The Analects of Confucius (Wisehouse Classics Edition). Confucius
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to maintain friendly intercourse. The acquaintance might be long, but he showed the same respect as at first.”
The Master said, “Tsang Wan kept a large tortoise in a house, on the capitals of the pillars of which he had hills made, and with representations of duckweed on the small pillars above the beams supporting the rafters. —Of what sort was his wisdom?”
Tsze-chang asked, saying, “The minister Tsze-wan thrice took office, and manifested no joy in his countenance. Thrice he retired from office, and manifested no displeasure. He made it a point to inform the new minister of the way in which he had conducted the government; what do you say of him?” The Master replied. “He was loyal.” “Was he perfectly virtuous?” “I do not know. How can he be pronounced perfectly virtuous?”
Tsze-chang proceeded, “When the officer Ch’ui killed the prince of Ch’i, Ch’an Wan, though he was the owner of forty horses, abandoned them and left the country. Coming to another state, he said, ‘They are here like our great officer, Ch’ui,’ and left it. He came to a second state, and with the same observation left it also; —what do you say of him?” The Master replied, “He was pure.” “Was he perfectly virtuous?” “I do not know. How can he be pronounced perfectly virtuous?”
Chi Wan thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master was informed of it, he said, “Twice may do.”
The Master said, “When good order prevailed in his country, Ning Wu acted the part of a wise man. When his country was in disorder, he acted the part of a stupid man. Others may equal his wisdom, but they cannot equal his stupidity.”
When the Master was in Ch’an, he said, “Let me return! Let me return! The little children of my school are ambitious and too hasty. They are accomplished and complete so far, but they do not know how to restrict and shape themselves.”
The Master said, “Po-i and Shu-ch’i did not keep the former wickednesses of men in mind, and hence the resentments directed towards them were few.”
The Master said, “Who says of Weishang Kao that he is upright? One begged some vinegar of him, and he begged it of a neighbor and gave it to the man.”
The Master said, “Fine words, an insinuating appearance, and excessive respect; —Tso Ch’iu-ming was ashamed of them. I also am ashamed of them. To conceal resentment against a person, and appear friendly with him; —Tso Ch’iu-ming was ashamed of such conduct. I also am ashamed of it.”
Yen Yuan and Chi Lu being by his side, the Master said to them, “Come, let each of you tell his wishes.”
Tsze-lu said, “I should like, having chariots and horses, and light fur clothes, to share them with my friends, and though they should spoil them, I would not be displeased.”
Yen Yuan said, “I should like not to boast of my excellence, nor to make a display of my meritorious deeds.”
Tsze-lu then said, “I should like, sir, to hear your wishes.” The Master said, “They are, in regard to the aged, to give them rest; in regard to friends, to show them sincerity; in regard to the young, to treat them tenderly.”
The Master said, “It is all over. I have not yet seen one who could perceive his faults, and inwardly accuse himself.”
The Master said, “In a hamlet of ten families, there may be found one honorable and sincere as I am, but not so fond of learning.”
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THE MASTER SAID, “THERE IS YUNG!-HE MIGHT OCCUPY THE PLACE OF A prince.”
Chung-kung asked about Tsze-sang Po-tsze. The Master said, “He may pass. He does not mind small matters.”
Chung-kung said, “If a man cherish in himself a reverential feeling of the necessity of attention to business, though he may be easy in small matters in his government of the people, that may be allowed. But if he cherish in himself that easy feeling, and also carry it out in his practice, is not such an easymode of procedure excessive?”
The Master said, “Yung’s words are right.”
The Duke Ai asked which of the disciples loved to learn.
Confucius replied to him, “There was Yen Hui; he loved to learn. He did not transfer his anger; he did not repeat a fault. Unfortunately, his appointed time was short and he died; and now there is not such another. I have not yet heard of any one who loves to learn as he did.”
Tsze-hwa being employed on a mission to Ch’i, the disciple Zan requested grain for his mother. The Master said, “Give her a fu.” Yen requested more. “Give her a yü,” said the Master. Yen gave her five ping.
The Master said, “When Ch’ih was proceeding to Ch’i, he had fat horses to his carriage, and wore light furs. I have heard that a superior man helps the distressed, but does not add to the wealth of the rich.”
Yuan Sze being made governor of his town by the Master, he gave him nine hundred measures of grain, but Sze declined them.
The Master said, “Do not decline them. May you not give them away in the neighborhoods, hamlets, towns, and villages?”
The Master, speaking of Chung-kung, said, “If the calf of a brindled cow be red and homed, although men may not wish to use it, would the spirits of the mountains and rivers put it aside?”
The Master said, “Such was Hui that for three months there would be nothing in his mind contrary to perfect virtue. The others may attain to this on some days or in some months, but nothing more.”
Chi K’ang asked about Chung-yu, whether he was fit to be employed as an officer of government. The Master said, “Yu is a man of decision; what difficulty would he find in being an officer of government?” K’ang asked, “Is Ts’ze fit to be employed as an officer of government?” and was answered, “Ts’ze is a man of intelligence; what difficulty would he find in being an officer of government?” And to the same question about Ch’iu the Master gave the same reply, saying, “Ch’iu is a man of various ability.”
The chief of the Chi family sent to ask Min Tsze-ch’ien to be governor of Pi. Min Tszech’ien said, “Decline the offer for me politely. If any one come again to me with a second invitation, I shall be obliged to go and live on the banks of the Wan.”
Po-niu being ill, the Master went to ask for him. He took hold of his hand through the window, and said, “It is killing him. It is the appointment of Heaven, alas! That such a man should have such a sickness! That such a man should have such a sickness!”
The Master said, “Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui! With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd dish of drink, and living in his mean narrow lane, while others could not have endured the distress, he did not allow his joy to be affected by it. Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!”
Yen Ch’iu said, “It is not that I do not delight in your doctrines, but my strength is insufficient.” The Master said, “Those whose strength is insufficient give over in the middle of the way but now you limit yourself.”
The Master said to Tsze-hsia, “Do you be a scholar after the style of the superior man, and not after that of the mean man.”
Tsze-yu being governor of Wu-ch’ang, the Master said to him, “Have you got good men there?” He answered, “There is Tan-t’ai Miehming, who never in walking takes a short cut, and never comes to my office, excepting on public business.”
The Master said, “Mang Chih-fan does not boast of his merit. Being in the rear on an occasion of flight, when they were about to enter the gate, he whipped up his horse, saying, “It is not that I dare to be last. My horse would not advance.”
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