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CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION
CHINA AND THE CHINESE
THE GIFT OF
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASS OF 1876
1918
_ Cornell University Library
PL 2478.L44
The sayings of Confucius
3 1924 023 365 871
Cornell University
Library
The original of tiiis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023365871
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
THE SAYINGS OF
CONFUCIUS
TRANSLATED BY
LEONARD A. LYALL
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA
1909
All rights reserved
PREFACE
The indefatigable labours of Chinese commentators
have alone rendered the present translation of the
Sayings of Confucius a possibility. Next to them
I am most indebted to Legge's " Confucian Ana-
lects," a book that is invaluable to the student,
although defective as a translation. For much of
the information in my notes, and for most of the
facts given in the Introduction, I have to thank
Legge. Dates I have taken from Professor Giles'
" Biographical Dictionary." In the work of find-
ing English equivalents for Chinese words I have
been most helped by Mr. Ku Hung-ming's clever
translation, " The Sayings and Discourses of
Confucius."
LEONARD A. LYALL.
INTRODUCTION
Confucius was bom in the year b.c. 551, in the
land of Lu, in a small village, situated in the
western part of the modern province of Shantung,
His name was K'ung Ch'iu, and his style (cor-
responding to our Christian name) was Chung-ni.
His countrymen speak of him as K'ung Fu-tzu, the
Master, or philosopher K'ung, This expression
was altered into Confucius by the Jesuit missionaries
who first carried his fame to Europe.
Since the golden days of the Emperors Yao
and Shun, the legendary founders of the Chinese
Empire, nearly two thousand years had passed.
Shun chose as his successor Yu, who had been his
chief minister, a man whose devotion to duty was
such that when engaged in draining the empire
of the great flood — a task that took eight years
to accomplish — he never entered his home till the
work was done, although in the course of his
labours he had thrice to pass his door. He founded
the Hsia dynasty, which lasted till b.c. 1766.
The last emperor of this line, a vile tyrant, was
overthrown by T'ang, who became the first ruler
of the house of Shang, or Yin. This dynasty
again degenerated in course of time and came to
viii INTRODUCTION
an end in Chou, or Chou Hsin (b.c. 1154-22), a
monster of lust, extravagance, and cruelty. The
empire was only held together by the strength and
wisdom of the Duke of Chou, or King Wen, to
give him his popular title, one of the greatest men
in Chinese history. He controlled two-thirds erf
the empire ; but, believing that the people were
not yet ready for a change, he refrained from
dethroning the emperor. In his day " the husband-
man paid one in nine ; descendants of officers had
pensions ; at barriers and at market there were
questions, but no tolls ; fish-ponds and weirs were
free ; guilt did not involve kindred. The widower,
old and wifeless ; the widow, old and husbandless ;
the lone one, old and childless ; the orphan, young
and fatherless ; these four, destitute children of
earth, have none to cry to, so the loving rule
of King Wen first stretched a hand to them"
(Mencius, I. B. 5). After his death, his son, King
Wu, decided that the nation was ripe for change.
He overcame Chou Hsin by force of arms, and,
placing himself on the throne, became the founder
of the Chou dynasty.
In the time of Confucius the Chou dynasty still
filled the throne. But it had long since become
effete, and all power had passed into the hands of
the great vassals. The condition of China was
much like that of Germany in the worst days of
the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor was
powerless, the various vassal states were indepen-"
INTRODUCTION ix
dent in all but name, and often at war one with
the oth er. These states~againr were TdrsiTTfegrated,
and their rulers impotent against encroaching feu-
datories. In Confucius' native state, Lu, the duke
was a mere shadow. The younger branches of his
house had usurped all power. Three in number,
they were called the Three Clans. The most
important of the three was the Chi, or Chi-sun
clan, whose chiefs Chi Huan and Chi K'ang are
often mentioned by Confucius. But the power of
the Chi, too, was ill-secured. The minister Yang
Huo overawed his master, and once even threw
him into prison. Nor was the condition of the
other states of the empire better than that of Lu.
Confucius thought it worse.
IntO--tMs_-turbul€nt-^world_JZjanfu£Lus_ was born.
Though his father wasonly_a j)qor military officer^
he could trace his descent from the imperial house
of Yin. Confucius married- at nineteen, and is
knowtt-to have— had" one- son- and- one -daughter.
Shortly after his marriage he entered the service
of the state as keeper of thff granpry - A year
later he was put in charge of the public fields.
P n B.C. 52 7 -bis-m oth e r di ed, andi-in obedtence-to
J!!lhioese-custom^JieJia4_tQ_i:etii:£_Jh3in-4^
W hen the years of mourning were_oyer,_Jhe_ did
not-again take-effice7~but"dT2voted-himselt-instead^
to study and teaching. As the years rolled_byJiis
fame grewr ^nd^arband~of^-pa^&^-gathe3LjrqundL
him. In B.C. 517 the anarchy^ jiL LH-reaciied-sucb
X INTRODUCTION
a ^ilchjhajLCimiiidusjmpvei the neighbouriag^ -
JandjiLCh'L Here he had several interviews with
the reigning duke, but met with little encourage-
ment (xviii. 3). So he soon returned to his native
country, and resumed for fifteen years his work as
student and teacher.
During these fifteen years the power of the duke
sank lower and lower, and the Chi was menaced
by his minister Yang Huo. In times so dark, men
who loved quiet sought in the world of thought
an escape from the gloom around them, whilst
others who were less resigned turned over in their
minds the causes of the realm's decay. Lao-tzu,—
the founder of yie_jniystic-IaoisL4ihilQSQpJiy»-taught__- -
that in inaction alone peace can be found ,;__Mo^tzu
proclaimed the doctrine of universal love : that we
should love all men as we love se]Cj£vethe_paEents
of ot hers as_ weJoye_flun-Qwa--pareats. Upr ight
nieai-:werfijinven^r^fledJrQni_the-world. Confucius
often met them in his wanderings, and was reproved
for not doing as they did. But his practical mind
told him that inaction could not help the world,
and t hat to_finda^emedy for the nation's ills._ the ir
- cause musjL first be learned . This could only be
done b y historical study. He therefore devoted
himself to the study of past times, edited in later
life the " Book of History," and compiled the work
called " Spring and Autumn," a history of his native
state from b.c. 722 to B.C. 484. To bring again
the golden days of Yao and Shun a return must
INTRODUCTION xi
be made to the principles of Wen and Wu, the
kings who had rebuilt the empire after tyranny
and selfishness had laid it low. Of impracticable
ideals and renunciation of the world no good could
come.
At last in B.C. 501 Yang Huo was forced to flee
from Lu, and prospects brightened. A year later
Confucius was appointed governor of a town. So
great was his success as governor that before long
he was promoted to be Superintendent of Works,
and then to be Chief Criminal Judge. He won
great influence with Jii s master, and d id much to
lighten the generaL misery. He so strengthened
the power of the duke that neighbouring states
grew jealous. To sow dissension between duke
and minister the men of Ch'i sent the duke a gift
of singing girls. Such joy they gave him that for
three days no court was held. On this Confucius
left the land, b.c. 497.
For thenextjhirteen years -Confjjcius wandered
from land tgJajid,-fbUowed--by^-his-.discIples,^seeki ng
jnjyain fm^^ j-uleiiwho was willing to employ him,
and whom he was willing to serve. At times he
^as e3tpose9"'to' dangerT^at other times to want.
But as a rule he was treated with consideration,
although his teachings were ignored. Yet thirteen
years of homeless wandering, of hopes deferred and
frustrated, must have been hard to bear. When
he left ofifice Confucius was already fifty-five years
old, and his life so far seemed a failure. The sense
xii INTRODUCTION
of his wasted powers may well have tempted him
now and again to take office under an unworthy
ruler; but knowing that no good could come of
it he refrained, and probably he never seriously
thought of doing so.
In B.C. 484, when Confucius was sixty-eight years
old, through the influence of his disciple Jan Yu,
who was in the service of the Chi, the Master was
invited to return to his native land. Here he
remained till his death in B.C. 478. He had many
interviews with the reigning duke and the head of
the Chi clan, but gained no influence over either
of them. So he turned once more to his favourite
studies ; edited the " Book of Poetry " — perhaps
the most interesting collection of ancient songs
extant — and wrote " Spring and Autumn." His
closing years were darkened by the loss of those
dearest to him. First his son died, then Yen
Ytlan, the disciple whom he loved best. At his
death the Master was overcome by grief, and he
left none behind him who loved learning. Lastly
Tzu-lu, the frank and' bold, was killed in battle.
A little later, in his seventy-second year, Confucius
himself passed away, B.C. 479.
This book of the Master's Sayings is believed
by the Chinese to have been written by the disciples
of Confucius. But there is nothing to prove this,
and some passages in the book point the other
way. Book viii. speaks of the death of Tseng-tzu,
who did not die till b.c. 437, forty-two years after
INTRODUCTION xiii
the Master. The chief authority for the text as
it stands to-day is a manuscript found in the house
of Confucius in B.C. 150, hidden there, in all likeli-
hood, between the years b.c. 213 and 211, when
the reigning emperor was seeking to destroy every
copy of the classics. We find no earlier reference
to the book under its present name. But Mencius
(B.C. 372-289) quotes seven passages from it, in
language all but identical with the present text,
as the words of Confucius. No man ever talked
the language of these sayings. Such pith and
smoothness is only reached by a long process of
rounding and polishing. We shall probably come
no nearer to the truth than Legge's conclusion that
the book was put together by the pupils of the
disciples of Confucius, from the words and note-
books of their masters, about the year b.c. 400.
LEONARD A. LYALL.
Amalfi, January 1909.
NOTE
Such information as seemed necessary to enable the reader
to understand the text, or that appeared to me to be of general
interest, I have given in the notes at the foot of the page.
Further details about the men and places mentioned in the text
will be found in the Index.
In Chinese names, consonants are generally pronounced as
in English, vowels as in Italian.
£, when not joined with i, is pronounced nearly as German ii,
or much as u in English lack.
ao rhymes approximately with how
ei „ „ „ they
ou ,, „ „ though
uo „ „ „ •goor,
the « being equivalent to w.
Chih and Shih rhyme approximately with her. Tzu is pro-
nounced much as sir in the vulgar yessir, but with a hissing
sound prefixed.
THE
SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
1. The Master said : "In learning and straight- book i
way practising is there not pleasure also? When
friends gather round from afar do we not rejoice?
Whom lack of fame cannot vex is not he a
gentleman ? "
2. Yu-tzu ^ said : " A dutiful son and brother is
seldom fond of thwarting those over him : a man
unwilling to thwart those over him is never given
to crime. A gentleman nurses the roots : when
the root has taken, the truth will grow ; and what
are the roots of love, but the duty of son and of
brother?"
3. The Master said : '* Honeyed words and flat-
tering looks seldom speak of love."
4. Tseng-tzu ^ said : " Thrice daily I ask myself :
' Have I been unfaithful in dealing for others ?
Have I been untrue to friends ? Do I practise
what I preach ? ' "
5. The Master said : " To guide a land of a
' Disciples.
2 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK I thousand chariots, honour business, be true and
sparing, love the people, and time thy claims upon
them."
6. The Master said : " The young should be
dutiful at home, modest abroad, heedful and true,
full of goodwill for the many, close friends with
love ; and should they have strength to spare, let
them spend it upon the arts." ,
7. Tzu-hsia^ said : " If a man honour worth and
forsake lust, serve father and mother with all his
strength, be ready to give his life for the king, and
keep faith with his friends ; though men may call
him rude, I call him learned."
8. The Master said: " Of a gentleman who is
frivolous none stand in awe, nor can his learning
be sound. Make faithfulness and truth thy masters :
have no friends unlike thyself: be not ashamed to
mend thy faults."
9. Tseng-tzu ^ said : " Respect death and recall
forefathers, the good in men will again grow
sturdy."
10. Tzu-ch'in^ said to Tzu-kung^: "The
Master, on coming to a country, learns all about
the government : does he ask, or is it told
him?"
Tzu-kung said: "The Master learns it by his
warmth and honesty, by politeness, modesty, and
yielding. The way that the Master asks is unlike
other men's asking."
■ Disciples.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 3
11. The Master said: "As long as his father book i
lives, a son should study his wishes ; after he is
dead, he should study his life. If for three years
he do not forsake his father's ways, he may be
called dutiful."
12. Yu-tzu^ said: "In daily courtesy ease is of
price. This was the beauty of the old kings' ways ;
this they followed in small and great. But knowing
this, it is not right to give way to ease, unchecked
by courtesy. This also is wrong."
13. Yu-tzu said: "If promises hug the right,
word can be kept : if attentions are bounded by
courtesy, shame will be banished : heroes may be
worshipped, if we choose them aright."
14. The Master said : " A gentleman who is not
a greedy eater, nor a lover of ease at home, who
is earnest in deed and careful of speech, who seeks
the righteous and profits by them, may be called
fond of learning."
15. Tzu-kung said: "Poor, but no flatterer;
rich, but not proud. How were that?"
" Good," said the Master ; " but better still were
poor, yet merry ; rich, yet courteous,"
Tzu-kung said : " Where the poem says :
' If ye cut, if ye file.
If ye polish and grind ' ;
is that what is meant?"
The Master said ; " Now I can talk of poetry
' A disciple.
4 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK I to thee, Tz'u. Given a clue, thou canst find the
way."
1 6. The Master said: "Not to be known
should not grieve you : grieve that ye know not
men.
II
1. The Master said: "In governing, cleave to book n
good ; as the north star holds his place, and the
multitude of stars revolve upon him."
2. The Master said : " To sum up the three
hundred songs in a word, they are free from evil
thought."
3. The Master said : " Guide the people by law,
subdue them by punishment ; they may shun crime,
but will be void of shame. Guide them by example,
subdue them by courtesy ; they will learn shame,
and come to be good."
4. The Master said : " At fifteen, I was bent
on study ; at thirty, I could stand ; at forty,
doubts ceased ; at fifty, I understood the laws of
Heaven ; at sixty, my ears obeyed me ; at seventy,
I could do as my heart lusted, and never swerve
from right."
5. Meng Yi asked the duty of a son.
The Master said : " Obedience."
As Fan Ch'ih^ was driving him, the Master
said : " Meng-sun^ asked me the duty of a son ; I
answered 'Obedience.'"
" What did ye mean ? " said Fan Ch'ih.
' A disciple. ' Meng Yi.
6 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK II "To serve our parents with courtesy whilst they
live," said the Master; "to bury them with all
courtesy when they die ; and to worship them with
all courtesy."
6. Meng Wu asked the duty of a son.
The Master said : " What weighs on your father
and mother is concern for your health."
7. Tzu-yu^ asked the duty of a son.
The Master said : " To-day a man is called dutiful
if he keep his father and mother. But we keep
both our dogs and horses, and unless we honour
parents, is it not all one ? "
8. Tzu-hsia asked the duty of a son.
The Master said : " Our manner is the hard part.
For the young to be a stay in toil, and leave the
wine and cakes to their elders, is this to fulfil their
duty?"
9. The Master said : "If I talk all day to Hui,*
like a dullard, he never stops me. But when he is
gone, if I pry into his life, I find he can do what I
say. No, Hui is no dullard."
10. The Master said : " Look at a man's acts ;
watch his motives ; find out what pleases him : can
the man evade you ? Can the man evade you ? "
11. The Master said: "Who keeps the old
akindle and adds new knowledge is fitted to be a
teacher."
12. The Master said: "A gentleman is not a
vessel."
> A disciple. • The Master's favourite disciple, Yen Yiian.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 7
1 3. Tzu-kung asked, What is a gentleman ? "oo'^ "
The Master said : " He puts words into deed
first, and sorts what he says to the deed."
14. The Master said: "A gentleman is broad
and fair : the vulgar are biassed and petty."
15. The Master said : " Study without thought is
vain : thought without study is dangerous."
16. The Master said: "Work on strange doc-
trines does harm."
17. The Master said: "Yu,^ shall I teach thee
what is understanding ? To know what we know,
and know what we do not know, that is under-
standing."
1 8. Tzu-chang * studied with an eye to pay.
The Master said: "Listen much, keep silent
when in doubt, and always take heed of the
tongue ; thou wilt make few mistakes. See much,
beware of pitfalls, and always give heed to thy
walk; thou wilt have little to rue. If thy words
are seldom wrong, thy deeds leave little to rue,
pay will follow."
19. Duke Ai' asked : "What should be done to
make the people loyal ? "
Confucius answered : " Exalt the straight, set
aside the crooked, the people will be loyal. Exalt
the crooked, set aside the straight, the people will
be disloyal."
' The disciple, Tzu-hi.
» A disciple.
" Duke of Lu, during Confucius' closing years.
8 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK II 20. Chi K'ang ^ asked how to make the people
lowly, faithful, and willing.
The Master said: "Behave with dignity, they
will be lowly : be pious and merciful, they will be
faithful: exalt the good, teach the unskilful, they
will grow willing."
21. One said to Confucius: "Why are ye not
in power, Sir?"
The Master answered : "What does the book say
of a good son ? ' An always dutiful son, who is a
friend to his brothers, showeth the way to rule.'
This also is to rule. What need to be in power ? "
22. The Master said : " Without truth I know not
how man can live. A cart without a crosspole, a
carriage without harness, how could they be moved?"
23. Tzu-chang asked whether we can know what
is to be ten generations hence.
The Master said : " The Yin ^ inherited the
manners of the Hsia;^ the harm and the good
that they wrought them is known. The Chou^
inherited the manners of the Yin; the harm and
the good that they wrought them is known. And
we may know what is to be, even an hundred
generations hence, when others follow Chou."
24. The Master said: "To worship the ghosts
of strangers is fawning. To see the right and not
do it is want of courage."
' Head of the Chi clan during Confucius' closing years.
" The three dynasties that had ruled China up till the time of
Confucius.
Ill
1 . Of the Chi having leight rows of dancers ^ in book m
his hall, Confucius said : "If this is to be borne,
what is not to be borne ? "
2. At the end of worship, the Three Clans made
use of the Yung hymn.^
The Master said :
" ' The dukes and princes assist.
Solemn is the Son of Heaven ;'
what sense has this in the hall of the Three Clans ? "
3. The Master said: "A man without love,
what is courtesy to him? A man without love,
what is music to him ? "
4. Lin Fang asked, What is the life of ceremony ?
The Master said : "A great question ! At high-
tides, waste is worse than thrift : at burials, grief
outweighs nicety."
5. The Master said: "The wild tribes have
kings; whilst the realm of Hsia^ is without!"
6. The Chi worshipped on Mount T'ai.^
The Master said to Jan Yu* : " Canst thou not
stop this ? "
He answered : " I cannot."
^ An imperial prerogative. ^ China.
^ A prerogative of the Duke of Lu.
* A disciple, in the service of the Chi.
9
lo THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK III " Alas ! " said the Master ; " dost thou set Mount
T'ai below Lin Fang ? "
7. The Master said : " A gentleman has no
rivalries — except perhaps in archery ; and then, as
bowing he joins the winners, or steps down to see
the loser drink, throughout the struggle he is still
the gentleman."
8. Tzu-hsia asked : " What is the meaning of:
' Her cunning smiles,
Her dimples light,
Her lovely eyes,
So clear and bright.
The ground, not yet
With colours dight ' ? "
The Master said : " Colouring follows ground-
work."
" Then does courtesy follow after?" said Tzu-hsia.
" Shang," ^ said the Master, " thou hast hit my
meaning! Now I can talk of poetry to thee."
9. The Master said : " I can speak of the manners
of Hsia ; but for Chi witnesses fail. I can speak of
the manners of Yin ; but for Sung witnesses fail.
This is due to their dearth of books and great men.
Were there enough of these, they would witness
for me."
10. The Master said : " After the drink offering
at the Great Sacrifice, I have no wish to see more."
11. One asked about the words of the Great
Sacrifice.
The Master said : " I do not understand them.
' Tzu-hsia.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS ii
Could one understand them, he would overlook the book hi
world as I this " — and he pointed to his palm.
12. Worship as though those ye worship stood
before you ; worship the spirits, as though they
stood before you.
The Master said : " If I take no part in the
sacrifice, it is none to me."
13. Wang-sun Chia^ said: " What is the meaning
of ' it is better to court the Kitchen God than the
God of the Home'?"
"Not at all," said the Master. "A sin against
Heaven is past praying for."
14. The Master said : " Two lines of kings have
passed beneath the ken of Chou. How rich in
art is Chou ! It is Chou I follow."
15. On entering the Great Temple, the Master
asked how each thing was done.
One said : " Who says that the man of Tsou's
son has a knowledge of ceremony ? On entering
the Great Temple, he asked how each thing was
done ! "
On hearing this, the Master said : " Such is the
ceremony."
16. The Master said: "To pierce through the
target does not score in archery ; because men differ
in strength. This was the old rule."
• Wang-sun Chia was minister of Wei, and more influential than
his master. The Kitchen God is less honourable than the God of the
Home (the Roman lares), but since he sees all that goes on in the
house, and ascends to Heaven at the end of the year to report what
has happened, it is well to be on good terms with him.
12 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK III 17. Tzu-kung wished to do away with the sheep
offering at the new moon.
The Master said : "Thou lovest the sheep, Tz'u :
I love the rite."
18. The Master said: "Treat the king with all
courtesy, men call it fawning."
19. Duke Ting asked how a king should behave
to his ministers ; how ministers should serve their
king?
Confucius answered: "A king should behave
with courtesy to his ministers ; ministers should
serve their king faithfully."
20. The Master said : "The poem 'The Osprey'
is glad, but not wanton ; it is sad, but not morbid."
21. Duke Ai asked Tsai Wo^ about the shrines
of the guardian spirits.
Tsai Wo answered : "The Hsia Emperors grew
firs round them ; the men of Yin grew cypress ; the
men of Chou grew chestnut, meaning 'jest not over
holy matters.' " *
On hearing this, the Master said : "I do not
speak of what is ended, chide what is settled, or
find fault with what is past."
22. The Master said : " How shallow was Kuan
Chung ! " ^
* A disciple of Confucius.
2 Literally " to cause the people to be in awe." The commentators
are more than usually learned over the Master's anger. I attribute
it to the foolishness of the pun, and translate accordingly.
2 Kuan Chung ( + B.C. 645), a famous man in his day, was chief
minister to the Duke of Ch'i, whom he raised to such wealth and
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 13
" But," said one, " was not Kuan Chung thrifty ?" book hi
" Kuan owned San Kuei, and in his household
none doubled offices," said the Master ; " was that
thrift?"
" At least Kuan Chung was versed in courtesy."
The Master said : " Kings screen their gates
with trees ; Kuan, too, had trees to screen his gate.
When two kings make merry together, they have
a stand for the turned-down cups ; Kuan had a
turned-down cup-stand too ! If Kuan were versed
in courtesy, who is not versed in courtesy ? "
23. The Master said to the chief musician of Lu:
" How to play music may be known. At first each
part in unison ; then, a swell of harmony, each part
distinct, rolling on to the finish."
24. The warden of Yi asked to see Confucius,
saying : " No gentleman has ever come here, whom
I have failed to see."
The followers presented him.
On leaving he said : " My lads, why lament your
fall? The world has long been astray. Heaven
will make of the Master a warning bell."
25. The Master said: "All beautiful and noble
is the music of Shao ! The music of Wu is as
beautiful, but less noble."
26. The Master said : " Rank without bounty ;
ritual without reverence ; mourning without grief,
why should I cast them a glance ? "
power, that he became the leading prince of the empire. His chief
merit lay in crushing the barbarous frontier tribes. The rest of his
work, being founded in the sand, died with him.
IV
BOOK IV I. The Master said : " Love, makes a spot
beautiful : who chooses not to dwell in love, has
he got wisdom ? "
^ 2. The Master said : " Loveless men cannot bear
need long, they cannot bear fortune long. Loving
hearts find peace in love ; clever heads find profit
in it."
3. The Master said : " Love can alone love
others, or hate others."
4. The Master said : " A heart set on love will
do no wrong."
5. The Master said : " Wealth and honours
are what men desire ; but abide not in them
by help of wrong. Lowliness and want are
hated of men ; but forsake them not by help of
wrong.
"Shorn of love, is a gentleman worthy the
name .■' Not for one moment may a gentleman
sin against love ; not in flurry and haste, nor yet
in utter overthrow."
6. The Master said : ';' A friend to love, a foe
to evil, I have yet to meet. A friend to love will
set nothing higher. In love's service, a foe to
evil will let no evil touch him. Were a man to
give himself to love, but for one day, I have seen
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 15
no one whose strength would fail him. Such men book iv
there may be, but I have not seen one."
7. The Master said : "A man and his faults
are of a piece. By watching his faults we learn
whether love be his."
8. The Master said : "To learn the truth at
daybreak and die at eve were enough."
9. The Master said : " A scholar in search of
truth who is ashamed of poor clothes and poor
food it is idle talking to."
10. The Master said : " A gentleman has no
likes and no dislikes below heaven. He follows
right."
1 1. The Master said: " Gentlemen cherish worth ;
the vulgar cherish dirt. Gentlemen trust in justice ;
the vulgar trust in favour."
12. The Master said: "The chase of gain is
rich in hate."
13. The Master said: "What is it to sway a
kingdom by courteous yielding ? Who cannot by
courteous yielding sway a kingdom, what can he
know of courtesy ? "
14. The Master said : "Be not concerned at
want of place ; be concerned that thou stand thy-
self. Sorrow not at being unknown, but seek to
be worthy of note."
15. The Master said : "One thread, Shen,^ runs
through all my teaching."
"Yes," said Tseng-tzu.
* The disciple Tseng-tzu.
i6 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK IV After the Master had left, the disciples asked
what was meant.
Tseng-tzu said : " The Master's teaching all
hangs on faithfulness and fellow-feeling."
1 6. The Master said: "A gentleman considers
what is right ; the vulgar consider what will
pay."
17. The Master said : " At sight of worth, think
to grow like it. When evil meets thee, search
thine own heart."
18. The Master said: "A father or mother may
be gently chidden. If they will not bend, be the
more lowly, but persevere ; nor murmur if trouble
follow."
19. The Master said: "Whilst thy father and
mother live, do not wander afar. If thou' must
travel, hold a set course."
20. The Master said : " If for three years a son
do not forsake his father's ways, he may be called
dutiful."
2 1 . The Master said : " A father's and a mother's
age must be borne in mind ; with joy on the one
hand, fear on the other."
22. The Master said: "Men of old were loth
to speak; lest a word that they could not make
good should shame them."
23. The Master said : " Who contains himself
goes seldom wrong."
24. The Master said: "A gentleman wishes to
be slow to speak and quick to act."
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS \^
25. The Master said: "Good is no hermit. It book iv
has ever neighbours."
26. Tzu-yu said : " Preaching to princes brings ^
disgrace, nagging at friends estrangement." '^
BOOK V I. Of Kung-yeh Ch'ang the Master said: "A
girl might marry him. In him was no crime,
though he has been in bonds."
He gave him his daughter to wife.
Of Nan Jung the Master said : " When right
prevails, he will not be neglected : when wrong
prevails, he will escape law and punishment."
He gave him his brother's daughter to wife.
2. Of Tzu-chien ^ the Master said : " What a
gentleman he is ! But could he have grown to be
a man like this were there no gentlemen in Lu ? "
3. Tzu-kung asked : " And what of me ? "
"Thou art a vessel," said the Master.
"What kind of vessel?"
" A rich temple vessel."
4. " Yung," ^ said one, " has love, but he has not
a glib tongue."
The Master said : " What is the good of a glib
tongue? Fighting men with tongue-craft breeds
much bitterness. Whether love be his I do not
know, but what is the good of a glib tongue ? "
5. The Master moved Ch'i-tiao K'ai* to take
office.
^ A disciple, born in Lu. " The disciple Chung-kung.
' A disciple.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 19
He answered : " For this I lack confidence." book v
The Master was pleased.
6. The Master said : " Truth makes no way.
Let me go afloat and scour the sea ! and Yu ^ shall
follow me."
When Tzu-lu heard this he was glad.
The Master said : " Yu is more venturesome
than I, but he does not know how to take
things."
7. Meng Wu asked whether Tzu-lu had love ?
The Master said : " I do not know."
He asked again.
The Master said : "A land of a thousand chariots
might give Yu charge of its levies ; but whether he
have love, I do not know."
" And how about Ch'iu ? " '
" A town of a thousand households, a clan of an
hundred chariots might make Ch'iu governor ; but
whether he have love, I do not know."
" And how about Ch'ih ? " '
" Girt with his sash, erect in the court, Ch'ih
might entertain the guests ; but whether he have
love, I do not know."
8. The Master said to Tzu-kung : " Who is
abler, thou or Hui ? " *
He answered : " How dare I aspire to Hui ? If
he hear one thing, Hui understands ten ; when I
hear one thing, I understand two."
1 The disciple Tzu-lu. ' The disciple Jan Yu.
' The disciple Kung-hsi Hua. * The disciple Yen YUan.
20 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK V The Master said : " Thou art not his peer. I
grant, thou art not his peer."
9. Tsai Yii^ slept in the daytime.
The Master said : " Rotten wood cannot be
carved, nor are dung walls plastered. Why chide
with Yu?"
The Master said : " In my first dealings with
men, I hearkened to their words, and took their
deeds on trust. Now, in dealing with men, I
hearken to their words, and watch their deeds. I
righted this on Yu."
10. The Master said : "I have met no firm
man."
One answered : " Shen Ch'ang."
The Master said : " Ch'ang is passionate : how
can he be firm ? "
11. Tzu-kung said: "What I do not wish to
have done unto me, I likewise wish not to do unto
others."
The Master said : " That is still beyond thee,
Tz'u."
12. Tzu-kung said: "We may listen to the
Master's culture ; but on life and the ways of
Heaven his words are denied us."
13. Until Tzu-lu could carry out what he heard,
he only dreaded to hear more.
14. Tzu-kung asked: "Why was K'ung-wen
styled cultured?"
The Master said : " He was quick and fond of
' The disciple Tsai Wo.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 21
learning, not ashamed to ask those beneath him. book v
That is why he was called cultured."
15. Of Tzu-ch'an the Master said : " In four ways
he was a gentleman. His own life was modest ; he
honoured the man whom he served ; he was kind in
rearing the people ; he was just in his calls upon them."
16. The Master said : "Yen P'ing was versed in
friendship. Familiarity bred courtesy."
17. The Master said: " Tsang Wen lodged his
tortoise with hills on the pillars, reeds on the Op-
rights. Was this his good sense ? "
18. Tzu-chang said : " Tzu-wen was thrice made
minister without show of gladness, and thrice left
office with unmoved face. He was careful to unfold
his rule to the new minister. What do ye think
of him?"
" He was faithful," said the Master.
" But had he love ? "
" I do not know," said the Master : " how should
this amount to love ? "
"When Ts'ui slew the King of Ch'i, Ch'en Wen
forsook ten teams of horses, and left the land. On
coming to another kingdom, he said, ' Like my lord
Ts'ui,' and left it. On coming to a second king-
dom, he said, ' Like my lord Ts'ui,' and left it.
What do ye think of him ? "
" He was pure," said the Master.
"But had he love?"
" I do not know," said the Master : " how should
this amount to love ? "
22 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK V 19. Chi Wen thought thrice before acting.
On hearing this, the Master said : " Twice, that
is enough."
20. The Master said : " Whilst peace reigned in
the land Ning Wu^ showed understanding; when
troubles came he turned simpleton. His under-
standing is within our reach ; such simplicity is
beyond our reach."
21. When he was in Ch'en the Master said:
" Home, I must go home ! My batch of boys,
ambitious and hasty, their minds cultured, their
schooling ended, know not what needs fashioning ! "
22. The Master said : "As Po-yi^ and Shu-ch'i
never recalled past wickedness the foes they made
were few."
23. The Master said : " Who would call Wei-
sheng Kao straight ? A man begged him for
' Ning Wu was minister to the Duke of Wei, in the middle of the
seventh century B.C. The duke was driven from his throne, and
deserted by the wise and prudent ; but Ning Wu, in his simplicity,
followed his master everywhere, and finally effected his restoration.
2 Po-yi and Shu-ch'i were sons of the King of Ku-chu. Their
father left the throne to the younger of the two ; but he would not
supplant the elder, nor would the elder act against his father's wishes.
So they both retired into obscurity. When King Wu overthrew the
tyrant Chou (B.C. 11 22), rather than live under a new dynasty, they
starved to death. Of Po-yi, Mencius tells us (V. B. i) : " His eyes
could not look on evil, nor his ears listen to evil. He would serve
none but his own king, lead none but his own people. He took office
when order reigned, and left it when times grew turbulent. He could
not bear to live under lawless rulers, or amongst a lawless people.
To stand by the side of a countryman he thought like sitting, in court
dress, in the midst of dust and ashes. Through Chou's day he dwelt
on the shores of the North Sea, waiting till the world grew clean.
So when men hear tell of Po-yi, fools grow honest, weak wills grow
strong."
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 23
vinegar. He begged it from a neighbour and book v
gave it."
24. The Master said : " Honeyed words, flatter-
ing looks and overdone humility, Tso Ch'iu-ming
thought shameful, and so do I. To hide ill-will
and ape friendship, Tso Ch'iu-ming thought shame-
ful, and so do I."
25. As Yen Yuan and Chi-lu^ were sitting with
him, the Master said: "Why not each of you tell
me his wishes ? "
Tzu-lu said : " Carriages and horses I would
have, and robes of fine fur to share with my friends,
and would wear them out all free from care."
Yen Yiian said : " To make no boast of talent,
nor show of merit, were my wish."
Tzu-lu said : " We should like to hear your
wishes. Sir."
The Master said : " To make the old folk happy,
to be true to friends, to have a heart for the young."
26. The Master said : " It is finished ! I have
met no one who can see his own faults, and arraign
himself within."
27. The Master said : " In a hamlet of ten house-
holds there must be men faithful and true as I :
why is there no one as fond of learning ? "
* Tzu-lu.
VI
BOOK VI I. The Master said : " Yung^ might fill the seat
of a prince."
" And might Tzu-sang Po-tzu ? " asked Chung-
kung.
" Yes," said the Master : "but he is lax."
" To be lax in his claims on the people might
be right," said Chung-kung, " were he stern to self:
but to be lax to self and lax to others must surely
be over-lax."
The Master said : " What Yung says is true."
2. Duke Ai asked which disciples were fond of
learning.
Confucius answered : " Yen Hui ^ loved learning.
His anger fell not astray ; he made no mistake
twice. By ill-luck his life was cut short. Now
that he is gone, I hear of no one who is fond of
learning."
3. Tzu-hua ^ having been sent to Ch'i, the disciple
Jan asked for grain to give to his mother.
The Master said : " Give her a bushel."
He asked for more.
The Master said : " Give her half a quarter."
Jan gave her twenty-five quarters.
' The disciple Chung-kung. ^ The disciple Yen Viian.
3 The disciple Kung-hsi Hua, or Kung-hsi Ch'ih.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 25
The Master said : " On his way to Ch'i, Ch'ih ^ book vi
was drawn by sleek horses, clad in fine furs, A
gentleman, I have heard, helps the needy : he does
not swell riches."
When Yuan Ssu ^ was governor his pay was nine
hundred measures of grain. On his refusing it, the
Master said : " Not so. Why not take it and give
it to thy neighbours and country-folk ? "
4. Of Chung-kung the Master said : "If the calf
of a brindled cow be red and horned, though men
be shy to offer him, will the hills and streams
disdain him ? "
5. The Master said : " For three months to-
gether Hui's * heart never sinned against love.
The others may hold out for a day, or a month ;
but no more."
6. Chi K'ang* asked whether Chung-yu® were
fit for power.
The Master said : " Yu ^ has character ; what
would governing be to him ? "
" And Tz'u,* is he fit for power ? "
" Tz'u is intelligent ; what would governing be
to him?"
" And Ch'iu,' is he fit for power ? "
" Ch'iu has ability ; what would governing be
to him?"
1 The disciple Kung-hsi Hua, or Kung-hsi Ch'ih. ^ A disciple.
^ The disciple Yen Yiian.
* Head of the Chi clan after the death of Chi Huan.
6 The disciple Tzu-lu. ' The disciple Tzu-kung.
' The disciple Jan Yu.
26 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK VI 7. The Chi sent to make Min Tzu-ch'ien ^
governor of Pi.
Min Tzu-ch'ien said : " Make some good ex-
cuse for me. If he send again, I must be across
the Wen."
8. When Po-niu ^ was ill the Master went to ask
after him. Grasping his hand through the window,
he said : " He is dying. It is our lot. But why
this man of such an illness ? why this man of such
an illness ? "
9. The Master said : " What a man was Hui ! ^
A dish of rice, a gourd of water, in a low alley-
way ; no man can bear such misery ! Yet Hui
never fell from mirth. What a man he was ! "
10. Jan Ch'iu* said: "Pleasure in the Master's
path I do not lack : I lack strength."
The Master said : " Who lacks strength faints
by the way ; thou puttest a curb upon thee."
11. The Master said to Tzu-hsia : "Read
to become a gentleman ; do not read as the
vulgar do."
1 2. When Tzu-yu was governor of Wu-ch'eng,*
the Master said : " Hast thou gotten any men ? "
He answered : " I have Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming.
When walking he will not take a short-cut ; he
has never come to my house except on business."
13. The Master said : " Meng Chih-fan never
' Disciples.
^ The disciple Yen Yiian.
^ The disciple Jan Yu.
* A town in Lu, belonging to the Chi.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 27
bragged. He was covering the rear in a rout; book vi
but when the gate was reached, he whipped up
his horse and cried : ' Not courage kept me behind ;
my horse won't go ! ' "
14. The Master said : " Unless glib as the reader
T'o, and handsome as Chao of Sung, escape is hard
in the times that be ! "
15. The Master said: "Who can go out ex-
cept by the door ? Why is it no one keeps to
the way?"
16. The Master said: "Nature outweighing art
begets roughness ; art outweighing nature begets
pedantry. Art and nature well blent make a
gentleman."
17. The Master said: "Man is born upright.
If he cease to be so and live, he is lucky to
escape ! "
18. The Master said: "Who knows does not
rank with him who likes, nor he who likes with
him who is glad therein,"
19. The Master said : " To men above the
common we may speak of things above the
common. To men below the common we must
not speak of things above the common."
20. Fan Ch'ih ^ asked, What is wisdom ?
The Master said : " To foster right amongst the
people ; to honour the ghosts of the dead, whilst
keeping aloof from them, may be called wisdom."
He asked, What is love ?
' A disciple.
28 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK VI The Master said : " To rank the effort above
the prize may be called love."
21. The Master said: "Wisdom delights in
water ; love delights in hills. Wisdom is stir-
ring ; love is quiet. Wisdom enjoys life ; love
grows old."
22. The Master said : " By one revolution Ch'i
might grow as Lu : by one revolution Lu might
win to truth."
23. The Master said : " A drinking horn that is
no horn 1 What a horn ! What a drinking horn ! "
24. Tsai Wo^ said: "Were a man who loves
told that there is a man in a well, would he go in
after him?"
The Master said : " Why should he ? A gentle-
man might be brought to the well, but not entrapped
into it. He may be cheated ; he is not to be
fooled."
25. The Master said : " By breadth of reading
and the ties of courtesy a gentleman will also keep
from error's path."
26. The Master saw Nan-tzu.^ Tzu-lu was dis-
pleased. The Master took an oath, saying: "If
there were sin in me may Heaven forsake me, may
Heaven forsake me ! "
27. The Master said : "The highest goodness is
to hold fast the golden mean. Amongst the people
it has long been rare."
' A disciple.
" The dissolute wife of Duke Ling of Wei.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 29
28. Tzu-kung said : " To treat the people with book vi
bounty and help the many, how were that ? Could
it be called love ? "
The Master said : " What has this to do with
love ? Would it not be holiness ? Both Yao and
Shun^ still yearned for this. In seeking a foothold
for self, love finds a foothold for others ; seeking
light for itself, it enlightens others also. To
learn from the near at hand may be called the
key to love."
' Two emperors of the golden age.
VII
BOOK vii I. The Master said : " A teller and not a maker,
one who trusts and loves the past ; I may be likened
to our old P'eng."^
2. The Master said : " A silent communer, an
ever hungry learner, a still unflagging teacher ; am
I any of these ? "
3. The Master said : " Neglect of what is good
in me ; want of thoroughness in study ; failure to
do the right when told me ; lack of strength to
overcome faults, these are my sorrows."
4. In his free moments the Master was easy and
cheerful.
5. The Master said: "How deep is my decay!
It is long since I saw the Duke of Chou^ in a
dream."
6. The Master said : " Will the right ; hold to
good won ; rest in love ; move in art."
7. The Master said : " From the man who paid
' Of old P'eng we should be glad to know more, but " the rest is
silence."
^ Died B.C. 1105. He was the younger brother of King Wu, the
founder of the Chou dynasty, as great in peace as the king in war.
He was so anxious to carry out olden principles, " that when aught he
saw did not tally with them, he would look up in thought, till day gave
way to night ; and if by good luck he found the answer, would sit on
waiting for dawn" (Mencius, IV. B. 20).
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 31
in dried meat upwards, I have withheld teaching book vn
from no one."
8. The Master said: "Only to those fumbling
do I open, only for those stammering do I find the
word. From him who cannot turn the whole when
I lift a corner I desist."
9. When eating beside a mourner the Master
never ate his fill. On days when he had been
wailing, the Master did not sing.
10. The Master said to Yen Yiian : " I and thou
alone can both fill a post when given one and live
unseen when passed by."
Tzu-lu said : " Had ye to command three armies,
Sir, who should go with you ? "
"No man," said the Master, "ready to fly un-
armed at a tiger, or plunge into a river and die
without a pang should be with me ; but one, rather,
who is wary before a move and gains his end by
well-laid plans."
11. The Master said: "Were shouldering a
whip a sure road to riches, I would turn carter :
but since there is no sure road, I tread the path
I love."
1 2. The Master gave heed to devotions, war, and
sickness.
13. When the Master was in Ch'i for three
months after hearing the Shao played he knew not
the taste of meat.
"I did not suppose," he said, "that music could
touch such heights."
32 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK VII 14. Jan Yu said: "Is the Master for the King
of Wei?"'
" I will ask him," said Tzu-kung.
He went in, and said : " What kind of men were
Po-yi'andShu-ch'i?"
" Worthy men of yore," said the Master.
"Did they rue the past ? "
" They sought love and found it ; what had they
to rue ? "
Tzu-kung went out, and said : " The Master is
not on his side."
15. The Master said: "Living on coarse rice
and water, with bent arm for pillow, mirth may be
ours ; but ill-gotten wealth and honours are to me a
wandering cloud."
16. The Master said : " Given a few more years,
making fifty for the study of the Yi,^ I might be
purged from gross sin."
17. The Master liked to talk of poetry, history,
and the upkeep of courtesy. Of all these he was
fond of talking.
18. The Duke of She asked Tzu-lu about Con-
fucius.
Tzu-lu did not answer.
The Master said : " Why couldst thou not say :
' The grandson of Duke Ling, husband of Nan-tzu. His fether
had been driven from the country for planning to kill Nan-tzu. When
Duke Ling died, he was succeeded by his grandson, who opposed by
force his father's attempts to seize the throne.
^ See note to v. 22.
" An abstruse, ancient classic, usually called the Book of Changes.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 33
' He is a man so eager that he forgets to eat, whose book vii
cares are lost in triumph, unmindful of approaching
age'?"
19. The Master said: "I was not born to
understanding. I loved the past, and questioned
it earnestly."
20. The Master never spake of ghosts or strength,
crime or spirits.
21. The Master said: "Walking three together
I am sure of teachers, I pick out the good and
follow it ; I see the bad and shun it."
22. The Master said : " Heaven planted worth
in me ; what harm can come of Huan T'ui ? "^
23. The Master said: "My boys, do ye think
that I hide things from you .■* I hide nothing. One
who keeps from his boys nought that he does, such
is Ch m.
24. The four things the Master taught were cul-
ture, conduct, faithfulness, and truth.
25. The Master said: "A holy man I shall not
live to see ; enough could I find a gentleman ! A
good man I shall not live to see ; enough could I
find a steadfast one ! But when nothing poses as
something, cloud as substance, want as riches,
steadfastness must be rare."
26. The Master angled, but did not fish with a
net ; he shot, but not at birds sitting.
' In B.C. 495, during Confucius' wanderings, Huan T'ui was an
officer of Sung. He sent a band of men to kill Confucius ; but why
he did so is not clear.
^ Confucius.
C
34 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK VII 27. The Master said : " There may be men who
act without understanding why. I do not. To listen
much, pick out the good and follow it ; to see much
and ponder it : this comes next to understanding."
28. It was ill talking to the Hu villagers. A lad
having been admitted, the disciples wondered.
The Master said : " I allow his coming, not what
is to come. Why be so harsh ? If a man cleanse
himself to gain admission, I admit his cleanness,
but go not bail for his past."
29. The Master said: " Is love so far a thing?
I yearn for love, and lo ! love is come."
30. A judge of Ch'en asked whether Duke Chao ^
knew courtesy.
Confucius answered : " He knew courtesy."
After Confucius had left, the judge beckoned
Wu-ma Ch'i ^ to his side, and said : " I had heard
that gentlemen are of no party, but are they too for
party ? The prince married a Wu, of the same
name as himself, and called her Miss Tzu of Wu.
If the prince knew courtesy, who does not know
courtesy ? "
When Wu-ma Ch'i told this to the Master, he
said : " How lucky I am ! If I make a slip, men
are sure to know it ! "
31. When any one sang to the Master, and sang
well, he would make him repeat it and join in.
' Duke Chao of Lu ( + B.C. 510) was the duke who first employed
Confucius. It is contrary to Chinese custom for a man to marry a
girl of the same surname as himself.
' A disciple of Confucius.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 35
32. The Master said : " I have no more culture book vii
than others : to live as a gentleman is not yet
mine."
33. The Master said : " How dare I lay claim
to holiness or love? A man of endless craving I
might be called, an unflagging teacher ; but nothing
more."
" That is just what we disciples cannot learn,"
said Kung-hsi Hua.
34. The Master being very ill, Tzu-lu asked
leave to pray.
The Master said : " Is it the custom ?"
" It is," answered Tzu-lu. " The Memorials say,
' Pray to the spirits in heaven above and on earth
below.' "
The Master said : " Long lasting has my prayer
been."
35. The Master said : " Waste begets self-will ;
thrift begets meanness : but better be mean than
self-willed."
36. The Master said : " A gentleman is calm and
spacious : the vulgar are always fretting."
37. The Master was friendly, yet dignified ; he
inspired awe, but not fear ; he was respectful, yet
easy.
VIII
BOOK VIII I, The Master said: "T'ai-po^ might indeed be
called a man of highest worth. Thrice he gave
up the throne. Men were at a loss how to praise
him,''
2. The Master said : " Without a sense of
courtesy, attentions grow into fussiness, heed turns
to fearfulness, courage becomes unruliness, upright-
ness turns to harshness. When the gentry are
true to kinsmen, love will thrive among the people.
If they do not forsake old friends,. the people will
not be selfish."
3, When Tseng-tzu lay sick he summoned his
disciples and said : " Uncover my feet, uncover my
arms. The poem says :
' As though a deep gulf
Were yawning below,
As crossing thin ice.
Take heed how ye go.'
Till this day, and beyond, I have walked unscathed,
my boys," ^
1 T'ai-po was the eldest son of the King of Chou. The father
wished his third son to succeed him, in order that the throne might
pass through him to his famous son, afterwards known as King Wen.
To facilitate this plan T'ai-po and his second brother went into
voluntary exile.
^ The Chinese say : " The body is born whole by the mother ; it is
for the son to return it again whole."
36
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 37
4. When Tseng-tzu lay sick Meng Ching^ came book viii
to ask after him.
Tseng-tzu said : "When a bird is to die, his note
is sad ; when a man is to die, his words are true.
There are three duties that a gentleman prizes : to
banish from his bearing violence and levity ; to sort
his face to the truth ; to purge his speech of the
low and unfair. As for temple matters, there are
ofificers to mind them."
5. Tseng-tzu said : " Out of knowledge to learn
from ignorance, out of wealth to learn from penury ;
having to seem wanting, real to seem shadow ; when
gainsaid never answering back : I had once a friend
who would act thus." ^
6. Tseng-tzu said : "A man to whom an orphan
stripling or the fate of an hundred townships may
be entrusted, and whom no crisis can corrupt, is he
not a gentleman, a gentleman indeed ? "
7. Tseng-tzu said : " The scholar had need be
strong and bold ; for his burden is heavy, the road
is far. His burden is love, is it not a heavy one?
Death is the goal, is that not far ? "
8. The Master said : " Poetry rouses, courtesy
upholds us, music is our crown."
9. The Master said : " The people may be
made to follow : they cannot be made to under-
stand."
10. The Master said : " Love of daring, inflamed
1 Head of the Meng clan, minister of Lu.
2 This is believed to refer to Yen Yiian.
38 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK VIII by poverty, leads to crime : a man without love, if
deeply ill-treated, will turn to crime."
11. The Master said: "All the glorious gifts of
the Duke of Chou,^ if coupled with pride and mean-
ness, would not be worth one glance."
1 2. The Master said : " A man to whom three years
of study have borne no fruit would be hard to find."
13. The Master said: "A man who loves learn-
ing with simple faith, who to mend his life is content
to die, will not enter a tottering kingdom, nor stay
in a land distraught. When right prevails below
heaven, he is seen ; when wrong prevails, he is
unseen. When right prevails, he would blush to
be poor and lowly ; when wrong prevails, wealth
and honours would shame him."
14. The Master said : " When not in office,
discuss not policy."
15. The Master said : " In the first days of the
music master Chih how grand was the ending of
the Kuan-chii ! How it filled the ear ! "
16. The Master said: "Of such as are eager,
but not straight ; shallow, but not simple ; dull, but
not truthful, I will know nothing."
17. The Master said: "Study as though the
time were short, as one who fears to lose."
18. The Master said : " It was sublime how Shun
and Yii ^ swayed the world and made light of it ! "
' See note to vii. 5.
^ For Shun and Yii, as well as Yao and King Wu below, see
Introduction.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 39
19. The Master said : " How great was Yao in book viii
kingship ! Sublime ! Heaven alone is great ; Yao
alone was patterned on it ! Boundless ! Men's
words failed them. Sublime the work he did,
dazzling the wealth of his culture ! "
20. Shun had five ministers, and order reigned
below heaven.
King Wu said : " Ten in number are my able
ministers."
Confucius said : " ' The dearth of talent,' is not
that the truth ? The days when Yii ^ succeeded
T'ang ^ were rich in talent ; yet there were but nine
men in all, and one of these was a woman. The
utmost worth was the worth of Chou ! ^ Lord of
two-thirds of the earth, he submitted all to Yin."
21. The Master said: "I find no flaw in Yii.
Frugal in eating and drinking, he was lavish to the
ghosts of the dead : ill-clad, he was gorgeous in
cap and gown : his home a hovel, he poured out
his strength upon dikes and ditches. No kind of
flaw can I find in Yii."
I Shun. 2 Yao. 3 King Wen, Duke of Chou.
IX
BOOK IX I. The Master seldom spake of gain, doom,
or love.
2. A man from the Ta-hsiang village said : " The
great Confucius, with his vast learning, has made
no name in anything."
When the Master heard it, he said to his dis-
ciples : "What shall I take up? Shall I take up
charioteering? Shall I take up bowmanship? I
must take up charioteering."
3. The Master said: "A linen cap is correct:
to-day silk is worn. It is cheap, and I follow the
many. To bow below is correct : to-day it is done
above. This is overweening, and, despite the
many, I bow below."
4. From four things the Master was quite free.
He had no by-views ; he knew not " must," or
"shall," or "I."
5. When the Master was affrighted in K'uang,^
he said : " Since the death of King Wen, is not
this the home of culture ? Had Heaven con-
' During the Master's wanderings. K'uang is said to have been a
small state near Lu, that had been oppressed by Yang Hue. Con-
fucius resembled him, and the men of K'uang set upon him, mistaking
him for their enemy. The commentators say that the Master was
not affrighted, only " roused to a sense of danger." I cannot find that
the text says so.
40
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 41
demned culture, later mortals had missed their book ix
share in it. If Heaven uphold culture, what can
the men of K'uang do to me ? "
6. A high minister said to Tzu-kung : " The
Master must be a holy man, he can do so many
things ! "
Tzu-kung said : " Heaven has indeed well-nigh
endowed him with holiness, and he is many-
sided too."
When the Master heard it, he said : " Does the
minister know me ? Being lowly born, I learned
many an humble trade in my youth. But has
a gentleman skill in many things ? No, in few
things."
Lao said that the Master would say : " Having
no post, I learned a craft."
7. The Master said : " Have I in truth under-
standing ? I have no understanding. But if a
yokel ask me aught in an empty way, I tap it on
this side and that, and sift it to the bottom."
8. The Master said : " The phoenix comes not,
nor does the river give forth a sign. All is over
with me ! "
9. When the Master saw folk clad in mourning,
or in robes of state, or else a blind man, he made
a point of rising — even for the young — or, if he
were passing by, of quickening his step.
10. Yen Yiian heaved a sigh and said : "As I
gaze it grows higher, more remote as I dig! I
sight it in front, next moment astern ! The Master
42 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK IX tempts men forward deftly bit by bit. He widened
me with culture, he bound me with courtesy. Until
my strength was spent I had no power to stop.
The goal seemed at hand : I longed to reach it,
but the way was closed."
1 1. When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu moved
the disciples to act as ministers.
During a better spell the Master said : " Yu has
long been feigning. This show of ministers, when
I have no ministers, whom can it deceive ? Will
it deceive Heaven ? Moreover, is it not better to
die in your arms, my boys, than to die in the arms
of ministers ? And if I lack a grand burial, shall I
die by the roadside ? "
12. Tzu-kung said: "Were a beauteous jade-
stone mine, ought I to hide it away in a case, or
seek a good price and sell it ? "
The Master said : " Sell it, sell it ! I tarry for
my price."
13. The Master wished to make his home among
the nine tribes.^
One said : " They are low, how could ye ? "
The Master said : " Where a gentleman has his
home, can aught live that is low ? "
14. The Master said : " After I came back from
Wei to Lu the music was set straight and each
song found its place."
15. The Master said: "To serve men of high
* The half-barbarous tribes in the mountainous, eastern districts of
the present province of Shantung.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 43
rank when abroad, and father and brothers when book ix
at home ; to dread slackness in graveside duties,
and be no thrall to wine : to which of these have
I won?"
16. As he stood by a stream, the Master said :
" Hasting away like this, day and night without
stop ! "
17. The Master said: "I have found none who
love good as they love women."
18. The Master said: "In making a mound, if
I stop when one basketful more would end it, it
is I that stop. In levelling ground, if I go on
after throwing down one basketful, it is I that
proceed."
19. The Master said : " Never listless when
spoken to, such was Hui!"^
20. Speaking of Yen Yuan, the Master said :
" The pity of it ! I have seen him go on, but
never have I seen him stop."
21. The Master said: "Some sprouts do not
blossom, some blossoms bear no fruit."
22. The Master said: "Awe is due to youth.
May not to-morrow be bright as to-day ? To
men of forty or fifty, who are unknown still, no
awe is due."
23. The Master said: "Who would not give
ear to a downright word ? But to mend is of
price. Who would not be pleased by a guiding
word."" But to ponder the word is of price.
'■ Yen Yiian.
44 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK IX With such as give ear, but will not mend ;
who are pleased, but will not ponder, I can do
nothing."
24. The Master said : " Make faithfulness and
truth thy masters : have no friends unlike thyself :
be not ashamed to mend thy faults."
25. The Master said : " Three armies may be
robbed of their leader, no wretch can be robbed
of his will."
26. The Master said : " Clad in a tattered, quilted
cloak, Yu ^ will stand unabashed amidst robes of
fox and badger.
' Void of hatred and greed,
What but good does he do ? ' "
But when Tzu-lu was ever humming these words,
the Master said : " This is the way : but is it the
whole of goodness ? "
27. The Master said : " Erst the cold days show
how fir and cypress are last to fade."
28. The Master said: "The wise are free from
doubt ; love is never vexed ; the bold have no
fears."
29. The Master said : " With some we can
join in learning, but not in aims ; with others
we can join in aims, but not in standpoint ;
and with others again in standpoint, but not in
measures."
' Tzu-lu.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 45
3°- " The flowers overhead book ix
Are dancing in play ;
My thoughts are with thee,
In thy home far away."
The Master said : "Her thoughts were not with
him, or how could he be far away ? "
BOOK X I. Amongst his own country folk Confucius wore
a homely look, like one who has no word to say.
In the ancestral temple and at court his speech
was full, but cautious.
2. At court, he talked frankly to men of low
rank, winningly to men of high rank.
In the king's presence he looked intent and
solemn.
3. When the king bade him receive guests,
his face seemed to change, his knees to bend.
He bowed left and right to those beside him,
straightened his robes in front and behind, and
sped forward, his elbows spread like wings. When
the guest had left, he always reported it, saying :
" The guest has ceased to look back."
4. Entering the palace gate he stooped, as though
it were too low for him. He did not stand in the
middle of the gate, nor step on the threshold.
Passing the throne, his face seemed to change,
his knees to bend, he spake with bated breath.
Mounting the dais, he lifted his robes, bowed his
back and masked his breathing, till it seemed to
stop.
Coming down, his face relaxed below the first
step, and bore a pleased look. From the foot of
46
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 47
the steps he sped forward, his elbows spread like book x
wings ; and when again in his seat he looked intent
as before.
5. When bearing the sceptre, his back bent, as
under too heavy a burden. He held his hands not
higher than in bowing, nor lower than in giving a
present. He wore an awed look and dragged his
feet, as though they were fettered.
When presenting royal gifts his manner was
formal ; but he was cheerful at the private audience.
6. This gentleman was never arrayed in maroon
or scarlet ; even at home he would not don red or
purple.
In hot weather he wore unlined linen clothes, but
always over other garments.
Over lamb-skin he wore black, over fawn he wore
white, over fox-skin he wore yellow. At home he
wore a long fur robe, with the right sleeve short.
He always had his nightgown half as long again
as his body.
In the house he wore fox or badger skin for
warmth.
When out of mourning there was nothing wanting
from his girdle.
Except for court dress, he was sparing of stuff.
He did not wear lamb's fur, or a black cap, on a
visit of condolence.
On the first day of the moon he always went to
court in court dress.
7. On fast days he always donned clothes of pale
48 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK X hue, changed his food, and moved from his wonted
seat.
8. He did not dislike his rice cleaned with care,
nor his hash chopped small.
He did not eat sour or mouldy rice, putrid fish,
or tainted meat. Aught discoloured, or high, badly
cooked, or out of season, he would not eat. He
would not eat what was badly cut, or a dish with
the wrong sauce. A choice of meats could not
tempt him to eat more than he had a relish for.
To wine alone he set no limit, but he did not drink
till he got fuddled.
He did not drink bought wine, or eat ready-dried
market meat.
Ginger was never missing at table.
He did not eat much.
After sacrifice at the palace he would not keep
the meat over night, at home not more than three
days. If kept longer it was not eaten.
He did not talk at meals, nor speak when in bed.
Though there were but coarse rice and vegetable
soup, he made his offering with all reverence.
9. If his mat were not straight, he would not
sit down.
10. When drinking with the villagers, as those
with staves left, he left too.
At the village exorcisms he donned court dress,
and stood on the eastern steps.
11. When sending inquiries to another land, he
bowed twice and saw his messenger out.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 49
On K'ang making him a gift of medicine, he book x
accepted it with a bow, saying : "I do not know
it : I dare not taste it."
12. His stables having been burnt, the Master,
on his return from court, said : " Is any one hurt ? "
He did not ask after the horses.
13. When the king sent him bake-meat, he set
his mat straight, and tasted it first. When the
king sent him raw meat, he had it cooked for
sacrifice. When the king sent a living beast, he
had him reared.
When dining in attendance on the king, the
king made the offering, Confucius ate of things
first.
On the king coming to see him in sickness, he
turned his face to the east and had his court dress
spread across him, with the girdle over it.
When summoned by the king, he walked, without
waiting for his carriage.
14. On entering the Great Temple he asked how
each thing was done.
15. When a friend died who had no home to go
to, he said : " It is for me to bury him."
When a friend sent a gift, even of a carriage
and horses, he did not bow. He only bowed for
sacrificial meat.
16. He did not sleep like a corpse. At home
he unbent.
On meeting a mourner, and were he a friend,
his face changed. Even in everyday clothes, when
50 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK X he met any one in full dress, or a blind man, his
face grew staid.
When he met men in mourning he bowed over
the cross-bar ; to the census-bearers he bowed over
the cross-bar.
Before choice meats he rose with changed look.
At sharp thunder, or fierce wind, his look changed.
17. In mounting his chariot he stood straight
and grasped the cord. When in his chariot he did
not look round, speak fast, or point.
18. Seeing a man's face, she rose, flew round
and settled.
The Master said : "Hen pheasant on the ridge,
it is the season, it is the season."
He and Tzu-lu got on the scent thrice and then
she rose.
XI
1. The Master said: "Those who led the way book xi
in courtesy and music are deemed rude, and elegant
the later school of courtesy and music. My wont is
to follow the leaders."
2. The Master said : " None of the men who
were with me in Ch'en or Ts'ai come any more
to my door! Of noble life were Yen Yiian, Min
Tzu-ch'ien, Jan Po-niu, and Chung-kung ; Tsai Wo
and Tzu-kung were the talkers ; statesmen Jan Yu
and Chi-lu. Tzu-yu and Tzu-hsia were men of
culture."
3. The Master said : " I get no help from Hui.^
No word I say but delights him ! "
4. The Master said : " How good a son was Min
Tzu-ch'ien! In all that parents and brethren said
of him no hole was picked."
5. Nan Jung would thrice repeat " The sceptre
white."'
Confucius gave him his niece to wife.
' Yen Yiian.
" The verse runs —
" A flaw can be ground
From a sceptre white ;
A slip of the tongue
No man can right."
52 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XI 6. Chi K'ang asked which of the disciples loved
learning.
Confucius answered : " Yen Hui * loved learning.
By ill luck his life was cut short. Now there is no
one.''
7. When Yen Yuan died, Yen Lu^ asked for the
Master's chariot to furnish an outer coffin.
The Master said: "Whether gifted or not, each
one speaks of his son. When Li * died he had an
inner but not an outer coffin. I would not walk on
foot to furnish an outer coffin. Following in the
wake of the ministry, it would ill become me to
walk on foot."
8. When Yen Yiian died the Master cried: "Woe
is me ! I am undone of Heaven ! I am undone of
Heaven ! "
9. When Yen Yiian died the Master gave way to
grief
Those with him said : " Sir, ye are giving way."
The Master said: "Am I giving way? If for
this man I did not give way to grief, for whom
should I give way ? "
10. When Yen Yiian died the disciples wished
to bury him in state.
The Master said : " This must not be."
The disciples buried him in state.
The Master said : "Hui treated me as a father :
I have failed to treat him as a son. No, not I : it
was your doing, my boys."
' Yen Yiian. ^ The father of Yen Yiian. ' Confucius' son.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 53
1 1 . Chi-lu ^ asked what is due to the ghosts of book xi
the dead.
The Master said : " We fail in our duty to the
living ; can we do our duty to the dead ? "
He ventured to ask about death.
" We know not life," said the Master, " how can
we know death ? "
12. Seeing the disciple Min standing at his side
in winning strength, Tzu-lu with war-like front, Jan
Yu and Tzu-kung fresh and rank, the Master's
heart was glad.
" A man like Yu," ^ he said, " dies before his day."
13. The men of Lu were building the Long
Treasury.
Min Tzu-ch'ien said : " Would not the old one
do ? Why must a new one be built ? "
The Master said : " That man does not talk :
when he speaks, he hits the mark."
14. The Master said : " What has the lute of Yu '
to do twanging at my door ! "
But when the disciples began to look down on
Tzu-lu, the Master said : " Yu has climbed to the
hall, though he has not passed the closet door."
15. Tzu-kung asked whether Shih* or Shang*
were the better man.
> Tzu-lu.
' Tzu-lu. This prophecy came true. Tzu-lu and Tzu-kao were
officers of Wei when troubles arose. Tzu-lu hastened to the help of
his master. He met Tzu-kao withdrawing from the danger, and was
advised to follow suit. But Tzu-lu refused to desert the man whose
pay he drew. He plunged into the fight and was killed.
' Tzu-lu. • The disciple Tzu-chang. " The disciple Tzu-hsia.
54 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XI The Master said : " Shih goes too far : Shang
goes not far enough."
" Then Shih is the better man," said Tzu-kung.
" Too far," replied the Master, "is no better than
not far enough."
1 6. The Chi was richer than the Duke of Chou :
Ch'iu^ added to his wealth by becoming his tax-
gatherer.
The Master said : " He is no disciple of mine.
Sound your drums to the attack, my boys ! "
17. Ch'ai^ is simple, Shen* is dull, Shih* is
smooth, Yu ® is coarse.
18. The Master said: "Hui" is well-nigh fault-
less, and ofttimes empty. Tz'u' will not bow to
fate, and hoards up substance ; but his views are
often sound."
19. Tzu-chang asked. What is the way of a good
man?
The Master said : " He does not tread in foot-
prints ; neither can he gain the closet."
20. The Master said : " Commend a man for
plain speaking : he may prove a gentleman, or else
but seeming honest."
21. Tzu-lu asked : " Shall I do all I am taught?"
The Master said : " Whilst thy father and elder
brothers live, how canst thou do all thou art
taught ? "
1 The disciple Jan Yu. 2 The disciple Kao Ch'ai.
' The disciple Tseng-tzu. ' The disciple Tzu-chang.
' Tzu-lu. « The disciple Yen Yuan.
' The disciple Tzu-kung.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 55
Jan Yu asked : " Shall I do all I am taught ? " book xi
The Master said : " Do all thou art taught."
Kung-hsi Hua said: "Yu^ asked, 'Shall I do
all I am taught ? ' and ye spake, Sir, of father and
elder brothers. Ch'iu^ asked, 'Shall I do all I
am taught ? ' and ye answered, ' Do all thou art
taught.' I am puzzled, and make bold to ask you,
Sir."
The Master said: "Ch'iu is bashful, so I egged
him on : Yu has the pluck of two, so I held him
back."
22. When fear beset the Master in K'uang, Yen
Yuan fell behind.
The Master said : " I held thee as dead."
He answered : " Whilst my Master lives durst I
brave death ? "
23. Chi Tzu-jan * asked whether Chung Yu* or
Jan Ch'iu ^ could be called statesmen.
The Master said : "I thought ye would ask me
some riddle. Sir, and your text is Yu* and Ch'iu.®
A minister who does his duty to the king, and
withdraws rather than do wrong, is called a states-
man. As for Yu and Ch'iu, I should call them
tools."
" Who would do one's bidding then ? "
" Neither would they do your bidding," said the
Master, " if bidden slay king or father."
» Tzu-lu. ' Jan Yu.
' The younger brother of Chi Huan, head of the Chi clan.
• Tzu-lu. He and Jan Yu had taken office under the Chi.
* Jan Yu.
56 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XI 24. Tzu-lu had Tzu-kao made governor of Pi.
The Master said : " Thou art undoing a man's
son."
Tzu-lu said : " What with the people and the
guardian spirits must a man read books to come by
knowledge ? "
The Master said : " This is why I hate a glib
tongue."
25. The Master said to Tzu-lu, Tseng Hsi/ Jan
Yu, and Kung-hsi Hua as they sat beside him : "I
may be a day older than you, but forget that. Ye
are wont to say, ' I am unknown.' Well, had ye a
name, what would ye do ? "
Tzu-lu lightly answered: "Give me charge of a
land of a thousand chariots, crushed between great
neighbours, overrun by soldiery and searched by
famine, in three years' time I could put courage into
the people and high purpose."
The Master smiled.
" What wouldst thou do, Ch'iu ? " " he said.
He answered : " Had I charge of sixty or seventy
square miles, or from fifty to sixty square miles, in
three years' time I would give the people plenty.
As for courtesy, music, and the like, they would
wait the rise of a gentleman."
" And what wouldst thou do, Ch'ih ? " ^
He answered : " I speak of the things I fain would
learn, not of what I can do. At service in the
* A disciple : the father of Tseng-tzu.
' Jan Yu. 3 Kung-hsi Hua.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 57
Ancestral Temple, or at the Grand Audience, clad book xi
in black robe and cap, I fain would fill a small
part."
" And what wouldst thou do, Tien ? " ^
Tien ceased to play, pushed his still sounding
lute aside, rose and answered : " My choice would
be unlike those of the other three."
" What harm in that ? " said the Master. " Each
but spake his mind."
"In the last days of spring, all clad for the
season, with five or six grown men and six or
seven lads, I would bathe in the Yi, be fanned by
the breeze in the Rain God's glade, and wander
home with song."
The Master sighed and said : " I hold with
Tien."
Tseng Hsi stayed after the other three had left,
and said : " What did ye think of what the others
said, Sir?"
" Each but spake his mind," said the Master.
" Why did ye smile at Yu," Sir ? "
" Lands are swayed by courtesy, but what
he said was not modest. That was why I
smiled."
" But did not Ch'iu, too, speak of a state? "
" Where could sixty or seventy square miles
be found, or from fifty to sixty, that are not a
state ? "
' Tseng Hsi.
* Tzu-lu.
58 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XI " And did not Ch'ih, too, speak of a state ? "
" Who but great vassals would there be in the
Ancestral Temple, or at the Grand Audience ? But
if Ch'ih were to play a small part, who could fill a
big one ? "
XII
1. Yen Yuan asked, What is love? book xii
The Master said : " Love is to conquer self and
turn to courtesy. Could we conquer self and turn
to courtesy for but one day, all mankind would turn
to love. Does love flow from within, or does it
flow from others ? "
Yen Yiian said : " May I ask what are its
signs r
The Master said : "To be ever courteous of eye
and ever courteous of ear ; to be ever courteous in
word and ever courteous in deed."
Yen Yiian said : " Dull as I am, I hope to live
by these words."
2. Chung-kung asked. What is love .■*
The Master said : " Without the door to behave
as though a great guest were come ; to treat the
people as though we tendered the high sacrifice ;
not to do unto others what we would not they
should do unto us ; to breed no wrongs in the state
and breed no wrongs in the home."
Chung-kung said : " Dull as I am, I hope to live
by these words."
3. Ssu-ma Niu ^ asked, What is love ?
The Master said : " Love is slow to speak."
' A disciple.
59
6o THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XII " To be slow to speak ! Can that be called
love?"
The Master said : " That which is hard to do,
can it be lightly spoken ? "
4. Ssu-ma Niu asked, What is a gentleman ?
The Master said : " A gentleman knows neither
sorrow nor fear."
"No sorrow and no fear! Can that be called a
gentleman ? "
The Master said : "He finds no sin in his heart,
so why should he sorrow, what should he fear ? "
5. Ssu-ma Niu cried sadly : " All men have
brothers, I alone have none ! "
Tzu-hsia said : "I have heard that life and death
are allotted, that wealth and honours are in Heaven's
hand. A gentleman is careful and does not trip ;
he is humble towards others and courteous. All
within the four seas are brethren ; how can a
gentleman mourn his lack of them ? "
6. Tzu-chang asked. What is insight ?
The Master said : " To be unmoved by lap and
wash of slander, or by plaints that pierce to the
quick, may be called insight. Yea, whom lap and
wash of slander, or plaints that pierce to the quick
cannot move may be called far-sighted."
7. Tzu-kung asked, What is kingcraft ?
The Master said: " Food enough, troops enough,
and a trusting people."
Tzu-kung said : " Were there no help for it, which
could best be spared of the three ? "
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 6i
" Troops," said the Master. book xii
"And were there no help for it, which could
better be spared of the other two ? "
" Food," said the Master. " From of old all
men die, but without trust a people cannot
stand."
8. Chi Tzu-ch'eng^ said: "A gentleman is all
nature : what can art do for him ? "
"Alas! my lord," said Tzu-kung, "how ye
speak of a gentleman ! No team overtakes the
tongue ! Nature is no more than art ; art is
no more than nature. Without the fur, a tiger
or a leopard's hide is as the hide of a dog, or
goat."
9. Duke Ai said to Yu Jo^: "In this year of
dearth I have not enough for my wants ; what
should be done ? "
" Ye might tithe the people," answered Yu Jo.
" A fifth is all too little," said the duke ; " how
could a tenth avail ? "
" When the people all live in plenty," answered
Yu Jo, "will the king alone be in want? If the
people are all in want, can the king alone live in
plenty ? "
10. Tzu-chang asked how to raise the mind and
scatter delusions.
The Master said : " Make faithfulness and truth
thy masters, and follow the right ; the mind will be
• Minister of Wei.
' A disciple of Confucius.
62 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XII raised. We wish life to things we love, death to
things we hate. To wish them both life and death
is a delusion.
' Whether prompted by wealth,
Yet ye made a distinction.' "
1 1 . Ching,' Duke of Ch'i asked Confucius, What
is kingcraft ?
Confucius answered : " When the king is king
and the minister is minister ; when the father is
father and the son is son."
"True indeed!" said the duke. "Were the
king no king and the minister no minister, were
the father no father and the son no son, could I
get aught to eat, though the grain were there ? "
12. The Master said: "To stint a quarrel with
half a word Yu ^ is the man."
Tzu-lu never slept over a promise.
13. The Master said: "At hearing lawsuits I
am no better than another. What is needed is to
stay lawsuits."
14. Tzu-chang asked. What is kingcraft?
The Master said : " To be tireless of spirit and
faithful at work,"
15. The Master said: "Breadth of reading and
the ties of courtesy will also keep a man from
error's path."
16. The Master said : "A gentleman shapes the
' Confucius was in Ch'i in B.C. 517. The duke was overshadowed
by his ministers, and contemplated setting aside his eldest son.
2 Tzu-lu.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 63
good in man ; he does not shape the bad in him. book xii
Contrariwise the vulgar."
17. Chi K'ang^ asked Confucius how to rule.
Confucius answered : " To rule is to set straight.
If ye give an upright lead, sir, who will dare walk
crooked ? "
18. Chi K'ang being vexed by robbers spake of
it to Confucius.
Confucius answered : " But for your greed, sir,
though ye rewarded thieves, no man would steal."
19. Chi K'ang, speaking of kingcraft, said to Con-
fucius : " To help the good, should we kill the bad ? "
Confucius answered : " Sir, what need has a ruler
to kill ? Were ye set on good, sir, your people
would do good. The king's mind is the wind, and
grass are the minds of the people : whither the
wind blows, thither the grass bends."
20. Tzu-chang asked. When may a scholar be
called eminent?
The Master said : " What dost thou mean by
eminence ? "
Tzu-chang answered : " To be famous in the
state, and famous in his home."
The Master said : " That is fame, not eminence.
The eminent man is plain and straight. He loves
right, weighs men's words, and scans their looks.
At pains to step down to them, he will be eminent
in the state, and eminent in his home. The famous
* On the death of Chi Huan, Chi K'ang set aside his infant nephew
and made himself head of the clan.
64 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XII man wears a mask of love, but his deeds belie it.
He knows no misgivings, and fame will be his in
the state and fame be his in his home."
21. Whilst wandering through the Rain God's
glade with the Master, Fan Ch'ih said to him :
"May I ask how to raise the mind, amend evil,
and scatter errors ? "
The Master said : " A good question ! Rate the
task above the prize ; will not the mind be raised ?
Fight thine own faults, not the faults of others ;
will not evil be mended ? One angry morning to
forget both self and kin, is that no error ? "
22. Fan Ch'ih asked, What is love?
The Master said : " To love mankind."
He asked. What is wisdom ?
The Master said : " To know mankind."
Fan Ch'ih did not understand.
The Master said : " Exalt the straight, put aside
the crooked ; the crooked will grow straight."
Fan Ch'ih withdrew, and meeting Tzu-hsia, said
to him : " I was received by the Master and asked
him ' What is wisdom ? ' The Master answered :
' Exalt the straight, put aside the crooked ; the
crooked will grow straight.' What did he mean ? "
"How rich a saying!" said Tzu-hsia. "When
Shun ^ was lord of the earth, he chose Kao-yao
from the many, exalted him, and evil vanished.
When T'ang^ was lord of the earth, he chose
' An emperor of the golden age.
^ The founder of the Shang, or Yin, dynasty.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 65
Yi-yin ^ from the many, exalted him, and evil book xn
vanished."
23. Tzu-kung asked about friends.
The Master said : " Talk faithfully to them :
guide them with skill. If this prove vain, stop.
Do not court shame."
24. Tseng-tzu said : "A gentleman gathers friends
by culture and props love with friendship."
^ T'ang's chief minister. " Yi-yin said : ' Is he whom I serve not
my king? Are they whom I lead not my people?' In quiet times
he took office and in lawless times he took office. He said : ' Heaven
begat mankind, meaning those who are quick learners to teach those
slow to leam, and those who are quick-sighted to teach those slow to
see. I am one of Heaven's men whose sight is quick : it falls to me
to show the way to the people.' Were there man or wife below
heaven, who had missed his share in the heritage of Yao and Shun,
it was to him as though his hand had pushed him into the ditch ;
for the burden he took upon him was the weight of all below
heaven.'' (Mencius, V. B. i.)
XIII
BOOK xiii I. Tzu-lu asked how to rule.
The Master said : " Lead the way : take
pains."
Asked to add more, he said : " Never flag."
2. When steward of the Chi, Chung-kung asked
how to rule.
The Master said : " Let ofiicers act first : over-
look small faults : raise worth and talent."
Chung-kung said : " How shall I learn to know
the worth and talent I have to raise ? "
" Raise those thou dost know," said the Master ;
" and those unknown to thee, will other men
pass by ? "
3. Tzu-lu said : " The King of Wei ^ looks to
you, Sir, to govern. How shall ye begin?"
"If need were," said the Master, "by putting
names right."
"Indeed," said Tzu-lu, "that is far fetched, Sir!
Why put them right ? "
"Yu," said the Master, "thou art ill-bred. On
matters beyond his ken a gentleman speaks with
caution. If names are not right, words are mis-
used. When words are misused, affairs go wrong.
When affairs go wrong, courtesy and music droop.
' See note to vii. 14. Tzu-lu was his officer.
66
THE SAYINGS. OF CONFUCIUS 67
When courtesy and music droop, law and justice book xiii
fail. And when law and justice fail them, a people
can move neither hand nor foot. So a gentleman
must be ready to put names into speech, to put
words into deed. A gentleman is nowise careless
of words."
4. Fan Ch'ih asked to be taught husbandry.
The Master said : " I cannot rank with an old
husbandman."
He asked to be taught gardening.
The Master said : " I cannot rank with an old
gardener."
After" Fan Ch'ih had left, the Master said : " How
small a man ! If those above love courtesy, none
will dare to slight them : if those above love right,
none will dare to disobey : if those above love
truth, none will dare to hide the heart. Then,
from the four corners of the earth, folk will gather,
their children on their backs ; what need will there
be for husbandry ? "
5. The Master said : " Though a man have
conned three hundred poems ; if he stand helpless
when put to govern ; if he cannot answer for himself,
when sent to the four corners of the earth ; de-
spite their number, what have they done for him ? "
6. The Master said: "The man of upright life
is obeyed before he speaks : commands even go
unheeded, where the life is crooked."
7. The Master said : " The governments of Lu
and Wei are brothers."
68 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK xiii 8. Speaking of Ching, of the ducal house of Wei,
the Master said : "He was wise in his private
life. When he had begun saving, he said ' This is
much.' When he grew better off, he said ' Now
we lack nothing.' And when he was rich, he said
' We live in splendour.' " ^
9. Whilst Jan Yu was driving him on the road
to Wei, the Master said : " What numbers ! "
Jan Yu said : " Since numbers are here, what
next is needed ? "
" Wealth," said the Master.
" And after wealth, what next were needed ?"
" Teaching," said the Master.
10. The Master said : " Had I power for a
twelvemonth only, much could be done. In three
years all were ended."
11. The Master said : " ' Could good men govern
for an hundred years, cruelty would be vanquished,
putting to death have an end.' How true are these
words ! "
12. The Master said: "Had we a king among
men, a lifetime would pass ere love dawned ! "
13. The Master said: "What is governing to
him who can rule himself? Who cannot rule
himself, how should he rule others ? "
14. As the disciple Jan^ came back from court,
the Master said to him : " Why so late ? "
" Business of state kept me," he answered.
1 Jan Yu. He was in the service of the Chi, not of the Duke
of Lu.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 69
" Household business," said the Master, book xm
" Though I am out of office, I had heard were
there business of state."
15. Duke Ting asked : " Is there any one saying
that can prosper a kingdom ? "
Confucius answered.: "That is more than words
can do. But a proverb says ' Hard it is to be king,
nor yet light to be minister.' And did one know
how hard it is to be king, might not this saying all
but prosper a kingdom ? "
" And is there any one saying that can wreck a
kingdom ? "
" That is more than words can do," Confucius
answered. " But a proverb says ' My one joy
as king is that none withstand what I say.'
Now if none withstand him when right, will it
not be well ? But if none withstand him when
wrong, might not this saying all but wreck a
kingdom ? "
16. The Duke of She asked. What is king-
craft ?
The Master said : " To gladden those around us
and draw men from afar."
17. Tzu-hsia, when governor of Chii-fu, asked
how to rule.
The Master said : " Never be in a hurry : shut
thine eyes to small gains. Nought done in a
hurry is thorough, and an eye for small gain means
big things undone,"
18. The Duke of She told Confucius: "Among
70 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK xHi the upright men of my home if the father steal a
sheep his son will bear witness."
Confucius answered : " Our people's uprightness
is unlike that. The father screens his son, the son
screens his father. There is uprightness in this."
19. Fan Ch'ih asked, What is love?
The Master said : " To be respectful at home,
painstaking at work, faithful to all. Even among
savages none of this may be dropped."
20. Tzu-kung asked. When can a man be called
a good crown servant ?
The Master said : "In private life he wants a
sense of shame ; if sent to the four corners of the
earth he must not disgrace the king's commands."
" May I ask who would rank second ? "
"A man whom his clansmen call dutiful, and his
neighbours call modest."
" May I ask who would rank next ? "
" A man who clings to his word and sticks to
his course, a flinty little fellow, would perhaps come
next."
" And how are the crown servants of to-day ? "
" What ! The weights and measures men ! " said
the Master. "Are they worth reckoning?"
21. The Master said: "As followers of the
golden mean are not to be found, I have to work
with ambitious and headstrong men. Ambitious
men push ahead, and there are things that head-
strong men will not do."
22. The Master said: "The men of the south
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 71
say, ' Unless steadfast a man will make neither a book xm
wizard nor a leech.' This is true. 'A falling off
in merit will reap disgrace.' "
The Master said : " Neglect of the omens, that
is all."
23. The Master said : "A gentleman is pleasant,
not fulsome : the vulgar are fulsome, but not
pleasant."
24. Tzu-kung said : " Would it be right if a man
were liked by all his neighbours ? "
" No," said the Master.
" And would it be right if a man were hated by
all his neighbours ? "
" No," said the Master. " It would be better if
the good men of the neighbourhood liked him, and
the bad men of the neighbourhood hated him."
25. The Master said : " A gentleman is easy to
serve, and hard to please. Nought but what is
right pleases him : he fits his behests to the man.
The vulgar are hard to serve, and easy to please.
What is wrong may yet please them : but of their
men they expect all things."
26. The Master said : " A gentleman is high-
minded, not proud : the vulgar are proud, but not
high-minded."
27. The Master said : " Strength and courage,
simplicity and meekness are akin to love."
28. Tzu-lu asked. When can a man be called
educated ?
The Master said : " A man who is earnest.
72 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIII encouraging, and kind may be called educated.
Earnest with friends and encouraging ; kind to-
wards his brothers."
29. The Master said : " Could a good man teach
the people for seven years, they would be fit for
arms also."
30. The Master said : " To take untaught men
into battle is to cast them away."
XIV
1. Hsien^ asked, What is shame? book xiv
The Master said : " Hire when right prevails,
hire when wrong prevails, hire is always shame."
2. "To eschew strife and boasting, spite and
greed, can that be called love?"
The Master said : " I call that hard to do : I do
not know that it is love."
3. The Master said : "A scholar who loves com-
fort is not worthy the name."
4. The Master said : " When right prevails, be
fearless of speech and fearless in deed : when wrong
prevails, be fearless in deed but soft of speech."
5. The Master said: "A man of worth can
always talk, but talkers are not always men of
worth. Love is always bold, though boldness is
found without love."
6. Nan-kung Kuo said to Confucius : " Yi ^ was
good at archery, Ao could push a boat overland ;
each died before his time. Yii and Chi toiled at
their crops, and won the world."
The Master did not answer.
But when Nan-kung Kuo had left, the Master
* The disciple Yiian Ssu.
2 Yi was killed by his best pupil, who thought within himself, " In
all the world Yi alone shoots better than I," and so he slew him.
73
74 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIV said : " What a gentleman he is ! How he prizes
worth ! "
7. The Master said: "Gentlemen without love
there may be, but the vulgar must ever be strangers
to love."
8. The Master said : " Can one love, yet take no
pains ? Can he be faithful who gives no counsel ? "
9. The Master said : " The decrees were drafted
by P'i Shen, criticised by Shih-shu, polished by the
Foreign Minister Tzu-yli, and given the final
touches by Tzu-ch'an of Tung-li."
10. Being asked what he thought of Tzu-ch'an,
the Master said : " A kind-hearted man."
Asked what he thought of Tzu-hsi, the Master
said : " Of him ! What I think of him ! "
Asked what he thought of Kuan Chung,' the
Master said : " He was the man who drove the
Po from the town of Pien and its three hundred
households, to end his days on coarse rice, and no
word of wrong could he find to say."
11. The Master said: "It is hard not to
chafe at poverty, a light thing not to be proud
of wealth."
12. The Master said: " Meng Kung-ch'o is
more than fit to be steward to Chao or Wei, but
is not fit to be minister of T'eng or Hsieh."
13. Tzu-lu asked what were a full-grown man.
The Master said : " A man wise as Tsang Wu-
chung, greedless as Kung-ch'o, bold as Chuang of
1 See note to iii. 22.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 75
Pien, skilful as Jan Ch'iu, and graced with courtesy book xiv
and music, might be called a full-grown man.
But to-day who asks the like of a full-grown
man? Who in sight of gain remembers right, in
face of danger will risk his life, and cleaves to his
word for a lifetime, however old the bond, him we
must call a full-grown man."
14. Speaking of Kung-shu Wen, the Master said
to Kung-ming Chia : " Is it true that thy master
does not speak, nor laugh, nor take a gift ? "
Kung-ming Chia answered : " That is saying too
much. My master speaks when it is time to speak,
so none weary of his speaking : he laughs when
he is merry, so none weary of his laughter : he
takes what it is right to take, so none weary of his
taking."
" It may be so," said the Master ; " but is it ? "
15. The Master said : " When Tsang Wu-chung
holding Fang asked Lu to appoint an heir, though
he said that he was not forcing his prince, I cannot
believe it."
16. The Master said : " Duke Wen of Chin was
deep, but dishonest : Duke Huan of Ch'i was honest,
but shallow."
17. Tzu-lu said: "When Duke Huan slew the
young duke Chiu, Shao Hu died with him, but not
Kuan Chung, was this not want of love ? " ^
' Huan and Chiu were brothers, sons of the Duke of Ch'i. When
the father died, their uncle seized the throne. To preserve the right-
ful heirs Shao Hu and Kuan Chung fled with Chiu to Lu, whilst
Huan escaped to another state. The usurper having subsequently
76 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIV The Master said : " Duke Huan gathered the
nobles together, without help from chariots of war,
through the might of Kuan Chung. What can love
do more ? What can love do more ? "
i8. Tzu-kung said: "In becoming minister, in-
stead of dying with the young duke Chiu, when he
was slain by Duke Huan, Kuan Chung showed
want of love, it would seem."
The Master said : " Through Kuan Chung help-
ing Duke Huan to bend the nobility, and tame the
world, men have fared the better from that day
unto this. But for Kuan Chung we should wear
our hair down our backs and the left arm bare : or
should he, like the ploughboy and his lass, their
troth to keep, have drowned in a ditch, no man
the wiser ? "
19. The minister Hsien, once steward to Kung-
shu Wen, went to audience of the duke together
with Wen.
When the Master heard of this, he said : " He is
rightly called Wen (cultured)."
20. The Master spake of the wickedness of Ling,
Duke of Wei.
K'ang^ said : "If that be so, how does he escape
rum :
been murdered, Huan returned to Ch'i and secured the throne. He
then required the Duke of Lu to kill his brother and deliver up to
him Shao Hu and Kuan Chung. This was done. But on the way to
Ch'i, Shao Hu cut his throat. Kuan Chung, on the other hand, took
service under Duke Huan, became his Prime Minister, and raised
the state to greatness (see note to iii. 22).
1 Chi K'ang.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 77
Confucius answered: "With Chung-shu Yu in book xiv
charge of the guests, the reader T'o in charge of
the Ancestral Temple, and Wang-sun Chia in charge
of the troops, how should he come to ruin ? "
21. The Master said: "If the tongue have no
fear, words are hard to make good."
22. Ch'en Ch'eng murdered Duke Chien.'^
Confucius cleansed himself, went to court, and
told Duke Ai, saying : " Ch'en Heng has murdered
his prince. Pray chastise him."
The duke said : " Tell the three chiefs."
Confucius said : " Following in the wake of the
ministry I dared not leave this untold ; but the
prince says, ' Tell the three chiefs.' "
He told the three chiefs. It was vain.
Confucius said : " Following in the wake of the
ministry I dared not leave this untold."
23. Tzu-lu asked how to serve the king.
The Master said : " Never cheat him : withstand
him to the face."
24. The Master said : " A gentleman's life leads
upwards ; a vulgar life leads down."
25. The Master said : " Men of old learned for
their own sake : the men of to-day learn for show."
26. Ch'ii Po-yii sent an envoy to Confucius.
As they sat together, Confucius asked him :
"How is your lord busied?"
' B.C. 481, two years before the death of Confucius, who was not
at the time in office. Chien was Duke of Ch'i, a state bordering on
Lu. The three chiefs were the heads of the three great clans, all
powerful in Lu.
78 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIV He answered : " My lord tries to pare his faults,
and tries in vain."
When the envoy had left, the Master said : " An
envoy, an envoy indeed ! "
27. The Master said : "When not in ofifice discuss
not policy."
28. Tseng-tzu said : " A gentleman is bent on
keeping his place."
29. The Master said : " A gentleman is shame-
fast of speech : his deeds go further."
30. The Master said : " In three ways I fall short
of a gentleman. Love is never vexed ; wisdom has
no doubts ; courage is without fear."
Tzu-kung replied : " That is what ye say, Sir."
31. Tzu-kung would compare one man with
another.
The Master said : " What talents Tz'u has !
Now I have no time for this."
32. The Master said : " Sorrow not at being
unknown : sorrow for thine own shortcomings."
33. The Master said : " Not to expect falsehood,
nor look for mistrust, and yet to forestall them,
shows worth in a man."
34. Wei-sheng Mou said : "How dost thou still
find roosts to roost on, Ch'iu, unless by wagging a
glib tongue ? "
Confucius answered : "I dare not wag a glib
tongue ; but I hate stubbornness."
35. The Master said : " A steed is not praised
for his strength, but praised for his mettle."
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 79
36. One said : " To mete out good for evil, how book xiv
were that ? "
" And how would ye meet good ? " said the
Master. " Meet evil with justice : meet good with
good."
37. The Master said : " Alas ! no man knows
me!"
Tzu-kung said : " Why do ye say, Sir, that no
man knows you ? "
The Master said : " Never murmuring against
Heaven, nor finding fault with men ; learning from
the lowest, cleaving the heights. I am known but
to one, but to Heaven."
38. Liao, the duke's uncle, spake ill of Tzu-lu to
Chi-sun.^
Tzu-fu Ching-po told this to Confucius, saying :
" My lord's mind is surely being led astray by the
duke's uncle, but strength is yet mine to expose his
body in the market-place."
The Master said : " The doom has fallen if truth
is to win : it has fallen if truth is to lose. Can
Liao, the duke's uncle, fight against doom ? "
39. The Master said : " Men of worth shun the
world ; the next best shun the land. Then come
men who go at a look, then men who go at speech."
40. The Master said : "Seven men did so."
41. Tzu-lu spent a night at Shih-men.
The gate-keeper asked him : " Whence comest
thou?"
' The head of the Chi clan, in whose service Tzu-lu was.
8o THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIV " From Confucius," he answered.
"The man who knows it is vain, yet cannot for-
bear to stir ? " said the gate-keeper.
42. When the Master was chiming his sounding
stones in Wei, a basket-bearer said, as he passed the
door : " His heart is full, who chimes those stones !"
But then he added : " For shame ! What a tinkling
note ! If no one heed thee, have done !
' Wade the deep places,
Lift thy robe through the shallows.' "
The Master said : "Where there's a will, that is
lightly done."
43. Tzu-chang said : " What does the book mean
by saying that Kao-tsung,^ when mourning his pre-
decessor, did not speak for three years .■* "
The Master said : " Why pick out Kao-tsung ?
Men of old were all thus. For three years after
the king had died, the hundred officers acted each
for himself, and obeyed the chief minister."
44. The Master said : " When those above love
courtesy, the people are easy to lead."
45. Tzu-lu asked. What is a gentleman ?
The Master said : " A man bent on shaping his
mind."
"Is that all ? " said Tzu-lu.
"On shaping his mind to give happiness to
others."
"And is that all?"
' An emperor of the house of Yin.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 8i
" On shaping his mind to give happiness to the book xiv
people," said the Master. "To shape the mind
and give happiness to the people, for this both Yao
and Shun still pined."
46. Yuan Jang awaited the Master squatting.
The Master said : " Unruly when young, un-
mentioned as man, undying when old, spells good-
for-nothing ! " and hit him on the leg with his staff,
47. When a lad from the village of Ch'ueh was
made message-bearer, some one asked, saying: "Is
it because he has made progress ? "
The Master said : " I have seen him sitting in a
man's seat, seen him walking abreast of his elders.
This shows no wish to improve, only hurry to be
a man."
XV
BOOK XV I. Ling, Duke of Wei, asked Confucius about
the line of battle.
Confucius answered : "Of temple ware I have
learned : arms I have not studied."
On the morrow he went his way.
In Ch'en grain ran out. His followers grew too
ill to rise. Tzu-lu could not hide his vexation.
" Must gentlemen also face misery ? " he said.
"Of course a gentleman must face misery," said
the Master. "It goads the vulgar to violence."
2. The Master said : " Dost thou not think,
Tz'u,^ that I am a man who learns much, and
bears it in mind ? "
" Yes," he answered : " is it not so ? "
" No," said the Master, " I string all into one."
3. The Master said : " Yu,^ how few know what
is worthy ! "
4. The Master said : " To rule doing nothing,
that was Shun's way. What need to be doing?
Self-respect and a kingly look are all."
5. Tzu-chang asked how to get on.
The Master said : " Be faithful and true of word ;
' TEU-kung.
^ Tzu-lu : believed to have been said to him on the occasion
mentioned above in xv. i.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 83
let thy walk be plain and lowly : thou wilt get on, book xv
though in savage land. If thy words be not faithful
and true, thy walk plain and lowly, wilt thou get
on, though in thine own home ? Standing, see
these words ranged before thee ; driving, see them
written upon the yoke. Then thou wilt get on."
Tzu-chang wrote them upon his girdle.
6. The Master said : " Straight indeed was the
historian Yii ! Straight as an arrow when right
prevailed, and straight as an arrow when wrong
prevailed ! What a gentleman was Ch'li Po-yii !
When right prevailed he took office : when wrong
prevailed he rolled himself up in thought."
7. The Master said : " To keep silence to him
who has ears to hear is to spill the man. To
speak to a man without ears to hear is to spill
thy words. Wisdom spills neither man nor word."
8. The Master said : " A high will, or a loving
heart, will not seek life at cost of love. To fulfil
love they will kill the body."
9. Tzu-kung asked how to practise love.
The Master said : " A workman bent on good
work will first sharpen his tools. In the land that
is thy home, serve the best men in power, and get
thee friends who love."
10. Yen Yiian asked how to rule a kingdom.
The Master said : " Follow the Hsia seasons ;
drive in the chariot of Yin ; wear the head-dress
of Chou ; choose for music the Shao and its dance.
Banish the strains of Cheng, and shun men of glib
84 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XV tongue ; for wanton are the strains of Cheng ; there
is danger in a glib tongue."
11. The Master said: "Without thought for
far off things, there will be troubles near at
hand."
12. The Master said: "It is finished! I have
met no one who loves good as he loves women ! "
13. The Master said: "Did not Tsang Wen
filch his post? He knew the worth of Liu-hsia
Hui/ and did not stand by him."
14. The Master said : " By asking much of self,
and throwing little on others, ill feeling is put to
flight."
15. The Master said: "Unless a man ask,
' Will this help ? will that help ? ' I know not
how to help him."
16. The Master said : " When all day long there
is no talk of right, and sharp moves find favour,
the company is in hard case."
17. The Master said: "A gentleman makes
right his base. Done with courtesy, spoken with
deference, rounded with truth, right makes a
gentleman."
' Another of these seigneurs du temps jadis who is more to us
than a dim shadow, still living on in the pages of Mencius.
There we learn that " He was not ashamed of a foul king, nor
scorned a small post. He hid not his worth in office, but held his
own way. Dismissal did not vex him ; want did not make him sad.
If thrown together with countrymen he felt so much at ease that
he could not bear to leave them. 'Thou art thou,' he said, 'and
I am I. Standing beside me with shoulders bare, or body naked,
how canst thou defile me?' (V. B. i). When pressed to stay, he
stayed ; for he set no store on going" (H. A. 9).
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 85
18. The Master said : "His unworthiness vexes book xv
a gentleman : to live unknown cannot vex him."
19. The Master said: "A gentleman fears lest
his name should die when life is done."
20. The Master said : " A gentleman looks
within : the vulgar look unto others."
21. The Master said : "A gentleman is firm, not
quarrelsome ; a friend, not a partisan."
22. The Master said: "A gentleman does not
raise a man for his words, nor scorn what is said
for the speaker."
23. Tzu-kung asked : " Can one word cover the
whole duty of man ? "
The Master said: "Fellow-feeling, perhaps.
Do not do unto others what thou wouldst not
they should do unto thee."
24. The Master said : " Of the men that I meet,
whom do I decry? whom do I flatter? Or if I
flatter, it is after trial. Because of this people
three lines of kings followed the straight road."
25. The Master said : " Even in my time an
historian would leave a blank in his text, an owner
of a horse would lend him to others to ride. To-day
it is so no more."
26. The Master said : " Honeyed words confound
goodness : impatience of trifles confounds great
projects."
27. The Master said : "The hatred of the many
calls for search : the favour of the many calls for
search."
86 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XV 28. The Master said : " The man can exalt the
truth : truth cannot exalt the man."
29. The Master said : " The fault is to cleave
to a fault."
30. The Master said : "In vain have I spent in
thought whole days without food, whole nights
without sleep ! Study is better."
31. The Master said: "A gentleman aims at
truth ; he does not aim at food. Ploughing may
end in famine ; study may end in pay. But a
gentleman pines for truth : he is not pined with
poverty."
32. The Master said : " What the mind has won
will be lost again, unless love hold it fast. A mind
to understand and love to hold fast, without dignity
of bearing, will go unhonoured. A mind to under-
stand, love to hold fast and dignity of bearing are
incomplete, without courteous ways."
33. The Master said : " A gentleman has no
skill in trifles, but has strength for big tasks : the
vulgar are skilled in trifles, but have no strength
for big tasks."
34. The Master said : " Love is more to the
people than fire and water. I have known men
come to their death by fire and water : I have
met no man whom love brought unto death."
35. The Master said : " When love is at stake
yield not to an army."
36. The Master said : "A gentleman is con-
sistent, not changeless."
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 87
2;]. The Master said : " A servant of the king book xv
honours work and rates pay last."
38. The Master said : " All educated men are
peers."
39. The Master said : " Mingle not in projects
with men whose ways are not thine."
40. The Master said : " The whole end of speech
is to be understood."
41. When the music-master Mien was presented,
the Master, on coming to the steps, said : " Here
are the steps." On reaching the mat, the Master
said : " Here is the mat." When all were seated,
the Master told him : " Such an one is here, and
such an one is here."
After the music-master had left, Tzu-chang said :
" Is this the way to speak to a music-master ? "
The Master said: "Surely it is the way to help
a music-master." ^
• The man being blind, like most musicians in the East.
XVI
BOOK XVI I. The Chi was about to chastise Chuan-yli/
Jan Yu and Chi-lu,^ being received by Confucius,
said to him : " The Chi is going to deal with
Chuan-yii."
Confucius said : "After all, Ch'iu,* are ye not in
the wrong ? The kings of old made Chuan-yii lord
of Tung Meng,* It is within the borders of the
realm, moreover, and a vassal state. Ought it to
be chastised ? "
Jan Yu said : " Our lord wishes it. We, his
ministers, are both against it."
Confucius said : " Ch'iu, Chou Jen was wont to
say, ' Put forth thy strength in the ranks ; leave
them rather than do wrong.' Who would choose
as guide one that is no prop in danger, who cannot
lift him when fallen ? Moreover, what thou sayest
is wrong. If a tiger or a buffalo escape from the
pen, if tortoiseshell or jade be broken in the case,
who is to blame ? "
' A small feudatory state of Lu.
' Tzu-Iu. He and Jan Yu were at the time in the service of
the Chi.
' Jan Yu.
* A mountain in Chuan-yii. The ruler of that state, having received
from the emperor the right to sacrifice to its mountains, had some
measure of independence, though the state was feudatory to Lu, and
within its borders.
83
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 89
Jan Yu said : " But Chuan-yii is strong, and close book xvi
to Pi ; ^ if not seized to-day, it will bring sorrow in
after times on our sons and grandsons."
Confucius said : " To make excuses instead of
saying ' I want it ' is hateful, Ch'iu, to a gentle-
man. I have heard that unlikeness of lot grieves
a king or a chief, not fewness of men. Unrest
grieves him, not poverty. Had each his share there
would be no poverty. In harmony is number :
peace prevents a fall. So if far off tribes will not
bend, win them by encouraging worth and learning ;
and when they come in, give them peace. But
now, when far off tribes will not bend, ye two,
helpers of your lord, cannot win them. The king-
dom is rent asunder ; ye are too weak to defend it.
Yet spear and shield ye would call up through the
land ! The sorrows of Chi's grandsons, I fear, will
not rise in Chuan-yii : they will rise within the
palace wall."
2. Confucius said : " When right prevails below
heaven, courtesy, music, and punitive wars flow
from the Son of Heaven. When wrong prevails
below heaven, courtesy, music, and punitive wars
flow from the feudal princes. When they flow
from the feudal princes they will rarely last for ten
generations. When they flow from the princes'
ministers they will rarely last for five generations.
When courtiers sway a country's fate, they will
rarely last for three generations. When right
' A town belonging to the Chi.
90 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVI prevails below heaven power does not lie with
ministers. When right prevails below heaven
common men do not argue."
3. Confucius said : " For five generations its
income has passed from the ducal house ; ^ for four
generations power has lain with ministers : and
humbled, therefore, are the sons and grandsons of
the three Huan."
4. Confucius said : " There are three friends that
do good, and three friends that do harm. The
friends that do good are a straight friend, a sincere
friend, and a friend who has heard much. The
friends that do harm are a smooth friend, a fawning
friend, and a friend with a glib tongue."
5. Confucius said : " There are three joys that
do good, and three joys that do harm. The joys
that do good are joy in dissecting courtesy and
music, joy in speaking of the good in men, and joy
in a number of worthy friends. The joys that do
harm are joy in pomp, joy in roving, and joy in the
joys of the feast."
6. Confucius said : " Men who wait upon princes
fall into three mistakes. To speak before the time
has come is rashness. Not to speak when the time
has come is secrecy. To speak heedless of looks is
blindness."
7. Confucius said : " A gentleman has three
things to guard against. In the days of thy youth,
ere thy strength is steady, beware of lust. When
* Of Lu.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 91
manhood is reached, in the fulness of strength, book xvi
beware of strife. In old age, when thy strength is
broken, beware of greed."
8. Confucius said : " A gentleman holds three
things in awe. He is in awe of Heaven's doom :
he is in awe of great men : he is awed by the speech
of the holy.
"The vulgar are blind to doom, and hold it
not in awe. They are saucy towards the great,
and of the speech of the holy they make their
game."
9. Confucius said: "The best men are born
wise. Next come those who grow wise by learn-
ing : then, learned, narrow minds. Narrow minds,
without learning, are the lowest of the people."
10. Confucius said : " A gentleman has nine aims.
To see clearly ; to understand what he hears ; to
be warm in manner, dignified in bearing, faithful
of speech, painstaking at work ; to ask when in
doubt ; in anger to think of difficulties ; in sight of
gain to remember right."
11. Confucius said: "In sight of good to be
filled with longing ; to regard evil as scalding to
the touch : I have met such men, I have heard
such words.
" To dwell apart and search the will ; to unriddle
truth by righteous life : I have heard these words,
but met no such men."
12. Ching, Duke of Ch'i, had a thousand teams
of horses ; but the people, on his death day, found
92 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVI nought in him to praise. Po-yi ^ and Shu-ch'i
starved at the foot of Shou-yang, and men to-day
still sound their praises.
Is not this the clue to that ?
13. Ch'en K'ang^ asked Po-yu:" "Apart from
us, have ye heard aught, Sir ? "
He answered : " No. Once as I sped across
the hall, where my father stood alone, he said to
me : ' Dost thou study poetry ? ' I answered, ' No.'
' Who does not study poetry,' he said, ' has no hold
on words.' I withdrew and studied poetry.
" Another day as I sped across the hall, where
he stood alone, he said to me : ' Dost thou study
courtesy ? ' I answered, ' No.' ' Who does not
study courtesy,' he said, 'loses all foothold.' I
withdrew and studied courtesy. These two things
I have heard."
Ch'en K'ang withdrew and cried gladly : " I
asked one thing and get three ! I hear of poetry :
I hear of courtesy : and I hear, too, that a gentleman
keeps aloof from his son."
14. A king speaks of his wife as "my lady."
She calls herself "handmaid." Her subjects call
her " our royal lady." Speaking to foreigners they
say, "our little queen." Foreigners also call her
" the royal lady."
I See note to v. 22. * The disciple Tzu-ch'in.
' Confucius' son.
XVII
1. Yang Huo^ wished to see Confucius. Con- book xvii
fucius did not visit him. He sent Confucius a
sucking pig. Confucius chose a time when he
was out, and went to thank him. They met on
the road.
He said to Confucius : " Come, let us speak
together. To cherish a gem and undo the kingdom,
is that love ? "
" It is not," said Confucius.
" To be fond of power and let each chance of
office slip, is that wisdom ? "
" It is not," said Confucius.
" The days and months glide by ; the years do
not tarry for us."
"True," said Confucius ; " I must take office."
2. The Master said : " Men are near to each
other at birth : the lives they lead sunder them."
3. The Master said : " Only the wisest and the
stupidest of men never change."
4. As the Master drew near to Wu-ch'eng^ he
heard sounds of lute and song.
" Why use an ox-knife to kill a fowl ? " said the
Master, with a pleased smile.
' The all-powerful, unscrupulous minister of the Chi.
^ A very small town, of which the disciple Tzu-yu was governor.
94 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVII Tzu-yu answered : " Master, I have heard you
say of yore : ' A gentleman who has conned the
truth will love mankind ; poor folk who have conned
the truth are easy to rule.' "
" My boys," said the Master, " Yen^ is right. I
spake before in play."
5. Kung-shan Fu-jao^ held Pi in rebellion. He
summoned the Master, who fain would have gone.
Tzu-lu said in displeasure : " This cannot be.
Why must ye go to Kung-shan ? "
The Master said : " This lord summons me, and
would that be all ? Could I not make an Eastern
Chou ^ of him that employed me ? "
6. Tzu-chang asked Confucius, What is love ?
" Love," said Confucius, " is to mete out five
things to all below heaven."
" May I ask what they are } "
" Modesty and bounty," said Confucius, " truth,
earnestness, and kindness. Modesty escapes insult ;
bounty wins the many ; truth gains men's trust ;
earnestness brings success ; kindness is the key to
men's work."
7. Pi Hsi summoned the Master, who fain would
have gone.
Tzu-lu said : " Master, I have heard you say of
yore : ' When the man in touch with the soul does
evil, a gentleman stands aloof.' Pi Hsi holds
^ Tzu-yu.
^ Steward of the Chi and a confederate of Yang Huo.
' A kingdom in the east to match Chou in the west, the home of
Kings Wen and Wu.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 95
Chung-mou in rebellion : how, Sir, could ye join book xvn
him ? "
" Yes, I said so," answered the Master. " But
is not a thing called hard that cannot be ground
thin ; white, if steeping will not turn it black ? and
am I a gourd ? can I hang without eating ? "
8. The Master said : " Hast thou heard the six
words, Yu,* or the six they sink into ? "
He answered : " No."
" Sit down that I may tell thee. The thirst for
love, without love of learning, sinks into fondness.
Love of knowledge, without love of learning, sinks
into presumption. Love of truth, without love of
learning, sinks into cruelty. Love of uprightness,
without love of learning, sinks into harshness. Love
of courage, without love of learning, sinks into tur-
bulence. Love of strength, without love of learning,
sinks into oddity."
9. The Master said : " My boys, why do ye not
study poetry ? Poetry would ripen you ; teach you
insight, fellow-feeling, and forbearance ; show you
first your duty to your father, then your duty to
the king ; and would teach you the names of many
birds and beasts, plants and trees."
10. The Master said to Po-yii^: "Hast thou
conned the Chou-nan * and Shao-nan ? ^ Who has
not conned the Chou-nan and Shao-nan is as a man
standing with his face to the wall."
» Tzu-lu. ' His son.
' The first two books of the " Book of Poetry."
96 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK xvii II, The Master said: "' Courtesy, courtesy,' is
the cry: but are jade and silk the whole of courtesy?
' Harmony, harmony,' is the cry : but are bells and
drums the whole of harmony ? "
12. The Master said: "A fierce outside and a
weak core, is it not like a paltry fellow, like a thief
who crawls through a hole in the wall ? "
13. The Master said: "The bane of all things
noble is the pattern citizen."
14. The Master said : "To proclaim each truth,
as soon as learned to the highwayside, is to lay
waste the soul."
15. The Master said : " How can one serve the
king with a sordid colleague, itching to get what he
wants, trembling to lose what he has ? This trem-
bling to lose what he has may lead him anywhere."
16. The Master said: "Men of old had three
failings, which have, perhaps, died out to-day.
Ambitious men of old were not nice : ambitious
men to-day are unprincipled. Masterful men of
old were rough : masterful men to-day are quarrel-
some. Simple men of old were straight : simple
men to-day are false. That is all."
17. The Master said : " Honeyed words and
flattering looks seldom speak of love."
18. The Master said: "I hate the ousting of
scarlet by purple. I hate the strains of Cheng,
confounders of sweet music. I hate a sharp tongue,
the ruin of kingdom and home."
19. The Master said : " I long for silence."
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 97
Tzu-kung said : " If ye, Sir, were silent, what book xvii
would your disciples have to tell ? "
The Master said : " Does Heaven speak ? The
seasons four revolve, and all things multiply. Does
Heaven speak?"
20. Ju Pei wished to see Confucius. Confucius
excused himself on the plea of sickness. As the
messenger went out, Confucius took a lute and sang
to it, so that he should hear.
21. Tsai Wo^ asked about the three years'
mourning. He thought one enough.
"If for three years pomp is scouted by the
gentry, will not courtesy suffer? If music stop
for three years, will not music decay ? The
old grain vanishes, the new springs up ; the
round of woods for the fire-drill is ended in one
year."
The Master said : " Feeding on rice, clad in
brocade, couldst thou feel happy ? "
" I could feel happy," he answered.
" Then do what makes thee happy. A gentle-
man, when in mourning, has no taste for sweets,
no ear for music ; he is unhappy in his home. And
so he forsakes these things. But since thou art
happy in them, keep them."
When Tsai Wo had left, the Master said : " A
man without love ! At the age of three a child first
leaves his parents' arms, and three years is the time
for mourning everywhere below heaven. But did
* A disciple.
G
98 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVII Yli ^ enjoy for three years a father's and a mother's
love?"
22. The Master said : " Bad it is when a man
eats his fill all day, and has nought to task the
mind ! Could he not play at chequers ? Even that
were better."
23. Tzu-lu said : " Does a gentleman honour
courage ? "
The Master said : " Right comes first for a
gentleman. Courage, without sense of right, makes
rebels of the great, and robbers of the poor."
24. Tzu-kung said : " Does a gentleman also
hate?"
" He does," said the Master. " He hates the
sounding of evil deeds ; he hates men of low estate
who slander their betters ; he hates courage without
courtesy ; he hates daring matched with blindness."
" And Tz'u," ^ he added, " dost thou hate too ? "
" I hate those who mistake spying for wisdom.
I hate those who take want of deference for courage.
I hate evil speaking, cloaked as honesty."
25. The Master said : " Only girls and servants
are hard to train. Draw near to them, they grow
unruly ; hold them off, they pay you with spite."
26. The Master said : " When a man of forty is
hated, it will be so to the end."
• Tsai Wo. ^ Tzu-kung.
XVIII
1. The lord of Wei^ went into exile, the lord of book xvm
Chi ^ became a slave, Pi-kan ^ died for his reproofs.
Confucius said : " In three of the Yin there was
love."
2. When Liu-hsia Hui^ was judge he was thrice
dismissed.
Men said : " Why not leave, Sir ? "
He answered : " Whither could I go and not
be thrice dismissed for upright service ? To do
crooked service what need to leave the land of my
forefathers ? "
3. Ching, Duke of Ch'i, speaking of how to treat
Confucius, said : "I could not treat him as I do the
Chi. I should set him between Chi and Meng."
Again he said : " I am old : I have no use
for him."
Confucius went his way.
4. Chi Huan accepted a gift of singing girls
from the men of Ch'i.^ For three days no court
was held.
' Kinsman of Chou, the last tyrannical emperor of the house
of Yin.
■^ See note to xv. 13.
' B.C. 497. The turning point in Confucius' career. Sorrowfully
the Master left office and his native land and went forth to twelve
years of wandering in exile.
loo THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVIII Confucius went his way.
5. Chieh-yii, the mad-head of Ch'u, as he passed
Confucius sang : —
" Phcenix, bright phoenix,
Thy glory is ended !
Think of the future :
The past can't be mended.
Up and away !
The court is to-day
With danger attended."
Confucius alighted and fain would have spoken
with him. But hurriedly he made off: no speech
was to be had of him.
6. Ch'ang-chii and Chieh-ni were working to-
gether in the fields. Confucius, as he passed by,
sent Tzu-lu to ask after a ford.
Ch'ang-chli said : " Who is that holding the
reins !*
" K'ung Ch'iu,"^ answered Tzu-lu.
" What, K'ung Ch'iu of Lu ? "
"The same," said Tzu-lu.
" He knows the ford," said Ch'ang-chii.
Tzu-lu asked Chieh-ni.
" Who are ye, sir?" he answered.
" I am Chung Yu."
" The disciple of K'ung Ch'iu of Lu ? "
" Yes," said Tzu-lu.
"The world is one seething torrent," answered
Chieh-ni, "what man can guide it? Were it not
^ Confucius.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS loi
better to choose a master who flees the world, than book xvm
a master who flees this man and that man ? "
And he went on hoeing without stop.
Tzu-lu went back and told the Master, whose
face fell.
"Can I herd with birds and beasts?" he said.
" Whom but these men can I choose as fellows ?
And if all were right with the world, I should have
no call to set it straight."
7. Tzu-lu having fallen behind met an old man
bearing a basket on his staff,
Tzu-lu asked him : " Have ye seen the Master,
Sir ? "
The old man answered : " Thou dost not toil
with thy limbs, nor canst thou tell one grain from
another ; who is thy Master ? "
And planting his staff in the ground, he began
weeding.
Tzu-lu bowed and stood before him.
He kept Tzu-lu for the night, killed a fowl,
prepared millet, feasted him, and presented his
two sons.
On the morrow Tzu-lu went to the Master, and
told what had happened.
The Master said : " He is in hiding."
He sent Tzu-lu back to see him; but when he
reached the house the man had left,
Tzu-lu said : " Not to take office is wrong. If
the ties of old and young are binding, why should
the claim of king on minister be set aside ? Wish-
I02 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XVIII ing to keep his person clean, he flouts a foremost
duty. A gentleman takes office at the call of right,
aware though he be, that the cause is lost."
8. Po-yi, Shu-ch'i, Yu-chung, Yi-yi, Chu-chang,
Liu-hsia Hui and Shao-lien were men who fled
the world.
The Master said : " Po-yi * and Shu-ch'i would
not bend the will, or shame the body.
" We can but say that Liu-hsia Hui ^ and Shao-
lien bent the will and shamed the body. Their
words jumped with duty ; their deeds answered
our hopes.
" We may say of Yii-chung and Yi-yi that they
lived in hiding, but gave the rein to the tongue.
They were clean in person : their retreat was
timely.
" But I am unlike all of these : I know not * must '
or ' must not.' "
9. Chih, the chief Musical Conductor, went to
Ch'i ; Kan, the Conductor at the second meal, went
to Ch'u ; Liao, the Conductor at the third meal,
went to Ts'ai ; Chiieh, the Conductor at the fourth
meal, went to Ch'in. The drum master Fang-shu
crossed the river ; the tambourine master Wu
crossed the Han ; Yang, the assistant Bandmaster,
and Hsiang, who played the sounding stones,
crossed the sea.
10. The Duke of Chou' said to the Duke of
' See note to v. 22. * See note to xv. 13.
'' See note to vii. 5.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS '103
Lu : ^ "A prince does not forsake kinsmen, nor book xviii
offend great vassals by neglect. He will not dis-
card an old servant, unless he have big cause. He
asks perfection of no man."
1 1 . Chou had eight officers : Po-ta and Po-kuo,
Chung-tu and Chung-hu, Shu-yeh and Shu-hsia,
Chi-sui and Chi-kua.
^ His son.
XIX
BOOK XIX I. Tzu-chang said : "The scholar who in danger
will stake his life, who in sight of gain remembers
right, who is lowly in heart at worship, and sad at
heart when mourning, may pass muster."
2. Tzu-chang said : " Goodness blindly clutched,
faith that lacks simplicity, can they be said to be, or
said not to be ? "
3. The disciples of Tzu-hsia asked Tzu-chang
about friendship.
Tzu-chang said : " What does Tzu-hsia say .■' "
They answered: "Tzu-hsia says: 'Cling to
worthy friends ; push the unworthy away.' "
Tzu-chang said : "I was taught otherwise. A
gentleman honours worth, and bears with the
many. He applauds goodness, and pities weak-
ness. Am I a man of great worth, what could
I not bear with in men ? Am I a man without
worth, men will push me away. Why should I
push others away ? "
4. Tzu-hsia said : '* Though there is no trade
without interest, a gentleman will not follow one,
lest it clog the mind at length."
5. Tzu-hsia said : " Who recalls each day what
fails him, who each month forgets nothing won, he
may indeed be called fond of learning ! "
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 105
6. Tzu-hsia said : " Through wide learning and book xix
singleness of aim, through keen questions and
searchings of heart we come to love."
7. Tzu-hsia said : " To learn their trade appren-
tices work in a shop : by study a gentleman reaches
the truth."
8. Tzu-hsia said : " The vulgar always gloss their
faults."
9. Tzu-hsia said : " A gentleman alters thrice.
Seen from afar he looks stern : as we draw near, he
thaws : but the sound of his words is sharp."
10. Tzu-hsia said : "A gentleman lays no bur-
dens on the people until they have learned to trust
him. Unless they trusted him they would think
him cruel. Until he is trusted he does not re-
prove. Unless he were trusted it would seem
fault-finding."
11. Tzu-hsia said: "If we keep within the
bounds of honour, we may step to and fro through
propriety."
12. Tzu-yu said: "The disciples, the boys of
Tzu-hsia, can sprinkle and sweep the floor, answer
when spoken to, and enter or leave a room ; but
what can come of branches without root ? "
When Tzu-hsia heard this, he said : " Yen Yu ^
is wrong. In training a gentleman, because we
teach one thing first, shall we flag before reaching
the next? Thus plants and trees vary in size.
Should a gentleman's training bewilder him?
■ Tzu-yu.
io6 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIX To absorb it first and last none but the holy
are fit."
13. Tzu-hsia said: "Crown servants should use
their spare strength for study. A scholar with his
spare strength should serve the crown."
14. Tzu-yu said : " Mourning should stretch to
grief, and stretch no further."
15. Tzu-yu said: "My friend Chang ^ can do
things that are hard, but he is void of love."
16. Tseng-tzu said: "So magnificent is Chang
that to do as love bids is hard when at his
side."
17. Tseng-tzu said: "I have heard the Master
say : ' Man never shows what is in him unless
when mourning one near to him.' "
18. Tseng-tzu said: "I have heard the Master
say : 'In all else we may rival the piety of Meng
Chuang, but in not changing his father's ministers,
or his father's rule, he is hard to rival.' "
19. The Meng^ made Yang Fu' criminal judge,
who asked Tseng-tzu about his duties.
Tseng-tzu said : ' ' The gentry have lost their
way, and the people long been distraught. When
thou dost get at the heart of a crime, be moved to
pity, not puffed with joy."
20. Tzu-kung said: "The wickedness of Chou*
was not so great. Thus let princes beware of
' Tzu-chang.
2 The chief of the Meng clan, powerful in Lu.
' A disciple of Tseng-tzu.
* The foul tyrant, last of the house of Yin.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS 107
living in a sink, where the filth of the world all book xix
streams together ! "
21. Tzu-kung said; "The faults of a prince are
like the darkening of sun or moon. The fault
is seen of all, and when he breaks free all men
admire."
22. Kung-sun Ch'ao of Wei asked Tzu-kung :
"Where did Chung-ni^ get his learning?"
Tzu-kung said: "The lore of Wen^ and
Wu^ has not fallen into ruin, but lives in men:
the big in big men, the small in small men. No
man is empty of the lore of Wen and Wu. How
should the Master not learn it? What need had
he for a set teacher ? "
23. Shu-sun Wu-shu,* talking to some lords at
court, said: "Tzu-kung is a greater man than
Chung-ni."*
Tzu-fu Ching-po told this to Tzu-kung.
Tzu-kung said : " This is like the palace and its
wall. My wall reaches to the shoulder. Peeping
over one sees the goodly home within. The
Master's wall is many fathoms high. Unless he
enter the gate, no man can see the beauty of
the Ancestral Temples, the wealth of the hundred
officers. And if but few men gain the gate, is
my lord not right to speak as he does ? "
24. Shu-sun Wu-shu decried Chung-ni.
Tzu-kung said: "It is labour lost. Chung-ni
1 Confucius. ^ See Introduction.
3 Head of the Meng clan. * Confucius.
io8 THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XIX cannot be cried down. The greatness of other
men is a mound that can be overleaped. Chung-ni
is the sun or moon that no man can overleap. To
run into death though a man were ready, how could
he hurt the sun or moon ? His want of sense would
but show the better ! "
25. Ch'en Tzu-ch'in^ said to Tzu-kung : "Sir,
your humility is overdone. In what way is
Chung-ni your better?"
Tzu-kung said : " By a word a gentleman betrays
wisdom, by a word his want of wisdom. Words are
not to be lightly spoken. None can come up to the
Master, as heaven is not to be climbed by steps.
Had the Master power in the land, the saying
would come true : ' All that he plants takes root ;
whither he leads men follow. The peace he brings
draws men ; his touch tunes them to harmony :
honoured in life, he is mourned when dead.' Who
can come up to him ? "
' The disciple Tzu-ch'in.
XX
I .^ Yao said : " Hail to thee, Shun ! The number book xx
that the Heavens are telling falls on thee. Keep
true hold of the golden mean. Should there be
stress or want within the four seas, the gift of
Heaven will pass for ever."
Shun laid the same commands on Yu.
T'ang said : "I, Thy child Li, make bold to offer
this black steer, and make bold to proclaim before
Thee, Almighty Lord, that I dare not forgive sin,
nor hold down Thy servants. Search them, oh
Lord, in Thine heart. Visit not my sins on the
ten thousand hamlets : the sins of the ten thousand
hamlets visit upon my head."
Chou bestowed great gifts, and good men grew
rich.
" Loving hearts are better than men that are
near of kin. All the people throw the blame upon
me alone." ^
He attended to weights and measures, revised
' This chapter shows the principles on which China was governed
in ancient days. Yao and Shun were the legendary founders of the
Chinese Empire. Yii, T'ang, and Chou were the first emperors of
the houses of Hsia, Shang, and Chou, which had ruled China up to
the time of Confucius.
' Said by King Wu (Chou). The people blamed him for not
dethroning at once the infamous tyrant Chou Hsin.
no THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
BOOK XX the laws, and restored broken officers. On all
sides order reigned. He revived states that had
perished, and gave back fiefs that had reverted.
He called forth men from hiding. All hearts
below heaven turned to him. The people's food,
burials, and worship he held to be of moment. His
bounty gained the many ; his truth won the people's
trust ; his earnestness brought success ; his justice
made men glad.
2. Tzu-chang asked Confucius : " How should
men be governed ? "
The Master said : " He who would govera men
must honour the five graces, spurn the four vices."
Tzu-chang said : " What are the five graces ?"
The Master said: "A gentleman is kind, but
not wasteful ; he burdens, but does not embitter ;
he is covetous, not sordid ; high-minded, not proud ;
he inspires awe, and not fear."
Tzu-chang said : " What is meant by kindness
without waste ? "
The Master said : " To further what furthers the
people, is not that kindness without waste? If
burdens be sorted to strength, who will grumble ?
To covet love and win love, is that sordid ? Few
or many, small or great, all is one to a gentleman :
he dare not slight any man. Is not this to be high-
minded and not proud.'* A gentleman straightens
his robe and settles his face. He is stern, and men
look up to him with dread. Is not this to inspire
awe, and not fear ? "
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS iii
Tzu-chang said : " What are the four vices ? " book xx
The Master said : " To leave untaught and then
kill is cruelty : to ask full tale without warning is
tyranny : to give careless orders, and be strict when
the day comes is robbery : to be stingy in reward-
ing men is littleness."
3. The Master said : " A man who is blind to
doom can be no gentleman. Without a knowledge
of courtesy we must want foothold. Without a
knowledge of words there is no understanding
men."
INDEX
(Aspirated and unaspirated letters have been treated as
different letters. The aspirated letter follows immediately
the unaspirated ; e.g. t'a comes after tung.)
Ai, Duke of Lu, name Chiang, reigned B.C. 494-68 ; ii. 19, asks how
to make his people loyal; iii. 21, asks Tsai Wo about the shrines
to guardian spirits ; vi. 2, asks which disciples are fond of learn-
ing ; xii. 9, asks what to do in this year of dearth ; xiv. 22, does
not avenge the murder of Duke of Ch'i.
Ao, xiv. 6, a man of the Hsia dynasty famous for his strength.
Chang, xix. 15, i6=Tzu-chang, whom see.
Ckao, vi. 14, Prince of Sung, his beauty.
Chao, Duke of Lu, reigned B.C. 541-10; vii. 30 (and note), the Master
deems him well bred.
Chao, one of the great families that governed the state of Chin ; xiv.
12, Meng Kung-ch'o, fit to be steward of.
Chao-nan, xvii. 10, the first book of the " Book of Poetry," a collection
of old Chinese songs.
Cheng, a state of ancient China ; xv. 10, its wanton music ; xvii. 18,
its strains confound sweet music.
Chi, or Chi-sun, one of the three great houses of Lu, who had grasped
all power in the state. The others were Meng-sun and Shu-sun.
They were all descended from Duke Huan by a concubine.
Chi, the Chi, head of the Chi clan, first Chi Huan and then Chi
K'ang ; iii. i, had eight rows of dancers in his hall ; iii. 6, wor-
shipped on Mount T'ai ; vi. 7, wishes to make Min Tzu-ch'ien
governor of Pi ; xi. 16, richer than the Duke of Chou ; xiii. 2,
Chung-kung is his steward ; xvi. i, is about to chastise Chuan-
yii ; xviii. 3, Ching, Duke of Ch'i, would set him above Confucius.
Chi, xiv. 6 = Hou Chi, director of husbandry under the Emperor Yao,
and ancestor of the Chou dynasty.
Chi, iii. 9, a small state.
Chi, xviii. i, another small state. Lord of Chi : an uncle of the
tyrant Chou, last of the Yin dynasty. He was imprisoned for
chiding the emperor, and to escape death feigned madness.
113 H
114 INDEX
Chi Huan, head of the Chi clan + B.C. 491 ; xviii. 4, accepts singing
girls from Ch'i.
Chi-kua, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Chi K'ang, of the great house of Chi of Lu, succeeded Chi Huan as
chief, B.C. 491 {see note to xii. 17) ; ii- 20. told how to make the
people respectful, faithful, and willing ; vi. 6, asks whether certain
disciples were fit for power; x. 11, presents the Master with
medicine ; xi. 6, asks which disciples were fond of learning ;
xii. 17, asks how to rule ; xii. 18, is vexed by robbers; xii. 19,
asks whether we should kill the bad; xiv. 20, asks how Duke
Ling escapes ruin.
Chi-lu, another name for Tzu-lu.
Chi-sui, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Chi-sun, xiv. 38, or Chi (which see), probably Chi Huan, the head of
the house.
Chi Tzu-ch'eng, xii. 8, a lord of Wei, says : "A gentleman is all nature.''
Chi Tzu-jan, younger brother of Chi Huan ; xi. 23, asks whether Yu
and Ch'iu are statesmen.
Chi Wen, v. 19, a lord of Lu, thought thrice before acting.
Chieh-ni, xviii. 6, says the world is a seething torrent.
Chieh-yii, xviii. 5, a famous man of Ch'u, who, disapproving of his
king's conduct, supported himself by husbandry, and feigned
madness in order to escape being forced into the king's
service.
Chien, xiv. 22, Duke of Ch'i, murdered by Ch'en Ch'eng B.C. 481.
Chih, music-master of Lu ; viii. 15, how grand was the ending of the
Kuan-chii in his day ; xviii. 9, went to Ch'i.
Chin, xiv. 16, an ancient state. Duke Wen of Chin was deep but
dishonest.
Ching, Duke of Ch'i. Confucius was in Ch'i in B.C. 517 ; xii. 11, asks
what is kingcraft; xvi. 12, had a thousand teams of horses, but
no man praised him ; xviii. 3, would set Confucius between the
Chi and the Meng.
Ching, xiii. 8, of ducal house of Wei, was wise in his private life.
Chiu, brother of Duke Huan of Ch'i ; xiv. 17, 18, slain by his brother.
Chou, the reigning dynasty in Confucius' time, ii. 23, iii. 14, iii. 21,
XV. 10, xviii. 1 1.
Chou, viii. 20= King Wen.
Chou, XX. I = King Wu.
Chou, the Duke of, see note to vii. 5 ; vii. 5, Confucius sees him no
more in his dreams; viii. 11, his gifts, if coupled with pride
and meanness, would not be worth a glance ; xi. 16, the Chi
richer than he ; xviii. 10, his instructions to his son.
Chou, or Chou Hsin (reigned B.C. 1154-22), the last emperor of the
house of Yin, an infamous tyrant, finally overthrown by King
INDEX 115
Wu, when he perished in his burning palace ; xix. 20, his wicked-
ness was not so great.
Chou Jen, an ancient worthy; xvi. i, said, "Leave the ranks rather
than do wrong."
Chu-chang, xviii. 8, a man who fled the world.
Chuan-yii, a small state in Lu, tributary to Lu ; xvi. i, the Chi
proposes to chastise it.
Chuang of Pien, xiv. 13, his boldness.
Chung-hu, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Chung-kung, a disciple of Confucius : name Jan Yung, style Chung-
kung, born B.C. 523 ; v. 4, said to have a glib tongue ; vi. i, might
fill the seat of a prince : his views on laxity ; vi. 4, likened to the
red calf of a brindled cow ; xi. 2, was of noble life ; xii. 2, asks
what is love ; xiii. 2, when steward of the Chi asks how to rule.
Chung-7nou, a town in Chin, belonging to the Chao family ; xvii. 7,
held by Pi Hsi in rebellion.
Chung-ni, xix. 22, 23 = Confucius.
Chung-shu Yii, minister of Wei, son of K'ung-wen ; xiv. 20, in charge
of the guests.
Chung-tu, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Chung Yu : see Tzu-lu.
Chii-fu, xiii. 17, a town in Lu, Tzu-hsia governor of it.
Chiieh, xviii. g, bandmaster of Lu, went to Ch'in.
Ck'ai, a disciple of Confucius, name Kao Ch'ai, style Tzu-kao ; xi. 17,
is simple ; xi. 24, made governor of Pi.
Ch'ang-chii, xviii. 6, says Confucius knows the ford.
Ch'en, a state in China ; v. 21, xi. 2, xv. i.
Ch'en, judge of, vii. 30, asks whether Duke Chao was well bred.
Ch'en Ch'eng, posthumous title of Ch'en Heng, minister of Ch'i ;
xiv. 22, murders Duke Chien of Ch'i.
Ch'en K'ang, xvi. i3 = Tzu-ch'in, whom see.
Ch'en Tzu-ch'in =T7U-ch'\n, whom see.
Ch'en Wen, a lord of Ch'i ; v. 18, forsook his land when Ts'ui
murdered the king.
Ch'i, a. state in ancient China, vii. 13, xviii. 3, xviii. 9 ; v. 18, its king
slain by Ts'ui ; vi. 3, Tzu-hua sent there ; vi. 22, by a single
revolution might equal Lu ; xiv. 16, Duke Huan of, was honest
but shallow; xvi. 12, Duke Ching of, had a thousand teams of
horses ; xviii. 4, the men of, send singing girls to Chi Huan.
Ch'i-tiao K'ai, a disciple of Confucius, style Tzu-jo ; v. 5, wants
confidence to take office.
Ch'ih, the name of Kung-hsi Hua, whom see.
Ch'in, a state in western China, xviii. 9.
Ch'iu, the name of Jan Yu, whom see ; xiv. 34, the name of
Confticius.
ii6 INDEX
Ch'u, an ancient state, xviii. J, 9.
Ch'ii Po-yii, minister of Wei, a friend of Confucius, who stayed with
him when in Wei ; xiv. 26, sends an envoy to Confucius ; xv. 6,
what a gentleman he was !
Ch'ileh, a village ; xiv. 47, a lad from, made messenger by Confucius.
Fan Ch'ih, a disciple of Confucius, name Fan Hsii, style Tzu-ch'ih ;
ii. 5, asks meaning of obedience to parents ; vi. 20, asks what
is wisdom, and love ; xii. 21, asks how to raise the mind; xii.
22, asks what is love, and wisdom ; xiii. 4, asks to be taught
husbandry ; xiii. 19, asks what is love.
Fang, xiv. 15, a town of Lu, a fief in the hands of Tsang Wu-chung.
Fang-shu, xviii. 9, drum-master of Lu, crossed the river.
Han, xviii. 9, the river that enters the Yangtze at Hankow.
//j/a = China, also the name of a dynasty, ii. 23, iii. 9, 21, xv. 10.
Hsiang, xviii. 9, who played the sounding stones, crossed the sea.
Hsieh, xiv. 12, a small state : Meng Kung-ch'o not fit to be
minister of.
Hsien, xiv. i. : see Yiian Ssu.
Hsien, xiv. 19, steward to Kung-shu Wen goes to court with him.
Hu, vii. 28, a village : it was ill talking to the people of.
Huan, the three ; xvi. 3, the three sons of Duke Huan of Lu, from
whom the families of Meng, Shu, and Chi were descended, as
also the powerless reigning duke of Lu.
Huan, Duke of Ch'i : see note to xiv. 17; xiv. 16, was honest but
shallow ; xiv. 17, 18, slays the young duke Chiu.
Huan T'ui, vii. 22, an oflficer of Sung, cannot harm the Master, if
Heaven protect him.
Hut : see Yen Yiian.
Jan Ch'iu : see Jan Yu.
Jan Po-niu, a disciple of Confucius, name Jan Keng, style Po-niu,
born B.C. 544 ; xi. 2, was of noble life.
Jan Yu, a disciple of Confucius, name Jan Ch'iu, style Tzu-yu, born
B.C. 520 ; iii. 6, cannot stop the Chi worshipping on Mount T'ai ;
V. 7, the Master cannot say that he has love ; vi. 3, gives Tzu-
hua's mother grain ; vi. 6, has ability and so is fit to govern ;
vi. 10, lacks strength to follow Confucius ; vii. 14, asks whether
the Master is for the King of Wei ; xi. 2, was a statesman ; xi.
12, was fresh and rank ; xi. 16, is tax-gatherer to the Chi ; xi. 21,
asks whether he shall do all that he is taught ; xi. 23, is a tool,
not a statesman ; xi. 25, wishes for charge of sixty, or seventy,
square miles ; xiii. 9, drives the Master towards Wei ; xiii. 14,
says business of state detained him at court; xiv. 13, his skill ;
INDEX 117
xvi. I, is minister to the Chi, when he proposes to attack
Chuan-yii.
Ju Pet, an officer of Lu, who had been taught by Confucius ; xvii. 20,
wishes to see Confucius, who pleads sickness.
Kan, xviii. 9, music-master of Lu, went to Ch'u.
Kao-tsung, the Emperor Wu Ting of the house of Yin, reigned
B.C. 1324-1265 ; xiv. 43, on the death of his predecessor did not
speak for three years.
Kao-yao, xii. 22, made criminal judge by Shun and evil vanished.
Kuan Chung, personal name Yi-wu, chief minister to Duke Huan of
Ch'i, + B.C. 645 : see notes to iii. 22, xiv. 17 ; iii. 22, Confucius
calls him shallow ; xiv. 10, he thrust the Po from the town of
Pien; xiv. 17, would not die with the young duke Chiu ; xiv. 1 8,
should he have drowned in a ditch ?
Kung-ch'o, xiv. 13 : see Meng Kung-ch'o.
Kung-hsi Hua, a disciple of Confucius, name Kung-hsi Ch'ih, style
Tzu-hua, born in Lu, B.c. 510. He was entrusted with the
management of the Master's funeral ; v. 7, the Master cannot
say whether he has love ; vi. 3, sent to Ch'i ; Confiicius is asked
to give his mother grain ; vii. 33, says the disciples cannot learn
the Master's endless craving ; xi. 21, is puzzled by the Master's
different answers; xi. 25, would like to play an humble part in
Ancestral Temple.
Kung-ming Chia, a man of Wei ; xiv. 14, says Kung-shu Wen speaks
when it is time to speak.
Kung-shan Fu-jao, xvii. 5, a confederate of Yang Huo, held Pi in
rebellion.
Kung-shu, the name of a great family in Wei.
Kung-shu Wen, of the above family, a minister of Wei ; xiv. 14, said
not to speak, or laugh, or take a gift ; xiv. 19, goes to court with
his ex-steward.
Kung-sun Ch'ao, xix.22, asks, " Where did Confucius get his learning ? "
Kung-yeh Ch'ang, a disciple of Confucius ; v. i, married to Con-
fucius' daughter, though he had been in prison.
K'ang, x. 1 1 : see Chi K'ang.
K'uang, ix. 5 ; xi. 22, a place where the Master was affrighted.
K'ung Ch'iu, xviii. 6, Confucius' name in Chinese. His style was
Chung-ni.
K'ung-wen, the posthumous title of K'ung Yu, a lord of Wei ; v. 14,
why he was styled cultured.
Lao, a disciple of Confucius, name Ch'in Lao, style Tzu-k'ai ; ix. 6,
quotes the Master's saying that he learned a trade.
Li, xi. 7, Confucius' son : see Po-yii.
ii8 INDEX
Li, XX. I =T'ang, whom see.
Liao, the duke's uncle ; xiv. 38, a man of Lu, slanders Tzu-lu.
Liao, xviii. g, bandmaster of Lu, went to Ts'ai.
Lin Fang, iii. 4, a man of Lu, asks what gives life to ceremony ; iii.
6, he and Mount T'ai.
Ling, Duke of Wei, the husband of Nan-tzu (vi. 26), reigned B.C
533-492 ; xiv. 20, his wickedness; xv. i, asks about the line
battle.
Liu-hsia Hut, flourished about B.C. 600 : see note to xv. 13 ; xv. 13,
Tsang Wen would not stand by him; xviii. 2, was thrice dis-
missed when judge ; xviii. 8, bent his will and shamed the body.
Lu, the native state of Confucius, iii. 23, v. 2, vi. 22, ix. 14, xi. 13,
xiii. 7, xiv. 1 5.
Lu, Duke of, xviii. 10, the son of the Duke of Chou.
Meng, or Meng-sun, one of the three great families that were all-
powerful in Lu.
Meng, xviii. 3, the head of the Meng clan, Meng Yi.
Meng, the, xix. 19, makes Yang Fu criminal judge.
Meng Chill-fan, vi. 13, a lord of Lu, never bragged.
Meng Ching, son of Meng Wu, a lord of Lu ; viii. 4, comes to ask
after the dying Tseng-tzu.
Meng Chuang, xix. i8, head of the Meng clan, his piety.
Meng Kung-ch'o, head of the Meng clan, minister of Lu ; xiv. 12, not
fit to be minister of T'eng or Hsieh; xiv. 13, his greedlessness.
Meng Wu, posthumous name of Meng Hsi, a lord of Lu, son of
Meng Yi ; ii. 6, told that his parents are concerned for his
health ; v. 7, asks whether certain disciples have love.
Meng Yi, the posthumous name of Ho-chi, head of the Meng-sun, or
Chung-sun, clan in Lu : a contemporary of Confucius ; ii. 5, asks
the duty of a son ; xviii. 3, Ching, Duke of Ch'i, would set him
below Confucius.
Mien, xv. 41, a blind music-master of Lu, comes to see Confvicius.
Min Tzu-ch'ien, a disciple of Confucius, name Min Sun, style Tzu-
ch'ien ; vi. 7, would rather cross the Wen than be governor of
Pi ; xi. 2, was of noble life ; xi. 4, how good a son he was ! xi. 12,
his winning strength ; xi. 13, does not talk, but what he says
hits the mark.
h'an Jung, a disciple of Confucius ; v. i, given Confucius' niece as
wife ; xi. 5, would thrice repeat "The Sceptre White."
Nan-kung Kuo, a disciple of Confucius, style Tzu-jung, perhaps the
same man as Nan Jung ; xiv. 6, how he prizes worth.
Nan-tzu, wife of Ling, Duke of Wei, a dissolute woman ; vi. 26,
Confucius sees her.
INDEX 119
Ning Wu, posthumous title of Ning Yii, a Lord of Wei ; v. 20, such
simplicity as his is beyond our reach {see note to v. 20).
Pi, a. town of Lu, belonging to the Chi ; vi. 7, Min Tzu-ch'ien refuses
the governorship of; xi. 24, Tzu-kao made governor of; xvi. i,
Chuan-yii is strong and close to Pi ; xvii. 5, held in rebellion by
Kung-shan Fu-jao.
Pi Hsi, governor of Chung-mou in Chin for the family of Chao ;
xvii. 7, summons Confucius.
Pi-kan, uncle of the tyrant Chou (reigned B.C. 1 1 54-22), last of the
house of Yin ; xviii. i, died for his reproofs.
Pien, xiv. 10, a town in Lu given to Kuan Chung.
Po, the, xiv. 10, a lord of Ch'i. Duke Huan takes from him the town
of Pien and gives it to Kuan Chung.
Po-kuo, xviii. 1 1, an oflficer of Chou.
Po-ttiu, a disciple of Confucius, name Jan Keng, style Po-niu, born
B.C. 544 ; vf. 8, why should he die of such an illness ?
Po-ta, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Po-yi, elder brother of Shu-ch'i, lived in twelfth century B.C. : see
note to V. 22 ; v. 22, never recalled past wickedness ; vii. 14, did
not rue the past; xvi. 12, men still sound his praises; xviii. 8,
would not bend the will.
Po-ytc, Confucius' son ; xi. 7, buried without an outer coffin; xvi. 13,
told by his father to study poetry and courtesy ; xvii. 10, asked
whether he has conned the Chou-nan.
P'eng, vii. i, a man of the Shang dynasty : Confucius likens himself
to him.
P'i Shen, xiv. 9, a lord of Cheng, who drafted the decrees.
Shang, the name of Tzu-hsia, whom see.
Shao, the music of the time of Shun ; iii. 25, its beauty; vii. 13, after
hearing it the Master knew not the taste of meat for three
months ; xv. 10, choose for music the Shao and its dance.
Shao Hu, a man of Ch'i : see note to xiv. 17 ; xiv. 17, died with the
young duke Chiu.
Shao-lien, a man supposed to have belonged to the savage tribes of
eastern China ; xviii. 8, he shamed the body.
Shao-nan, xvii. 10, the second book of the " Book of Poetry."
She, a district in Ch'u.
She, Duke of, vii. 18, asks Tzu-lu about Confucius, and is not
answered; xiii. 16, asks about government; xiii, 18, says in his
home an upright son bears witness against his father.
Shen, the name of Tseng-tzu, whom see.
Shen Ch'ang, a disciple of Confucius, style Tzu-chou ; v. 10, is
passionate, cannot be firm.
I20 INDEX
Shih, xi. 15 = Tzu-chang, whom see.
Shih-men, a pass on the frontier of Ch'i ; xiv. 41, Tzu-lu spends a
night there.
Shih-shu, xiv. 9, a lord of Cheng, criticised the decrees.
Shou-yang, xvi. 12, a mountain : Po-yi and Shu-Ch'i died at its foot.
Shu-ch'i, younger brother of Po-yi, whom see.
Shu-hsia, xviii. 1 1, an officer of Chou.
Shu-sun Wu-shu, chief of the Shu-sun, Meng-sun, or Meng family,
one of the three great houses of Lu, who controlled the state ;
xix. 23, says Tzu-kung is greater than Confucius ; xix. 24, decries
Confucius.
Shu-yeh, xviii. 11, an officer of Chou.
Shun, an emperor, successor of Yao (reigned B.C. 2255-05) ; vi. 28,
still pined to treat all with bounty ; viii. 18, it was sublime how
he swayed the world and made light of it ; viii. 20, had five
ministers, and order reigned ; xii. 22, raised Kao-yao, and evil
vanished ; xiv. 45, still pined to shape his mind and make the
people happy ; xv. 4, ruled doing nothing ; xx. i, his instructions
from Yao on coming to the throne.
Ssu-ma Niu, a disciple of Confucius, name Ssu-ma Keng, style Tzu-
niu, a brother of Huan T'ui ; xii. 3, asks what is love ; xii. 4, asks
what is a gentleman ; xii. 5, his sorrow at having no brothers.
Sung, a state, iii. 9, vi. 14.
Ta-hsiang, ix. 2, a village : a man from, says Confucius has made
no name.
Tan-fat Mieh-ming, a disciple of Confucius, style Tzu-yii ; vi. 12,
would not take a short cut.
Tien, xi. 25 = Tseng Hsi, whom see.
Ting, Duke, ruler of Lu, whilst Confucius was in office, reigned B.C.
509-495 ; iii. 19, asks how kings should treat ministers; xiii. 15,
asks whether any one saying can prosper a kingdom.
Tsai Wo, a disciple of Confucius, name Tsai Yu, style Tzu-wo, died
B.C. 480; iii. 21, explains what trees were planted round the
shrines of guardian spirits ; v. 9, slept in the daytime ; vi. 24,
asks whether a man who loves would go down a well ; xi. 2,
was a talker ; xvii. 21, thought one year's mourning enough.
Tsai Yii : see Tsai Wo.
Tsang Wen, a minister of Lu ; v. 1 7, lodged his tortoise in a sculptured
house ; XV. 13, filched his post.
Tsang Wu-chung, a minister of Lu, in the time of Confiicius' father ;
xiv. 13, his wisdom; xiv. 15, forces his king's hand.
Tseng Hsi, a disciple of Confucius, name Tseng Tien, style Hsi,
the father of Tseng-tzu; xi. 25, the Master sides with him in
his wish.
INDEX 121
Tseng-tzu (the Master, or philosopher Tseng), a disciple of Con-
fucius, name Tseng Shen, style Tzu-yii, born in Lu, B.C. 505,
died B.C. 437 ; i. 4, questions himself thrice daily ; i. 9, tells how
to revive the good in men ; iv. 15, says Master's teaching hangs
on faithfulness and fellow-feehng ; viii. 3, when sick tells his
disciples to uncover his feet and arms ; viii. 4, says when man
must die he speaks the Iruth ; viii. 5, had a friend who out of
knowledge learned from ignorance ; viii. 6, says a man is a
gentleman if no crisis can corrupt him ; viii. 7, says a scholar
had need be strong and bold ; xi. 17, is dull ; xii. 24, says a
gentleman gathers friends by culture ; xiv. 28, says a gentleman
is bent on keeping his place ; xix. 16, says Tzu-chang is so
magnificent; xix. 17, says man shows what is in him in mourn-
ing a near one ; xix. 18, says Meng Chuang in not changing his
father's rule is hard to rival ; xix. 19, tells Yang Fu not to be
puffed with joy.
Tso Ch'iu-ming, v. 24, an ancient, his view of what is shameful.
Tung Meng, or East Meng, a mountain in Lu, at the foot of which
lay the small state of Chuan-yii, whose ruler had the right to
sacrifice to the mountain, xvi. i.
Tzu-chang, a disciple of Confucius, name Chuan-sun Shih, style
Tzu-chang, born B.C. 504 5 ii. 18, told how pay comes ; ii. 23,
told how far the future can be known ; v. 18, asks whether
Tzu-wen had love; xi. 15, goes too far; xi. 17, is smooth; xi.
19, asks the way of a good man ; xii. 6, asks what is insight;
xii. 10, asks how to raise the mind ; xii. 14, asks what is king-
craft ; xii. 20, asks what is eminence ; xiv. 43, asks what is meant
by Kao-tsung not speaking for three years ; xv. 5, asks how to
get on; xv. 41, asks, "Is this the way to treat a music-master?"
xvii. 6, asks what is love ; xix. i, defines what is needed in a
scholar ; xix. 2, says goodness blindly clutched is nought ; xix.
3, asked about friendship by Tzu-hsia's disciples ; xix. 15, Tzu-yu
thinks him void of love ; xix. 16, his magnificence ; xx. 2, asks
how men should be governed.
Tzu-chien, a disciple of Confucius, name Fu Pu-ch'i, style Tzu-chien ;
v. 2, what a gentleman he is !
Tzu-ch'an, chief minister of Cheng in the time of Confucius ; v. 15,
the four things that marked him a gentleman ; xiv. 9, gave the
final touches to the decrees ; xiv. 10, a kind-hearted man.
Tzu-ch'in, a disciple of Confucius, name Ch'en K'ang, style Tzu-
ch'in, or Tzu-k'ang, born B.C. 512 ; i. 10, asks how the Master
learns how lands are governed ; xvi. 13, asks whether Po-yii had
heard anything uncommon from his father ; xix. 25, says the
Master is no greater than Tzu-kung.
Tzu-fu Ching-po, minister to the Chi ; xiv. 38, has strength to expose
122 INDEX
Liao's body in the market-place ; xix. 23, tells Tzu-kung that
Shu-sun thinks him greater than Confucius.
Tzu-hsi, xiv. lo, chief minister to the state of Ch'u. He refused to
be appointed successor to the throne in place of the true heir ;
but did not oppose his master's faults, and prevented him
employing Confucius.
Tzu-hsia, a disciple of Confucius, name Pu Shang, style Tzu-hsia,
born B.C. 507 ; i. 7, says a man who knows how to do his duty
is learned ; ii. 8, told that a son's manner is of importance ; iii. 8,
the Master can talk of poetry to him; vi. 11, told to read to
become a gentleman ; xi. 2, was a man of culture ; xi. 1 5, does
not go far enough ; xii. 5, says all within the four seas are
brethren ; xii. 22, says Shun raised Kao-yao, and evil vanished ;
xiii. 17, when governor of Chii-fu asks how to rule; xix. 3, says
cling to worthy friends ; xix. 4, says trades clog the mind ; xix.
5, says he who recalls each day his faults is fond of learning ;
xix. 6, says in wide learning and singleness of aim love is found ;
xix. 7, says through study a gentleman reaches truth ; xix. 8,
says the vulgar gloss their faults ; xix. 9, says a gentleman alters
thrice ; xix. 10, says a gentleman will not lay on burdens before
he is trusted; xix. 11, says if we keep within the bounds of
honour, we may ignore propriety ; xix. 12, says : " Should a gentle-
man's training bewilder him?" xix. 13, says a scholar with his
spare strength should serve the crown.
Tzu-hua : see Kung-hsi Hua.
Tzu-kao, xi. 24 : see Ch'ai.
Tzu-kung, a disciple of Confucius, name Tuan-mu Tz'u, style Tzu-
kung, born B.C. 520 ; i. 10, tells how the Master learns about
government ; i. 15, asks were it well to be poor but no flatterer ;
ii. 13, told that a gentleman sorts words to deeds; iii. 17, wishes
to do away with sheep offering at new moon ; v. 3, is a vessel ;
v. 8, cannot aspire to Yen Yiian; v. 11, wishes not to do unto
others what he would not wish done to him ; v. 12, not allowed
to hear the Master on life or the ways of Heaven ; v. 14, asks
why K'ung-wen was styled cultured ; vi. 6, is intelligent, and so
fit to govern ; vi. 28, asks whether to treat the people with bounty
were love ; vii. 14, will ask the Master whether he is for the
King of Wei ; ix. 6, says the Master is many sided ; ix. 12, asks
whether a beautiful stone should be hidden away ; xi. 2, was a
talker; xi. 12, was fresh and rank; xi. 15, asks whether Shih or
Shang is the better man; xi. 18; hoards up substance; xii. 7,
asks what is kingcraft ; xii. 8, says no team overtakes the tongue ;
xii. 23, asks about friends ; xiii. 20, asks what is a good crown
servant ; xiii. 24, asks were it right for a man to be liked by all ;
xiv. 18, thinks Kuan Chung showed want of love; xiv. 31, would
INDEX 123
compare one man with another ; xiv. 37, asks what the Master
means by no man knowing him ; xv. 2, thinks the Master a man
who learns much ; xv. 9, asks how to practise love ; xv. 23, asks
whether one word can cover the duty of man ; xvii. 19, says were
Master silent, what could disciples tell ; xvii. 24, asks whether a
gentleman hates ; xix. 20, says the wickedness of Chou was not
so great ; xix. 2i, says a prince's faults are like the darkening of
sun or moon ; xix. 22, says the lore of Wen and Wu lives in
men ; xix. 23, Shu-sun thinks him greater than Confucius ; xix.
24, says the Master cannot be cried down ; xix. 25, says none
can come up with the Master.
Tzu-lu, a disciple of Confucius, name Chung Yu, style Tzu-lu, or
Chi-lu, born B.C. 543, died B.C. 484; ii. 17, told what is under-
standing ; V. 6, the Master would take him with him to scour the
seas ; v. 7, the Master cannot say that he has love ; v. 13, before
he could carry a thing out, dreaded to hear more ; v. 25, tells
his wishes ; vi. 6, has character, and so could govern ; vi. 26,
displeased at Master seeing Nan-tzu ; vii. 10, asks the Master
whom he would like to help him command an army ; vii. 18,
does not answer the Duke of She's question about Master ;
vii. 34, asks leave to pray when the Master is ill ; ix. 11, makes
disciples act as ministers ; ix. 26, would stand unabashed in a
tattered cloak; x. 18, gets on scent with Master ; xi. 2, was a
statesman; xi. 11, asks about death; xi. 12, will die before his
time ; xi. 14, what has his lute to do twanging at Master's door ?
xi. 17, is coarse; xi. 21, asks shall he carry out all that he learns ;
xi. 23, is a tool, not a statesman ; xi. 24, the Master hates his glib
tongue ; xi. 25, wishes for charge of a state crushed by great
neighbours ; xii. 12, never slept over a promise ; xiii. i, asks how
to rule ; xiii. 3, says King of Wei looks to the Master to govern ;
xiii. 28, asks when can a man be called educated ; xiv. 13, asks
what were a full-grown man ; xiv. 1 7, says Kuan Chung showed
want of love ; xiv. 23, asks how to serve the king ; xiv. 38,
slandered by Liao; xiv. 41, spends a night at Shih-men ; xiv. 45,
asks what is a gentleman ; xv. i, cannot hide his vexation ;
XV. 3, told how few understand what is worthy; xvi. i, is minister
to the Chi, when he proposes to attack Chuan-yii ; xvii. 5, asks
how could the Master join Kung-shan ; xvii. 7, asks how could
the Master join Pi Hsi ; xvii. 8, asked has he heard the six words
and the six they sink into ; xvii. 23, asks does a gentleman
honour courage ; xviii. 6, asks Ch'ang-chii where the ford is ;
xviii. 7, meets an old man bearing a basket.
Tzu-sang Po-tzu, vi. i, a man of Lu, is lax.
Tzu-wen, v. 18, chief minister of Ch'u, his characteristics.
Tzu-yu, a disciple of Confucius, name Yen Yen, style Tzu-yu, born
124 INDEX
B.C. 510; ii. 7, told that feeding parents is not the whole duty of
a son ; iv. 26, says preaching at princes brings disgrace ; vi. 12,
when governor of Wu-ch'eng has Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming ; xi. 2, was
a man of culture ; xvii. 4, encourages music in Wu-ch'eng ;
xix. 12, says Tzu-hsia's disciples can sprinkle the floor; xix. 14,
says mourning should only stretch to grief; xix. 15, says Tzu-
chang is void of love.
Tzu-yii, xiv. 9, a lord of Cheng, polished the decrees.
T'ai, a mountain, iii. 6.
T'ai-po, eldest son of King T'ai of Chou. His brother was the father
of King Wen, whose son King Wu dethroned Chou Hsin and
founded the Chou dynasty, that was reigning in China in Con-
fucius' time : see note to viii. i ; viii. i, thrice he declined the
throne.
T'ang, viii. 20, the dynastic title of the Emperor Yao.
T'ang, the founder of the Shang dynasty, reigned B.C. 1766-53 ;
xii. 22, raised Yi-yin, and evil vanished ; xx. i, his form of
prayer.
T'eng, xiv. 12, a small state : Meng Kung-ch'o not fit to be minister
of.
T'o, an officer of Wei holding a post in the temple ; vi. 14, his
glibness ; xiv. 20, in charge of Ancestral Temple.
Ts'ai, a state, xi. 2, xviii. 9.
Ts'ui, V. 18, a lord of Ch'i, murdered his king, B.C. 547.
Tz'u : see Tzu-kung.
Wang-sun Chia, a minister of Wei ; iii. 13, thinks it best to court the
kitchen god ; xiv. 20, in charge of the troops.
Wei, one of the three great families that governed the state of Chin ;
xiv. 12, Meng Kung-ch'o fit to be steward of.
Wei, xviii. i, a small state in western China.
Wei, another state in China, ix. 14, xiii. 7, 8, 9, xiv. 42, xix. 22.
Wei, King of: see note to vii. 14 ; vii. 14, Confucius not on his side ;
xiii. 3, looks to Confucius to govern.
Wei, the lord of, xviii. i, an elder brother by a concubine of the
tyrant Chou (reigned B.C. 1154-22), last of the Yin dynasty. He
fled from court, since he could not improve his brother.
Wei-sheng Kao, v. 23, begs vinegar from another to give to beggar.
Wei-sheng Mou, xiv. 34, an old man who had fled the world, asks
how Confucius finds roosts to roost on.
Wen, Duke of Chin, reigned B.C. 636-28, the leading man in China
in his day, xiv. 16, was deep but dishonest.
Wen, King, Duke of Chou, born B.C. 1231, died B.C. 1135, the father
of King Wu, founder of the Chou line of emperors ; viii. 20,
holding two-thirds of world submitted all to Yin ; ix. 5, since
INDEX 125
his death Confucius is the home of culture ; xix. 22, his lore lives
in men.
Wu, iii. 25, the music of King Wu, less noble than that of Shun.
IVu, xviii. 9, tambourine master of Lu, crossed the Han.
IVu, King, the founder of the Chou dynasty, reigned B.C. 11 22-1 5 ;
viii. 20, had ten able ministers ; xix. 22, his lore lives in men ;
XX. I, his principles of government.
Wu-ch'eng, a small town of Lu ; vi. 12, Tzu-yu governor of it ; xvii.
4, as the Master draws near he hears lute and song.
Wu-ma Ch'i, a disciple of Confucius, name Wu-ma Shih, style
Tzu-ch'i, vii. 30.
Yang, xviii. 9, assistant bandmaster of Lu, crossed the sea.
Yang Fu, xix. 19, a disciple of Tseng-tzu made judge.
Yang Huo, chief minister ot the Chi, with whom he was long all-
powerful ; on one occasion he imprisoned his Master ; in B.C.
501 he was forced to leave Lu ; xvii. i, wishes to see Confucius.
Yao, the first Emperor of China (B.C. 2357-2255) ; vi. 28, still pined
to treat all with bounty ; viii. 19, his greatness was like Heaven ;
viii. 20, the wealth in talent of his last days ; xiv. 45, pined to
shape the mind and make all happy ; xx. i, his commands
to Shun.
Yen, xvii. 4 = Tzu-yu.
Yen Lu, xi. 7, father of Yen Yiian, asks for Master's carriage to
provide an outer coffin.
Yen P'ing, v. 16, was versed in friendship.
Yen K«, xix. i2=Tzu-yu.
Yen Yiian {B.C. 514-483), the favourite disciple of Confucius, name
Yen Hui, style Tzu-yiian ; ii. 9, is no dullard; v. 8, Tzu-kung
cannot compare with him ; v. 25, tells his wishes to the Master ;
vi. 2, made no mistake twice ; vi. 5, for three months together
did not sin against love ; vi. 9, his mirth under hardship ; vii. 10,
could both fill a post and live happy without ; ix. 10, says : " As I
gaze it grows higher ; " ix. 19, was never listless when spoken to ;
ix. 20, had never been seen to stop ; xi. 2, was of noble life ;
xi. 3, the Master got no help from him ; xi. 6, was fond of learn-
ing ; xi. 7, dies : his father asks for the Master's carriage ; xi. 8,
dies : the Master says, " I am undone ; " xi. 9, dies : the Master
overcome by grief; xi. 10, the disciples bury him in state ; xi. 18,
is almost faultless ; xi. 22, would not brave death whilst his
Master lives ; xii. i, asks what is love ; xv. 10, asks how to rule
a kingdom.
Yi, xiv. 6, a famous archer of the Hsia dynasty, who slew the
emperor and usurped his throne, but was afterwards killed in
his turn.
126 INDEX
Yi, iii. 24, a small town on the borders of Wei : the warden says
Confucius is a warning bell.
Yi-yt, xviii. 8, lived in hiding, but gave the rein to his tongue.
Yi-yin, xii. 22 (and note) made minister, and evil vanished.
Yin dynasty (b.C. 2205-1766), also called Shang, ii. 23, iii. 9, 21, viii.
20, XV. 10, xviii. I,
Yu, the name of Tzu-lu, whom see.
Yu Jo, a disciple of Confucius, style Tzu-jo, sometimes called Yu-tzu,
the philosopher Yu, born B.C. 520 ; i. 2, says that to be a good
son is the root of love ; i. 12, says courtesy consists in ease; i. 13,
says if promises hug the right, word can be kept ; xii. 9, tells
Duke Ai to tithe the people.
Yu-tzu : see Yu Jo.
Yung, V. 4 : see Chung-kung.
Yii, viii. 20, the dynastic title of Shun, whom see.
\ii, XV. 6, a minister of Wei, his straightness.
Yii, xvii. 2i=Tsai Wo.
Yii, an ancient emperor (reigned B.C. 2205-2197), founder of the Hsia
dynasty, chosen by Shun as his successor; viii. 18, he swayed
the world and made light of it ; viii. 21, no flaw in him ; xiv. 6,
toiled at his crops and won the world ; xx. i, his instructions on
coming to the throne.
Yii-chung, the younger brother of T'ai-po. He accompanied him in
his flight to the wild tribes of Wu (the country round Shanghai),
in order to let the third brother come to the throne, and
succeeded T'ai-po as ruler of that people ; xviii. 8, lived in
hiding, but gave the rein to his tongue.
Yuan Jang, an old, eccentric acquaintance of Confucius ; xiv. 46,
awaits the Master squatting.
Yiian Ssu, a disciple of Confucius, name Yiian Hsien, style Tzu-ssu,
born B.C. 516; vi. 3, refuses his pay as governor; xiv. i, asks
what is shame.
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