Analects of Confucius

“ I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven;—that knows me!"
Chapter XXXVIII. 1. The Kung-po Liao, having slandered Tsze-lu to Chi-sun, Tsze-fu Ching-po informed Confucius of it, saying, "Our master is certainly being led astray by the Kung-po Liao, but I have still power enough left to cut Liao off, and expose his corpse in the market and in the court." ”

“ If any one employ me, may I not make an eastern Chau?' CHAP. VI. Tsze-chang asked Confucius about perfect virtue. Confucius said, 'To be able to practise five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue.' He begged to ask what they were, and was told, 'Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. If you are grave, you will not be treated with disrespect. If you are generous, you will win all. If you are sincere, people will repose trust in you. If you are earnest, you will accomplish much. ”

“ Zan Yu said, "Our master wishes the thing; neither of us two ministers wishes it."
6. Confucius said, "Ch'iu, there are the words of Chau Zan,—'When he can put forth his ability, he takes his place in the ranks of office; when he finds himself unable to do so, he retires from it. How can he be used as a guide to a blind man, who does not support him when tottering, nor raise him up when fallen?'
7. "And further, you speak wrongly. When a tiger or rhinoceros escapes from his cage; when a tortoise or piece of jade is injured in its repository:—whose is the fault?" ”

“ Confucius said, "When good government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the son of Heaven. When bad government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the princes. When these things proceed from the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in ten generations. When they proceed from the Great officers of the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in five generations. ”

“ When one gives few occasions for blame in his words, and few occasions for repentance in his conduct, he is in the way to get emolument."
【十九章】哀公問曰、何爲則民服。孔子對曰、擧直錯諸枉、則民服、擧枉錯諸直、則民不服。 Chapter XIX. The Duke Ai asked, saying, "What should be done in order to secure the submission of the people?" Confucius replied, "Advance the upright and set aside the crooked, then the people will submit. Advance the crooked and set aside the upright, then the people will not submit." ”

“ Confucius said, 'If you, sir, were not covetous, although you should reward them to do it, they would not steal.' CHAP. XIX. Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government, saying, 'What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?' Confucius replied, 'Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. ”

“ Confucius said, 'Among us, in our part of the country, those who are upright are different from this. The father conceals the misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the father. Uprightness is to be found in this.'
CHAP. XIX. Fan Ch'ih asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude, uncultivated tribes, these qualities may not be neglected.' CHAP. XX. 1. ”

“ A youth of the village of Ch'ueh was employed by Confucius to carry the messages between him and his visitors. Some one asked about him, saying, "I suppose he has made great progress."
2. The Master said, "I observe that he is fond of occupying the seat of a full-grown man; I observe that he walks shoulder to shoulder with his elders. He is not one who is seeking to make progress in learning. He wishes quickly to become a man." ”

“ Confucius then said, "Following in the rear of the great officers, I did not dare not to represent such a matter."
Chapter XXIII. Tsze-lu asked how a ruler should be served. The Master said, "Do not impose on him, and, moreover, withstand him to his face."
Chapter XXIV. The Master said, "The progress of the superior man is upwards; the progress of the mean man is downwards."
Chapter XXV. The Master said, "In ancient times, men learned with a view to their own improvement. Now-a-days, men learn with a view to the approbation of others." ”

“ He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water-channels. ”

“ Zan Yu said, "But at present, Chwan-yu is strong and near to Pi; if our chief do not now take it, it will hereafter be a sorrow to his descendants."
9. Confucius said. "Ch'iu, the superior man hates that declining to say—'I want such and such a thing,' and framing explanations for the conduct.
10. "I have heard that rulers of States and chiefs of families are not troubled lest their people should be few, but are troubled lest they should not keep their several places ”

“ Confucius said, "The Yin dynasty possessed these three men of virtue."
Chapter II. Hui of Liu-hsia being chief criminal judge, was thrice dismissed from his office. Some one said to him, "Is it not yet time for you, sir, to leave this?" He replied, "Serving men in an upright way, where shall I go to, and not experience such a thrice-repeated
必去父母之邦。 【第三章】齊景公待孔子、曰、若季氏、則吾不能、以季孟之閒待之。曰、吾老矣、不能用也。孔子行。
【第四章】齊人歸女樂。季桓子受之、三日不朝、孔子行。
【第五章】【一節】楚狂接輿歌而過 dismissal? If I choose to serve men in a crooked way, what necessity is there for me to leave the country of my parents?" ”

“ The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.' CHAP. XXII. The Master said, 'Ch'i, by one change, would come to the State of Lu. Lu, by one change, would come to a State where true principles predominated.' CHAP. XXIII. The Master said, 'A cornered vessel without corners.— A strange cornered vessel! A strange cornered vessel!' CHAP. XXIV. Tsai Wo asked, saying, 'A benevolent man, though it be told him,— 'There is a man in the well' will go in after him, I suppose.' Confucius said, 'Why should he do so?' A superior
man may be made to go to the well, but he cannot be made to go down into it. ”

“ Chapter V. The Master said, "The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be virtuous. Men of principle are sure to be bold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle."
【第六章】南宮适問於孔子曰、羿善射、奡盪舟、俱不得其死然、禹稷躬稼、而有天下。夫子不答。南宮适出。子曰、君子哉若人、尙德哉若人。 【第七章】子曰、君子而不仁者有矣夫、未有小人而仁者也。 Chapter VI. Nan-kung Kwo, submitting an inquiry to Confucius, said, "I was skillful at archery, and Ao could move a boat along upon the land, but neither of them died a natural death. ”

“ To them the ages return an answer, final, decisive, irrevocable. Voices of emperor and statesman, of seer and sage, assign Confucius his place among objects of worship. Adoring multitudes through the centuries have joined in "one according cry." Divine honours are paid at his shrine, and the worship of the teacher who, as a moral guide, has the pre-eminence, gives to his system the binding force of religion. To-day the religious faith of most Chinese appears to themselves inseparable from the divine sanctions which, for them, attach to the teaching of Confucius. ”

“ Many are the princes and prophets that the world has seen in its time, glorious in life, forgotten in death. But Confucius, though only a humble member of the cotton-clothed masses, remains among us after many generations. He is the model for such as would be wise. By all, from the Son of Heaven down to the meanest student, the supremacy of his principles is fully and freely admitted. He may indeed be pronounced the divinest of men. ”

“ Chapter XIX. 1. The great officer, Hsien, who had been family-minister to Kung-shu Wan, ascended to the prince's court in company with Wan.
2. The Master, having heard of it, said, "He deserved to be considered wan (the accomplished) ."
Chapter XX. 1. The Master was speaking about the unprincipled course of the duke Ling of Wei, when Ch'i K'ang said, "Since he is of such a character, how is it he does not lose his State?"
2. Confucius said, "The Chung-shu Yu has the superintendence of his guests and of strangers ”

“ 'To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.'
BOOK III. PA YIH. CHAP. I. Confucius said of the head of the Chi family, who had eight rows of pantomimes in his area, 'If he can bear to do this, what may he not bear to do?'
CHAP. II. The three families used the YUNG ode, while the vessels were being removed, at the conclusion of the sacrifice. ”

“ Tze-lu went back, and reported what the man had said to the master, who observed: “It is impossible to withdraw from the world, and associate with birds and beasts that have no affinity with us. With whom should I associate but with suffering men? The disorder that prevails is what requires my efforts. If right principles ruled through the kingdom, there would be no necessity for me to change its state.” We must recognize in those words a brave heart and a noble sympathy. Confucius would not abandon the cause of the people. ”

“ He died in his seventy-third year, 478 B.C. There can be no doubt that the success of Confucius has been singularly great, owing especially to the narrow scope of his scheme, which has become crystallized in the habits, usages, and customs of the people. Especially has it been instrumental in consolidating the empire, and in strengthening the power of the monarch, who, as he every year burns incense in the red-walled temple at Pekin, utters sincerely the invocation: "Great art thou, O perfect Sage! Thy virtue is full, thy doctrine complete. Among mortal men there has not been thine equal. ”

“ Such men as Tsz-ch'an, Shuh Hiang, Ki-chah, and the other distinguished "ritualists" of the time, are not mentioned so much on account of their abstract teachings as they are on account of their being able statesmen, competent to stave off the rising tide of revolutionary opinions. Even Confucius himself only appears in contemporary annals as an able administrator and diplomat ”

“ By his sincerity, he made the people repose trust in him. By his earnest activity, his achievements were great. By his justice, all were delighted.
CHAP. II. 1. Tsze-chang asked Confucius, saying, 'In what way should a person in authority act in order that he may conduct government properly?' The Master replied, 'Let him honour the five excellent, and banish away the four bad, things;— then may he conduct government properly.' Tsze-chang said, 'What are meant by the five excellent things?' The Master said, 'When the person in authority is beneficent without great expenditure ”

“ But they did not understand the sage, and felt a contempt for him struggling on against the tide, and always hoping against hope. We get a fine idea of him from his encounters with them. Once he was looking about for a ford, and sent Tze-lu to ask a man who was at work in a neighbouring field where it was. The man was a recluse, and having found that his questioner was a disciple of Confucius, he said to him: “Disorder in a swelling flood spreads over the kingdom, and no one is able to repress it. ”

“ No intelligent monarch arises; there is not one in the empire who will make me his master. My time is come to die." It is eminently characteristic of Confucius that in his last recorded speech and dream, his thoughts should so have dwelt on the ceremonies of bygone ages. But the dream had its fulfilment. That same day he took to his bed, and after a week's illness he expired.
On the banks of the river Sze, to the north of the capital city of Loo, his disciples buried him, and for three years they mourned at his grave. ”

“ CHAP. XX. Zu Pei wished to see Confucius, but Confucius declined, on the ground of being sick, to see him. When the bearer of this message went out at the door, (the Master) took his lute and sang to it, in order that Pei might hear him. CHAP. XXI. 1. Tsai Wo asked about the three years' mourning for parents, saying that one year was long enough. 2. 'If the superior man,' said he, 'abstains for three years from the observances of propriety, those observances will be quite lost. If for three years he abstains from music, music will be ruined. ”

“ But notwithstanding such departures from the lines he had laid down for himself, the people gloried in his rule and sang at their work songs in which he was described as their savior from oppression and wrong.
Confucius was an enthusiast, and his want of success in his attempt completely to reform the age in which he lived never seemed to suggest a doubt to his mind of the complete wisdom of his creed. According to his theory, his official administration should have effected the reform not only of his sovereign and the people, but of those of the neighboring states. ”

“ It has, however, to be borne in mind that national habits and characteristics as we see them in the Chinese to-day — their race features — are what his followers saw in the sage of China 2,500 years ago. The times are evil, there has been a falling away from pure and lofty ideals, there are none that have attained, but the seekers after truth strive to be as the perfect sage. Ceremonial observances on which Confucius set the seal of his approval, constant virtues as seen in him, their highest exponent — these are the goal and aim of the Confucian. ”