放纵之志』，对吗？」
先生说：「今天的《诗经》已不是孔门的旧本了。孔子说：『放逐郑国的乐声，郑声淫。』又说：『憎恶郑声扰乱雅乐』、『郑卫之音是亡国之音』。这是孔门家法。孔子所定的三百篇，都是所谓雅乐，都可以在郊庙演奏、在乡党演奏，都是用来宣畅和平、涵养德性、移风易俗的，怎么会有那些？那是要助长淫靡、引导奸邪了。这必定是秦火之后，世俗儒者附会补足三百篇之数。淫逸之词，世俗多喜欢流传，如今天街里巷都是这样。『恶者可以惩创人之逸志』，是解释不通便勉强编出来的说辞。」
He also said: "The Five Classics too are only history. History makes known good and evil and gives instruction and warning: of good worthy of example, the deeds are kept to show the standard; of evil serving as warning, the warning is kept but the deeds cut out, to block wickedness."
Xu Ai said: "Keeping good deeds to show the standard is preserving heaven's principle as it is; cutting out evil deeds to block wickedness is checking human desire as it sprouts, is it not?"
The Master said: "In making the classics the sage surely meant exactly this; still, one need not cling to the letter."
Xu Ai asked further: "Where evil serves as warning, the warning is kept and the deeds cut — why then were the airs of Zheng and Wei not pruned from the Odes? The earlier scholars said 'the wicked can chasten people's dissolute inclinations' — is that right?"
The Master said: "Today's Odes is no longer the old text of Confucius's school. Confucius said: 'Banish the airs of Zheng — the Zheng airs are licentious'; 'I hate how the Zheng airs confound the elegant music'; 'the sounds of Zheng and Wei are the sounds of a perishing state.' That is the school's family rule. The three hundred poems Confucius settled were all elegant music, fit for the suburban sacrifice and the ancestral temple, for village gatherings — all serving to diffuse peace, steep virtue, transform manners: how could such pieces be there? That would be fostering license and leading on the wicked. These must have been pieced in by common scholars after the Qin burning, to fill the number of three hundred. Licentious songs circulate gladly among the common folk — as in every lane today. 'The wicked can chasten dissolute inclinations' is an excuse invented when no explanation could be found."