i. When the Master was travelling to Wei, Jan Yu drove him. ed the Master. 3. " The people having grown so numerous what next should be done for them?" asked Jan Yu. " Enrich them," was the reply.
Confucianism
Analects
Book 13
- The Master said: " Were any Prince to employ me, in a twelvemonth something could have been done, but in three years the work could be completed."
The Master remarked: "How true is the saying: 'If good men ruled the country for a hundred years, they
The Master said: " If a kingly ruler were to arise it would take a generation before Virtue prevailed."
The Master said. "If a man put himself aright what difficulty will he have in the public service; but if he cannot put himself aright how is he going to put others right? "
Once when came from Court the Master asked, " Why are you so late? " " We had affairs of State " was the reply. " They must have been Family affairs, then," said the Master. " If there had been affairs of State, although they do not engage me in office, yet I should have been consulted about them."
i. Duke Ting enquired whether there were any one phrase by the adoption of which a country could be made prosperous. " No phrase can be exno gratification in being a Prince, unless none opposed my commands.' 5. If those are good, and on one opposes them, that surely is.well. But if they are not good, and no one opposes them, may he not expect in that one phrase to ruin his country?"
i. When the duke of She asked the meaning of good government, 2. the Master answered: " The near are happy and the distant attracted."
When Tzu Hsia w7as Magistrate of Chu-fu he asked what of the country," replied Confucius, "are different from that, for a father will screen his son, and a son his father, — and there is honesty in that."
Once when Fan Ch'ih asked about Virtue the Master said: " In private life be courteous, in handling public business be serious, with all men be con scientious. Even though you go among barbarians you may not relinquish these."
Kung asked: ' What must an Officer be like to merit his name?" " If in his personal conduct," replied the Master, " he has a sensibility to XIII. XX. TIIK ANAU-XTS. must a man possess to entitle him etc. He who in his conduct of himself maintains a sense of shame, and when sent to any quaiter etc. deserves to be called etc. ut possim vocari sapiens candiclatus: actionibus propriis serva pudorem, no dedecores etc. K. What must one be in order to be considered a gentleman? strict personal honour not disgrace his mission. Couv. ce qu'il faillait faire pour mcriter de-tieappelc disciplo do la sagesse qui dans sa conduite ado la pudeur. r,e dehhunorc pas le prince qui etc.
The Master said. " If I cannot obtain men of the via media to teach, those whom I must have, let them be the ambitious and the discreet; for the ambitious do make progress and get a hold, and, If as to the discreet, there are things that they will not do."
i. The Master said: "The men of the South have a saying: ' A man without constancy will make neither a soothsayer nor a doctor.' How well put! 2. (The Yi Ching says:) 'If he be inconstant in his moral character, someone will bring disgrace upon him.' ' 3. The Master in in A A remarked: " All because he did not calculate beforehand."
The Master said: " The true gentleman is friendly but not familiar; the inferior man is familiar but not friendly."
Tzu Kung asked: "What would you say of the man who is liked by all his fellow-townsmen?" "That is not sufficient," was the reply. " Then what would you say of him who is hated by all his fellow-townsmen?" "Nor is that sufficient," was the reply. "What is better is that, the good among his fellow-townsmen like him, and the bad hate him."
The Master said: " The true gentleman is easy to serve yet difficult to please. If you attempt to please him in any improper way he will be displeased, but when it comes to appointing men in their work, he has regard to their capacity. The inferior man is hard to serve yet easy to please. If you attempt to please him4? even in am improper way, he will be pleased, but in appointing men their work, he expects them to be fit for everything."
The Master said: " The well-bred are dignified but not pompous. The ill-bred are pompous, but not dignified."
The Master said: 'The firm of spirit, the resolute in character, the simple in manner, and the slow of speech are not far from Virtue."
Tzu Lu asked: "What qualities must one possess to be entitled to be called an educated man? " 11 He who is earnest in spirit, persuasive in speech, and withal of gracious bearing," said the Master, " may be called an educated man.
The Master said: ' When a good man has trained the people for seven years, they might then be fit to bear arms."
The Master said: 1 To lead an untrained people to war may be called throwing them away."
When Hsien asked the meaning of dishonour, the Master said: " When his country is well governed to be thinking only of Pay, and when his country is ill-governed to be thinking only of Pay, — that is dishonour."
Book 14
i. (Hsien again asked): " If a man refrain from ambition, boasting, resentment and selfish desire, it may, I sup pose, be counted to him for Virtue." 2. " It may be counted for difficult," said the Master, "but whether for Virtue, I do not know."
The iMaster said: 11 The Scholar whose regard is his comfort is unworthy to be deemed a Scholar.1'
The iMaster said: " When law and order prevail in the land, a man may be bold in speech and bold in action; but when the land lacks law and order, though he may take bold action, he should lay restraint on his speech."
The Master said: "A man of principle is sure to have something good to say, but he who has something good to say is not necessarily a man of principle. A Virtuous man is sure to be courageous, but a courageous man is not necessarily a man of Virtue."
Nan Kung Kua re marked, to Confucius by way of enquiry: " (Is it not a fact that though) I excelled as an archer, and Ao could propel a boat on dry land, neither of them died a natural death; while Yti and Chi, who took a personal interest in agriculture, became possess ed of the Empire? " The Master made no reply, but when. Nan Kung Kua had with drawn, he observed: " A scholar indeed is such a man! A true estimation of virtue has such a man! "
"There may perhaps be men of the higher type who fail in Virtue, but there has never been one of the lower type who possessed Virtue."
The Master said: " Can love be other than exacting, or loyalty refrain from admonition?"
The Master said: (( In preparing a State document (in Cheng), P'i Shen drafted it, Shih Shu revised it, the 6S9 XIV. ix, x. ANALKCTS. nil points, make the necessary corrections, polish the style etc. Couv. Quand il fallait ecrirc une lettre a LI prince...... composait le brouillon, examinait le contenu, Tzeu iu, qui presidait a la reception des hotes, corrigeait et polissait le style, clonnait une tournure elegante.
i. Somebody asked the Master what he thought about Tzu Ch'an, 11 He is a kindly man," was the reply. 2. Asked about Tzu Hsi he said: " That man! That man! " 3. Asked about Kuan Chung he said: "There was a man! The head of the Po family was despoiled for him of his town of P'ien with its three hundred families, yet never even complained, though he had to live on coarse food to the end of his days."
The Master said: ' To be poor and not complain is difficult; to be rich and not arrogant is easy."
The Master said: " Meng Kung Ch'o would excel as Comp troller of the Chao or Wei families, but is not fit to be Minister in the States of T'eng or Hsieh."
i. When Tzu Lu asked what constituted the character of the perfect man the Master replied: "If he have the wisdom of Tsang Wu Chung, the purity of Kung Ch'o, the courage of Chuang Tzu of P'ien and the skill of Jan Ch'iu, and if he refine these with the arts of courtesy and harmony, then indeed he may be deemed a perfect man." 2. "But what need is there," he added, "for the perfect man of the present day to be like this? Let him when he sees anything to his advantage think whether it be right; when he meets with danger be ready to lay down his life; and however long-standing the undertaking let him not forget the tenour of his everyday profession, then he too may be deemed a perfect man."
i. The Master put a question to Kung-ming Chia about Kungshu Wen-tzu, and said: " Is it really true that your Master neither talks, nor laughs, nor accepts anything? " 2. " That arises from the exaggeration of reporters," answered Kung-ming Chia. "Our Master talks only at the right time, hence people do not tire of his talk; he only laughs when he is really pleased, hence people do not tire of his laughter; he only accepts things when it is right to do so, hence men do not tire of his accepting." "Is that so!" said the Master. "Can that indeed be so! "
The Master said: "Tsang Wu Chung held on to the fief of B te m & x Fang while he begged the Duke of Lu to appoint (his brother as) his successor. Although they say he did not coerce his Prince I do not believe it."
The Master said: " Duke Wen of Chin was double-dealing and dishonourable. Duke Huan of Ch'i was honourable and not double-dealing."
i. "When Duke Huan put to death his brother, Prince Chiu,"
- 1. Tzii Kung asked: " Was not Kuan Chung deficient in Virtue? When Duke Huan had his brother Prince Chiu put to death, Kuan Chung was incapable of dying, and even became his Minister?" 2. " After Kuan Chung became Minister to Duke Huan," replied the Master, " he made the Duke leader of the Barons, and entirely reduced the Empire to order, so that people down to the present day are recipients of his benefactions. But for Kuan Chung we should be wearing our hair loose and 67S XIV. XVIII, XIX. THE ANALECTS. 3. Or, Should he have etc. C. Petty fidelity, Hang, strangle. L. Will you require from him the small fidelity of common men etc., suicide in a stream or ditch, nobody knowing anything about them. Z. qui ergo instar vulgi homines etc. praestans fidelitatem, seipsum strangulasset etc. ut nemo ipsum cognoverit? K. He was not like your faithful lover and his sweetheart etc. who in order to prove their constrancy etc. nobody taking any notice of them. Couv. Devait-il montrer sa fidelite, comme un homnic vulgaire, s'etrangler etc. et derober a la connaissance de la postcrite?
i. The Minister Chuan, formerly a retainer of Kung-shu Wen-tzu, afterwards went up to Court in company with Wen-tzu. 2. The Master on hearing of it observed: " Wen well deserves to be considered a promoter of culture.' '
i. When the Master was speaking of the unprincipled character of Duke Ling of Wei, K'ang-tzti observed: " Such being the case, how is it he does not lose his throne? " 2. " Chung-shu Yii," answered Confucius, " has charge of the envoys; the Reader T'o has charge of the Ancestral Temple; Wang-sun Chia commands the forces; — and, such being the case, how should he lose his throne? "
The Master said: " He who speaks without modesty will per form with difficulty."
i. When Ch'en Ch'eng-tzu slew Duke Chien, 2. Confucius bathed himself and went to Court, where he petitioned Duke Ai, saying: " has slain his Prince, I beg you to take vengeance on him." 3. "Lay the information before the three nobles," replied the Duke.
When Tzu Lu asked what constituted a man's duty to his Prince the Master said: "Never deceive him and then you may stand boldly up to him."
The Master said: " The progress of the nobler-minded man is upwards, the progress of the inferior man is downwards."
The Master said: " The men of old studied for the sake of selfimprovement; the men of the present day study for the approbation of others."
Po Yu having sent a messenger (to convey his respects) to Confucius, 2. Confucius made him sit down along with him and questioned
The Master said: " He who does not occupy the office does not discuss its policy."
The Philosopher Tseng said: " A wise man, even in his thoughts, does not stray from his own duty."
The Master said: If it " The higher type of man is modest in what he says, but surpasses in what he does."
i. The Master said: " There are three characteristics of the noble man's life, to which I cannot lay clay claim: — being Virtuous he is free from care; possessing knowledge he is free from doubts; being courageous he is free from fear." 2. "That is what you yourself say," said Tzu Kung.
Tzu Kung being in the habit of making comparisons, the Master observed: " How worthy T'zu must be! As for me, I have not the time to spare."
The Master said: "(A wise man) is not distressed that people do not know him, he is distressed at his own lack of ability."
The Master said: " Is not he a man of real worth who does TJ & a not anticipate deceit, nor imagine that people will doubt his word, and yet who has immediate perception thereof when present? "
- 1. Wei-sheng Mou addressing Confucius said: "Ch'iu, what are you doing with this perching here and perching there? Is it not that you are making yourself an ad captandum talker?"
The Master said: " A good horse is not praised for its strength but for its character."
- 1. Someone asked: "What do you think about the principle of rewarding enmity with kindness? " 2. " With what, then, would you reward kindness? " asked the Master. 3. " Reward enmity with just treatment, and kindness with kindness."
1, "No one knows me, alas! " exclaimed the Master. 2. " Why do you say that, sir, that no one i knows you? " said Tzu Kung. " I make no complaint against Heaven," replied the Master, " nor blame men, for though my studies are lowly my mind soars aloft, anddoes not Heaven know me! "
- 1. Kung-po Liao having spoken against to Chisun, Tzu-fu Ching-po informed Confucius thereof, and said: " Our Master's mind is undoubtedly being disturbed by Kung-po Liao, but I am still strong enough to have his carcase exposed in the market-place." 2 The Master replied: " If my principles are going to prevail it is so fated; if they are going to fail it is so fated; what can Kung-po Liao do with fate? "
i. The Master said: " Some good men withdraw from the world; 2. the next in order is withdrawal from fatherland, 3. the next from uncon genial looks, 4. and the next from uncon genial language."
- The Master said: " There are seven men who have done this."
On one occasion when Tzu Lu happened to spend the night at Stone Gate, the gate opener asked him, " Where are you from? " " From Mr.
i. The Master was playing on a stone chime one day in Wei, when a man carrying a basket passed the door of the K'ung abode and remarked: " With what feeling he is playing the contemptible is this petrified ting-tinging!
Tzu Chang said: "The Book of History says that when Kao Tsung observed the Imperial mourning he did not speak for three years. What may be the meaning of that?" 2. "Why need you specialise Kao Tsung? All the men of old did the same," answered Confucius. " When a prince died, all his officers attend ed to their several duties in obedience to the Prime Minister for three years. ' CHAPTER. XLIV.— The Master said: " When those in high position are fond of orderly behaviour, service from the people is easily commanded."
When Tzu Lu asked what should be the character of a man of the nobler order the Master replied: " He should cultivate himself to be unfailingly respectful." "Will it suffice to be like this? " asked Tzu Lu. " He should cultivate himself so as to ease the lot of others," was the reply. "And is this sufficient?" asked Tzu Lu. "He should cultivate himself so as to ease the lot of the people. He should cultivate himself so as to ease the lot of the people: — even Yao and Shun still remained anxious about this! "
Yuan Rang sat squatting and waiting as the Master approachui ed, who said to him: " When young with out respect, when grown up doing nothing worthy of mention, when old not dying, — this is being a rogue! " And with this he hit him on the shank with his staff.
i. A youth from the village of Ch'iieh was acting as messenger for Confucius, so some one interrogat ed about him: " He has made good pro-
Book 15
i. When Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military tactics, Confucius replied: " With the appurten ances of worship I have indeed an accquaintance, but as to military matters I have never studied them." Next day he straightway took his departure. 2. (On the way) in Ch'en their supplies foiled, and his followers were so ill that they could not stand. 3. Tzu Lu with some irritation sought an interview and said: " Does also a man of the higher order have to suffer -want? " " The superior man bears want unshaken," replied the Master, " the inferior man in want becomes demoralised."
said the Master, " You regard me as a man of multifarious study who retains all in mind, eh? " 2. " Yes," answered he. " But may be it is not so? " 3. " No," was the reply, " I have one principle connecting all."
"Yu," said the Master, " there are few who understand virtue."
The Master said: " May not Shun be instanced as one who made no effort, yet the Empire was well governed? For what effort did he make? Ordering himself in all seriousness, he did nothing but maintain the correct imperial attitude."
i. When Tzu Chang asked how to get on with others, 2. the Master made answer: " If you are sincere he can roll up (his portfolio) and keep it in his bosom."
" Not to enlighten one who can be enlightened is to waste a man; to enlighten one who cannot be enlightened is to waste words. The intelligent man neither wastes his man nor his words."
The Master said: "The resolute scholar, and the Virtuous man will not seek life at the expense of Virtue. Some even sacrifice their lives to crown their virtue."
When Tzu Kung asked about the practice of virtue the Master replied: "A workman who wants to do his work well must first sharpen his tools. In whatever State you dwell, take service with the worthiest of its ministers, and make friends of the most Virtuous of its scholars." XV. X. THE ANALECTS.
i. Yen Yuan once asked about the administration of a State. 2. The Master replied: " Adopt the calendar oi Hsia; 3. Ride in the state carriage ot Yin; 4. Wear the cap of Chou; 5. In music adopt the Shao dances; 6. Banish the songs of Cheng, and avoid specious men; for the songs of Cheng are licentious, and specious men dangerous."
"It is all in vain! " said the Master. " I have never yet seen a man as fond of virtue as of beauty."
" Was not Tsang Wen Chung like one who had stolen his office? " remarked the Master. " He knew the superiority of Hui of Liu-hsia yet did not appoint him as a colleague."
The Master said: " He who demands much from himself and little from others will avoid resentment."
- The Master said: " If a man does not ask himself, 'What am I to make of this? ' ' What am I to make of this?' — there is nothing whatever I can make of him."
The Master said: " Men who associate together the livelong day and whose conversation never rises to what is just and right, but whose delight is in deeds of petty shrewdness, — how hard is
The Master said: " The noble man takes the Right as his foundation principle, reduces it to practice XV. XVII, XVIII, XIX. THE ANALECTS. ty his rule for effectuating it perfectly, — what a princely man he is! Three of the five virtues are here introduced, jg is Jg; fg is Rectitude is the root of all the laws of conduct, hence may be taken to be the essential stem, but in practice restrictions and refinement are necessary. L. The superior man in everything considers righteousness to be essential. He performs it according to the rules of propriety. lie brings it forth in humility. He completes it with sincerity. Z. vir sapiens aequitatem assumit exercet illam, patefacit perficit illam. K. makes Right the substance of his being; he carries it out with judgment and good sense; he speaks it etc.; attains it with sincerity. Couv. Le sage prend la justice pour base; il la pratique d'apres les regies etablies par les anciens il la garde toujours sincerement.
The Master re marked: " The noble man is pained over his own incompetency, he is not pained that others ignore him."
- The Master said: A " The nobler man hates to end his days and leave his name undistinguished."
- The Master said: "The noble man seeks what he wants in himself; the inferior man seeks it from others."
The Master said: "The noble man upholds his dignity with out striving (for it); he is sociable without entering any clique."
The Master said: " The wise man does not appreciate a man because of what he says, nor does he de preciate what he says because of the man."
" Is there any one word " asked Tzu Kung, " which could be adopted as a lifelong rule of conduct?" The Master replied: " Is not Sympathy the A word? Do not do to others what you would not like yourself."
-i. The Master said: " In my treatment of men, whom have I unduly disparaged or whom have I unduly extolled? If there be one whom I.have so extolled, there is that by which he has been tested. 2. For these are the PI Ivi A whereby the three dynasties have pursued their straight course."
The Master said: " I can still go back to the days when a recorder left a temporary blank in his records, and when a man who had a horse would XV. XXV, XXVI, XXVII. THE ANALECTS. toriographer etc. adhuc nactus fui historiogra phuin omittentem incertorum scriptionem etc. K. In my young days I could still obtain books which supplied in formation on points which the standard historical books omitted. mon cniance) j'ai encore un historiographe qui n'ecrivait ne fut certain, un homme riche qui pretait a d'autres ses chevaux etc. CHAPTHR XXVI. — SPECIOUS ARGUMENTS AND WANT OF FORBEARANCE— ments bring right and wrong to confusion, aud cause the man who listens to them to lose what virtue he has gained. small UJ, cannot bear with) ii? A e.g. effeminate kindness on the one hand, or precipitate attack on the other. Another comm: says there are two kinds of the zjfe softness of woman and the pjlj hardness of men. and inability to stand the ruthless, and inability to restrain oneself. L. Specious words confound virtue. Want of forbearance in small matters confound great plans. Z. parva intolerantia vero evertit magna consilia. K. It is plausible speech which confuses men's ideas of what is moral worth. It is petty impatience which ruins great undertakings. beaux discours font prendre le vice pour la vertu. Une legere impatience ruin un grand projet. CIIAPTIOR XXVII. — POPULAR OPINION AN UNSAFE GUIDE.— Cf. XIII. 24. & IS, Only the good are fit to love and hate; lend it to another to ride. Now, alas! such things are no more."
The Master said: " I3lausible words confound morals, and a trifling impatience may confound a great project."
The Master said: " Though all hate a man, one must investigate the cause; and though all like him, one must also investigate the cause."
The Master said: " A man can enlarge his principles; it is not his principles that enlarge the man." 7S5 XV. XXIX, — XXXI. THE ANALECTS. CLIAl'TKR XXIX.— SIN THAT IS SIN.— Cf. I. 8; e? st Q
The Master said: " To err and not reform may indeed be call ed error."
The Master said: " I have spent the whole day without food and the whole night without sleep in order to think. It was of no use. It is better to learn."
The Master said: "The wise man makes duty, not a living, his aim; for there is hunger even in farming, while there is emolument in scholarship; but the wise man is anxious about his duty, not about poverty."
i. The Master said: " If a man intellectually attains to a given principle, but his moral character does not enable him to live up to it, even though he has obtained it he will certainly lose it.
The Master said: ffff A "A man of the higher type may not be distinguishable in minor responsibilities, but he can undertake great ones. An inferior man cannot undertake great responsibilities, but may be distinguished in minor ones."
The Master said: " Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die through walking into water or fire, but I have never seen a man die through walking the path of Virtue."
The Master said: "He upon whom a Moral duty devolves should not give way even to his Master."