|
CHINESE
LITERATURE
COMPRISING
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS,
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS,
THE SHI-KING,
WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BY
EPIPHANIUS WILSON, A.M.
REVISED EDITION
1900
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS
Introduction
BOOK
I. On Learning--Miscellaneous Sayings
II. Good Government--Filial Piety--The Superior Man
III. Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music
IV. Social Virtue--Superior and Inferior Man
V. A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous
VI. More Characteristics--Wisdom--Philanthropy
VII. Characteristics of Confucius--An Incident
VIII. Sayings of Tsang--Sentences of the Master
IX. His Favorite Disciple's Opinion of Him
X. Confucius in Private and Official Life
XI. Comparative Worth of His Disciples
XII. The Master's Answers--Philanthropy--Friendships
XIII. Answers on the Art of Governing--Consistency
XIV. Good and Bad Government--Miscellaneous Sayings
XV. Practical Wisdom--Reciprocity the Rule of Life
XVI. Against Intestine Strife--Good and Bad Friendships
XVII. The Master Induced to Take Office--Nature and Habit
XVIII. Good Men in Seclusion--Duke of Chow to His Son
XIX. Teachings of Various Chief Disciples
XX. Extracts from the Book of History
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS
Introduction
Book I. King Hwuy of Lëang.--
Part I
[_Books II., III., and IV. are omitted_]
Book V. Wan Chang.--
Part I
THE SHI-KING
Introduction
_Part I.--Lessons from the States_.
BOOK I.--THE ODES OF CHOW AND THE SOUTH.--
Celebrating the Virtue of King Wan's Bride
Celebrating the Industry of King Wan's Queen
In Praise of a Bride
Celebrating T'ae-Sze's Freedom from Jealousy
The Fruitfulness of the Locust
Lamenting the Absence of a Cherished Friend
Celebrating the Goodness of the Descendants of King Wan
The Virtuous Manners of the Young Women
Praise of a Rabbit-Catcher
The Song of the Plantain-Gatherers
The Affection of the Wives on the Joo
BOOK II.--THE ODES OF SHAOU AND THE SOUTH.--
The Marriage of a Princess
The Industry and Reverence of a Prince's Wife
The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails his Absence
The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer
The Love of the People for the Duke of Shaou
The Easy Dignity of the Officers at Some Court
Anxiety of a Young Lady to Get Married
BOOK III.--THE ODES OF P'EI.--
An Officer Bewails the Neglect with which He is Treated
A Wife Deplores the Absence of Her Husband
The Plaint of a Rejected Wife
Soldiers of Wei Bewail Separation from their Families
An Officer Tells of His Mean Employment
An Officer Sets Forth His Hard Lot
The Complaint of a Neglected Wife
In Praise of a Maiden
Discontent
Chwang Keang Bemoans Her Husband's Cruelty
[_Books IV., V., and VI. are omitted_]
BOOK VII.--THE ODES OF CH'ING.---
The People's Admiration for Duke Woo
A Wife Consoled by Her Husband's Arrival
In Praise of Some Lady
A Man's Praise of His Wife
An Entreaty
A Woman Scorning Her Lover
A Lady Mourns the Absence of Her Student Lover---
BOOK VIII.--THE ODES OF TS'E.--
A Wife Urging Her Husband to Action
The Folly of Useless Effort
The Prince of Loo
BOOK IX.--THE ODES OF WEI.--
On the Misgovernment of the State
The Mean Husband
A Young Soldier on Service
BOOK X.--THE ODES OF T'ANG.--
The King Goes to War
Lament of a Bereaved Person
The Drawbacks of Poverty
A Wife Mourns for Her Husband
BOOK XI.--THE ODES OF TS'IN.--
Celebrating the Opulence of the Lords of Ts'in
A Complaint
A Wife's Grief Because of Her Husband's Absence
Lament for Three Brothers
In Praise of a Ruler of Ts'in
The Generous Nephew
BOOK XII.--THE ODES OF CH'IN.--
The Contentment of a Poor Recluse
The Disappointed Lover
A Love-Song
The Lament of a Lover
BOOK XIII.--THE ODES OF KWEI--
The Wish of an Unhappy Man
BOOK XIV.--THE ODES OF TS'AOU.--
Against Frivolous Pursuits
BOOK XV.--THE ODES OF PIN.--
The Duke of Chow Tells of His Soldiers
There is a Proper Way for Doing Everything
_Part II.--Minor Odes of the Kingdom_.
BOOK I.--DECADE OF LUH MING.--
A Festal Ode
A Festal Ode Complimenting an Officer
The Value of Friendship
The Response to a Festal Ode
An Ode of Congratulation
An Ode on the Return of the Troops
BOOK II.--THE DECADE OF PIH HWA.--
An Ode Appropriate to a Festivity
BOOK III.--THE DECADE OF T'UNG KUNG.--
Celebrating a Hunting Expedition
The King's Anxiety for His Morning Levee
Moral Lessons from Natural Facts
BOOK IV.--THE DECADE OF K'E-FOO.--
On the Completion of a Royal Palace
The Condition of King Seuen's Flocks
BOOK V.--THE DECADE OF SEAOU MIN.--
A Eunuch Complains of His Fate
An Officer Deplores the Misery of the Time
On the Alienation of a Friend
BOOK VI.--THE DECADE OF PIH SHAN.--
A Picture of Husbandry
The Complaint of an Officer
BOOK VII.--DECADE OF SANG HOO.--
The Rejoicings of a Bridegroom
Against Listening to Slanderers
BOOK VIII.--THE DECADE OF TOO JIN SZE.--
In Praise of By-gone Simplicity
A Wife Bemoans Her Husband's Absence
The Earl of Shaou's Work
The Plaint of King Yew's Forsaken Wife
Hospitality
On the Misery of Soldiers
_Part III.--Greater Odes of the Kingdom_.
BOOK I.--DECADE OF KING WAN.--
Celebrating King Wan
[_Book II. is omitted_]
BOOK III.--DECADE OF TANG.--
King Seuen on the Occasion of a Great Drought
_Part IV.--Odes of the Temple and Altar_.
BOOK I.--SACRIFICIAL ODES OF CHOW.--
Appropriate to a Sacrifice to King Wan
On Sacrificing to the Kings Woo, Ching, and K'ang
THE ANALECTS
OF
CONFUCIUS
[_Translated into English by William Jennings_]
PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES
_j_, as in French.
_ng_, commencing a word, like the same letters terminating one.
_ai_ or _ei_, as in _aisle_ or _eider_.
_au_, as in German, or like _ow_ in _cow_.
_é_, as in _fête_.
_i_ (not followed by a consonant), as _ee_ in _see_.
_u_ (followed by a consonant), as in _bull_.
_iu_, as _ew_ in _new_.
_ui_, as _ooi_ in _cooing_.
_h_ at the end of a name makes the preceding vowel short.
_i_ in the middle of a word denotes an aspirate (_h_), as _K'ung_=Khung.
INTRODUCTION
The strangest figure that meets us in the annals of Oriental thought is
that of Confucius. To the popular mind he is the founder of a religion,
and yet he has nothing in common with the great religious teachers of
the East. We think of Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism, as the very
impersonation of romantic asceticism, enthusiastic self-sacrifice, and
faith in the things that are invisible. Zoroaster is the friend of God,
talking face to face with the Almighty, and drinking wisdom and
knowledge from the lips of Omniscience. Mohammed is represented as
snatched up into heaven, where he receives the Divine communication
which he is bidden to propagate with fire and sword throughout the
world. These great teachers lived in an atmosphere of the supernatural.
They spoke with the authority of inspired prophets. They brought the
unseen world close to the minds of their disciples. They spoke
positively of immortality, of reward or punishment beyond the grave. The
present life they despised, the future was to them everything in its
promised satisfaction. The teachings of Confucius were of a very
different sort. Throughout his whole writings he has not even mentioned
the name of God. He declined to discuss the question of immortality.
When he was asked about spiritual beings, he remarked, "If we cannot
even know men, how can we know spirits?"
Yet this was the man the impress of whose teaching has formed the
national character of five hundred millions of people. A temple to
Confucius stands to this day in every town and village of China. His
precepts are committed to memory by every child from the tenderest age,
and each year at the royal university at Pekin the Emperor holds a
festival in honor of the illustrious teacher.
The influence of Confucius springs, first of all, from the narrowness
and definiteness of his doctrine. He was no transcendentalist, and never
meddled with supramundane things. His teaching was of the earth, earthy;
it dealt entirely with the common relations of life, and the Golden Rule
he must necessarily have stumbled upon, as the most obvious canon of his
system. He strikes us as being the great Stoic of the East, for he
believed that virtue was based on knowledge, knowledge of a man's own
heart, and knowledge of human-kind. There is a pathetic resemblance
between the accounts given of the death of Confucius and the death of
Zeno. Both died almost without warning in dreary hopelessness, without
the ministrations of either love or religion. This may be a mere
coincidence, but the lives and teachings of both men must have led them
to look with indifference upon such an end. For Confucius in his
teaching treated only of man's life on earth, and seems to have had no
ideas with regard to the human lot after death; if he had any ideas he
preserved an inscrutable silence about them. As a moralist he prescribed
the duties of the king and of the father, and advocated the cultivation
by the individual man of that rest or apathy of mind which resembles so
much the disposition aimed at by the Greek and Roman Stoic. Even as a
moralist, he seems to have sacrificed the ideal to the practical, and
his loose notions about marriage, his tolerance of concubinage, the
slight emphasis which he lays on the virtue of veracity--of which indeed
he does not seem himself to have been particularly studious in his
historic writings--place him low down in the rank of moralists. Yet he
taught what he felt the people could receive, and the flat mediocrity of
his character and his teachings has been stamped forever upon a people
who, while they are kindly, gentle, forbearing, and full of family
piety, are palpably lacking not only in the exaltation of Mysticism, but
in any religious feeling, generally so-called.
The second reason that made the teaching of Confucius so influential is
based on the circumstances of the time. When this thoughtful, earnest
youth awoke to the consciousness of life about him, he saw that the
abuses under which the people groaned sprang from the feudal system,
which cut up the country into separate territories, over which the power
of the king had no control. China was in the position of France in the
years preceding Philippe-Auguste, excepting that there were no places of
sanctuary and no Truce of God. The great doctrine of Confucius was the
unlimited despotism of the Emperor, and his moral precepts were intended
to teach the Emperor how to use his power aright. But the Emperor was
only typical of all those in authority--the feudal duke, the judge on
the bench, and the father of the family. Each could discharge his duties
aright only by submitting to the moral discipline which Confucius
prescribed. A vital element in this system is its conservatism, its
adherence to the imperial idea. As James I said, "No bishop, no king,"
so the imperialists of China have found in Confucianism the strongest
basis for the throne, and have supported its dissemination accordingly.
The Analects of Confucius contain the gist of his teachings, and is
worthy of study. We find in this work most of the precepts which his
disciples have preserved and recorded. They form a code remarkable for
simplicity, even crudity, and we are compelled to admire the force of
character, the practical sagacity, the insight into the needs of the
hour, which enabled Confucius, without claiming any Divine sanction, to
impose this system upon his countrymen.
The name Confucius is only the Latinized form of two words which mean
"Master K'ung." He was born 551 B.C., his father being governor of
Shantung. He was married at nineteen, and seems to have occupied some
minor position under the government. In his twenty-fourth year he
entered upon the three years' mourning for the death of his mother. His
seclusion gave him time for deep thought and the study of history, and
he resolved upon the regeneration of his unhappy country. By the time he
was thirty he became known as a great teacher, and disciples flocked to
him. But he was yet occupied in public duties, and rose through
successive stages to the office of Chief Judge in his own country of Lu.
His tenure of office is said to have put an end to crime, and he became
the "idol of the people" in his district. The jealousy of the feudal
lords was roused by his fame as a moral teacher and a blameless judge.
Confucius was driven from his home, and wandered about, with a few
disciples, until his sixty-ninth year, when he returned to Lu, after
accomplishing a work which has borne fruit, such as it is, to the
present day. He spent the remaining five years of his life in editing
the odes and historic monuments in which the glories of the ancient
Chinese dynasty are set forth. He died in his seventy-third year, 478
B.C. There can be no doubt that the success of Confucius has been
singularly great, owing especially to the narrow scope of his scheme,
which has become crystallized in the habits, usages, and customs of the
people. Especially has it been instrumental in consolidating the empire,
and in strengthening the power of the monarch, who, as he every year
burns incense in the red-walled temple at Pekin, utters sincerely the
invocation: "Great art thou, O perfect Sage! Thy virtue is full, thy
doctrine complete. Among mortal men there has not been thine equal. All
kings honor thee. Thy statutes and laws have come gloriously down. Thou
art the pattern in this imperial school. Reverently have the sacrificial
vessels been set out. Full of awe, we sound our drums and bells."
E. W.
THE ANALECTS
BOOK I
On Learning--Miscellaneous Sayings:--
"To learn," said the Master, "and then to practise opportunely what one
has learnt--does not this bring with it a sense of satisfaction?
"To have associates in study coming to one from distant parts--does not
this also mean pleasure in store?
"And are not those who, while not comprehending all that is said, still
remain not unpleased to hear, men of the superior order?"
A saying of the Scholar Yu:--
"It is rarely the case that those who act the part of true men in regard
to their duty to parents and elder brothers are at the same time willing
to turn currishly upon their superiors: it has never yet been the case
that such as desire not to commit that offence have been men willing to
promote anarchy or disorder.
"Men of superior mind busy themselves first in getting at the root of
things; and when they have succeeded in this the right course is open to
them. Well, are not filial piety and friendly subordination among
brothers a root of that right feeling which is owing generally from man
to man?"
The Master observed, "Rarely do we meet with the right feeling due from
one man to another where there is fine speech and studied mien."
The Scholar Tsang once said of himself: "On three points I examine
myself daily, viz., whether, in looking after other people's interests,
I have not been acting whole-heartedly; whether, in my intercourse with
friends, I have not been true; and whether, after teaching, I have not
myself been practising what I have taught."
The Master once observed that to rule well one of the larger States
meant strict attention to its affairs and conscientiousness on the part
of the ruler; careful husbanding of its resources, with at the same time
a tender care for the interests of all classes; and the employing of the
masses in the public service at suitable seasons.
"Let young people," said he, "show filial piety at home, respectfulness
towards their elders when away from home; let them be circumspect, be
truthful; their love going out freely towards all, cultivating good-will
to men. And if, in such a walk, there be time or energy left for other
things, let them employ it in the acquisition of literary or artistic
accomplishments."
The disciple Tsz-hiá said, "The appreciation of worth in men of worth,
thus diverting the mind from lascivious desires--ministering to parents
while one is the most capable of so doing--serving one's ruler when one
is able to devote himself entirely to that object--being sincere in
one's language in intercourse with friends: this I certainly must call
evidence of learning, though others may say there has been 'no
learning.'"
Sayings of the Master:--
"If the great man be not grave, he will not be revered, neither can his
learning be solid.
"Give prominent place to loyalty and sincerity.
"Have no associates in study who are not advanced somewhat like
yourself.
"When you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself."
A saying of the Scholar Tsang:--
"The virtue of the people is renewed and enriched when attention is seen
to be paid to the departed, and the remembrance of distant ancestors
kept and cherished."
Tsz-k'in put this query to his fellow disciple Tsz-kung: said he, "When
our Master comes to this or that State, he learns without fail how it is
being governed. Does he investigate matters? or are the facts given
him?"
Tsz-kung answered, "Our Master is a man of pleasant manners, and of
probity, courteous, moderate, and unassuming: it is by his being such
that he arrives at the facts. Is not his way of arriving at things
different from that of others?"
A saying of the Master:--
"He who, after three years' observation of the will of his father when
alive, or of his past conduct if dead, does not deviate from that
father's ways, is entitled to be called 'a dutiful son.'"
Sayings of the Scholar Yu:--
"For the practice of the Rules of Propriety,[1] one excellent way is to
be natural. This naturalness became a great grace in the practice of
kings of former times; let everyone, small or great, follow their
example.
"It is not, however, always practicable; and it is not so in the case of
a person who does things naturally, knowing that he should act so, and
yet who neglects to regulate his acts according to the Rules.
"When truth and right are hand in hand, a statement will bear
repetition. When respectfulness and propriety go hand in hand, disgrace
and shame are kept afar-off. Remove all occasion for alienating those to
whom you are bound by close ties, and you have them still to resort to."
A saying of the Master:--
"The man of greater mind who, when he is eating, craves not to eat to
the full; who has a home, but craves not for comforts in it; who is
active and earnest in his work and careful in his words; who makes
towards men of high principle, and so maintains his own rectitude--that
man may be styled a devoted student."
Tsz-kung asked, "What say you, sir, of the poor who do not cringe and
fawn; and what of the rich who are without pride and haughtiness?" "They
are passable," the Master replied; "yet they are scarcely in the same
category as the poor who are happy, and the rich who love propriety."
"In the 'Book of the Odes,'" Tsz-kung went on to say, "we read of one
Polished, as by the knife and file,
The graving-tool, the smoothing-stone.
Does that coincide with your remark?"
"Ah! such as you," replied the Master, "may well commence a discussion
on the Odes. If one tell you how a thing goes, you know what ought to
come."
"It does not greatly concern me," said the Master, "that men do not know
me; my great concern is, my not knowing them."
[Footnote 1: An important part of a Chinaman's education still. The
text-book, "The Li Ki," contains rules for behavior and propriety for
the whole life, from the cradle to the grave.]
BOOK II
Good Government--Filial Piety--The Superior Man
Sayings of the Master:--
"Let a ruler base his government upon virtuous principles, and he will
be like the pole-star, which remains steadfast in its place, while all
the host of stars turn towards it.
"The 'Book of Odes' contains three hundred pieces, but one expression in
it may be taken as covering the purport of all, viz., Unswerving
mindfulness.
"To govern simply by statute, and to reduce all to order by means of
pains and penalties, is to render the people evasive, and devoid of any
sense of shame.
"To govern upon principles of virtue, and to reduce them to order by the
Rules of Propriety, would not only create in them the sense of shame,
but would moreover reach them in all their errors.
"When I attained the age of fifteen, I became bent upon study. At
thirty, I was a confirmed student. At forty, nought could move me from
my course. At fifty, I comprehended the will and decrees of Heaven. At
sixty, my ears were attuned to them. At seventy, I could follow my
heart's desires, without overstepping the lines of rectitude."
To a question of Mang-i, as to what filial piety consisted in, the
master replied, "In not being perverse." Afterwards, when Fan Ch'i was
driving him, the Master informed him of this question and answer, and
Fan Ch'i asked, "What was your meaning?" The Master replied, "I meant
that the Rules of Propriety should always be adhered to in regard to
those who brought us into the world: in ministering to them while
living, in burying them when dead, and afterwards in the offering to
them of sacrificial gifts."
To a query of Mang Wu respecting filial piety, the Master replied,
"Parents ought to bear but one trouble--that of their own sickness."
To a like question put by Tsz-yu, his reply was this: "The filial piety
of the present day simply means the being able to support one's
parents--which extends even to the case of dogs and horses, all of which
may have something to give in the way of support. If there be no
reverential feeling in the matter, what is there to distinguish between
the cases?"
To a like question of Tsz-hia, he replied: "The manner is the
difficulty. If, in the case of work to be done, the younger folks simply
take upon themselves the toil of it; or if, in the matter of meat and
drink, they simply set these before their elders--is this to be taken as
filial piety?"
Once the Master remarked, "I have conversed with Hwúi the whole day
long, and he has controverted nothing that I have said, as if he were
without wits. But when his back was turned, and I looked attentively at
his conduct apart from me, I found it satisfactory in all its issues.
No, indeed! Hwúi is not without his wits."
Other observations of the Master:--
"If you observe what things people (usually) take in hand, watch their
motives, and note particularly what it is that gives them satisfaction,
shall they be able to conceal from you what they are? Conceal
themselves, indeed!
"Be versed in ancient lore, and familiarize yourself with the modern;
then may you become teachers.
"The great man is not a mere receptacle."
In reply to Tsz-kung respecting the great man:--
"What he first says, as a result of his experience, he afterwards
follows up.
"The great man is catholic-minded, and not one-sided. The common man is
the reverse.
"Learning, without thought, is a snare; thought, without learning, is a
danger.
"Where the mind is set much upon heterodox principles--there truly and
indeed is harm."
To the disciple Tsz-lu the Master said, "Shall I give you a lesson about
knowledge? When you know a thing, maintain that you know it; and when
you do not, acknowledge your ignorance. This is characteristic of
knowledge."
Tsz-chang was studying with an eye to official income. The Master
addressed him thus: "Of the many things you hear hold aloof from those
that are doubtful, and speak guardedly with reference to the rest; your
mistakes will then be few. Also, of the many courses you see adopted,
hold aloof from those that are risky, and carefully follow the others;
you will then seldom have occasion for regret. Thus, being seldom
mistaken in your utterances, and having few occasions for regret in the
line you take, you are on the high road to your preferment."
To a question put to him by Duke Ngai [2] as to what should be done in
order to render the people submissive to authority, Confucius replied,
"Promote the straightforward, and reject those whose courses are
crooked, and the thing will be effected. Promote the crooked and reject
the straightforward, and the effect will be the reverse."
When Ki K'ang [3] asked of him how the people could be induced to show
respect, loyalty, and willingness to be led, the Master answered, "Let
there be grave dignity in him who has the oversight of them, and they
will show him respect; let him be seen to be good to his own parents,
and kindly in disposition, and they will be loyal to him; let him
promote those who have ability, and see to the instruction of those who
have it not, and they will be willing to be led."
Some one, speaking to Confucius, inquired, "Why, sir, are you not an
administrator of government?" The Master rejoined, "What says the 'Book
of the Annals,' with reference to filial duty?--'Make it a point to be
dutiful to your parents and amicable with your brethren; the same duties
extend to an administrator.' If these, then, also make an administrator,
how am I to take your words about being an administrator?"
On one occasion the Master remarked, "I know not what men are good for,
on whose word no reliance can be placed. How should your carriages,
large or little, get along without your whipple-trees or swing-trees?"
Tsz-chang asked if it were possible to forecast the state of the country
ten generations hence. The Master replied in this manner: "The Yin
dynasty adopted the rules and manners of the Hiá line of kings, and it
is possible to tell whether it retrograded or advanced. The Chow line
has followed the Yin, adopting its ways, and whether there has been
deterioration or improvement may also be determined. Some other line may
take up in turn those of Chow; and supposing even this process to go on
for a hundred generations, the result may be known."
Other sayings of the Master:--
"It is but flattery to make sacrificial offerings to departed spirits
not belonging to one's own family.
"It is moral cowardice to leave undone what one perceives to be right to
do."
[Footnote 2: Of Lu (Confucius's native State).]
[Footnote 3: Head of one of the "Three Families" of Lu.]
BOOK III
Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music
Alluding to the head of the Ki family, [4] and the eight lines of
posturers [5] before their ancestral hall, Confucius remarked, "If the
Ki can allow himself to go to this extent, to what extent will he not
allow himself to go?"
The Three Families [6] were in the habit, during the Removal of the
sacred vessels after sacrifice, of using the hymn commencing,
"Harmoniously the Princes
Draw near with reverent tread,
Assisting in his worship
Heaven's Son, the great and dread."
"How," exclaimed the Master, "can such words be appropriated in the
ancestral hall of the Three Families?"
"Where a man," said he again, "has not the proper feelings due from one
man to another, how will he stand as regards the Rules of Propriety? And
in such a case, what shall we say of his sense of harmony?"
On a question being put to him by Lin Fang, a disciple, as to what was
the radical idea upon which the Rules of Propriety were based, the
Master exclaimed, "Ah! that is a large question. As to some rules, where
there is likelihood of extravagance, they would rather demand economy;
in those which relate to mourning, and where there is likelihood of
being easily satisfied, what is wanted is real sorrow."
Speaking of the disorder of the times he remarked that while the
barbarians on the North and East had their Chieftains, we here in this
great country had nothing to compare with them in that respect:--we had
lost these distinctions!
Alluding to the matter of the Chief of the Ki family worshipping on
Tai-shan, [7] the Master said to Yen Yu, "Cannot you save him from
this?"
He replied, "It is beyond my power." "Alas, alas!" exclaimed the Master,
"are we to say that the spirits of T'ai-shan have not as much
discernment as Lin Fang?"
Of "the superior man," the Master observed, "In him there is no
contentiousness. Say even that he does certainly contend with others, as
in archery competitions; yet mark, in that case, how courteously he will
bow and go up for the forfeit-cup, and come down again and give it to
his competitor. In his very contest he is still the superior man."
Tsz-hiá once inquired what inference might be drawn from the lines--
"Dimples playing in witching smile,
Beautiful eyes, so dark, so bright!
Oh, and her face may be thought the while
Colored by art, red rose on white!"
"Coloring," replied the Master, "requires a pure and clear background."
"Then," said the other, "rules of ceremony require to have a
background!" "Ah!" exclaimed the Master, "you are the man to catch the
drift of my thought. Such as you may well introduce a discussion on the
Odes."
Said the Master, "As regards the ceremonial adopted and enforced by the
Hiá dynasty, I am able to describe it, although their own descendants in
the State of Ki can adduce no adequate testimony in favor of its use
there. So, too, I am able to describe the ceremonial of the Yin dynasty,
although no more can the Sung people show sufficient reason for its
continuance amongst themselves. And why cannot they do so? Because they
have not documents enough, nor men learned enough. If only they had
such, I could refer them to them in support of their usages.
"When I am present at the great quinquennial sacrifice to the _manes_ of
the royal ancestors," the Master said, "from the pouring-out of the
oblation onwards, I have no heart to look on."
Some one asked what was the purport of this great sacrifice, and the
Master replied, "I cannot tell. The position in the empire of him who
could tell you is as evident as when you look at this"--pointing to the
palm of his hand.
When he offered sacrifices to his ancestors, he used to act as if they
were present before him. In offering to other spirits it was the same.
He would say, "If I do not myself take part in my offerings, it is all
the same as if I did not offer them."
Wang-sun Kiá asked him once, "What says the proverb, 'Better to court
favor in the kitchen than in the drawing-room'?" The Master replied,
"Nay, better say, He who has sinned against Heaven has none other to
whom prayer may be addressed."
Of the Chow dynasty the Master remarked, "It looks back upon two other
dynasties; and what a rich possession it has in its records of those
times! I follow Chow!"
On his first entry into the grand temple, he inquired about every matter
connected with its usages. Some one thereupon remarked, "Who says that
the son of the man of Tsou [8] understands about ceremonial? On entering
the grand temple he inquired about everything." This remark coming to
the Master's ears, he said, "What I did is part of the ceremonial!"
"In archery," he said, "the great point to be observed is not simply the
perforation of the leather; for men have not all the same strength. That
was the fashion in the olden days."
Once, seeing that his disciple Tsz-kung was desirous that the ceremonial
observance of offering a sheep at the new moon might be dispensed with,
the Master said, "Ah! you grudge the loss of the sheep; I grudge the
loss of the ceremony."
"To serve one's ruler nowadays," he remarked, "fully complying with the
Rules of Propriety, is regarded by others as toadyism!"
When Duke Ting questioned him as to how a prince should deal with his
ministers, and how they in turn should serve their prince, Confucius
said in reply, "In dealing with his ministers a prince should observe
the proprieties; in serving his prince a minister should observe the
duty of loyalty."
Referring to the First of the Odes, he remarked that it was mirthful
without being lewd, and sad also without being painful.
Duke Ngai asked the disciple Tsai Wo respecting the places for
sacrificing to the Earth. The latter replied, "The Family of the Great
Yu, of the Hiá dynasty, chose a place of pine trees; the Yin founders
chose cypresses; and the Chow founders chestnut trees, solemn and
majestic, to inspire, 'tis said, the people with feelings of awe."
The Master on hearing of this exclaimed, "Never an allusion to things
that have been enacted in the past! Never a remonstrance against what is
now going on! He has gone away without a word of censure."
The Master once said of Kwan Chung, [9] "A small-minded man indeed!"
"Was he miserly?" some one asked.
"Miserly, indeed!" said he; "not that: he married three rimes, and he
was not a man who restricted his official business to too few hands--how
could he be miserly?"
"He knew the Rules of Propriety, I suppose?"
"Judge:--Seeing that the feudal lords planted a screen at their gates,
he too would have one at his! Seeing that when any two of the feudal
lords met in friendly conclave they had an earthenware stand on which to
place their inverted cups after drinking, he must have the same! If he
knew the Rules of Propriety, who is there that does not know them?"
In a discourse to the Chief Preceptor of Music at the court of Lu, the
Master said, "Music is an intelligible thing. When you begin a
performance, let all the various instruments produce as it were one
sound (inharmonious); then, as you go on, bring out the harmony fully,
distinctly, and with uninterrupted flow, unto the end."
The warden of the border-town of I requested an interview with
Confucius, and said, "When great men have come here, I have never yet
failed to obtain a sight of them." The followers introduced him; and, on
leaving, he said to them, "Sirs, why grieve at his loss of office? The
empire has for long been without good government; and Heaven is about to
use your master as its edict-announcer."
Comparing the music of the emperor Shun with the music of King Wu, the
Master said, "That of Shun is beautiful throughout, and also good
throughout. That of Wu is all of it beautiful, but scarcely all of it
good."
"High station," said the Master, "occupied by men who have no large and
generous heart; ceremonial performed with no reverence; duties of
mourning engaging the attention, where there is absence of sorrow;--how
should I look on, where this is the state of things?"
[Footnote 4: The Chief of the Ki clan was virtually the Duke of Lu,
under whom Confucius for a time held office.]
[Footnote 5: These posturers were mutes who took part in the ritual of
the ancestral temple, waving plumes, flags, etc. Each line or rank of
these contained eight men. Only in the sovereign's household should
there have been eight lines of them; a ducal family like the Ki should
have had but six lines; a great official had four, and one of lower
grade two. These were the gradations marking the status of families, and
Confucius's sense of propriety was offended at the Ki's usurping in this
way the appearance of royalty.]
[Footnote 6: Three great families related to each other, in whose hands
the government of the State of Lu then was, and of which the Ki was the
chief.]
[Footnote 7: One of the five sacred mountains, worshipped upon only by
the sovereign.]
[Footnote 8: Tsou was Confucius's birthplace; his father was governor of
the town.]
[Footnote 9: A renowned statesman who flourished about two hundred years
before Confucius's time. A philosophical work on law and government,
said to have been written by him, is still extant. He was regarded as a
sage by the people, but he lacked, in Confucius's eyes, the one thing
needful--propriety.]
BOOK IV
Social Virtue--Superior and Inferior Man
Sayings of the Master:--
"It is social good feeling that gives charm to a neighborhood. And where
is the wisdom of those who choose an abode where it does not abide?
"Those who are without it cannot abide long, either in straitened or in
happy circumstances. Those who possess it find contentment in it. Those
who are wise go after it as men go after gain.
"Only they in whom it exists can have right likings and dislikings for
others.
"Where the will is set upon it, there will be no room for malpractices.
"Riches and honor are what men desire; but if they arrive at them by
improper ways, they should not continue to hold them. Poverty and low
estate are what men dislike; but if they arrive at such a condition by
improper ways, they should not refuse it.
"If the 'superior man' make nought of social good feeling, how shall he
fully bear that name?
"Not even whilst he eats his meal will the 'superior man' forget what he
owes to his fellow-men. Even in hurried leave-takings, even in moments
of frantic confusion, he keeps true to this virtue.
"I have not yet seen a lover of philanthropy, nor a hater of
misanthropy--such, that the former did not take occasion to magnify that
virtue in himself, and that the latter, in his positive practice of
philanthropy, did not, at times, allow in his presence something
savoring of misanthropy.
"Say you, is there any one who is able for one whole day to apply the
energy of his mind to this virtue? Well, I have not seen any one whose
energy was not equal to it. It may be there are such, but I have never
met with them.
"The faults of individuals are peculiar to their particular class and
surroundings; and it is by observing their faults that one comes to
understand the condition of their good feelings towards their fellows.
"One may hear the right way in the morning, and at evening die.
"The scholar who is intent upon learning the right way, and who is yet
ashamed of poor attire and poor food, is not worthy of being discoursed
with.
"The masterly man's attitude to the world is not exclusively this or
that: whatsoever is right, to that he will be a party.
"The masterly man has an eye to virtue, the common man, to earthly
things; the former has an eye to penalties for error--the latter, to
favor.
"Where there is habitual going after gain, there is much ill-will.
"When there is ability in a ruler to govern a country by adhering to the
Rules of Propriety, and by kindly condescension, what is wanted more?
Where the ability to govern thus is wanting, what has such a ruler to do
with the Rules of Propriety?
"One should not be greatly concerned at not being in office; but rather
about the requirements in one's self for such a standing. Neither should
one be so much concerned at being unknown; but rather with seeking to
become worthy of being known."
Addressing his disciple Tsang Sin, the Master said, "Tsang Sin, the
principles which I inculcate have one main idea upon which they all
hang." "Aye, surely," he replied.
When the Master was gone out the other disciples asked what was the
purport of this remark. Tsang's answer was, "The principles of our
Master's teaching are these--whole-heartedness and kindly forbearance;
these and nothing more."
Other observations of the Master:--
"Men of loftier mind manifest themselves in their equitable dealings;
small-minded men in their going after gain.
"When you meet with men of worth, think how you may attain to their
level; when you see others of an opposite character, look within, and
examine yourself.
"A son, in ministering to his parents, may (on occasion) offer gentle
remonstrances; when he sees that their will is not to heed such, he
should nevertheless still continue to show them reverent respect, never
obstinacy; and if he have to suffer, let him do so without murmuring.
"Whilst the parents are still living, he should not wander far; or, if a
wanderer, he should at least have some fixed address.
"If for three years he do not veer from the principles of his father, he
may be called a dutiful son.
"A son should not ignore the years of his parents. On the one hand, they
may be a matter for rejoicing (that they have been so many), and on the
other, for apprehension (that so few remain).
"People in olden times were loth to speak out, fearing the disgrace of
not being themselves as good as their words.
"Those who keep within restraints are seldom losers.
"To be slow to speak, but prompt to act, is the desire of the 'superior
man.'
"Virtue dwells not alone: she must have neighbors."
An observation of Tsz-yu:--
"Officiousness, in the service of princes, leads to disgrace: among
friends, to estrangement."
BOOK V
A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous
The Master pronounced Kung-ye Ch'ang, a disciple, to be a marriageable
person; for although lying bound in criminal fetters he had committed no
crime. And he gave him his own daughter to wife.
Of Nan Yung, a disciple, he observed, that in a State where the
government was well conducted he would not be passed over in its
appointments, and in one where the government was ill conducted he would
evade punishment and disgrace. And he caused his elder brother's
daughter to be given in marriage to him.
Of Tsz-tsien, a disciple, he remarked, "A superior man indeed is the
like of him! But had there been none of superior quality in Lu, how
should this man have attained to this excellence?"
Tsz-kung asked, "What of me, then?" "You," replied the Master--"You are
a receptacle." "Of what sort?" said he. "One for high and sacred use,"
was the answer.
Some one having observed of Yen Yung that he was good-natured towards
others, but that he lacked the gift of ready speech, the Master said,
"What need of that gift? To stand up before men and pour forth a stream
of glib words is generally to make yourself obnoxious to them. I know
not about his good-naturedness; but at any rate what need of that gift?"
When the Master proposed that Tsi-tiau K'ai should enter the government
service, the latter replied, "I can scarcely credit it." The Master was
gratified.
"Good principles are making no progress," once exclaimed the Master. "If
I were to take a raft, and drift about on the sea, would Tsz-lu, I
wonder, be my follower there?" That disciple was delighted at hearing
the suggestion; whereupon the Master continued, "He surpasses me in his
love of deeds of daring. But he does not in the least grasp the pith of
my remark."
In reply to a question put to him by Mang Wu respecting Tsz-lu--as to
whether he might be called good-natured towards others, the Master said,
"I cannot tell"; but, on the question being put again, he answered,
"Well, in an important State [10] he might be intrusted with the
management of the military levies; but I cannot answer for his good
nature."
"What say you then of Yen Yu?"
"As for Yen," he replied, "in a city of a thousand families, or in a
secondary fief, [11] he might be charged with the governorship; but I
cannot answer for his good-naturedness."
"Take Tsz-hwa, then; what of him?"
"Tsz-hwa," said he, "with a cincture girt upon him, standing as
attendant at Court, might be charged with the addressing of visitors and
guests; but as to his good-naturedness I cannot answer."
Addressing Tsz-kung, the Master said, "Which of the two is ahead of the
other--yourself or Hwúi?" "How shall I dare," he replied, "even to look
at Hwúi? Only let him hear one particular, and from that he knows ten;
whereas I, if I hear one, may from it know two."
"You are not a match for him, I grant you," said the Master. "You are
not his match."
Tsai Yu, a disciple, used to sleep in the daytime. Said the Master, "One
may hardly carve rotten wood, or use a trowel to the wall of a
manure-yard! In his case, what is the use of reprimand?
"My attitude towards a man in my first dealings with him," he added,
"was to listen to his professions and to trust to his conduct. My
attitude now is to listen to his professions, and to watch his conduct.
My experience with Tsai Yu has led to this change.
"I have never seen," said the Master, "a man of inflexible firmness."
Some one thereupon mentioned Shin Ch'ang, a disciple. "Ch'ang," said he,
"is wanton; where do you get at his inflexibleness?"
Tsz-kung made the remark: "That which I do not wish others to put upon
me, I also wish not to put upon others." "Nay," said the Master, "you
have not got so far as that."
The same disciple once remarked, "There may be access so as to hear the
Master's literary discourses, but when he is treating of human nature
and the way of Heaven, there may not be such success."
Tsz-lu, after once hearing him upon some subject, and feeling himself as
yet incompetent to carry into practice what he had heard, used to be
apprehensive only lest he should hear the subject revived.
Tsz-kung asked how it was that Kung Wan had come to be so styled Wan
(the talented). The Master's answer was, "Because, though a man of an
active nature, he was yet fond of study, and he was not ashamed to stoop
to put questions to his inferiors."
Respecting Tsz-ch'an,[12] the Master said that he had four of the
essential qualities of the 'superior man':--in his own private walk he
was humble-minded; in serving his superiors he was deferential; in his
looking after the material welfare of the people he was generously kind;
and in his exaction of public service from the latter he was just.
Speaking of Yen Ping, he said, "He was one who was happy in his mode of
attaching men to him. However long the intercourse, he was always
deferential to them."
Referring to Tsang Wan, he asked, "What is to be said of this man's
discernment?--this man with his tortoise-house, with the pillar-heads
and posts bedizened with scenes of hill and mere!"
Tsz-chang put a question relative to the chief Minister of Tsu, Tsz-wan.
He said, "Three times he became chief Minister, and on none of these
occasions did he betray any sign of exultation. Three times his ministry
came to an end, and he showed no sign of chagrin. He used without fail
to inform the new Minister as to the old mode of administration. What
say you of him?"
"That he was a loyal man," said the Master.
"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" said the disciple.
"Of that I am not sure," he answered; "how am I to get at that?"
The disciple went on to say:--"After the assassination of the prince of
Ts'i by the officer Ts'ui, the latter's fellow-official Ch'in Wan, who
had half a score teams of horses, gave up all, and turned his back upon
him. On coming to another State, he observed, 'There are here characters
somewhat like that of our minister Ts'ui,' and he turned his back upon
them. Proceeding to a certain other State, he had occasion to make the
same remark, and left. What say you of him?"
"That he was a pure-minded man," answered the Master.
"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" urged the disciple.
"Of that I am not sure," he replied; "how am I to get at that?"
Ki Wan was one who thought three times over a thing before he acted. The
Master hearing this of him, observed, "Twice would have been enough."
Of Ning Wu, the Master said that when matters went well in the State he
used to have his wits about him: but when they went wrong, he lost them.
His intelligence might be equalled, but not his witlessness!
Once, when the Master lived in the State of Ch'in, he exclaimed, "Let me
get home again! Let me get home! My school-children [13] are wild and
impetuous! Though they are somewhat accomplished, and perfect in one
sense in their attainments, yet they know not how to make nice
discriminations."
Of Peh-I and Shuh Ts'i he said, "By the fact of their not remembering
old grievances, they gradually did away with resentment."
Of Wei-shang Kau he said, "Who calls him straightforward? A person once
begged some vinegar of him, and he begged it from a neighbor, and then
presented him with it!"
"Fine speech," said he, "and studied mien, and superfluous show of
deference--of such things Tso-k'iu Ming was ashamed, I too am ashamed of
such things. Also of hiding resentment felt towards an opponent and
treating him as a friend--of this kind of thing he was ashamed, and so
too am I."
Attended once by the two disciples Yen Yuen and Tsz-lu, he said, "Come
now, why not tell me, each of you, what in your hearts you are really
after?"
"I should like," said Tsz-lu, "for myself and my friends and associates,
carriages and horses, and to be clad in light furs! nor would I mind
much if they should become the worse for wear."
"And I should like," said Yen Yuen, "to live without boasting of my
abilities, and without display of meritorious deeds."
Tsz-lu then said, "I should like, sir, to hear what your heart is set
upon."
The Master replied, "It is this:--in regard to old people, to give them
quiet and comfort; in regard to friends and associates, to be faithful
to them; in regard to the young, to treat them with fostering affection
and kindness."
On one occasion the Master exclaimed, "Ah, 'tis hopeless! I have not yet
seen the man who can see his errors, so as inwardly to accuse himself."
"In a small cluster of houses there may well be," said he, "some whose
integrity and sincerity may compare with mine; but I yield to none in
point of love of learning."
[Footnote 10: Lit., a State of 1,000 war chariots.]
[Footnote 11: Lit., a House of 100 war chariots.]
[Footnote 12: A great statesman of Confucius's time.]
[Footnote 13: A familiar way of speaking of his disciples in their
hearing.]
BOOK VI
More Characteristics--Wisdom--Philanthropy
Of Yen Yung, a disciple, the Master said, "Yung might indeed do for a
prince!"
On being asked by this Yen Yung his opinion of a certain individual, the
Master replied, "He is passable. Impetuous, though."
"But," argued the disciple, "if a man habituate himself to a reverent
regard for duty--even while in his way of doing things he is
impetuous--in the oversight of the people committed to his charge, is he
not passable? If, on the other hand, he habituate himself to impetuosity
of mind, and show it also in his way of doing things, is he not then
over-impetuous?"
"You are right," said the Master.
When the Duke Ngai inquired which of the disciples were devoted to
learning, Confucius answered him, "There was one Yen Hwúi who loved
it--a man whose angry feelings towards any particular person he did not
suffer to visit upon another; a man who would never fall into the same
error twice. Unfortunately his allotted time was short, and he died, and
now his like is not to be found; I have never heard of one so devoted to
learning."
While Tsz-hwa, a disciple, was away on a mission to Ts'i, the disciple
Yen Yu, on behalf of his mother, applied for some grain. "Give her three
pecks," said the Master. He applied for more. "Give her eight, then."
Yen gave her fifty times that amount. The Master said, "When Tsz-hwa
went on that journey to Ts'i, he had well-fed steeds yoked to his
carriage, and was arrayed in light furs. I have learnt that the
'superior man' should help those whose needs are urgent, not help the
rich to be more rich."
When Yuen Sz became prefect under him, he gave him nine hundred measures
of grain, but the prefect declined to accept them.[14] "You must not,"
said the Master. "May they not be of use to the villages and hamlets
around you?"
Speaking of Yen Yung again, the Master said, "If the offspring of a
speckled ox be red in color, and horned, even though men may not wish to
take it for sacrifice, would the spirits of the hills and streams reject
it?"
Adverting to Hwúi again, he said, "For three months there would not be
in his breast one thought recalcitrant against his feeling of good-will
towards his fellow-men. The others may attain to this for a day or for a
month, but there they end."
When asked by Ki K'ang whether Tsz-lu was fit to serve the government,
the Master replied, "Tsz-lu is a man of decision: what should prevent
him from serving the government?"
Asked the same question respecting Tsz-kung and Yen Yu he answered
similarly, pronouncing Tsz-kung to be a man of perspicacity, and Yen Yu
to be one versed in the polite arts.
When the head of the Ki family sent for Min Tsz-k'ien to make him
governor of the town of Pi, that disciple said, "Politely decline for
me. If the offer is renewed, then indeed I shall feel myself obliged to
go and live on the further bank of the Wan."
Peh-niu had fallen ill, and the Master was inquiring after him. Taking
hold of his hand held out from the window, he said, "It is taking him
off! Alas, his appointed time has come! Such a man, and to have such an
illness!"
Of Hwúi, again: "A right worthy man indeed was he! With his simple
wooden dish of rice, and his one gourd-basin of drink, away in his poor
back lane, in a condition too grievous for others to have endured, he
never allowed his cheery spirits to droop. Aye, a right worthy soul was
he!"
"It is not," Yen Yu once apologized, "that I do not take pleasure in
your doctrines; it is that I am not strong enough." The Master rejoined,
"It is when those who are not strong enough have made some moderate
amount of progress that they fail and give up; but you are now drawing
your own line for yourself."
Addressing Tsz-hiá, the Master said, "Let your scholarship be that of
gentlemen, and not like that of common men."
When Tsz-yu became governor of Wu-shing, the Master said to him, "Do you
find good men about you?" The reply was, "There is Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming,
who when walking eschews by-paths, and who, unless there be some public
function, never approaches my private residence."
"Mang Chi-fan," said the Master, "is no sounder of his own praises.
During a stampede he was in the rear, and as they were about to enter
the city gate he whipped up his horses, and said, 'Twas not my daring
made me lag behind. My horses would not go.'"
_Obiter dicta_ of the Master:--
"Whoever has not the glib utterance of the priest T'o, as well as the
handsomeness of Prince Cháu of Sung, will find it hard to keep out of
harm's way in the present age.
"Who can go out but by that door? Why walks no one by these guiding
principles?
"Where plain naturalness is more in evidence than polish, we have--the
man from the country. Where polish is more in evidence than naturalness,
we have--the town scribe. It is when naturalness and polish are equally
evident that we have the ideal man.
"The life of a man is--his rectitude. Life without it--such may you have
the good fortune to avoid!
"They who know it are not as those who love it, nor they who love it as
those who rejoice in it--that is, have the fruition of their love for
it.
"To the average man, and those above the average, it is possible to
discourse on higher subjects; to those from the average downwards, it is
not possible."
Fan Ch'i put a query about wisdom. The Master replied, "To labor for the
promoting of righteous conduct among the people of the land; to be
serious in regard to spiritual beings, and to hold aloof from
them;--this may be called wisdom."
To a further query, about philanthropy, he replied, "Those who possess
that virtue find difficulty with it at first, success later.
"Men of practical knowledge," he said, "find their gratification among
the rivers of the lowland, men of sympathetic social feeling find theirs
among the hills. The former are active and bustling, the latter calm and
quiet. The former take their day of pleasure, the latter look to length
of days."
Alluding to the States of Ts'i and Lu, he observed, that Ts'i, by one
change, might attain to the condition of Lu; and that Lu, by one change,
might attain to good government.
An exclamation of the Master (satirizing the times, when old terms
relating to government were still used while bereft of their old
meaning):--"A quart, and not a quart! _quart_, indeed! _quart_, indeed!"
Tsai Wo, a disciple, put a query. Said he, "Suppose a philanthropic
person were told, 'There's a fellow-creature down in the well!' Would he
go down after him?"
"Why should he really do so?" answered the Master. "The good man or, a
superior man might be induced to go, but not to go down. He may be
misled, but not befooled."
"The superior man," said he, "with his wide study of books, and hedging
himself round by the Rules of Propriety, is not surely, after all that,
capable of overstepping his bounds."
Once when the Master had had an interview with Nan-tsz, which had
scandalized his disciple Tsz-lu, he uttered the solemn adjuration, "If I
have done aught amiss, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!"
"How far-reaching," said he, "is the moral excellence that flows from
the Constant Mean! [15] It has for a long time been rare among the
people."
Tsz-kung said, "Suppose the case of one who confers benefits far and
wide upon the people, and who can, in so doing, make his bounty
universally felt--how would you speak of him? Might he be called
philanthropic?"
The Master exclaimed, "What a work for philanthropy! He would require
indeed to be a sage! He would put into shade even Yau and Shun!--Well, a
philanthropic person, desiring for himself a firm footing, is led on to
give one to others; desiring for himself an enlightened perception of
things, he is led on to help others to be similarly enlightened. If one
could take an illustration coming closer home to us than yours, that
might be made the starting-point for speaking about philanthropy."
[Footnote 14: At this time Confucius was Criminal Judge in his native
State of Lu. Yuen Sz had been a disciple. The commentators add that this
was the officer's proper salary, and that he did wrong to refuse it.]
[Footnote 15: The doctrine afterwards known by that name, and which gave
its title to a Confucian treatise.]
BOOK VII
Characteristics of Confucius--An Incident
Said the Master:--
"I, as a transmitter[16] and not an originator, and as one who believes
in and loves the ancients, venture to compare myself with our old P'ang.
"What find you indeed in me?--a quiet brooder and memorizer; a student
never satiated with learning; an unwearied monitor of others!
"The things which weigh heavily upon my mind are these--failure to
improve in the virtues, failure in discussion of what is learnt,
inability to walk according to knowledge received as to what is right
and just, inability also to reform what has been amiss."
In his hours of recreation and refreshment the Master's manner was easy
and unconstrained, affable and winning.
Once he exclaimed, "Alas! I must be getting very feeble; 'tis long since
I have had a repetition of the dreams in which I used to see the Duke of
Chow. [17]
"Concentrate the mind," said he, "upon the Good Way.
"Maintain firm hold upon Virtue.
"Rely upon Philanthropy.
"Find recreation in the Arts. [18]
"I have never withheld instruction from any, even from those who have
come for it with the smallest offering.
"No subject do I broach, however, to those who have no eager desire to
learn; no encouraging hint do I give to those who show no anxiety to
speak out their ideas; nor have I anything more to say to those who,
after I have made clear one corner of the subject, cannot from that give
me the other three."
If the Master was taking a meal, and there were any in mourning beside
him, he would not eat to the full.
On one day on which he had wept, on that day he would not sing.
Addressing his favorite disciple, he said, "To you only and myself it
has been given to do this--to go when called to serve, and to go back
into quiet retirement when released from office."
Tsz-lu, hearing the remark said, "But if, sir, you had the handling of
the army of one of the greater States,[19] whom would you have
associated with you in that case?"
The Master answered:--
"Not the one 'who'll rouse the tiger,'
Not the one 'who'll wade the Ho;'
not the man who can die with no regret. He must be one who should watch
over affairs with apprehensive caution, a man fond of strategy, and of
perfect skill and effectiveness in it."
As to wealth, he remarked, "If wealth were an object that I could go in
quest of, I should do so even if I had to take a whip and do grooms'
work. But seeing that it is not, I go after those objects for which I
have a liking."
Among matters over which he exercised great caution were times of
fasting, war, and sickness.
When he was in the State of Ts'i, and had heard the ancient Shau music,
he lost all perception of the taste of his meat. "I had no idea," said
he, "that music could have been brought to this pitch."
In the course of conversation Yen Yu said, "Does the Master take the
part of the Prince of Wei?" "Ah yes!" said Tsz-kung, "I will go and ask
him that."
On going in to him, that disciple began, "What sort of men were Peh-I
and Shuh Ts'i?" "Worthies of the olden time," the Master replied. "Had
they any feelings of resentment?" was the next question. "Their aim and
object," he answered, "was that of doing the duty which every man owes
to his fellows, and they succeeded in doing it;--what room further for
feelings of resentment?" The questioner on coming out said, "The Master
does not take his part."
"With a meal of coarse rice," said the Master, "and with water to drink,
and my bent arm for my pillow--even thus I can find happiness. Riches
and honors without righteousness are to me as fleeting clouds."
"Give me several years more to live," said he, "and after fifty years'
study of the 'Book of Changes' I might come to be free from serious
error."
The Master's regular subjects of discourse were the "Books of the Odes"
and "History," and the up-keeping of the Rules of Propriety. On all of
these he regularly discoursed.
The Duke of Shih questioned Tsz-lu about Confucius, and the latter did
not answer.
Hearing of this, the Master said, "Why did you not say, He is a man with
a mind so intent on his pursuits that he forgets his food, and finds
such pleasure in them that he forgets his troubles, and does not know
that old age is coming upon him?"
"As I came not into life with any knowledge of it," he said, "and as my
likings are for what is old, I busy myself in seeking knowledge there."
Strange occurrences, exploits of strength, deeds of lawlessness,
references to spiritual beings--such-like matters the Master avoided in
conversation.
"Let there," he said, "be three men walking together: from that number I
should be sure to find my instructors; for what is good in them I should
choose out and follow, and what is not good I should modify."
On one occasion he exclaimed, "Heaven begat Virtue in me; what can man
do unto me?"
To his disciples he once said, "Do you look upon me, my sons, as keeping
anything secret from you? I hide nothing from you. I do nothing that is
not manifest to your eyes, my disciples. That is so with me."
Four things there were which he kept in view in his
teaching--scholarliness, conduct of life, honesty, faithfulness.
"It is not given to me," he said, "to meet with a sage; let me but
behold a man of superior mind, and that will suffice. Neither is it
given to me to meet with a good man; let me but see a man of constancy,
and it will suffice. It is difficult for persons to have constancy, when
they pretend to have that which they are destitute of, to be full when
they are empty, to do things on a grand scale when their means are
contracted!"
When the Master fished with hook and line, he did not also use a net.
When out with his bow, he would never shoot at game in cover.
"Some there may be," said he, "who do things in ignorance of what they
do. I am not of these. There is an alternative way of knowing things,
viz.--to sift out the good from the many things one hears, and follow
it; and to keep in memory the many things one sees."
Pupils from Hu-hiang were difficult to speak with. One youth came to
interview the Master, and the disciples were in doubt whether he ought
to have been seen. "Why so much ado," said the Master, "at my merely
permitting his approach, and not rather at my allowing him to draw back?
If a man have cleansed himself in order to come and see me, I receive
him as such; but I do not undertake for what he will do when he goes
away."
"Is the philanthropic spirit far to seek, indeed?" the Master exclaimed;
"I wish for it, and it is with me!"
The Minister of Crime in the State of Ch'in asked Confucius whether Duke
Ch'an, of Lu was acquainted with the Proprieties; and he answered, "Yes,
he knows them."
When Confucius had withdrawn, the minister bowed to Wu-ma K'i, a
disciple, and motioned to him to come forward. He said, "I have heard
that superior men show no partiality; are they, too, then, partial? That
prince took for his wife a lady of the Wu family, having the same
surname as himself, and had her named 'Lady Tsz of Wu, the elder,' If he
knows the Proprieties, then who does not?"
The disciple reported this to the Master, who thereupon remarked, "Well
for me! If I err in any way, others are sure to know of it."
When the Master was in company with any one who sang, and who sang well,
he must needs have the song over again, and after that would join in it.
"Although in letters," he said, "I may have none to compare with me, yet
in my personification of the 'superior man' I have not as yet been
successful."
"'A Sage and a Philanthropist?' How should I have the ambition?" said
he. "All that I can well be called is this--An insatiable student, an
unwearied teacher;--this, and no more."--"Exactly what we, your
disciples, cannot by any learning manage to be," said Kung-si Hwa.
Once when the Master was seriously ill, Tsz-lu requested to be allowed
to say prayers for him. "Are such available?" asked the Master. "Yes,"
said he; "and the Manual of Prayers says, 'Pray to the spirits above and
to those here below,'"
"My praying has been going on a long while," said the Master.
"Lavish living," he said, "renders men disorderly; miserliness makes
them hard. Better, however, the hard than the disorderly."
Again, "The man of superior mind is placidly composed; the small-minded
man is in a constant state of perturbation."
The Master was gentle, yet could be severe; had an over-awing presence,
yet was not violent; was deferential, yet easy.
[Footnote 16: In reference to his editing the six Classics of his time.]
[Footnote 17: This was one of his "beloved ancients," famous for what he
did in helping to found the dynasty of Chow, a man of great political
wisdom, a scholar also, and poet. It was the "dream" of Confucius's life
to restore the country to the condition in which the Duke of Chow left
it.]
[Footnote 18: These were six in number, viz.: Ceremonial, Music,
Archery, Horsemanship, Language, and Calculation.]
[Footnote 19: Lit., three forces. Each force consisted of 12,500 men,
and three of such forces were the equipment of a greater State.]
BOOK VIII
Sayings of Tsang--Sentences of the Master
Speaking of T'ai-pih the Master said that he might be pronounced a man
of the highest moral excellence; for he allowed the empire to pass by
him onwards to a third heir; while the people, in their ignorance of his
motives, were unable to admire him for so doing.
"Without the Proprieties," said the Master, "we have these results: for
deferential demeanor, a worried one; for calm attentiveness, awkward
bashfulness; for manly conduct, disorderliness; for straightforwardness,
perversity.
"When men of rank show genuine care for those nearest to them in blood,
the people rise to the duty of neighborliness and sociability. And when
old friendships among them are not allowed to fall off, there will be a
cessation of underhand practices among the people."
The Scholar Tsang was once unwell, and calling his pupils to him he said
to them, "Disclose to view my feet and my hands. What says the Ode?--
'Act as from a sense of danger,
With precaution and with care,
As a yawning gulf o'erlooking,
As on ice that scarce will bear,'
At all times, my children, I know how to keep myself free from bodily
harm."
Again, during an illness of his, Mang King, an official, went to ask
after him. The Scholar had some conversation with him, in the course of
which he said--
"'Doleful the cries of a dying bird,
Good the last words of a dying man,'
There are three points which a man of rank in the management of his
duties should set store upon:--A lively manner and deportment, banishing
both severity and laxity; a frank and open expression of countenance,
allied closely with sincerity; and a tone in his utterances utterly free
from any approach to vulgarity and impropriety. As to matters of bowls
and dishes, leave such things to those who are charged with the care of
them."
Another saying of the Scholar Tsang: "I once had a friend who, though he
possessed ability, would go questioning men of none, and, though
surrounded by numbers, would go with his questions to isolated
individuals; who also, whatever he might have, appeared as if he were
without it, and, with all his substantial acquirements, made as though
his mind were a mere blank; and when insulted would not retaliate;--this
was ever his way."
Again he said: "The man that is capable of being intrusted with the
charge of a minor on the throne, and given authority over a large
territory, and who, during the important term of his superintendence
cannot be forced out of his position, is not such a 'superior man'? That
he is, indeed."
Again:--"The learned official must not be without breadth and power of
endurance: the burden is heavy, and the way is long.
"Suppose that he take his duty to his fellow-men as his peculiar burden,
is that not indeed a heavy one? And since only with death it is done
with, is not the way long?"
Sentences of the Master:--
"From the 'Book of Odes' we receive impulses; from the 'Book of the
Rules,' stability; from the 'Book on Music,' refinement. [20]
"The people may be put into the way they should go, though they may not
be put into the way of understanding it.
"The man who likes bravery, and yet groans under poverty, has mischief
in him. So, too, has the misanthrope, groaning at any severity shown
towards him.
"Even if a person were adorned with the gifts of the Duke of Chow, yet
if he were proud and avaricious, all the rest of his qualities would not
indeed be worth looking at.
"Not easily found is the man who, after three years' study, has failed
to come upon some fruit of his toil.
"The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till
death.
"He will not go into a State in which a downfall is imminent, nor take
up his abode in one where disorder reigns. When the empire is well
ordered he will show himself; when not, he will hide himself away. Under
a good government it will be a disgrace to him if he remain in poverty
and low estate; under a bad one, it would be equally disgraceful to him
to hold riches and honors.
"If not occupying the office, devise not the policy.
"When the professor Chi began his duties, how grand the finale of the
First of the Odes used to be! How it rang in one's ears!
"I cannot understand persons who are enthusiastic and yet not
straightforward; nor those who are ignorant and yet not attentive; nor
again those folks who are simple-minded and yet untrue.
"Learn, as if never overtaking your object, and yet as if apprehensive
of losing it.
"How sublime was the handling of the empire by Shun and Yu!--it was as
nothing to them!
"How great was Yau as a prince! Was he not sublime! Say that Heaven only
is great, then was Yau alone after its pattern! How profound was he! The
people could not find a name for him. How sublime in his achievements!
How brilliant in his scholarly productions!"
Shun had for his ministers five men, by whom he ordered the empire.
King Wu (in his day) stated that he had ten men as assistants for the
promotion of order.
With reference to these facts Confucius observed, "Ability is hard to
find. Is it not so indeed? During the three years' interregnum between
Yau and Shun there was more of it than in the interval before this
present dynasty appeared. There were, at this latter period, one woman,
and nine men only.
"When two-thirds of the empire were held by King Wan, he served with
that portion the House of Yin. We speak of the virtue of the House of
Chow; we may say, indeed, that it reached the pinnacle of excellence."
"As to Yu," added the Master, "I can find no flaw in him. Living on
meagre food and drink; yet providing to the utmost in his filial
offerings to the spirits of the dead! Dressing in coarse garments; yet
most elegant when vested in his sacrificial apron and coronet! Dwelling
in a poor palace; yet exhausting his energies over those
boundary-ditches and watercourses! I can find no flaw in Yu."
[Footnote 20: Comparison of three of the Classics: the "Shi-King," the
"Li Ki," and the "Yoh." The last is lost.]
BOOK IX
His Favorite Disciple's Opinion of Him
Topics on which the Master rarely spoke were--Advantage, and Destiny,
and Duty of man to man.
A man of the village of Tah-hiang exclaimed of him, "A great man is
Confucius!--a man of extensive learning, and yet in nothing has he quite
made himself a name!"
The Master heard of this, and mentioning it to his disciples he said,
"What then shall I take in hand? Shall I become a carriage driver, or an
archer? Let me be a driver!"
"The sacrificial cap," he once said, "should, according to the Rules, be
of linen; but in these days it is of pure silk. However, as it is
economical, I do as all do.
"The Rule says, 'Make your bow when at the lower end of the hall'; but
nowadays the bowing is done at the upper part. This is great freedom;
and I, though I go in opposition to the crowd, bow when at the lower
end."
The Master barred four words:--he would have no "shall's," no "must's,"
no "certainty's," no "I's."
Once, in the town of K'wang fearing that his life was going to be taken,
the Master exclaimed, "King Wan is dead and gone; but is not '_wan_'
[21] with you here? If Heaven be about to allow this '_wan_' to perish,
then they who survive its decease will get no benefit from it. But so
long as Heaven does not allow it to perish, what can the men of K'wang
do to me?"
A high State official, after questioning Tsz-kung, said, "Your Master is
a sage, then? How many and what varied abilities must be his!"
The disciple replied, "Certainly Heaven is allowing him full
opportunities of becoming a sage, in addition to the fact that his
abilities are many and varied."
When the Master heard of this he remarked, "Does that high official know
me? In my early years my position in life was low, and hence my ability
in many ways, though exercised in trifling matters. In the gentleman is
there indeed such variety of ability? No."
From this, the disciple Lau used to say, "'Twas a saying of the Master:
'At a time when I was not called upon to use them, I acquired my
proficiency in the polite arts.'"
"Am I, indeed," said the Master, "possessed of knowledge? I know
nothing. Let a vulgar fellow come to me with a question--a man with an
emptyish head--I may thrash out with him the matter from end to end, and
exhaust myself in doing it!"
"Ah!" exclaimed he once, "the phoenix does not come! and no symbols
issue from the river! May I not as well give up?"
Whenever the Master met with a person in mourning, or with one in
full-dress cap and kirtle, or with a blind person, although they might
be young persons, he would make a point of rising on their appearance,
or, if crossing their path, would do so with quickened step!
Once Yen Yuen exclaimed with a sigh (with reference to the Master's
doctrines), "If I look up to them, they are ever the higher; if I try to
penetrate them, they are ever the harder; if I gaze at them as if before
my eyes, lo, they are behind me!--Gradually and gently the Master with
skill lures men on. By literary lore he gave me breadth; by the Rules of
Propriety he narrowed me down. When I desire a respite, I find it
impossible; and after I have exhausted my powers, there seems to be
something standing straight up in front of me, and though I have the
mind to make towards it I make no advance at all."
Once when the Master was seriously ill, Tsz-lu induced the other
disciples to feign they were high officials acting in his service.
During a respite from his malady the Master exclaimed, "Ah! how long has
Tsz-lu's conduct been false? Whom should I delude, if I were to pretend
to have officials under me, having none? Should I deceive Heaven?
Besides, were I to die, I would rather die in the hands of yourselves,
my disciples, than in the hands of officials. And though I should fail
to have a grand funeral over me, I should hardly be left on my death on
the public highway, should I?"
Tsz-kung once said to him, "Here is a fine gem. Would you guard it
carefully in a casket and store it away, or seek a good price for it and
sell it?" "Sell it, indeed," said the Master--"that would I; but I
should wait for the bidder."
The Master protested he would "go and live among the nine wild tribes."
"A rude life," said some one;--"how could you put up with it?"
"What rudeness would there be," he replied, "if a 'superior man' was
living in their midst?"
Once he remarked, "After I came back from Wei to Lu the music was put
right, and each of the Festal Odes and Hymns was given its appropriate
place and use."
"Ah! which one of these following," he asked on one occasion, "are to be
found exemplified in me--proper service rendered to superiors when
abroad; duty to father and elder brother when at home; duty that shrinks
from no exertion when dear ones die; and keeping free from the confusing
effects of wine?"
Standing once on the bank of a mountain stream, he said (musingly),
"Like this are those that pass away--no cessation, day or night!"
Other sayings:--
"Take an illustration from the making of a hill. A simple basketful is
wanting to complete it, and the work stops. So I stop short.
"Take an illustration from the levelling of the ground. Suppose again
just one basketful is left, when the work has so progressed. There I
desist!
"Ah! it was Hwúi, was it not? who, when I had given him his lesson, was
the unflagging one!
"Alas for Hwúi! I saw him ever making progress. I never saw him stopping
short.
"Blade, but no bloom--or else bloom, but no produce; aye, that is the
way with some!
"Reverent regard is due to youth. How know we what difference there may
be in them in the future from what they are now? Yet when they have
reached the age of forty or fifty, and are still unknown in the world,
then indeed they are no more worthy of such regard.
"Can any do otherwise than assent to words said to them by way of
correction? Only let them reform by such advice, and it will then be
reckoned valuable. Can any be other than pleased with words of gentle
suasion? Only let them comply with them fully, and such also will be
accounted valuable. With those who are pleased without so complying, and
those who assent but do not reform, I can do nothing at all.
"Give prominent place to loyalty and sincerity.
"Have no associates in study who are not advanced somewhat like
yourself.
"When you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself.
"It may be possible to seize and carry off the chief commander of a
large army, but not possible so to rob one poor fellow of his will.
"One who stands--clad in hempen robe, the worse for wear--among others
clad in furs of fox and badger, and yet unabashed--'tis Tsz-lu, that, is
it not?"
Tsz-lu used always to be humming over the lines--
"From envy and enmity free,
What deed doth he other than good?"
"How should such a rule of life," asked the Master, "be sufficient to
make any one good?"
"When the year grows chilly, we know the pine and cypress are the last
to fade.
"The wise escape doubt; the good-hearted, trouble; the bold,
apprehension.
"Some may study side by side, and yet be asunder when they
come to the logic of things. Some may go on together in this
latter course, but be wide apart in the standards they reach in
it. Some, again, may together reach the same standard, and
yet be diverse in weight of character."
"The blossom is out on the cherry tree,
With a flutter on every spray.
Dost think that my thoughts go not out to thee?
Ah, why art thou far away!"
Commenting on these lines the Master said, "There can hardly have been
much 'thought going out,' What does distance signify?"
[Footnote 21: "Wan" was the honorary appellation of the great sage and
ruler, whose praise is in the "Shi-King" as one of the founders of the
Chow dynasty, and the term represented civic talent and virtues, as
distinct from Wu, the martial talent--the latter being the honorary
title of his son and successor. "Wan" also often stands for literature
and polite accomplishments. Here Confucius simply means, "If you kill
me, you kill a sage."]
BOOK X
Confucius in Private and Official Life
In his own village, Confucius presented a somewhat plain and simple
appearance, and looked unlike a man who possessed ability of speech.
But in the ancestral temple, and at Court, he spoke with the fluency and
accuracy of a debater, but ever guardedly.
At Court, conversing with the lower order of great officials, he spoke
somewhat firmly and directly; with those of the higher order his tone
was somewhat more affable.
When the prince was present he was constrainedly reverent in his
movements, and showed a proper degree of grave dignity in demeanor.
Whenever the prince summoned him to act as usher to the Court, his look
would change somewhat, and he would make as though he were turning round
to do obeisance.
He would salute those among whom he took up his position, using the
right hand or the left, and holding the skirts of his robe in proper
position before and behind. He would make his approaches with quick
step, and with elbows evenly bent outwards.
When the visitor withdrew, he would not fail to report the execution of
his commands, with the words, "The visitor no longer looks back."
When he entered the palace gate, it was with the body somewhat bent
forward, almost as though he could not be admitted. When he stood still,
this would never happen in the middle of the gateway; nor when moving
about would he ever tread on the threshold. When passing the throne, his
look would change somewhat, he would turn aside and make a sort of
obeisance, and the words he spoke seemed as though he were deficient in
utterance.
On going up the steps to the audience chamber, he would gather up with
both hands the ends of his robe, and walk with his body bent somewhat
forward, holding back his breath like one in whom respiration has
ceased. On coming out, after descending one step his countenance would
relax and assume an appearance of satisfaction. Arrived at the bottom,
he would go forward with quick step, his elbows evenly bent outwards,
back to his position, constrainedly reverent in every movement.
When holding the sceptre in his hand, his body would be somewhat bent
forward, as if he were not equal to carrying it; wielding it now higher,
as in a salutation, now lower, as in the presentation of a gift; his
look would also be changed and appear awestruck; and his gait would seem
retarded, as if he were obeying some restraining hand behind.
When he presented the gifts of ceremony, he would assume a placid
expression of countenance. At the private interview he would be cordial
and affable.
The good man would use no purple or violet colors for the facings of his
dress. [22] Nor would he have red or orange color for his undress. [23]
For the hot season he wore a singlet, of either coarse or fine texture,
but would also feel bound to have an outer garment covering it. For his
black robe he had lamb's wool; for his white one, fawn's fur; and for
his yellow one, fox fur. His furred undress robe was longer, but the
right sleeve was shortened. He would needs have his sleeping-dress one
and a half times his own length. For ordinary home wear he used thick
substantial fox or badger furs. When he left off mourning, he would wear
all his girdle trinkets. His kirtle in front, when it was not needed for
full cover, he must needs have cut down. He would never wear his (black)
lamb's-wool, or a dark-colored cap, when he went on visits of condolence
to mourners. [24] On the first day of the new moon, he must have on his
Court dress and to Court. When observing his fasts, he made a point of
having bright, shiny garments, made of linen. He must also at such times
vary his food, and move his seat to another part of his dwelling-room.
As to his food, he never tired of rice so long as it was clean and pure,
nor of hashed meats when finely minced. Rice spoiled by damp, and sour,
he would not touch, nor tainted fish, nor bad meat, nor aught of a bad
color or smell, nor aught overdone in cooking, nor aught out of season.
Neither would he eat anything that was not properly cut, or that lacked
its proper seasonings. Although there might be an abundance of meat
before him, he would not allow a preponderance of it to rob the rice of
its beneficial effect in nutrition. Only in the matter of wine did he
set himself no limit, yet he never drank so much as to confuse himself.
Tradesmen's wines, and dried meats from the market, he would not touch.
Ginger he would never have removed from the table during a meal. He was
not a great eater. Meat from the sacrifices at the prince's temple he
would never put aside till the following day. The meat of his own
offerings he would never give out after three days' keeping, for after
that time none were to eat it.
At his meals he would not enter into discussions; and when reposing
(afterwards) he would not utter a word.
Even should his meal consist only of coarse rice and vegetable broth or
melons, he would make an offering, and never fail to do so religiously.
He would never sit on a mat that was not straight.
After a feast among his villagers, he would wait before going away until
the old men had left.
When the village people were exorcising the pests, he would put on his
Court robes and stand on the steps of his hall to receive them.
When he was sending a message of inquiry to a person in another State,
he would bow twice on seeing the messenger off.
Ki K'ang once sent him a present of some medicine. He bowed, and
received it; but remarked, "Until I am quite sure of its properties I
must not venture to taste it."
Once when the stabling was destroyed by fire, he withdrew from the
Court, and asked, "Is any person injured? "--without inquiring as to the
horses.
Whenever the prince sent him a present of food, he was particular to set
his mat in proper order, and would be the first one to taste it. If the
prince's present was one of raw meat, he must needs have it cooked, and
make an oblation of it. If the gift were a live animal, he would be sure
to keep it and care for it.
When he was in waiting, and at a meal with the prince, the prince would
make the offering,[25] and he (the Master) was the pregustator.
When unwell, and the prince came to see him, he would arrange his
position so that his head inclined towards the east, would put over him
his Court robes, and draw his girdle across them.
When summoned by order of the prince, he would start off without waiting
for his horses to be put to.
On his entry into the Grand Temple, he inquired about everything
connected with its usages.
If a friend died, and there were no near relatives to take him to, he
would say, "Let him be buried from my house."
For a friend's gift--unless it consisted of meat that had been offered
in sacrifice--he would not bow, even if it were a carriage and horses.
In repose he did not lie like one dead. In his home life he was not
formal in his manner.
Whenever he met with a person in mourning, even though it were a
familiar acquaintance, he would be certain to change his manner; and
when he met with any one in full-dress cap, or with any blind person, he
would also unfailingly put on a different look, even though he were
himself in undress at the time.
In saluting any person wearing mourning he would bow forwards towards
the front bar of his carriage; in the same manner he would also salute
the bearer of a census-register.
When a sumptuous banquet was spread before him, a different expression
would be sure to appear in his features, and he would rise up from his
seat.
At a sudden thunder-clap, or when the wind grew furious, his look would
also invariably be changed.
On getting into his car, he would never fail (first) to stand up erect,
holding on by the strap. When in the car, he would never look about, nor
speak hastily, nor bring one hand to the other.
"Let one but make a movement in his face,
And the bird will rise and seek some safer place."
Apropos of this, he said, "Here is a hen-pheasant from Shan Liang--and
in season! and in season!" After Tsz-lu had got it prepared, he smelt it
thrice, and then rose up from his seat.
[Footnote 22: Because, it is said, such colors were adopted in fasting
and mourning.]
[Footnote 23: Because they did not belong to the five correct colors
(viz. green, yellow, carnation, white, and black), and were affected
more by females.]
[Footnote 24: Since white was, as it is still, the mourning color.]
[Footnote 25: The act of "grace," before eating.]
BOOK XI
Comparative Worth of His Disciples
"The first to make progress in the Proprieties and in Music," said the
Master, "are plain countrymen; after them, the men of higher standing.
If I had to employ any of them, I should stand by the former."
"Of those," said he, "who were about me when I was in the Ch'in and
Ts'ai States, not one now is left to approach my door."
"As for Hwui," [26] said the Master, "he is not one to help me on: there
is nothing I say but he is not well satisfied with."
"What a dutiful son was Min Tsz-k'ien!" he exclaimed. "No one finds
occasion to differ from what his parents and brothers have said of him."
Nan Yung used to repeat three times over the lines in the Odes about the
white sceptre. Confucius caused his own elder brother's daughter to be
given in marriage to him.
When Ki K'ang inquired which of the disciples were fond of learning,
Confucius answered him, "There was one Yen Hwúi who was fond of it; but
unfortunately his allotted time was short, and he died; and now his like
is not to be found."
When Yen Yuen died, his father, Yen Lu, begged for the Master's carriage
in order to get a shell for his coffin. "Ability or no ability," said
the Master, "every father still speaks of 'my son.' When my own son Li
died, and the coffin for him had no shell to it, I know I did not go on
foot to get him one; but that was because I was, though retired, in the
wake of the ministers, and could not therefore well do so."
On the death of Yen Yuen the Master exclaimed, "Ah me! Heaven is ruining
me, Heaven is ruining me!"
On the same occasion, his wailing for that disciple becoming excessive,
those who were about him said, "Sir, this is too much!"--"Too much?"
said he; "if I am not to do so for him, then--for whom else?"
The disciples then wished for the deceased a grand funeral. The Master
could not on his part consent to this. They nevertheless gave him one.
Upon this he remarked, "He used to look upon me as if I were his father.
I could never, however, look on him as a son. Twas not my mistake, but
yours, my children."
Tsz-lu propounded a question about ministering to the spirits of the
departed. The Master replied, "Where there is scarcely the ability to
minister to living men, how shall there be ability to minister to the
spirits?" On his venturing to put a question concerning death, he
answered, "Where there is scarcely any knowledge about life, how shall
there be any about death?"
The disciple Min was by his side, looking affable and bland; Tsz-lu
also, looking careless and intrepid; and Yen Yu and Tsz-kung, firm and
precise. The Master was cheery. "One like Tsz-lu there," said he, "does
not come to a natural end."
Some persons in Lu were taking measures in regard to the Long Treasury
House. Min Tsz-k'ien observed, "How if it were repaired on the old
lines?" The Master upon this remarked, "This fellow is not a talker, but
when he does speak he is bound to hit the mark!"
"There is Yu's harpsichord," exclaimed the Master--"what is it doing at
my door?" On seeing, however, some disrespect shown to him by the other
disciples, he added, "Yu has got as far as the top of the hall; only he
has not yet entered the house."
Tsz-kung asked which was the worthier of the two--Tsz-chang or Tsz-hiá.
"The former," answered the Master, "goes beyond the mark; the latter
falls short of it."
"So then Tsz-chang is the better of the two, is he?" said he.
"To go too far," he replied, "is about the same as to fall short."
The Chief of the Ki family was a wealthier man than the Duke of Chow had
been, and yet Yen Yu gathered and hoarded for him, increasing his wealth
more and more.
"He is no follower of mine," said the Master. "It would serve him right,
my children, to sound the drum, and set upon him."
Characteristics of four disciples:--Tsz-káu was simple-minded; Tsang Si,
a dullard; Tsz-chang, full of airs; Tsz-lu, rough.
"As to Hwúi," said the Master, "he comes near to perfection, while
frequently in great want. Tsz-kung does not submit to the appointments
of Heaven; and yet his goods are increased;--he is often successful in
his calculations."
Tsz-chang wanted to know some marks of the naturally Good Man.
"He does not walk in others' footprints," said the Master; "yet he does
not get beyond the hall into the house."
Once the Master said, "Because we allow that a man's words have
something genuine in them, are they necessarily those of a superior man?
or words carrying only an outward semblance and show of gravity?"
Tsz-lu put a question about the practice of precepts one has heard. The
Master's reply was, "In a case where there is a father or elder brother
still left with you, how should you practise all you hear?"
When, however, the same question was put to him by Yen Yu, his reply
was, "Yes; do so."
Kung-si Hwa animadverted upon this to the Master. "Tsz-lu asked you,
sir," said he, "about the practice of what one has learnt, and you said,
'There may be a father or elder brother still alive'; but when Yen Yu
asked the same question, you answered, 'Yes, do so.' I am at a loss to
understand you, and venture to ask what you meant."
The Master replied, "Yen Yu backs out of his duties; therefore I push
him on. Tsz-lu has forwardness enough for them both; therefore I hold
him back."
On the occasion of that time of fear in K'wang, Yen Yuen having fallen
behind, the Master said to him (afterwards), "I took it for granted you
were a dead man." "How should I dare to die," said he, "while you, sir,
still lived?"
On Ki Tsz-jen putting to him a question anent Tsz-lu and Yen Yu, as to
whether they might be called "great ministers," the Master answered, "I
had expected your question, sir, to be about something extraordinary,
and lo! it is only about these two. Those whom we call 'great ministers'
are such as serve their prince conscientiously, and who, when they
cannot do so, retire. At present, as regards the two you ask about, they
may be called 'qualified ministers.'"
"Well, are they then," he asked, "such as will follow their leader?"
"They would not follow him who should slay his father and his prince!"
was the reply.
Through the intervention of Tsz-lu, Tsz-kau was being appointed governor
of Pi.
"You are spoiling a good man's son," said the Master.
Tsz-lu rejoined, "But he will have the people and their superiors to
gain experience from, and there will be the altars; what need to read
books? He can become a student afterwards."
"Here is the reason for my hatred of glib-tongued people," said the
Master.
On one occasion Tsz-lu, Tsang Sin, Yen Yu, and Kung-si Hwa were sitting
near him. He said to them, "Though I may be a day older than you, do not
(for the moment) regard me as such. While you are living this unoccupied
life you are saying, 'We do not become known.' Now suppose some one got
to know you, what then?"
Tsz-lu--first to speak--at once answered, "Give me a State of large size
and armament, hemmed in and hampered by other larger States, the
population augmented by armies and regiments, causing a dearth in it of
food of all kinds; give me charge of that State, and in three years'
time I should make a brave country of it, and let it know its place."
The Master smiled at him. "Yen," said he, "how would it be with you?"
"Give me," said Yen, "a territory of sixty or seventy li square, or of
fifty or sixty square; put me in charge of that, and in three years I
should make the people sufficiently prosperous. As regards their
knowledge of ceremonial or music, I should wait for superior men to
teach them that."
"And with you, Kung-si, how would it be?"
This disciple's reply was, "I have nothing to say about my capabilities
for such matters; my wish is to learn. I should like to be a junior
assistant, in dark robe and cap, at the services of the ancestral
temple, and at the Grand Receptions of the Princes by the Sovereign."
"And with you, Tsang Sin?"
This disciple was strumming on his harpsichord, but now the twanging
ceased, he turned from the instrument, rose to his feet, and answered
thus: "Something different from the choice of these three." "What harm?"
said the Master; "I want each one of you to tell me what his heart is
set upon." "Well, then," said he, "give me--in the latter part of
spring--dressed in full spring-tide attire--in company with five or six
young fellows of twenty, [27] or six or seven lads under that age, to do
the ablutions in the I stream, enjoy a breeze in the rain-dance, [28]
and finish up with songs on the road home."
The Master drew in his breath, sighed, and exclaimed, "Ah, I take with
you!"
The three other disciples having gone out, leaving Tsang Sin behind, the
latter said, "What think you of the answers of those three?"--"Well,
each told me what was uppermost in his mind," said the Master;--"simply
that."
"Why did you smile at Tsz-lu, sir?"
"I smiled at him because to have the charge of a State requires due
regard to the Rules of Propriety, and his words betrayed a lack of
modesty."
"But Yen, then--he had a State in view, had he not?"
"I should like to be shown a territory such as he described which does
not amount to a State."
"But had not Kung-si also a State in view?"
"What are ancestral temples and Grand Receptions, but for the feudal
lords to take part in? If Kung-si were to become an unimportant
assistant at these functions, who could become an important one?"
[Footnote 26: The men of virtuous life were Yen Yuen (Hwúi), Min
Tsz-k'ien, Yen Pihniu, and Chung-kung (Yen Yung); the speakers and
debaters were Tsai Wo and Tsz-kung; the (capable) government servants
were Yen Yu and Tsz-lu; the literary students, Tsz-yu and Tsz-hiá.]
[Footnote 27: Lit., capped ones. At twenty they underwent the ceremony
of capping, and were considered men.]
[Footnote 28: I.e., before the altars, where offerings were placed with
prayer for rain. A religious dance.]
BOOK XII
The Master's Answers--Philanthropy--Friendships
Yen Yuen was asking about man's proper regard for his fellow-man. The
Master said to him, "Self-control, and a habit of falling back upon
propriety, virtually effect it. Let these conditions be fulfilled for
one day, and every one round will betake himself to the duty. Is it to
begin in one's self, or think you, indeed! it is to begin in others?"
"I wanted you to be good enough," said Yen Yuen, "to give me a brief
synopsis of it."
Then said the Master, "Without Propriety use not your eyes; without it
use not your ears, nor your tongue, nor a limb of your body."
"I may be lacking in diligence," said Yen Yuen, "but with your favor I
will endeavor to carry out this advice."
Chung-kung asked about man's proper regard for his fellows.
To him the Master replied thus: "When you go forth from your door, be as
if you were meeting some guest of importance. When you are making use of
the common people (for State purposes), be as if you were taking part in
a great religious function. Do not set before others what you do not
desire yourself. Let there be no resentful feelings against you when you
are away in the country, and none when at home."
"I may lack diligence," said Chung-kung, "but with your favor I will
endeavor to carry out this advice."
Sz-ma Niu asked the like question. The answer he received was this: "The
words of the man who has a proper regard for his fellows are uttered
with difficulty."
"'His words--uttered with difficulty?'" he echoed, in surprise. "Is that
what is meant by proper regard for one's fellow-creatures?"
"Where there is difficulty in doing," the Master replied, "will there
not be some difficulty in utterance?"
The same disciple put a question about the "superior man." "Superior
men," he replied, "are free from trouble and apprehension."
"'Free from trouble and apprehension!'" said he. "Does that make them
'superior men'?"
The Master added, "Where there is found, upon introspection, to be no
chronic disease, how shall there be any trouble? how shall there be any
apprehension?"
The same disciple, being in trouble, remarked, "I am alone in having no
brother, while all else have theirs--younger or elder."
Tsz-hiá said to him, "I have heard this: 'Death and life have destined
times; wealth and honors rest with Heaven. Let the superior man keep
watch over himself without ceasing, showing deference to others, with
propriety of manners--and all within the four seas will be his brethren.
How should he be distressed for lack of brothers!'" [29]
Tsz-chang asked what sort of man might be termed "enlightened."
The Master replied, "That man with whom drenching slander and cutting
calumny gain no currency may well be called enlightened. Ay, he with
whom such things make no way may well be called enlightened in the
extreme."
Tsz-kung put a question relative to government. In reply the Master
mentioned three essentials:--sufficient food, sufficient armament, and
the people's confidence.
"But," said the disciple, "if you cannot really have all three, and one
has to be given up, which would you give up first?"
"The armament," he replied.
"And if you are obliged to give up one of the remaining two, which would
it be?"
"The food," said he. "Death has been the portion of all men from of old.
Without the people's trust nothing can stand."
Kih Tsz-shing once said, "Give me the inborn qualities of a gentleman,
and I want no more. How are such to come from book-learning?"
Tsz-kung exclaimed, "Ah! sir, I regret to hear such words from you. A
gentleman!--But 'a team of four can ne'er o'er-take the tongue!'
Literary accomplishments are much the same as inborn qualities, and
inborn qualities as literary accomplishments. A tiger's or leopard's
skin without the hair might be a dog's or sheep's when so made bare."
Duke Ngai was consulting Yu Joh. Said he, "It is a year of dearth, and
there is an insufficiency for Ways and Means--what am I to do?"
"Why not apply the Tithing Statute?" said the minister.
"But two tithings would not be enough for my purposes," said the duke;
"what would be the good of applying the Statute?"
The minister replied, "So long as the people have enough left for
themselves, who of them will allow their prince to be without enough?
But--when the people have not enough, who will allow their prince all
that he wants?"
Tsz-chang was asking how the standard of virtue was to be raised, and
how to discern what was illusory or misleading. The Master's answer was,
"Give a foremost place to honesty and faithfulness, and tread the path
of righteousness, and you will raise the standard of virtue. As to
discerning what is illusory, here is an example of an illusion:--Whom
you love you wish to live; whom you hate you wish to die. To have wished
the same person to live and also to be dead--there is an illusion for
you."
Duke King of Ts'i consulted Confucius about government. His answer was,
"Let a prince be a prince, and ministers be ministers; let fathers be
fathers, and sons be sons."
"Good!" exclaimed the duke; "truly if a prince fail to be a prince, and
ministers to be ministers, and if fathers be not fathers, and sons not
sons, then, even though I may have my allowance of grain, should I ever
be able to relish it?"
"The man to decide a cause with half a word," exclaimed the Master, "is
Tsz-lu!"
Tsz-lu never let a night pass between promise and performance.
"In hearing causes, I am like other men," said the Master. "The great
point is--to prevent litigation."
Tsz-chang having raised some question about government, the Master said
to him, "In the settlement of its principles be unwearied; in its
adminis |
