disciples began to lose their respect for Tzŭ Lu, whereupon the Master
said: Yu has ascended the steps of the temple, though he has not yet
reached the inner sanctuary.
Tzŭ Kung asked which was the man of greater worth, Shih or Shang. The
Master replied: Shih exceeds and Shang falls short.--Then Shih is the
better of the two?--The Master said: To exceed is as bad as to fall
short.
The head of the Chi clan was already richer than Chou Kung, yet Ch‘iu
kept levying taxes for him and adding to his wealth.--He is no disciple
of mine, said the Master. My children, you may beat the drum and attack
him.[20]
The Master said: Hui reaches the verge of perfection, yet he is often
in great want. Tz‘ŭ does not resign himself to the will of Heaven,
yet his worldly goods continue to increase. His judgments, however,
frequently hit the mark.
Tzŭ Lu asked if he should at once put the precepts which he heard into
practice.--The Master said: There are your father and elder brothers
to consult first; why should you be so impatient to act on what you
hear?--Jan Yu asked the same question, and the Master said: Yes, act
at once according to the instruction that is given to you.--Kung-hsi
Hua then said: When Yu asked if he should put the precepts which he
heard into practice, you replied, Sir, that he had his father and elder
brothers to consult first. When Ch‘iu asked the same question, you
said:
"Act at once according to the instruction that is given to you." Now I
am puzzled, and beg for an explanation.--The Master replied: Ch‘iu is
apt to hang back, therefore I press him on. Yu has eagerness enough for
two, therefore I hold him back.
Chi Tzŭ-jan[21] asked if Chung Yu and Jan Ch‘iu could be termed great
ministers. The Master said: I thought you had something extraordinary
to ask about, and now it turns out to be a question about Yu and
Ch‘iu. What men call a great minister is one who serves his prince
according to the principles of truth and virtue, and when that is
impossible, resigns. Yu and Ch‘iu, however, can only be termed ordinary
officials.--Which is as much as to say that they will always obediently
follow their master's will?--The Master replied: They would not follow
him so far as to commit parricide or regicide.
The Master said: Yu is the man to settle a long litigation in a few
words.
Tzŭ Kung was fond of weighing other men's merits and defects. The
Master said: Surely Tz‘u must be a very great sage! Personally, I have
no time for this.
[1] It is said elsewhere in the Analects (see p. 94) that "the higher
type of man is unlike a vessel designed for some special use," which
means that his moral capacity is not narrow and limited. Tzŭ Kung,
then, it seems, had not fully grasped the higher principles of
morality, was wanting in breadth of mind and the larger outlook on
life. His aptitudes, however, were excellent so far as they went, and
the Master compliments him hero on his proficiency in things relating
to religious ceremonial.
[2] Confucius probably wished to impress upon his questioner that
true moral virtue (fen) was deeply implanted in the soul, and not to
be gauged offhand from the presence or absence of certain superficial
signs.
[3] It is passing strange that the clumsy "I grant you" for _wu yü ju_
(I and you) should have found favour with translators. Wade even goes
one better, by translating: "I award you this praise, Hui does not
equal you "!
[4] Prime Minister of the Chêng State in the sixth century B.C. When he
had ruled for three years, so great was the change effected that "doors
were not locked at night, and lost articles were not picked up on the
highway." Confucius wept when he heard of his death.
[5] Minister in the neighbouring state of Ch‘i.
[6] A minister of the Wei State in the seventh century B.C. In the
revolution referred to the prince was driven from his throne, but
afterwards reinstated through the "stupidity," that is to say, the
unwavering loyalty and devotion of Ning.
[7] These were brothers, celebrated for their protest against the
overthrow of the Yin dynasty. Rather than live under the rule of the
new sovereign, the great and virtuous Wu Wang, they wandered away
into the mountains to perish of cold and hunger. This fidelity to the
cause of Chou Hsin, one of the bloodiest and most infamous tyrants in
history, seems a shade more quixotic than the conduct of those who
espoused for so long the fallen fortunes of the house of Stuart.
[8] This was a young man who, if legend may be trusted, died more
heroically than he lived. He agreed to meet a girl under a bridge, but,
woman-like, she failed to keep her appointment. Though the water was
rising rapidly, her lover waited on, unwilling to quit his post, and
finally clung to a pillar until he was drowned.
[9] This is the man whom Confucius, according to Wade (see p. 73),
ranked below Tzŭ Kung!
[10] Po Niu is said to have been suffering from leprosy, and therefore
he would not allow visitors to enter his room.
[11] Few will see anything harmful in this anecdote as told by
Confucius. Yet it is actually made to figure in the general charge
of insincerity and untruthfulness brought against him by Legge. "The
action was gallant," he says, "but the apology for it was weak and
unnecessary. And yet Confucius saw nothing in the whole but matter for
praise." In the first place, Legge entirely ignores the possibility
that Mêng Chih-fan was really speaking the truth. But even if it were
otherwise, Confucius' only comment is that he was "no braggart." Surely
it is an overstrained morality that could be offended by this.
[12] Compare Moltke's motto: "Erst wägen, dann wagen." Tzŭ Lu was noted
for his reckless bravery. Evidently jealous of the praise bestowed
on Yen Yüan, he makes a delightfully artless attempt to secure some
recognition for himself, but only draws down a reproof. The Master's
relations with this vain, impulsive, good-hearted disciple often remind
one of those subsisting between Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith.
[13] T‘ai Po was the direct heir to his father's throne, but knowing
that the latter wished to be succeeded by his youngest son (the father
of the future Wên Wang, the virtual founder of the Chou dynasty), he
went into voluntary exile among the barbarous tribes of the south, but
kept the motives of his conduct to himself, and thus obtained no credit
for his self-sacrifice.
[14] The "Great Yü," who in the reign of the Emperor Yao laboured
incessantly for eight years to control the disastrous inundations of
the Yellow River, himself became Emperor after the death of Yao's
successor Shun, and founded the Hsia dynasty (2205-1766 B.C.).
[15] A quotation from the Book of Poetry, a collection of some 300
ancient ballads said to have been selected and arranged by Confucius
himself, and hence raised to the dignity of a "classic."
[16] This must have been said by Confucius after his return from exile,
when many of his followers were dead or in other parts of the Empire.
Ch'en and Ts'ai are particularly mentioned because it was on the road
between these two small states that he met with the most perilous
adventure of his life, being surrounded by hostile troops and cut off
from all supplies for the space of seven days (see p. 115). It is not
quite clear whether the next sentence should not be taken as a note
added by the compiler, giving the names of those who were with the
Master on this journey.
[17] By criticism or questioning. Cf. p. 71.
[18] On hsiao, occurring in another treatise, Mr. Ku Hung-ming has the
following note: "The word in the text does not mean merely a filial
son, but has the meaning of the Latin 'pius'--pious in its full sense,
reverential to God, dutiful to parents, good, faithful and orderly in
all the relations of life."
[19] "This prediction was verified. When Confucius returned to Lu from
Wei, he left Tzŭ Lu and Tzŭ Kao engaged there in official service.
Troubles arose. News came to Lu, B.C. 479, that a revolution was in
progress in Wei, and when Confucius heard it, he said, 'Ch‘ai will come
here, but Yu will die,' So it turned out. When Tzŭ Kao saw that matters
were desperate he made his escape, but Tzŭ Lu would not forsake the
chief who had treated him well. He threw himself into the mêlée and was
slain."--Legge, _Life of Confucius_.
[20] This was the disciple by whoso agency Confucius was finally
restored to Lu. But Confucius was the last man to let private
considerations stand in the way when public interests were involved
and a crying evil had to be redressed. "Beating the drum" has no
reference, as Legge thinks, to "the practice of executing criminals in
the market-place." It was simply the recognised signal in warfare for
advancing to the attack, gongs being used to sound the retreat.
[21] A member of the ambitious family which was scheming to get the
whole power of the dukedom into its own hands. The two disciples here
mentioned had recently been enlisted in its service, and Chi Tzŭ-jan is
anxious to find out how far they can be relied upon in case of need.
Confucius sees through his nefarious designs.
CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
The Master: I will not be grieved that other men do not know me: I will
be grieved that I do not know other men.
At fifteen, my mind was bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At
forty, I was free from delusions. At fifty, I understood the laws of
Providence. At sixty, my ears were attentive to the truth. At seventy,
I could follow the promptings of my heart without overstepping the mean.
Tzŭ Kung was for doing away with the customary sacrifice of a sheep on
the first day of the month. The Master said: Ah, Tz‘ŭ, you grudge the
loss of a sheep, but I grudge the loss of a ceremony.
The Master said: In any hamlet of a dozen houses you will surely find
men as honest and conscientious as myself, though they may not be so
devoted to ethical study.
The Master having gone to visit Nan Tzŭ,[1] Tzŭ Lu was displeased.
Thereupon Confucius swore a solemn oath, saying: In whatsoever I have
sinned, may I be abominable in the sight of God!
The Master said: My function is to indicate rather than to originate.
Regarding antiquity as I do with trust and affection, I would venture
to compare myself with our ancient patriarch P‘êng Tsu.[2]
The unpretentious hiving of wisdom, patient self-cultivation, and
untiring instruction of others--to which of these can I make any claim?
The failure to cultivate virtue, the failure to examine and analyse
what I have learnt, the inability to move towards righteousness after
being shown the way, the inability to correct my faults--these are the
causes of my grief.
Alas! what a falling-off is here! Long is it since I dreamt of Chou
Kung.[3]
There is no one, from the man who brings me dried meat as payment
upwards, to whom I have refused my instruction.
I do not expound my teaching to any who are not eager to learn; I do
not help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself; if, after
being shown one corner of a subject, a man cannot go on to discover the
other three, I do not repeat the lesson.
If the pursuit of riches were a commendable pursuit, I would join in
it, even if I had to become a chariot-driver for the purpose. But
seeing that it is not a commendable pursuit, I engage in those which
are more to my taste.[4]
The Duke of Shê questioned Tzŭ Lu about Confucius. Tzŭ Lu made no
reply. The Master said to him afterwards: Why did you not say: "He
is a man whose zeal for self-improvement is such that he forgets to
eat; whose happiness in this pursuit is so great that he forgets his
troubles and does not perceive old age stealing upon him"?
The Master said: In me, knowledge is not innate. I am but one who loves
antiquity, and is earnest in the study of it.
If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my
teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them,
and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
My disciples, do you think that I have any secrets? I have no secrets
from you. It is my way to do nothing without communicating it to you,
my disciples.
There are men, I daresay, who act rightly without knowing the reason
why, but I am not one of them. Having heard much, I sift out the good
and practise it; having seen much, I retain it in my memory. This is
the second order of wisdom.[5]
In literary accomplishments I am perhaps equal to other men; but I have
not yet succeeded in exhibiting the conduct of the princely man in my
own person.
To divine wisdom and perfect virtue I can lay no claim. All that can
be said of me is that I never falter in the course which I pursue
and am unwearying in my instruction of others--this and nothing
more.--Kung-hsi Hua said: But those are just the qualities that we,
your disciples, are unable to acquire.
The Master being grievously sick, Tzŭ Lu proposed the offering up of
a prayer.--Is there a precedent for this? asked the Master.--Tzŭ Lu
replied: There is. In the Eulogies[6] it is written: "We pray unto you,
O spirits of Heaven and Earth."--The Master said: My prayers began long
ago.[7]
The Master was passing through a by-street when a man of the district
shouted: Great is Confucius the philosopher! Yet for all his wide
learning, he has nothing which can bring him fame.--On hearing this,
the Master turned to his disciples and said: What shall I take up?
Shall I take up charioteering or shall I take up archery? I will take
up charioteering!
The Master said: The ancient rites prescribe linen as the material for
a ceremonial cap, but nowadays silk is used as being more economical.
In this matter I fall in with the general custom. According to the
ancient rites, the Prince is to be saluted from below the dais, but
nowadays the salutation takes place above. This is presumptuous, and
therefore, though infringing thereby the general custom, I adopt the
humbler position.[8]
A high officer asked Tzŭ Kung, saying: Surely your Master is a divine
Prophet? What a variety of accomplishments he seems to possess!--Tzŭ
Kung replied: Truly he must be a Prophet, so richly has he been endowed
by God. And he has also perfected himself in various arts.--The Master,
being told of this, said: Does His Excellency really know me now for
what I am? Being of low condition as a boy, I did become skilled in
various arts--but these are base accomplishments after all. If asked
whether the higher type of man has many such accomplishments, I should
say, Not many.[9]
The Master said: Am I possessed of true knowledge? Not so. But if an
ignorant fellow from the lower class comes to me with a question, I
will discuss the subject from end to end, and set it fully before him.
Tzŭ Kung said to Confucius: If you had a lovely jewel, would you hide
it away in a casket, or would you try to sell it for a good price?--
The Master replied: Oh, certainly I would sell it, but I would wait
until a price was offered.[10]
The Master said: Out of doors, to tender faithful service to prince and
ministers; at home, to be duteous towards father and elder brothers;
to observe the rites of mourning with the utmost care; to avoid being
overcome with wine:--which of these virtues have I?
In matters pertaining to ceremonies and music, the ancients were more
or less uncivilised in comparison with the refinement of a later age.
Nevertheless, in practice I take the earlier period as my guide.[11]
As an arbiter in litigation I am no better than other men. But surely
the grand object to achieve is that there shall be no litigation at
all.[12]
Wei-sheng Mou,[13] addressing Confucius, said: Ch‘iu, why is it you
keep hopping about thus from place to place? Is it not in order to
show off your fine rhetoric?--Confucius replied: I do not allow myself
to indulge in fine rhetoric; no, it is because I consider obstinacy a
fault.[14]
The Master said: There are none who know me for what I am.--Tzŭ Kung
said: How is it, Sir, that none know you?--The Master replied: I make
no complaint against Heaven, neither do I blame my fellow-men. In the
study of virtue I begin at the bottom and tend upwards.[15] Surely
Heaven knows me for what I am.
Tz‘ŭ, do you look upon me as a man who has studied and retained a
mass of various knowledge?--I do, he replied. Am I wrong?--You are
wrong, said the Master. All my knowledge is strung on one connecting
thread.[16]
I used to spend whole days without food and whole nights without sleep,
in order to meditate.
But I made no progress. Study, I found, was better.
Pi Hsi[17] sent an invitation to Confucius, and the Master wished to
go. Tzŭ Lu, however, said: Once upon a time, Sir, I heard you say
that the nobler sort of man would not enter into intimacy with one
who laid himself out to do wrong. Now Pi Hsi has raised the standard
of rebellion in Chung-mou. How can you think of going thither?--True,
replied the Master. Those were my words. But is there not a saying:
"The hard may be rubbed without losing its substance; the white may be
steeped without losing its purity"? Am I then a bitter gourd--fit only
to be hung up and not eaten?
[1] The wife of the Duke of Wei, notorious for her intrigues, and even
accused of incest. Needless to say, Chinese commentators are at great
pains to explain away this incident in the life of the sage.
[2] A grandson of the legendary Emperor Chuan Hsü. He is said to have
been over 800 years old when he disappeared into the west in the
eleventh century B.C. The last words in the text are taken by some to
mean "our patriarchs Lao Tzŭ and P‘êng Tsu"--Lao Tzŭ being the founder
of Taoism, who is also, by the way, alleged to have disappeared at an
advanced age into the west.
[3] One of the most revered names in Chinese history. The younger
brother of Wu Wang, he helped materially by his wise counsels to
establish the dynasty of Chou. He drew up a legal code, purified the
morals of the people, and devoted himself wholly to the welfare of
the State. Confucius in the reforming zeal of his younger days had
an ardent desire to see the principles and institutions of Chou Kung
brought into general practice.
[4] Legge and others (including even Mr. Ku Hung-ming) make the sense
out to be: "If there were any prospect of my being successful in the
search for riches, I would not hesitate to pursue them by any means
in my power." Thus translated, the Master's saying is grotesquely at
variance with the whole trend of his conduct and the essential spirit
of his teaching. Curiously enough, too, there is nothing in the Chinese
itself, so far as I can see, to justify such a startling interpretation.
[5] That is to say, the wisest men are those who act intuitively,
without having to find their way by any conscious mental process.
Confucius disclaims any such intuitive perception of right and wrong
in his own case, and confesses that he is obliged to rely largely on
objective experience, as acted upon by the critical and receptive
powers of his mind. The saying has a distinctly Taoist flavour.
[6] It is not known exactly what these were--a collection of prayers, a
book of rituals for the dead, or panegyrics on the departed.
[7] Confucius speaks of prayer in the sense made familiar to us by
Coleridge's line: "He prayeth best who loveth best." In this higher
sense his whole life had been one long prayer, and he refuses any
mediation between himself and God. Could antagonism to the ritualistic
spirit be carried much farther than this?
[8] This saying well illustrates the Master's attitude in regard to
ceremonies. He was no stickler for mere outward conformity to rule, so
long as the inner meaning of the ceremony was not affected. Now the
salutation of the Prince was simply intended to be a way of expressing
heart-felt loyalty and respect, and it was only because the new
position seemed less respectful that Confucius opposed the change.
[9] See note on p. 44.
[10] Question and answer are of course parabolical. The enthusiastic
young disciple thinks that his Master, in taking no steps to obtain
official employment, is guilty of "hiding his jewel in a casket," or,
as we should say, "his light under a bushel." Confucius, however, had
a great sense of the responsibility of office, and was loth to thrust
himself forward uninvited. His chance came at last after fifteen years
of waiting, when Duke Ting appointed him governor of the town of
Chung-tu.
[11] Another proof, if one were needed, that Confucius' instincts were
all for simplicity and not elaboration in ceremonies.
[12] Said by Confucius when he was Minister of Justice in Lu.
[13] Evidently an older man, from his use of the personal name, not to
speak of his disrespectful tone.
[14] Confucius, like other great men, was not exempt from the usual
fate of seeing his actions derided and his motives misunderstood. Here
we have a gibe thrown at his wandering from state to state, for the
purpose, it is insinuated, of making a living by his wits. The answer
is, that to have remained in Lu or any other state where he was plainly
not wanted, would have been merely stupid persistency.
[15] This accounts for men taking no notice of him. Most so-called
sages start with grandiose ideals and high-flown utterances, in order
to attract attention.
[16] This is rightly considered to be one of the moat important of the
Master s sayings, because it gives the clue to his whole philosophy and
view of life. The "connecting thread," as we learn from another passage
(see p. 118), is simply the moral life, which consists in being true
to oneself and good to one's neighbour. Confucius wished to impress
upon his disciple that he was no mere amasser of knowledge nor lover
of learning for learning's sake. The one thing necessary, in his eyes,
was to be able to lead, in the highest sense of the word, a moral life,
and this was the real object of all learning, the end and aim of all
knowledge. Throughout the Analects, as we have already seen, the usual
word for "learning" always means or implies the study of virtue, the
striving after self-improvement. Like Socrates, Confucius was purely
a moral philosopher, and would certainly have rejected the sharp
distinction we draw nowadays between mental and moral science.
[17] A rebellious official in the Chin State. On more than one occasion
in his career, Confucius made it plain that he declined to be bound
by narrow convention or hampered by the fear of what people might say
of him. To keep clear of bad associates was no doubt an excellent
principle, but Confucius may have seen some justification for Pi Hsi's
course of action, and in any case he was no longer of an age to be
easily corrupted by evil communications. Knowing that rules were never
meant to be so rigid as to admit of no exceptions, he felt it his
primary duty to go where he could do good. Cf. the visit to Nan Tzŭ (p.
83), the mere idea of which would have horrified an ordinary teacher of
morality.
MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS
The Master said: To learn, and to practise on occasion what one has
learnt--is this not true pleasure? The coming of a friend from a
far-off land--is this not true joy?
Make conscientiousness and sincerity your grand object. Have no friends
not equal to yourself. If you have done wrong, be not ashamed to make
amends.
Observe the bent of a man's will when his father is alive, and his
actions after his father is dead. If during the three years of mourning
he does not swerve from his father's principles, he may be pronounced a
truly filial son.
The Odes[1] are three hundred in number, but their purport may be
summed up in a word:--Have no depraved thoughts.
Observe a man's actions; scrutinise his motives; take note of the
things that give him pleasure. How then can he hide from you what he
really is?
Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become
a teacher of others.
The higher type of man is not like a vessel which is designed for some
Special use.[2]
Study without thought is vain; thought without study is perilous.
Absorption in the study of the supernatural is most harmful.
Yu, shall I tell you what true knowledge is? When you know, to know
that you know, and when you do not know, to know that you do not
know--that is true knowledge.