CHINESE LITERATURE
COMPRISING
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS,
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS,
THE SHI-KING,
THE TRAVELS OF FÂ-HIEN, AND
THE SORROWS OF HAN
WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BY
EPIPHANIUS WILSON, A.M.
REVISED EDITION
1900
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS
Introduction
BOOK
I. On Learning--Miscellaneous Sayings
II. Good Government--Filial Piety--The Superior Man
III. Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music
IV. Social Virtue--Superior and Inferior Man
V. A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous
VI. More Characteristics--Wisdom--Philanthropy
VII. Characteristics of Confucius--An Incident
VIII. Sayings of Tsang--Sentences of the Master
IX. His Favorite Disciple's Opinion of Him
X. Confucius in Private and Official Life
XI. Comparative Worth of His Disciples
XII. The Master's Answers--Philanthropy--Friendships
XIII. Answers on the Art of Governing--Consistency
XIV. Good and Bad Government--Miscellaneous Sayings
XV. Practical Wisdom--Reciprocity the Rule of Life
XVI. Against Intestine Strife--Good and Bad Friendships
XVII. The Master Induced to Take Office--Nature and Habit
XVIII. Good Men in Seclusion--Duke of Chow to His Son
XIX. Teachings of Various Chief Disciples
XX. Extracts from the Book of History
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS
Introduction
Book I. King Hwuy of Lëang.--
Part I
[_Books II., III., and IV. are omitted_]
Book V. Wan Chang.--
Part I
THE SHI-KING
Introduction
_Part I.--Lessons from the States_.
BOOK I.--THE ODES OF CHOW AND THE SOUTH.--
Celebrating the Virtue of King Wan's Bride
Celebrating the Industry of King Wan's Queen
In Praise of a Bride
Celebrating T'ae-Sze's Freedom from Jealousy
The Fruitfulness of the Locust
Lamenting the Absence of a Cherished Friend
Celebrating the Goodness of the Descendants of King Wan
The Virtuous Manners of the Young Women
Praise of a Rabbit-Catcher
The Song of the Plantain-Gatherers
The Affection of the Wives on the Joo
BOOK II.--THE ODES OF SHAOU AND THE SOUTH.--
The Marriage of a Princess
The Industry and Reverence of a Prince's Wife
The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails his Absence
The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer
The Love of the People for the Duke of Shaou
The Easy Dignity of the Officers at Some Court
Anxiety of a Young Lady to Get Married
BOOK III.--THE ODES OF P'EI.--
An Officer Bewails the Neglect with which He is Treated
A Wife Deplores the Absence of Her Husband
The Plaint of a Rejected Wife
Soldiers of Wei Bewail Separation from their Families
An Officer Tells of His Mean Employment
An Officer Sets Forth His Hard Lot
The Complaint of a Neglected Wife
In Praise of a Maiden
Discontent
Chwang Keang Bemoans Her Husband's Cruelty
[_Books IV., V., and VI. are omitted_]
BOOK VII.--THE ODES OF CH'ING.---
The People's Admiration for Duke Woo
A Wife Consoled by Her Husband's Arrival
In Praise of Some Lady
A Man's Praise of His Wife
An Entreaty
A Woman Scorning Her Lover
A Lady Mourns the Absence of Her Student Lover---
BOOK VIII.--THE ODES OF TS'E.--
A Wife Urging Her Husband to Action
The Folly of Useless Effort
The Prince of Loo
BOOK IX.--THE ODES OF WEI.--
On the Misgovernment of the State
The Mean Husband
A Young Soldier on Service
BOOK X.--THE ODES OF T'ANG.--
The King Goes to War
Lament of a Bereaved Person
The Drawbacks of Poverty
A Wife Mourns for Her Husband
BOOK XI.--THE ODES OF TS'IN.--
Celebrating the Opulence of the Lords of Ts'in
A Complaint
A Wife's Grief Because of Her Husband's Absence
Lament for Three Brothers
In Praise of a Ruler of Ts'in
The Generous Nephew
BOOK XII.--THE ODES OF CH'IN.--
The Contentment of a Poor Recluse
The Disappointed Lover
A Love-Song
The Lament of a Lover
BOOK XIII.--THE ODES OF KWEI--
The Wish of an Unhappy Man
BOOK XIV.--THE ODES OF TS'AOU.--
Against Frivolous Pursuits
BOOK XV.--THE ODES OF PIN.--
The Duke of Chow Tells of His Soldiers
There is a Proper Way for Doing Everything
_Part II.--Minor Odes of the Kingdom_.
BOOK I.--DECADE OF LUH MING.--
A Festal Ode
A Festal Ode Complimenting an Officer
The Value of Friendship
The Response to a Festal Ode
An Ode of Congratulation
An Ode on the Return of the Troops
BOOK II.--THE DECADE OF PIH HWA.--
An Ode Appropriate to a Festivity
BOOK III.--THE DECADE OF T'UNG KUNG.--
Celebrating a Hunting Expedition
The King's Anxiety for His Morning Levee
Moral Lessons from Natural Facts
BOOK IV.--THE DECADE OF K'E-FOO.--
On the Completion of a Royal Palace
The Condition of King Seuen's Flocks
BOOK V.--THE DECADE OF SEAOU MIN.--
A Eunuch Complains of His Fate
An Officer Deplores the Misery of the Time
On the Alienation of a Friend
BOOK VI.--THE DECADE OF PIH SHAN.--
A Picture of Husbandry
The Complaint of an Officer
BOOK VII.--DECADE OF SANG HOO.--
The Rejoicings of a Bridegroom
Against Listening to Slanderers
BOOK VIII.--THE DECADE OF TOO JIN SZE.--
In Praise of By-gone Simplicity
A Wife Bemoans Her Husband's Absence
The Earl of Shaou's Work
The Plaint of King Yew's Forsaken Wife
Hospitality
On the Misery of Soldiers
_Part III.--Greater Odes of the Kingdom_.
BOOK I.--DECADE OF KING WAN.--
Celebrating King Wan
[_Book II. is omitted_]
BOOK III.--DECADE OF TANG.--
King Seuen on the Occasion of a Great Drought
_Part IV.--Odes of the Temple and Altar_.
BOOK I.--SACRIFICIAL ODES OF CHOW.--
Appropriate to a Sacrifice to King Wan
On Sacrificing to the Kings Woo, Ching, and K'ang
THE TRAVELS OF FÂ-HIEN
Translator's Introduction
CHAPTER
I. From Ch'ang-gan to the Sandy Desert
II. On to Shen-shen and thence to Khoten
III. Khoten--Processions of Images
IV. Through the Ts'ung Mountains to K'eech-ch'a
V. Great Quinquennial Assembly of Monks
VI. North India--Image of Maitreya Bodhisattva
VII. The Perilous Crossing of the Indus
VIII. Woo-chang, or Udyana--Traces of Buddha
IX. Soo ho-to--Legends of Buddha
X. Gandhara--Legends of Buddha
XI. Takshasila--Legends--The Four Great Topes
XII. Buddha's Alms-bowl--Death of Hwuy-king
XIII. Festival of Buddha's Skull-bone
XIV. Crossing the Indus to the East
XV. Sympathy of Monks with the Pilgrims
XVI. Condition and Customs of Central India
XVII. Legend of the Trayastrimsas Heaven
XVIII. Buddha's Subjects of Discourse
XIX. Legend of Buddha's Danta-kashtha
XX. The Jetavana Vihara--Legends of Buddha
XXI. The Three Predecessors of Sakyamuni
XXII. Legends of Buddha's Birth
XXIII. Legends of Rama and its Tope
XXIV. Where Buddha Renounced the World
XXV. The Kingdom of Vaisali
XXVI. Remarkable Death of Ânanda
XXVII. King Asoka's Spirit-built Palace and Halls
XXVIII. Rajagriha, New and Old--Legends Connected with It
XXIX. Fâ-Hien Passes a Night on Gridhra-kuta Hill
XXX. Srataparna Cave, or Cave of the First Council
XXXI. Sakyamuni's Attaining to the Buddhaship
XXXII. Legend of King Asoka in a Former Birth
XXXIII. Kasyapa Buddha's Skeleton on Mount Gurupada
XXXIV. On the Way Returning to Patna
XXXV. Dakshina, and the Pigeon Monastery
XXXVI. Fâ-Hien's Indian Studies
XXXVII. Fâ-Hien's Stay in Champa and Tamalipti
XXXVIII. At Ceylon--Feats of Buddha--His Statue in Jade
XXXIX. Cremation of an Arhat--Sermon of a Devotee
XL. After Two Years Fâ-Hien Takes Ship for China
Conclusion
THE SORROWS OF HAN
Introduction
Translator's Preface
Dramatis Personae
Prologue
Act First
Act Second
Act Third
Act Fourth
THE ANALECTS
OF
CONFUCIUS
[_Translated into English by William Jennings_]
PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES
_j_, as in French.
_ng_, commencing a word, like the same letters terminating one.
_ai_ or _ei_, as in _aisle_ or _eider_.
_au_, as in German, or like _ow_ in _cow_.
_é_, as in _fête_.
_i_ (not followed by a consonant), as _ee_ in _see_.
_u_ (followed by a consonant), as in _bull_.
_iu_, as _ew_ in _new_.
_ui_, as _ooi_ in _cooing_.
_h_ at the end of a name makes the preceding vowel short.
_i_ in the middle of a word denotes an aspirate (_h_), as _K'ung_=Khung.
INTRODUCTION
The strangest figure that meets us in the annals of Oriental thought is
that of Confucius. To the popular mind he is the founder of a religion,
and yet he has nothing in common with the great religious teachers of
the East. We think of Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism, as the very
impersonation of romantic asceticism, enthusiastic self-sacrifice, and
faith in the things that are invisible. Zoroaster is the friend of God,
talking face to face with the Almighty, and drinking wisdom and
knowledge from the lips of Omniscience. Mohammed is represented as
snatched up into heaven, where he receives the Divine communication
which he is bidden to propagate with fire and sword throughout the
world. These great teachers lived in an atmosphere of the supernatural.
They spoke with the authority of inspired prophets. They brought the
unseen world close to the minds of their disciples. They spoke
positively of immortality, of reward or punishment beyond the grave. The
present life they despised, the future was to them everything in its
promised satisfaction. The teachings of Confucius were of a very
different sort. Throughout his whole writings he has not even mentioned
the name of God. He declined to discuss the question of immortality.
When he was asked about spiritual beings, he remarked, "If we cannot
even know men, how can we know spirits?"
Yet this was the man the impress of whose teaching has formed the
national character of five hundred millions of people. A temple to
Confucius stands to this day in every town and village of China. His
precepts are committed to memory by every child from the tenderest age,
and each year at the royal university at Pekin the Emperor holds a
festival in honor of the illustrious teacher.
The influence of Confucius springs, first of all, from the narrowness
and definiteness of his doctrine. He was no transcendentalist, and never
meddled with supramundane things. His teaching was of the earth, earthy;
it dealt entirely with the common relations of life, and the Golden Rule
he must necessarily have stumbled upon, as the most obvious canon of his
system. He strikes us as being the great Stoic of the East, for he
believed that virtue was based on knowledge, knowledge of a man's own
heart, and knowledge of human-kind. There is a pathetic resemblance
between the accounts given of the death of Confucius and the death of
Zeno. Both died almost without warning in dreary hopelessness, without
the ministrations of either love or religion. This may be a mere
coincidence, but the lives and teachings of both men must have led them
to look with indifference upon such an end. For Confucius in his
teaching treated only of man's life on earth, and seems to have had no
ideas with regard to the human lot after death; if he had any ideas he
preserved an inscrutable silence about them. As a moralist he prescribed
the duties of the king and of the father, and advocated the cultivation
by the individual man of that rest or apathy of mind which resembles so
much the disposition aimed at by the Greek and Roman Stoic. Even as a
moralist, he seems to have sacrificed the ideal to the practical, and
his loose notions about marriage, his tolerance of concubinage, the
slight emphasis which he lays on the virtue of veracity--of which indeed
he does not seem himself to have been particularly studious in his
historic writings--place him low down in the rank of moralists. Yet he
taught what he felt the people could receive, and the flat mediocrity of
his character and his teachings has been stamped forever upon a people
who, while they are kindly, gentle, forbearing, and full of family
piety, are palpably lacking not only in the exaltation of Mysticism, but
in any religious feeling, generally so-called.
The second reason that made the teaching of Confucius so influential is
based on the circumstances of the time. When this thoughtful, earnest
youth awoke to the consciousness of life about him, he saw that the
abuses under which the people groaned sprang from the feudal system,
which cut up the country into separate territories, over which the power
of the king had no control. China was in the position of France in the
years preceding Philippe-Auguste, excepting that there were no places of
sanctuary and no Truce of God. The great doctrine of Confucius was the
unlimited despotism of the Emperor, and his moral precepts were intended
to teach the Emperor how to use his power aright. But the Emperor was
only typical of all those in authority--the feudal duke, the judge on
the bench, and the father of the family. Each could discharge his duties
aright only by submitting to the moral discipline which Confucius
prescribed. A vital element in this system is its conservatism, its
adherence to the imperial idea. As James I said, "No bishop, no king,"
so the imperialists of China have found in Confucianism the strongest
basis for the throne, and have supported its dissemination accordingly.
The Analects of Confucius contain the gist of his teachings, and is
worthy of study. We find in this work most of the precepts which his
disciples have preserved and recorded. They form a code remarkable for
simplicity, even crudity, and we are compelled to admire the force of
character, the practical sagacity, the insight into the needs of the
hour, which enabled Confucius, without claiming any Divine sanction, to
impose this system upon his countrymen.
The name Confucius is only the Latinized form of two words which mean
"Master K'ung." He was born 551 B.C., his father being governor of
Shantung. He was married at nineteen, and seems to have occupied some
minor position under the government. In his twenty-fourth year he
entered upon the three years' mourning for the death of his mother. His
seclusion gave him time for deep thought and the study of history, and
he resolved upon the regeneration of his unhappy country. By the time he
was thirty he became known as a great teacher, and disciples flocked to
him. But he was yet occupied in public duties, and rose through
successive stages to the office of Chief Judge in his own country of Lu.
His tenure of office is said to have put an end to crime, and he became
the "idol of the people" in his district. The jealousy of the feudal
lords was roused by his fame as a moral teacher and a blameless judge.
Confucius was driven from his home, and wandered about, with a few
disciples, until his sixty-ninth year, when he returned to Lu, after
accomplishing a work which has borne fruit, such as it is, to the
present day. He spent the remaining five years of his life in editing
the odes and historic monuments in which the glories of the ancient
Chinese dynasty are set forth. 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. All
kings honor thee. Thy statutes and laws have come gloriously down. Thou
art the pattern in this imperial school. Reverently have the sacrificial
vessels been set out. Full of awe, we sound our drums and bells."
E. W.
THE ANALECTS
BOOK I
On Learning--Miscellaneous Sayings:--
"To learn," said the Master, "and then to practise opportunely what one
has learnt--does not this bring with it a sense of satisfaction?
"To have associates in study coming to one from distant parts--does not
this also mean pleasure in store?
"And are not those who, while not comprehending all that is said, still
remain not unpleased to hear, men of the superior order?"
A saying of the Scholar Yu:--
"It is rarely the case that those who act the part of true men in regard
to their duty to parents and elder brothers are at the same time willing
to turn currishly upon their superiors: it has never yet been the case
that such as desire not to commit that offence have been men willing to
promote anarchy or disorder.
"Men of superior mind busy themselves first in getting at the root of
things; and when they have succeeded in this the right course is open to
them. Well, are not filial piety and friendly subordination among
brothers a root of that right feeling which is owing generally from man
to man?"
The Master observed, "Rarely do we meet with the right feeling due from
one man to another where there is fine speech and studied mien."
The Scholar Tsang once said of himself: "On three points I examine
myself daily, viz., whether, in looking after other people's interests,
I have not been acting whole-heartedly; whether, in my intercourse with
friends, I have not been true; and whether, after teaching, I have not
myself been practising what I have taught."
The Master once observed that to rule well one of the larger States
meant strict attention to its affairs and conscientiousness on the part
of the ruler; careful husbanding of its resources, with at the same time
a tender care for the interests of all classes; and the employing of the
masses in the public service at suitable seasons.
"Let young people," said he, "show filial piety at home, respectfulness
towards their elders when away from home; let them be circumspect, be
truthful; their love going out freely towards all, cultivating good-will
to men. And if, in such a walk, there be time or energy left for other
things, let them employ it in the acquisition of literary or artistic
accomplishments."
The disciple Tsz-hiá said, "The appreciation of worth in men of worth,
thus diverting the mind from lascivious desires--ministering to parents
while one is the most capable of so doing--serving one's ruler when one
is able to devote himself entirely to that object--being sincere in
one's language in intercourse with friends: this I certainly must call
evidence of learning, though others may say there has been 'no
learning.'"
Sayings of the Master:--
"If the great man be not grave, he will not be revered, neither can his
learning be solid.
"Give prominent place to loyalty and sincerity.
"Have no associates in study who are not advanced somewhat like
yourself.
"When you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself."
A saying of the Scholar Tsang:--
"The virtue of the people is renewed and enriched when attention is seen
to be paid to the departed, and the remembrance of distant ancestors
kept and cherished."
Tsz-k'in put this query to his fellow disciple Tsz-kung: said he, "When
our Master comes to this or that State, he learns without fail how it is
being governed. Does he investigate matters? or are the facts given
him?"
Tsz-kung answered, "Our Master is a man of pleasant manners, and of
probity, courteous, moderate, and unassuming: it is by his being such
that he arrives at the facts. Is not his way of arriving at things
different from that of others?"
A saying of the Master:--
"He who, after three years' observation of the will of his father when
alive, or of his past conduct if dead, does not deviate from that
father's ways, is entitled to be called 'a dutiful son.'"
Sayings of the Scholar Yu:--
"For the practice of the Rules of Propriety,[1] one excellent way is to
be natural. This naturalness became a great grace in the practice of
kings of former times; let everyone, small or great, follow their
example.
"It is not, however, always practicable; and it is not so in the case of
a person who does things naturally, knowing that he should act so, and
yet who neglects to regulate his acts according to the Rules.
"When truth and right are hand in hand, a statement will bear
repetition. When respectfulness and propriety go hand in hand, disgrace
and shame are kept afar-off. Remove all occasion for alienating those to
whom you are bound by close ties, and you have them still to resort to."
A saying of the Master:--
"The man of greater mind who, when he is eating, craves not to eat to
the full; who has a home, but craves not for comforts in it; who is
active and earnest in his work and careful in his words; who makes
towards men of high principle, and so maintains his own rectitude--that
man may be styled a devoted student."
Tsz-kung asked, "What say you, sir, of the poor who do not cringe and
fawn; and what of the rich who are without pride and haughtiness?" "They
are passable," the Master replied; "yet they are scarcely in the same
category as the poor who are happy, and the rich who love propriety."
"In the 'Book of the Odes,'" Tsz-kung went on to say, "we read of one
Polished, as by the knife and file,
The graving-tool, the smoothing-stone.
Does that coincide with your remark?"
"Ah! such as you," replied the Master, "may well commence a discussion
on the Odes. If one tell you how a thing goes, you know what ought to
come."
"It does not greatly concern me," said the Master, "that men do not know
me; my great concern is, my not knowing them."
[Footnote 1: An important part of a Chinaman's education still. The
text-book, "The Li Ki," contains rules for behavior and propriety for
the whole life, from the cradle to the grave.]
BOOK II
Good Government--Filial Piety--The Superior Man
Sayings of the Master:--
"Let a ruler base his government upon virtuous principles, and he will
be like the pole-star, which remains steadfast in its place, while all
the host of stars turn towards it.
"The 'Book of Odes' contains three hundred pieces, but one expression in
it may be taken as covering the purport of all, viz., Unswerving
mindfulness.
"To govern simply by statute, and to reduce all to order by means of
pains and penalties, is to render the people evasive, and devoid of any
sense of shame.
"To govern upon principles of virtue, and to reduce them to order by the
Rules of Propriety, would not only create in them the sense of shame,
but would moreover reach them in all their errors.
"When I attained the age of fifteen, I became bent upon study. At
thirty, I was a confirmed student. At forty, nought could move me from
my course. At fifty, I comprehended the will and decrees of Heaven. At
sixty, my ears were attuned to them. At seventy, I could follow my
heart's desires, without overstepping the lines of rectitude."
To a question of Mang-i, as to what filial piety consisted in, the
master replied, "In not being perverse." Afterwards, when Fan Ch'i was
driving him, the Master informed him of this question and answer, and
Fan Ch'i asked, "What was your meaning?" The Master replied, "I meant
that the Rules of Propriety should always be adhered to in regard to
those who brought us into the world: in ministering to them while
living, in burying them when dead, and afterwards in the offering to
them of sacrificial gifts."
To a query of Mang Wu respecting filial piety, the Master replied,
"Parents ought to bear but one trouble--that of their own sickness."
To a like question put by Tsz-yu, his reply was this: "The filial piety
of the present day simply means the being able to support one's
parents--which extends even to the case of dogs and horses, all of which
may have something to give in the way of support. If there be no
reverential feeling in the matter, what is there to distinguish between
the cases?"
To a like question of Tsz-hia, he replied: "The manner is the
difficulty. If, in the case of work to be done, the younger folks simply
take upon themselves the toil of it; or if, in the matter of meat and
drink, they simply set these before their elders--is this to be taken as
filial piety?"
Once the Master remarked, "I have conversed with Hwúi the whole day
long, and he has controverted nothing that I have said, as if he were
without wits. But when his back was turned, and I looked attentively at
his conduct apart from me, I found it satisfactory in all its issues.
No, indeed! Hwúi is not without his wits."
Other observations of the Master:--
"If you observe what things people (usually) take in hand, watch their
motives, and note particularly what it is that gives them satisfaction,
shall they be able to conceal from you what they are? Conceal
themselves, indeed!
"Be versed in ancient lore, and familiarize yourself with the modern;
then may you become teachers.
"The great man is not a mere receptacle."
In reply to Tsz-kung respecting the great man:--
"What he first says, as a result of his experience, he afterwards
follows up.
"The great man is catholic-minded, and not one-sided. The common man is
the reverse.
"Learning, without thought, is a snare; thought, without learning, is a
danger.
"Where the mind is set much upon heterodox principles--there truly and
indeed is harm."
To the disciple Tsz-lu the Master said, "Shall I give you a lesson about
knowledge? When you know a thing, maintain that you know it; and when
you do not, acknowledge your ignorance. This is characteristic of
knowledge."
Tsz-chang was studying with an eye to official income. The Master
addressed him thus: "Of the many things you hear hold aloof from those
that are doubtful, and speak guardedly with reference to the rest; your
mistakes will then be few. Also, of the many courses you see adopted,
hold aloof from those that are risky, and carefully follow the others;
you will then seldom have occasion for regret. Thus, being seldom
mistaken in your utterances, and having few occasions for regret in the
line you take, you are on the high road to your preferment."
To a question put to him by Duke Ngai [2] as to what should be done in
order to render the people submissive to authority, Confucius replied,
"Promote the straightforward, and reject those whose courses are
crooked, and the thing will be effected. Promote the crooked and reject
the straightforward, and the effect will be the reverse."
When Ki K'ang [3] asked of him how the people could be induced to show
respect, loyalty, and willingness to be led, the Master answered, "Let
there be grave dignity in him who has the oversight of them, and they
will show him respect; let him be seen to be good to his own parents,
and kindly in disposition, and they will be loyal to him; let him
promote those who have ability, and see to the instruction of those who
have it not, and they will be willing to be led."
Some one, speaking to Confucius, inquired, "Why, sir, are you not an
administrator of government?" The Master rejoined, "What says the 'Book
of the Annals,' with reference to filial duty?--'Make it a point to be
dutiful to your parents and amicable with your brethren; the same duties
extend to an administrator.' If these, then, also make an administrator,
how am I to take your words about being an administrator?"
On one occasion the Master remarked, "I know not what men are good for,
on whose word no reliance can be placed. How should your carriages,
large or little, get along without your whipple-trees or swing-trees?"
Tsz-chang asked if it were possible to forecast the state of the country
ten generations hence. The Master replied in this manner: "The Yin
dynasty adopted the rules and manners of the Hiá line of kings, and it
is possible to tell whether it retrograded or advanced. The Chow line
has followed the Yin, adopting its ways, and whether there has been
deterioration or improvement may also be determined. Some other line may
take up in turn those of Chow; and supposing even this process to go on
for a hundred generations, the result may be known."
Other sayings of the Master:--
"It is but flattery to make sacrificial offerings to departed spirits
not belonging to one's own family.
"It is moral cowardice to leave undone what one perceives to be right to
do."
[Footnote 2: Of Lu (Confucius's native State).]
[Footnote 3: Head of one of the "Three Families" of Lu.]
BOOK III
Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music
Alluding to the head of the Ki family, [4] and the eight lines of
posturers [5] before their ancestral hall, Confucius remarked, "If the
Ki can allow himself to go to this extent, to what extent will he not
allow himself to go?"
The Three Families [6] were in the habit, during the Removal of the
sacred vessels after sacrifice, of using the hymn commencing,
"Harmoniously the Princes
Draw near with reverent tread,
Assisting in his worship
Heaven's Son, the great and dread."
"How," exclaimed the Master, "can such words be appropriated in the
ancestral hall of the Three Families?"
"Where a man," said he again, "has not the proper feelings due from one
man to another, how will he stand as regards the Rules of Propriety? And
in such a case, what shall we say of his sense of harmony?"
On a question being put to him by Lin Fang, a disciple, as to what was
the radical idea upon which the Rules of Propriety were based, the
Master exclaimed, "Ah! that is a large question. As to some rules, where
there is likelihood of extravagance, they would rather demand economy;
in those which relate to mourning, and where there is likelihood of
being easily satisfied, what is wanted is real sorrow."
Speaking of the disorder of the times he remarked that while the
barbarians on the North and East had their Chieftains, we here in this
great country had nothing to compare with them in that respect:--we had
lost these distinctions!
Alluding to the matter of the Chief of the Ki family worshipping on
Tai-shan, [7] the Master said to Yen Yu, "Cannot you save him from this?"
He replied, "It is beyond my power." "Alas, alas!" exclaimed the Master,
"are we to say that the spirits of T'ai-shan have not as much
discernment as Lin Fang?"
Of "the superior man," the Master observed, "In him there is no
contentiousness. Say even that he does certainly contend with others, as
in archery competitions; yet mark, in that case, how courteously he will
bow and go up for the forfeit-cup, and come down again and give it to
his competitor. In his very contest he is still the superior man."
Tsz-hiá once inquired what inference might be drawn from the lines--
"Dimples playing in witching smile,
Beautiful eyes, so dark, so bright!
Oh, and her face may be thought the while
Colored by art, red rose on white!"
"Coloring," replied the Master, "requires a pure and clear background."
"Then," said the other, "rules of ceremony require to have a
background!" "Ah!" exclaimed the Master, "you are the man to catch the
drift of my thought. Such as you may well introduce a discussion on the
Odes."
Said the Master, "As regards the ceremonial adopted and enforced by the
Hiá dynasty, I am able to describe it, although their own descendants in
the State of Ki can adduce no adequate testimony in favor of its use
there. So, too, I am able to describe the ceremonial of the Yin dynasty,
although no more can the Sung people show sufficient reason for its
continuance amongst themselves. And why cannot they do so? Because they
have not documents enough, nor men learned enough. If only they had
such, I could refer them to them in support of their usages.
"When I am present at the great quinquennial sacrifice to the _manes_ of
the royal ancestors," the Master said, "from the pouring-out of the
oblation onwards, I have no heart to look on."
Some one asked what was the purport of this great sacrifice, and the
Master replied, "I cannot tell. The position in the empire of him who
could tell you is as evident as when you look at this"--pointing to the
palm of his hand.
When he offered sacrifices to his ancestors, he used to act as if they
were present before him. In offering to other spirits it was the same.
He would say, "If I do not myself take part in my offerings, it is all
the same as if I did not offer them."
Wang-sun Kiá asked him once, "What says the proverb, 'Better to court
favor in the kitchen than in the drawing-room'?" The Master replied,
"Nay, better say, He who has sinned against Heaven has none other to
whom prayer may be addressed."
Of the Chow dynasty the Master remarked, "It looks back upon two other
dynasties; and what a rich possession it has in its records of those
times! I follow Chow!"
On his first entry into the grand temple, he inquired about every matter
connected with its usages. Some one thereupon remarked, "Who says that
the son of the man of Tsou [8] understands about ceremonial? On entering
the grand temple he inquired about everything." This remark coming to
the Master's ears, he said, "What I did is part of the ceremonial!"
"In archery," he said, "the great point to be observed is not simply the
perforation of the leather; for men have not all the same strength. That
was the fashion in the olden days."
Once, seeing that his disciple Tsz-kung was desirous that the ceremonial
observance of offering a sheep at the new moon might be dispensed with,
the Master said, "Ah! you grudge the loss of the sheep; I grudge the
loss of the ceremony."
"To serve one's ruler nowadays," he remarked, "fully complying with the
Rules of Propriety, is regarded by others as toadyism!"
When Duke Ting questioned him as to how a prince should deal with his
ministers, and how they in turn should serve their prince, Confucius
said in reply, "In dealing with his ministers a prince should observe
the proprieties; in serving his prince a minister should observe the
duty of loyalty."
Referring to the First of the Odes, he remarked that it was mirthful
without being lewd, and sad also without being painful.
Duke Ngai asked the disciple Tsai Wo respecting the places for
sacrificing to the Earth. The latter replied, "The Family of the Great
Yu, of the Hiá dynasty, chose a place of pine trees; the Yin founders
chose cypresses; and the Chow founders chestnut trees, solemn and
majestic, to inspire, 'tis said, the people with feelings of awe."
The Master on hearing of this exclaimed, "Never an allusion to things
that have been enacted in the past! Never a remonstrance against what is
now going on! He has gone away without a word of censure."
The Master once said of Kwan Chung, [9] "A small-minded man indeed!"
"Was he miserly?" some one asked.
"Miserly, indeed!" said he; "not that: he married three rimes, and he
was not a man who restricted his official business to too few hands--how
could he be miserly?"
"He knew the Rules of Propriety, I suppose?"
"Judge:--Seeing that the feudal lords planted a screen at their gates,
he too would have one at his! Seeing that when any two of the feudal
lords met in friendly conclave they had an earthenware stand on which to
place their inverted cups after drinking, he must have the same! If he
knew the Rules of Propriety, who is there that does not know them?"
In a discourse to the Chief Preceptor of Music at the court of Lu, the
Master said, "Music is an intelligible thing. When you begin a
performance, let all the various instruments produce as it were one
sound (inharmonious); then, as you go on, bring out the harmony fully,
distinctly, and with uninterrupted flow, unto the end."
The warden of the border-town of I requested an interview with
Confucius, and said, "When great men have come here, I have never yet
failed to obtain a sight of them." The followers introduced him; and, on
leaving, he said to them, "Sirs, why grieve at his loss of office? The
empire has for long been without good government; and Heaven is about to
use your master as its edict-announcer."
Comparing the music of the emperor Shun with the music of King Wu, the
Master said, "That of Shun is beautiful throughout, and also good
throughout. That of Wu is all of it beautiful, but scarcely all of it
good."
"High station," said the Master, "occupied by men who have no large and
generous heart; ceremonial performed with no reverence; duties of
mourning engaging the attention, where there is absence of sorrow;--how
should I look on, where this is the state of things?"
[Footnote 4: The Chief of the Ki clan was virtually the Duke of Lu,
under whom Confucius for a time held office.]
[Footnote 5: These posturers were mutes who took part in the ritual of
the ancestral temple, waving plumes, flags, etc. Each line or rank of
these contained eight men. Only in the sovereign's household should
there have been eight lines of them; a ducal family like the Ki should
have had but six lines; a great official had four, and one of lower
grade two. These were the gradations marking the status of families, and
Confucius's sense of propriety was offended at the Ki's usurping in this
way the appearance of royalty.]
[Footnote 6: Three great families related to each other, in whose hands
the government of the State of Lu then was, and of which the Ki was the
chief.]
[Footnote 7: One of the five sacred mountains, worshipped upon only by
the sovereign.]
[Footnote 8: Tsou was Confucius's birthplace; his father was governor of
the town.]
[Footnote 9: A renowned statesman who flourished about two hundred years
before Confucius's time. A philosophical work on law and government,
said to have been written by him, is still extant. He was regarded as a
sage by the people, but he lacked, in Confucius's eyes, the one thing
needful--propriety.]
BOOK IV
Social Virtue--Superior and Inferior Man
Sayings of the Master:--
"It is social good feeling that gives charm to a neighborhood. And where
is the wisdom of those who choose an abode where it does not abide?
"Those who are without it cannot abide long, either in straitened or in
happy circumstances. Those who possess it find contentment in it. Those
who are wise go after it as men go after gain.
"Only they in whom it exists can have right likings and dislikings for
others.
"Where the will is set upon it, there will be no room for malpractices.
"Riches and honor are what men desire; but if they arrive at them by
improper ways, they should not continue to hold them. Poverty and low
estate are what men dislike; but if they arrive at such a condition by
improper ways, they should not refuse it.
"If the 'superior man' make nought of social good feeling, how shall he
fully bear that name?
"Not even whilst he eats his meal will the 'superior man' forget what he
owes to his fellow-men. Even in hurried leave-takings, even in moments
of frantic confusion, he keeps true to this virtue.
"I have not yet seen a lover of philanthropy, nor a hater of
misanthropy--such, that the former did not take occasion to magnify that
virtue in himself, and that the latter, in his positive practice of
philanthropy, did not, at times, allow in his presence something
savoring of misanthropy.
"Say you, is there any one who is able for one whole day to apply the
energy of his mind to this virtue? Well, I have not seen any one whose
energy was not equal to it. It may be there are such, but I have never
met with them.
"The faults of individuals are peculiar to their particular class and
surroundings; and it is by observing their faults that one comes to
understand the condition of their good feelings towards their fellows.
"One may hear the right way in the morning, and at evening die.
"The scholar who is intent upon learning the right way, and who is yet
ashamed of poor attire and poor food, is not worthy of being discoursed
with.
"The masterly man's attitude to the world is not exclusively this or
that: whatsoever is right, to that he will be a party.
"The masterly man has an eye to virtue, the common man, to earthly
things; the former has an eye to penalties for error--the latter, to
favor.
"Where there is habitual going after gain, there is much ill-will.
"When there is ability in a ruler to govern a country by adhering to the
Rules of Propriety, and by kindly condescension, what is wanted more?
Where the ability to govern thus is wanting, what has such a ruler to do
with the Rules of Propriety?
"One should not be greatly concerned at not being in office; but rather
about the requirements in one's self for such a standing. Neither should
one be so much concerned at being unknown; but rather with seeking to
become worthy of being known."
Addressing his disciple Tsang Sin, the Master said, "Tsang Sin, the
principles which I inculcate have one main idea upon which they all
hang." "Aye, surely," he replied.
When the Master was gone out the other disciples asked what was the
purport of this remark. Tsang's answer was, "The principles of our
Master's teaching are these--whole-heartedness and kindly forbearance;
these and nothing more."
Other observations of the Master:--
"Men of loftier mind manifest themselves in their equitable dealings;
small-minded men in their going after gain.
"When you meet with men of worth, think how you may attain to their
level; when you see others of an opposite character, look within, and
examine yourself.
"A son, in ministering to his parents, may (on occasion) offer gentle
remonstrances; when he sees that their will is not to heed such, he
should nevertheless still continue to show them reverent respect, never
obstinacy; and if he have to suffer, let him do so without murmuring.
"Whilst the parents are still living, he should not wander far; or, if a
wanderer, he should at least have some fixed address.
"If for three years he do not veer from the principles of his father, he
may be called a dutiful son.
"A son should not ignore the years of his parents. On the one hand, they
may be a matter for rejoicing (that they have been so many), and on the
other, for apprehension (that so few remain).
"People in olden times were loth to speak out, fearing the disgrace of
not being themselves as good as their words.
"Those who keep within restraints are seldom losers.
"To be slow to speak, but prompt to act, is the desire of the 'superior
man.'
"Virtue dwells not alone: she must have neighbors."
An observation of Tsz-yu:--
"Officiousness, in the service of princes, leads to disgrace: among
friends, to estrangement."
BOOK V
A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous
The Master pronounced Kung-ye Ch'ang, a disciple, to be a marriageable
person; for although lying bound in criminal fetters he had committed no
crime. And he gave him his own daughter to wife.
Of Nan Yung, a disciple, he observed, that in a State where the
government was well conducted he would not be passed over in its
appointments, and in one where the government was ill conducted he would
evade punishment and disgrace. And he caused his elder brother's
daughter to be given in marriage to him.
Of Tsz-tsien, a disciple, he remarked, "A superior man indeed is the
like of him! But had there been none of superior quality in Lu, how
should this man have attained to this excellence?"
Tsz-kung asked, "What of me, then?" "You," replied the Master--"You are
a receptacle." "Of what sort?" said he. "One for high and sacred use,"
was the answer.
Some one having observed of Yen Yung that he was good-natured towards
others, but that he lacked the gift of ready speech, the Master said,
"What need of that gift? To stand up before men and pour forth a stream
of glib words is generally to make yourself obnoxious to them. I know
not about his good-naturedness; but at any rate what need of that gift?"
When the Master proposed that Tsi-tiau K'ai should enter the government
service, the latter replied, "I can scarcely credit it." The Master was
gratified.
"Good principles are making no progress," once exclaimed the Master. "If
I were to take a raft, and drift about on the sea, would Tsz-lu, I
wonder, be my follower there?" That disciple was delighted at hearing
the suggestion; whereupon the Master continued, "He surpasses me in his
love of deeds of daring. But he does not in the least grasp the pith of
my remark."
In reply to a question put to him by Mang Wu respecting Tsz-lu--as to
whether he might be called good-natured towards others, the Master said,
"I cannot tell"; but, on the question being put again, he answered,
"Well, in an important State [10] he might be intrusted with the
management of the military levies; but I cannot answer for his good
nature."
"What say you then of Yen Yu?"
"As for Yen," he replied, "in a city of a thousand families, or in a
secondary fief, [11] he might be charged with the governorship; but I
cannot answer for his good-naturedness."
"Take Tsz-hwa, then; what of him?"
"Tsz-hwa," said he, "with a cincture girt upon him, standing as
attendant at Court, might be charged with the addressing of visitors and
guests; but as to his good-naturedness I cannot answer."
Addressing Tsz-kung, the Master said, "Which of the two is ahead of the
other--yourself or Hwúi?" "How shall I dare," he replied, "even to look
at Hwúi? Only let him hear one particular, and from that he knows ten;
whereas I, if I hear one, may from it know two."
"You are not a match for him, I grant you," said the Master. "You are
not his match."
Tsai Yu, a disciple, used to sleep in the daytime. Said the Master, "One
may hardly carve rotten wood, or use a trowel to the wall of a
manure-yard! In his case, what is the use of reprimand?
"My attitude towards a man in my first dealings with him," he added,
"was to listen to his professions and to trust to his conduct. My
attitude now is to listen to his professions, and to watch his conduct.
My experience with Tsai Yu has led to this change.
"I have never seen," said the Master, "a man of inflexible firmness."
Some one thereupon mentioned Shin Ch'ang, a disciple. "Ch'ang," said he,
"is wanton; where do you get at his inflexibleness?"
Tsz-kung made the remark: "That which I do not wish others to put upon
me, I also wish not to put upon others." "Nay," said the Master, "you
have not got so far as that."
The same disciple once remarked, "There may be access so as to hear the
Master's literary discourses, but when he is treating of human nature
and the way of Heaven, there may not be such success."
Tsz-lu, after once hearing him upon some subject, and feeling himself as
yet incompetent to carry into practice what he had heard, used to be
apprehensive only lest he should hear the subject revived.
Tsz-kung asked how it was that Kung Wan had come to be so styled Wan
(the talented). The Master's answer was, "Because, though a man of an
active nature, he was yet fond of study, and he was not ashamed to stoop
to put questions to his inferiors."
Respecting Tsz-ch'an,[12] the Master said that he had four of the
essential qualities of the 'superior man':--in his own private walk he
was humble-minded; in serving his superiors he was deferential; in his
looking after the material welfare of the people he was generously kind;
and in his exaction of public service from the latter he was just.
Speaking of Yen Ping, he said, "He was one who was happy in his mode of
attaching men to him. However long the intercourse, he was always
deferential to them."
Referring to Tsang Wan, he asked, "What is to be said of this man's
discernment?--this man with his tortoise-house, with the pillar-heads
and posts bedizened with scenes of hill and mere!"
Tsz-chang put a question relative to the chief Minister of Tsu, Tsz-wan.
He said, "Three times he became chief Minister, and on none of these
occasions did he betray any sign of exultation. Three times his ministry
came to an end, and he showed no sign of chagrin. He used without fail
to inform the new Minister as to the old mode of administration. What
say you of him?"
"That he was a loyal man," said the Master.
"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" said the disciple.
"Of that I am not sure," he answered; "how am I to get at that?"
The disciple went on to say:--"After the assassination of the prince of
Ts'i by the officer Ts'ui, the latter's fellow-official Ch'in Wan, who
had half a score teams of horses, gave up all, and turned his back upon
him. On coming to another State, he observed, 'There are here characters
somewhat like that of our minister Ts'ui,' and he turned his back upon
them. Proceeding to a certain other State, he had occasion to make the
same remark, and left. What say you of him?"
"That he was a pure-minded man," answered the Master.
"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" urged the disciple.
"Of that I am not sure," he replied; "how am I to get at that?"
Ki Wan was one who thought three times over a thing before he acted. The
Master hearing this of him, observed, "Twice would have been enough."
Of Ning Wu, the Master said that when matters went well in the State he
used to have his wits about him: but when they went wrong, he lost them.
His intelligence might be equalled, but not his witlessness!
Once, when the Master lived in the State of Ch'in, he exclaimed, "Let me
get home again! Let me get home! My school-children [13] are wild and
impetuous! Though they are somewhat accomplished, and perfect in one
sense in their attainments, yet they know not how to make nice
discriminations."
Of Peh-I and Shuh Ts'i he said, "By the fact of their not remembering
old grievances, they gradually did away with resentment."
Of Wei-shang Kau he said, "Who calls him straightforward? A person once
begged some vinegar of him, and he begged it from a neighbor, and then
presented him with it!"
"Fine speech," said he, "and studied mien, and superfluous show of
deference--of such things Tso-k'iu Ming was ashamed, I too am ashamed of
such things. Also of hiding resentment felt towards an opponent and
treating him as a friend--of this kind of thing he was ashamed, and so
too am I."
Attended once by the two disciples Yen Yuen and Tsz-lu, he said, "Come
now, why not tell me, each of you, what in your hearts you are really
after?"
"I should like," said Tsz-lu, "for myself and my friends and associates,
carriages and horses, and to be clad in light furs! nor would I mind
much if they should become the worse for wear."
"And I should like," said Yen Yuen, "to live without boasting of my
abilities, and without display of meritorious deeds."
Tsz-lu then said, "I should like, sir, to hear what your heart is set
upon."
The Master replied, "It is this:--in regard to old people, to give them
quiet and comfort; in regard to friends and associates, to be faithful
to them; in regard to the young, to treat them with fostering affection
and kindness."
On one occasion the Master exclaimed, "Ah, 'tis hopeless! I have not yet
seen the man who can see his errors, so as inwardly to accuse himself."
"In a small cluster of houses there may well be," said he, "some whose
integrity and sincerity may compare with mine; but I yield to none in
point of love of learning."
[Footnote 10: Lit., a State of 1,000 war chariots.]
[Footnote 11: Lit., a House of 100 war chariots.]
[Footnote 12: A great statesman of Confucius's time.]
[Footnote 13: A familiar way of speaking of his disciples in their
hearing.]
BOOK VI
More Characteristics--Wisdom--Philanthropy
Of Yen Yung, a disciple, the Master said, "Yung might indeed do for a
prince!"
On being asked by this Yen Yung his opinion of a certain individual, the
Master replied, "He is passable. Impetuous, though."
"But," argued the disciple, "if a man habituate himself to a reverent
regard for duty--even while in his way of doing things he is
impetuous--in the oversight of the people committed to his charge, is he
not passable? If, on the other hand, he habituate himself to impetuosity
of mind, and show it also in his way of doing things, is he not then
over-impetuous?"
"You are right," said the Master.
When the Duke Ngai inquired which of the disciples were devoted to
learning, Confucius answered him, "There was one Yen Hwúi who loved
it--a man whose angry feelings towards any particular person he did not
suffer to visit upon another; a man who would never fall into the same
error twice. Unfortunately his allotted time was short, and he died, and
now his like is not to be found; I have never heard of one so devoted to
learning."
While Tsz-hwa, a disciple, was away on a mission to Ts'i, the disciple
Yen Yu, on behalf of his mother, applied for some grain. "Give her three
pecks," said the Master. He applied for more. "Give her eight, then."
Yen gave her fifty times that amount. The Master said, "When Tsz-hwa
went on that journey to Ts'i, he had well-fed steeds yoked to his
carriage, and was arrayed in light furs. I have learnt that the
'superior man' should help those whose needs are urgent, not help the
rich to be more rich."
When Yuen Sz became prefect under him, he gave him nine hundred measures
of grain, but the prefect declined to accept them.[14] "You must not,"
said the Master. "May they not be of use to the villages and hamlets
around you?"
Speaking of Yen Yung again, the Master said, "If the offspring of a
speckled ox be red in color, and horned, even though men may not wish to
take it for sacrifice, would the spirits of the hills and streams reject
it?"
Adverting to Hwúi again, he said, "For three months there would not be
in his breast one thought recalcitrant against his feeling of good-will
towards his fellow-men. The others may attain to this for a day or for a
month, but there they end."
When asked by Ki K'ang whether Tsz-lu was fit to serve the government,
the Master replied, "Tsz-lu is a man of decision: what should prevent
him from serving the government?"
Asked the same question respecting Tsz-kung and Yen Yu he answered
similarly, pronouncing Tsz-kung to be a man of perspicacity, and Yen Yu
to be one versed in the polite arts.
When the head of the Ki family sent for Min Tsz-k'ien to make him
governor of the town of Pi, that disciple said, "Politely decline for
me. If the offer is renewed, then indeed I shall feel myself obliged to
go and live on the further bank of the Wan."
Peh-niu had fallen ill, and the Master was inquiring after him. Taking
hold of his hand held out from the window, he said, "It is taking him
off! Alas, his appointed time has come! Such a man, and to have such an
illness!"
Of Hwúi, again: "A right worthy man indeed was he! With his simple
wooden dish of rice, and his one gourd-basin of drink, away in his poor
back lane, in a condition too grievous for others to have endured, he
never allowed his cheery spirits to droop. Aye, a right worthy soul was
he!"
"It is not," Yen Yu once apologized, "that I do not take pleasure in
your doctrines; it is that I am not strong enough." The Master rejoined,
"It is when those who are not strong enough have made some moderate
amount of progress that they fail and give up; but you are now drawing
your own line for yourself."
Addressing Tsz-hiá, the Master said, "Let your scholarship be that of
gentlemen, and not like that of common men."
When Tsz-yu became governor of Wu-shing, the Master said to him, "Do you
find good men about you?" The reply was, "There is Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming,
who when walking eschews by-paths, and who, unless there be some public
function, never approaches my private residence."
"Mang Chi-fan," said the Master, "is no sounder of his own praises.
During a stampede he was in the rear, and as they were about to enter
the city gate he whipped up his horses, and said, 'Twas not my daring
made me lag behind. My horses would not go.'"
_Obiter dicta_ of the Master:--
"Whoever has not the glib utterance of the priest T'o, as well as the
handsomeness of Prince Cháu of Sung, will find it hard to keep out of
harm's way in the present age.
"Who can go out but by that door? Why walks no one by these guiding
principles?
"Where plain naturalness is more in evidence than polish, we have--the
man from the country. Where polish is more in evidence than naturalness,
we have--the town scribe. It is when naturalness and polish are equally
evident that we have the ideal man.
"The life of a man is--his rectitude. Life without it--such may you have
the good fortune to avoid!
"They who know it are not as those who love it, nor they who love it as
those who rejoice in it--that is, have the fruition of their love for
it.
"To the average man, and those above the average, it is possible to
discourse on higher subjects; to those from the average downwards, it is
not possible."
Fan Ch'i put a query about wisdom. The Master replied, "To labor for the
promoting of righteous conduct among the people of the land; to be
serious in regard to spiritual beings, and to hold aloof from
them;--this may be called wisdom."
To a further query, about philanthropy, he replied, "Those who possess
that virtue find difficulty with it at first, success later.
"Men of practical knowledge," he said, "find their gratification among
the rivers of the lowland, men of sympathetic social feeling find theirs
among the hills. The former are active and bustling, the latter calm and
quiet. The former take their day of pleasure, the latter look to length
of days."
Alluding to the States of Ts'i and Lu, he observed, that Ts'i, by one
change, might attain to the condition of Lu; and that Lu, by one change,
might attain to good government.
An exclamation of the Master (satirizing the times, when old terms
relating to government were still used while bereft of their old
meaning):--"A quart, and not a quart! _quart_, indeed! _quart_, indeed!"
Tsai Wo, a disciple, put a query. Said he, "Suppose a philanthropic
person were told, 'There's a fellow-creature down in the well!' Would he
go down after him?"
"Why should he really do so?" answered the Master. "The good man or, a
superior man might be induced to go, but not to go down. He may be
misled, but not befooled."
"The superior man," said he, "with his wide study of books, and hedging
himself round by the Rules of Propriety, is not surely, after all that,
capable of overstepping his bounds."
Once when the Master had had an interview with Nan-tsz, which had
scandalized his disciple Tsz-lu, he uttered the solemn adjuration, "If I
have done aught amiss, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!"
"How far-reaching," said he, "is the moral excellence that flows from
the Constant Mean! [15] It has for a long time been rare among the
people."
Tsz-kung said, "Suppose the case of one who confers benefits far and
wide upon the people, and who can, in so doing, make his bounty
universally felt--how would you speak of him? Might he be called
philanthropic?"
The Master exclaimed, "What a work for philanthropy! He would require
indeed to be a sage! He would put into shade even Yau and Shun!--Well, a
philanthropic person, desiring for himself a firm footing, is led on to
give one to others; desiring for himself an enlightened perception of
things, he is led on to help others to be similarly enlightened. If one
could take an illustration coming closer home to us than yours, that
might be made the starting-point for speaking about philanthropy."
[Footnote 14: At this time Confucius was Criminal Judge in his native
State of Lu. Yuen Sz had been a disciple. The commentators add that this
was the officer's proper salary, and that he did wrong to refuse it.]
[Footnote 15: The doctrine afterwards known by that name, and which gave
its title to a Confucian treatise.]
BOOK VII
Characteristics of Confucius--An Incident
Said the Master:--
"I, as a transmitter[16] and not an originator, and as one who believes
in and loves the ancients, venture to compare myself with our old P'ang.
"What find you indeed in me?--a quiet brooder and memorizer; a student
never satiated with learning; an unwearied monitor of others!
"The things which weigh heavily upon my mind are these--failure to
improve in the virtues, failure in discussion of what is learnt,
inability to walk according to knowledge received as to what is right
and just, inability also to reform what has been amiss."
In his hours of recreation and refreshment the Master's manner was easy
and unconstrained, affable and winning.
Once he exclaimed, "Alas! I must be getting very feeble; 'tis long since
I have had a repetition of the dreams in which I used to see the Duke of
Chow. [17]
"Concentrate the mind," said he, "upon the Good Way.
"Maintain firm hold upon Virtue.
"Rely upon Philanthropy.
"Find recreation in the Arts. [18]
"I have never withheld instruction from any, even from those who have
come for it with the smallest offering.
"No subject do I broach, however, to those who have no eager desire to
learn; no encouraging hint do I give to those who show no anxiety to
speak out their ideas; nor have I anything more to say to those who,
after I have made clear one corner of the subject, cannot from that give
me the other three."
If the Master was taking a meal, and there were any in mourning beside
him, he would not eat to the full.
On one day on which he had wept, on that day he would not sing.
Addressing his favorite disciple, he said, "To you only and myself it
has been given to do this--to go when called to serve, and to go back
into quiet retirement when released from office."
Tsz-lu, hearing the remark said, "But if, sir, you had the handling of
the army of one of the greater States,[19] whom would you have
associated with you in that case?"
The Master answered:--
"Not the one 'who'll rouse the tiger,'
Not the one 'who'll wade the Ho;'
not the man who can die with no regret. He must be one who should watch
over affairs with apprehensive caution, a man fond of strategy, and of
perfect skill and effectiveness in it."
As to wealth, he remarked, "If wealth were an object that I could go in
quest of, I should do so even if I had to take a whip and do grooms'
work. But seeing that it is not, I go after those objects for which I
have a liking."
Among matters over which he exercised great caution were times of
fasting, war, and sickness.
When he was in the State of Ts'i, and had heard the ancient Shau music,
he lost all perception of the taste of his meat. "I had no idea," said
he, "that music could have been brought to this pitch."
In the course of conversation Yen Yu said, "Does the Master take the
part of the Prince of Wei?" "Ah yes!" said Tsz-kung, "I will go and ask
him that."
On going in to him, that disciple began, "What sort of men were Peh-I
and Shuh Ts'i?" "Worthies of the olden time," the Master replied. "Had
they any feelings of resentment?" was the next question. "Their aim and
object," he answered, "was that of doing the duty which every man owes
to his fellows, and they succeeded in doing it;--what room further for
feelings of resentment?" The questioner on coming out said, "The Master
does not take his part."
"With a meal of coarse rice," said the Master, "and with water to drink,
and my bent arm for my pillow--even thus I can find happiness. Riches
and honors without righteousness are to me as fleeting clouds."
"Give me several years more to live," said he, "and after fifty years'
study of the 'Book of Changes' I might come to be free from serious
error."
The Master's regular subjects of discourse were the "Books of the Odes"
and "History," and the up-keeping of the Rules of Propriety. On all of
these he regularly discoursed.
The Duke of Shih questioned Tsz-lu about Confucius, and the latter did
not answer.
Hearing of this, the Master said, "Why did you not say, He is a man with
a mind so intent on his pursuits that he forgets his food, and finds
such pleasure in them that he forgets his troubles, and does not know
that old age is coming upon him?"
"As I came not into life with any knowledge of it," he said, "and as my
likings are for what is old, I busy myself in seeking knowledge there."
Strange occurrences, exploits of strength, deeds of lawlessness,
references to spiritual beings--such-like matters the Master avoided in
conversation.
"Let there," he said, "be three men walking together: from that number I
should be sure to find my instructors; for what is good in them I should
choose out and follow, and what is not good I should modify."
On one occasion he exclaimed, "Heaven begat Virtue in me; what can man
do unto me?"
To his disciples he once said, "Do you look upon me, my sons, as keeping
anything secret from you? I hide nothing from you. I do nothing that is
not manifest to your eyes, my disciples. That is so with me."
Four things there were which he kept in view in his
teaching--scholarliness, conduct of life, honesty, faithfulness.
"It is not given to me," he said, "to meet with a sage; let me but
behold a man of superior mind, and that will suffice. Neither is it
given to me to meet with a good man; let me but see a man of constancy,
and it will suffice. It is difficult for persons to have constancy, when
they pretend to have that which they are destitute of, to be full when
they are empty, to do things on a grand scale when their means are
contracted!"
When the Master fished with hook and line, he did not also use a net.
When out with his bow, he would never shoot at game in cover.
"Some there may be," said he, "who do things in ignorance of what they
do. I am not of these. There is an alternative way of knowing things,
viz.--to sift out the good from the many things one hears, and follow
it; and to keep in memory the many things one sees."
Pupils from Hu-hiang were difficult to speak with. One youth came to
interview the Master, and the disciples were in doubt whether he ought
to have been seen. "Why so much ado," said the Master, "at my merely
permitting his approach, and not rather at my allowing him to draw back?
If a man have cleansed himself in order to come and see me, I receive
him as such; but I do not undertake for what he will do when he goes
away."
"Is the philanthropic spirit far to seek, indeed?" the Master exclaimed;
"I wish for it, and it is with me!"
The Minister of Crime in the State of Ch'in asked Confucius whether Duke
Ch'an, of Lu was acquainted with the Proprieties; and he answered, "Yes,
he knows them."
When Confucius had withdrawn, the minister bowed to Wu-ma K'i, a
disciple, and motioned to him to come forward. He said, "I have heard
that superior men show no partiality; are they, too, then, partial? That
prince took for his wife a lady of the Wu family, having the same
surname as himself, and had her named 'Lady Tsz of Wu, the elder,' If he
knows the Proprieties, then who does not?"
The disciple reported this to the Master, who thereupon remarked, "Well
for me! If I err in any way, others are sure to know of it."
When the Master was in company with any one who sang, and who sang well,
he must needs have the song over again, and after that would join in it.
"Although in letters," he said, "I may have none to compare with me, yet
in my personification of the 'superior man' I have not as yet been
successful."
"'A Sage and a Philanthropist?' How should I have the ambition?" said
he. "All that I can well be called is this--An insatiable student, an
unwearied teacher;--this, and no more."--"Exactly what we, your
disciples, cannot by any learning manage to be," said Kung-si Hwa.
Once when the Master was seriously ill, Tsz-lu requested to be allowed
to say prayers for him. "Are such available?" asked the Master. "Yes,"
said he; "and the Manual of Prayers says, 'Pray to the spirits above and
to those here below,'"
"My praying has been going on a long while," said the Master.
"Lavish living," he said, "renders men disorderly; miserliness makes
them hard. Better, however, the hard than the disorderly."
Again, "The man of superior mind is placidly composed; the small-minded
man is in a constant state of perturbation."
The Master was gentle, yet could be severe; had an over-awing presence,
yet was not violent; was deferential, yet easy.
[Footnote 16: In reference to his editing the six Classics of his time.]
[Footnote 17: This was one of his "beloved ancients," famous for what he
did in helping to found the dynasty of Chow, a man of great political
wisdom, a scholar also, and poet. It was the "dream" of Confucius's life
to restore the country to the condition in which the Duke of Chow left
it.]
[Footnote 18: These were six in number, viz.: Ceremonial, Music,
Archery, Horsemanship, Language, and Calculation.]
[Footnote 19: Lit., three forces. Each force consisted of 12,500 men,
and three of such forces were the equipment of a greater State.]
BOOK VIII
Sayings of Tsang--Sentences of the Master
Speaking of T'ai-pih the Master said that he might be pronounced a man
of the highest moral excellence; for he allowed the empire to pass by
him onwards to a third heir; while the people, in their ignorance of his
motives, were unable to admire him for so doing.
"Without the Proprieties," said the Master, "we have these results: for
deferential demeanor, a worried one; for calm attentiveness, awkward
bashfulness; for manly conduct, disorderliness; for straightforwardness,
perversity.
"When men of rank show genuine care for those nearest to them in blood,
the people rise to the duty of neighborliness and sociability. And when
old friendships among them are not allowed to fall off, there will be a
cessation of underhand practices among the people."
The Scholar Tsang was once unwell, and calling his pupils to him he said
to them, "Disclose to view my feet and my hands. What says the Ode?--
'Act as from a sense of danger,
With precaution and with care,
As a yawning gulf o'erlooking,
As on ice that scarce will bear,'
At all times, my children, I know how to keep myself free from bodily
harm."
Again, during an illness of his, Mang King, an official, went to ask
after him. The Scholar had some conversation with him, in the course of
which he said--
"'Doleful the cries of a dying bird,
Good the last words of a dying man,'
There are three points which a man of rank in the management of his
duties should set store upon:--A lively manner and deportment, banishing
both severity and laxity; a frank and open expression of countenance,
allied closely with sincerity; and a tone in his utterances utterly free
from any approach to vulgarity and impropriety. As to matters of bowls
and dishes, leave such things to those who are charged with the care of
them."
Another saying of the Scholar Tsang: "I once had a friend who, though he
possessed ability, would go questioning men of none, and, though
surrounded by numbers, would go with his questions to isolated
individuals; who also, whatever he might have, appeared as if he were
without it, and, with all his substantial acquirements, made as though
his mind were a mere blank; and when insulted would not retaliate;--this
was ever his way."
Again he said: "The man that is capable of being intrusted with the
charge of a minor on the throne, and given authority over a large
territory, and who, during the important term of his superintendence
cannot be forced out of his position, is not such a 'superior man'? That
he is, indeed."
Again:--"The learned official must not be without breadth and power of
endurance: the burden is heavy, and the way is long.
"Suppose that he take his duty to his fellow-men as his peculiar burden,
is that not indeed a heavy one? And since only with death it is done
with, is not the way long?"
Sentences of the Master:--
"From the 'Book of Odes' we receive impulses; from the 'Book of the
Rules,' stability; from the 'Book on Music,' refinement. [20]
"The people may be put into the way they should go, though they may not
be put into the way of understanding it.
"The man who likes bravery, and yet groans under poverty, has mischief
in him. So, too, has the misanthrope, groaning at any severity shown
towards him.
"Even if a person were adorned with the gifts of the Duke of Chow, yet
if he were proud and avaricious, all the rest of his qualities would not
indeed be worth looking at.
"Not easily found is the man who, after three years' study, has failed
to come upon some fruit of his toil.
"The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till
death.
"He will not go into a State in which a downfall is imminent, nor take
up his abode in one where disorder reigns. When the empire is well
ordered he will show himself; when not, he will hide himself away. Under
a good government it will be a disgrace to him if he remain in poverty
and low estate; under a bad one, it would be equally disgraceful to him
to hold riches and honors.
"If not occupying the office, devise not the policy.
"When the professor Chi began his duties, how grand the finale of the
First of the Odes used to be! How it rang in one's ears!
"I cannot understand persons who are enthusiastic and yet not
straightforward; nor those who are ignorant and yet not attentive; nor
again those folks who are simple-minded and yet untrue.
"Learn, as if never overtaking your object, and yet as if apprehensive
of losing it.
"How sublime was the handling of the empire by Shun and Yu!--it was as
nothing to them!
"How great was Yau as a prince! Was he not sublime! Say that Heaven only
is great, then was Yau alone after its pattern! How profound was he! The
people could not find a name for him. How sublime in his achievements!
How brilliant in his scholarly productions!"
Shun had for his ministers five men, by whom he ordered the empire.
King Wu (in his day) stated that he had ten men as assistants for the
promotion of order.
With reference to these facts Confucius observed, "Ability is hard to
find. Is it not so indeed? During the three years' interregnum between
Yau and Shun there was more of it than in the interval before this
present dynasty appeared. There were, at this latter period, one woman,
and nine men only.
"When two-thirds of the empire were held by King Wan, he served with
that portion the House of Yin. We speak of the virtue of the House of
Chow; we may say, indeed, that it reached the pinnacle of excellence."
"As to Yu," added the Master, "I can find no flaw in him. Living on
meagre food and drink; yet providing to the utmost in his filial
offerings to the spirits of the dead! Dressing in coarse garments; yet
most elegant when vested in his sacrificial apron and coronet! Dwelling
in a poor palace; yet exhausting his energies over those
boundary-ditches and watercourses! I can find no flaw in Yu."
[Footnote 20: Comparison of three of the Classics: the "Shi-King," the
"Li Ki," and the "Yoh." The last is lost.]
BOOK IX
His Favorite Disciple's Opinion of Him
Topics on which the Master rarely spoke were--Advantage, and Destiny,
and Duty of man to man.
A man of the village of Tah-hiang exclaimed of him, "A great man is
Confucius!--a man of extensive learning, and yet in nothing has he quite
made himself a name!"
The Master heard of this, and mentioning it to his disciples he said,
"What then shall I take in hand? Shall I become a carriage driver, or an
archer? Let me be a driver!"
"The sacrificial cap," he once said, "should, according to the Rules, be
of linen; but in these days it is of pure silk. However, as it is
economical, I do as all do.
"The Rule says, 'Make your bow when at the lower end of the hall'; but
nowadays the bowing is done at the upper part. This is great freedom;
and I, though I go in opposition to the crowd, bow when at the lower
end."
The Master barred four words:--he would have no "shall's," no "must's,"
no "certainty's," no "I's."
Once, in the town of K'wang fearing that his life was going to be taken,
the Master exclaimed, "King Wan is dead and gone; but is not '_wan_'
[21] with you here? If Heaven be about to allow this '_wan_' to perish,
then they who survive its decease will get no benefit from it. But so
long as Heaven does not allow it to perish, what can the men of K'wang
do to me?"
A high State official, after questioning Tsz-kung, said, "Your Master is
a sage, then? How many and what varied abilities must be his!"
The disciple replied, "Certainly Heaven is allowing him full
opportunities of becoming a sage, in addition to the fact that his
abilities are many and varied."
When the Master heard of this he remarked, "Does that high official know
me? In my early years my position in life was low, and hence my ability
in many ways, though exercised in trifling matters. In the gentleman is
there indeed such variety of ability? No."
From this, the disciple Lau used to say, "'Twas a saying of the Master:
'At a time when I was not called upon to use them, I acquired my
proficiency in the polite arts.'"
"Am I, indeed," said the Master, "possessed of knowledge? I know
nothing. Let a vulgar fellow come to me with a question--a man with an
emptyish head--I may thrash out with him the matter from end to end, and
exhaust myself in doing it!"
"Ah!" exclaimed he once, "the phoenix does not come! and no symbols
issue from the river! May I not as well give up?"
Whenever the Master met with a person in mourning, or with one in
full-dress cap and kirtle, or with a blind person, although they might
be young persons, he would make a point of rising on their appearance,
or, if crossing their path, would do so with quickened step!
Once Yen Yuen exclaimed with a sigh (with reference to the Master's
doctrines), "If I look up to them, they are ever the higher; if I try to
penetrate them, they are ever the harder; if I gaze at them as if before
my eyes, lo, they are behind me!--Gradually and gently the Master with
skill lures men on. By literary lore he gave me breadth; by the Rules of
Propriety he narrowed me down. When I desire a respite, I find it
impossible; and after I have exhausted my powers, there seems to be
something standing straight up in front of me, and though I have the
mind to make towards it I make no advance at all."
Once when the Master was seriously ill, Tsz-lu induced the other
disciples to feign they were high officials acting in his service.
During a respite from his malady the Master exclaimed, "Ah! how long has
Tsz-lu's conduct been false? Whom should I delude, if I were to pretend
to have officials under me, having none? Should I deceive Heaven?
Besides, were I to die, I would rather die in the hands of yourselves,
my disciples, than in the hands of officials. And though I should fail
to have a grand funeral over me, I should hardly be left on my death on
the public highway, should I?"
Tsz-kung once said to him, "Here is a fine gem. Would you guard it
carefully in a casket and store it away, or seek a good price for it and
sell it?" "Sell it, indeed," said the Master--"that would I; but I
should wait for the bidder."
The Master protested he would "go and live among the nine wild tribes."
"A rude life," said some one;--"how could you put up with it?"
"What rudeness would there be," he replied, "if a 'superior man' was
living in their midst?"
Once he remarked, "After I came back from Wei to Lu the music was put
right, and each of the Festal Odes and Hymns was given its appropriate
place and use."
"Ah! which one of these following," he asked on one occasion, "are to be
found exemplified in me--proper service rendered to superiors when
abroad; duty to father and elder brother when at home; duty that shrinks
from no exertion when dear ones die; and keeping free from the confusing
effects of wine?"
Standing once on the bank of a mountain stream, he said (musingly),
"Like this are those that pass away--no cessation, day or night!"
Other sayings:--
"Take an illustration from the making of a hill. A simple basketful is
wanting to complete it, and the work stops. So I stop short.
"Take an illustration from the levelling of the ground. Suppose again
just one basketful is left, when the work has so progressed. There I
desist!
"Ah! it was Hwúi, was it not? who, when I had given him his lesson, was
the unflagging one!
"Alas for Hwúi! I saw him ever making progress. I never saw him stopping
short.
"Blade, but no bloom--or else bloom, but no produce; aye, that is the
way with some!
"Reverent regard is due to youth. How know we what difference there may
be in them in the future from what they are now? Yet when they have
reached the age of forty or fifty, and are still unknown in the world,
then indeed they are no more worthy of such regard.
"Can any do otherwise than assent to words said to them by way of
correction? Only let them reform by such advice, and it will then be
reckoned valuable. Can any be other than pleased with words of gentle
suasion? Only let them comply with them fully, and such also will be
accounted valuable. With those who are pleased without so complying, and
those who assent but do not reform, I can do nothing at all.
"Give prominent place to loyalty and sincerity.
"Have no associates in study who are not advanced somewhat like
yourself.
"When you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself.
"It may be possible to seize and carry off the chief commander of a
large army, but not possible so to rob one poor fellow of his will.
"One who stands--clad in hempen robe, the worse for wear--among others
clad in furs of fox and badger, and yet unabashed--'tis Tsz-lu, that, is
it not?"
Tsz-lu used always to be humming over the lines--
"From envy and enmity free,
What deed doth he other than good?"
"How should such a rule of life," asked the Master, "be sufficient to
make any one good?"
"When the year grows chilly, we know the pine and cypress are the last
to fade.
"The wise escape doubt; the good-hearted, trouble; the bold,
apprehension.
"Some may study side by side, and yet be asunder when they
come to the logic of things. Some may go on together in this
latter course, but be wide apart in the standards they reach in
it. Some, again, may together reach the same standard, and
yet be diverse in weight of character."
"The blossom is out on the cherry tree,
With a flutter on every spray.
Dost think that my thoughts go not out to thee?
Ah, why art thou far away!"
Commenting on these lines the Master said, "There can hardly have been
much 'thought going out,' What does distance signify?"
[Footnote 21: "Wan" was the honorary appellation of the great sage and
ruler, whose praise is in the "Shi-King" as one of the founders of the
Chow dynasty, and the term represented civic talent and virtues, as
distinct from Wu, the martial talent--the latter being the honorary
title of his son and successor. "Wan" also often stands for literature
and polite accomplishments. Here Confucius simply means, "If you kill
me, you kill a sage."]
BOOK X
Confucius in Private and Official Life
In his own village, Confucius presented a somewhat plain and simple
appearance, and looked unlike a man who possessed ability of speech.
But in the ancestral temple, and at Court, he spoke with the fluency and
accuracy of a debater, but ever guardedly.
At Court, conversing with the lower order of great officials, he spoke
somewhat firmly and directly; with those of the higher order his tone
was somewhat more affable.
When the prince was present he was constrainedly reverent in his
movements, and showed a proper degree of grave dignity in demeanor.
Whenever the prince summoned him to act as usher to the Court, his look
would change somewhat, and he would make as though he were turning round
to do obeisance.
He would salute those among whom he took up his position, using the
right hand or the left, and holding the skirts of his robe in proper
position before and behind. He would make his approaches with quick
step, and with elbows evenly bent outwards.
When the visitor withdrew, he would not fail to report the execution of
his commands, with the words, "The visitor no longer looks back."
When he entered the palace gate, it was with the body somewhat bent
forward, almost as though he could not be admitted. When he stood still,
this would never happen in the middle of the gateway; nor when moving
about would he ever tread on the threshold. When passing the throne, his
look would change somewhat, he would turn aside and make a sort of
obeisance, and the words he spoke seemed as though he were deficient in
utterance.
On going up the steps to the audience chamber, he would gather up with
both hands the ends of his robe, and walk with his body bent somewhat
forward, holding back his breath like one in whom respiration has
ceased. On coming out, after descending one step his countenance would
relax and assume an appearance of satisfaction. Arrived at the bottom,
he would go forward with quick step, his elbows evenly bent outwards,
back to his position, constrainedly reverent in every movement.
When holding the sceptre in his hand, his body would be somewhat bent
forward, as if he were not equal to carrying it; wielding it now higher,
as in a salutation, now lower, as in the presentation of a gift; his
look would also be changed and appear awestruck; and his gait would seem
retarded, as if he were obeying some restraining hand behind.
When he presented the gifts of ceremony, he would assume a placid
expression of countenance. At the private interview he would be cordial
and affable.
The good man would use no purple or violet colors for the facings of his
dress. [22] Nor would he have red or orange color for his undress. [23]
For the hot season he wore a singlet, of either coarse or fine texture,
but would also feel bound to have an outer garment covering it. For his
black robe he had lamb's wool; for his white one, fawn's fur; and for
his yellow one, fox fur. His furred undress robe was longer, but the
right sleeve was shortened. He would needs have his sleeping-dress one
and a half times his own length. For ordinary home wear he used thick
substantial fox or badger furs. When he left off mourning, he would wear
all his girdle trinkets. His kirtle in front, when it was not needed for
full cover, he must needs have cut down. He would never wear his (black)
lamb's-wool, or a dark-colored cap, when he went on visits of condolence
to mourners. [24] On the first day of the new moon, he must have on his
Court dress and to Court. When observing his fasts, he made a point of
having bright, shiny garments, made of linen. He must also at such times
vary his food, and move his seat to another part of his dwelling-room.
As to his food, he never tired of rice so long as it was clean and pure,
nor of hashed meats when finely minced. Rice spoiled by damp, and sour,
he would not touch, nor tainted fish, nor bad meat, nor aught of a bad
color or smell, nor aught overdone in cooking, nor aught out of season.
Neither would he eat anything that was not properly cut, or that lacked
its proper seasonings. Although there might be an abundance of meat
before him, he would not allow a preponderance of it to rob the rice of
its beneficial effect in nutrition. Only in the matter of wine did he
set himself no limit, yet he never drank so much as to confuse himself.
Tradesmen's wines, and dried meats from the market, he would not touch.
Ginger he would never have removed from the table during a meal. He was
not a great eater. Meat from the sacrifices at the prince's temple he
would never put aside till the following day. The meat of his own
offerings he would never give out after three days' keeping, for after
that time none were to eat it.
At his meals he would not enter into discussions; and when reposing
(afterwards) he would not utter a word.
Even should his meal consist only of coarse rice and vegetable broth or
melons, he would make an offering, and never fail to do so religiously.
He would never sit on a mat that was not straight.
After a feast among his villagers, he would wait before going away until
the old men had left.
When the village people were exorcising the pests, he would put on his
Court robes and stand on the steps of his hall to receive them.
When he was sending a message of inquiry to a person in another State,
he would bow twice on seeing the messenger off.
Ki K'ang once sent him a present of some medicine. He bowed, and
received it; but remarked, "Until I am quite sure of its properties I
must not venture to taste it."
Once when the stabling was destroyed by fire, he withdrew from the
Court, and asked, "Is any person injured? "--without inquiring as to the
horses.
Whenever the prince sent him a present of food, he was particular to set
his mat in proper order, and would be the first one to taste it. If the
prince's present was one of raw meat, he must needs have it cooked, and
make an oblation of it. If the gift were a live animal, he would be sure
to keep it and care for it.
When he was in waiting, and at a meal with the prince, the prince would
make the offering,[25] and he (the Master) was the pregustator.
When unwell, and the prince came to see him, he would arrange his
position so that his head inclined towards the east, would put over him
his Court robes, and draw his girdle across them.
When summoned by order of the prince, he would start off without waiting
for his horses to be put to.
On his entry into the Grand Temple, he inquired about everything
connected with its usages.
If a friend died, and there were no near relatives to take him to, he
would say, "Let him be buried from my house."
For a friend's gift--unless it consisted of meat that had been offered
in sacrifice--he would not bow, even if it were a carriage and horses.
In repose he did not lie like one dead. In his home life he was not
formal in his manner.
Whenever he met with a person in mourning, even though it were a
familiar acquaintance, he would be certain to change his manner; and
when he met with any one in full-dress cap, or with any blind person, he
would also unfailingly put on a different look, even though he were
himself in undress at the time.
In saluting any person wearing mourning he would bow forwards towards
the front bar of his carriage; in the same manner he would also salute
the bearer of a census-register.
When a sumptuous banquet was spread before him, a different expression
would be sure to appear in his features, and he would rise up from his
seat.
At a sudden thunder-clap, or when the wind grew furious, his look would
also invariably be changed.
On getting into his car, he would never fail (first) to stand up erect,
holding on by the strap. When in the car, he would never look about, nor
speak hastily, nor bring one hand to the other.
"Let one but make a movement in his face,
And the bird will rise and seek some safer place."
Apropos of this, he said, "Here is a hen-pheasant from Shan Liang--and
in season! and in season!" After Tsz-lu had got it prepared, he smelt it
thrice, and then rose up from his seat.
[Footnote 22: Because, it is said, such colors were adopted in fasting
and mourning.]
[Footnote 23: Because they did not belong to the five correct colors
(viz. green, yellow, carnation, white, and black), and were affected
more by females.]
[Footnote 24: Since white was, as it is still, the mourning color.]
[Footnote 25: The act of "grace," before eating.]
BOOK XI
Comparative Worth of His Disciples
"The first to make progress in the Proprieties and in Music," said the
Master, "are plain countrymen; after them, the men of higher standing.
If I had to employ any of them, I should stand by the former."
"Of those," said he, "who were about me when I was in the Ch'in and
Ts'ai States, not one now is left to approach my door."
"As for Hwui," [26] said the Master, "he is not one to help me on: there
is nothing I say but he is not well satisfied with."
"What a dutiful son was Min Tsz-k'ien!" he exclaimed. "No one finds
occasion to differ from what his parents and brothers have said of him."
Nan Yung used to repeat three times over the lines in the Odes about the
white sceptre. Confucius caused his own elder brother's daughter to be
given in marriage to him.
When Ki K'ang inquired which of the disciples were fond of learning,
Confucius answered him, "There was one Yen Hwúi who was fond of it; but
unfortunately his allotted time was short, and he died; and now his like
is not to be found."
When Yen Yuen died, his father, Yen Lu, begged for the Master's carriage
in order to get a shell for his coffin. "Ability or no ability," said
the Master, "every father still speaks of 'my son.' When my own son Li
died, and the coffin for him had no shell to it, I know I did not go on
foot to get him one; but that was because I was, though retired, in the
wake of the ministers, and could not therefore well do so."
On the death of Yen Yuen the Master exclaimed, "Ah me! Heaven is ruining
me, Heaven is ruining me!"
On the same occasion, his wailing for that disciple becoming excessive,
those who were about him said, "Sir, this is too much!"--"Too much?"
said he; "if I am not to do so for him, then--for whom else?"
The disciples then wished for the deceased a grand funeral. The Master
could not on his part consent to this. They nevertheless gave him one.
Upon this he remarked, "He used to look upon me as if I were his father.
I could never, however, look on him as a son. Twas not my mistake, but
yours, my children."
Tsz-lu propounded a question about ministering to the spirits of the
departed. The Master replied, "Where there is scarcely the ability to
minister to living men, how shall there be ability to minister to the
spirits?" On his venturing to put a question concerning death, he
answered, "Where there is scarcely any knowledge about life, how shall
there be any about death?"
The disciple Min was by his side, looking affable and bland; Tsz-lu
also, looking careless and intrepid; and Yen Yu and Tsz-kung, firm and
precise. The Master was cheery. "One like Tsz-lu there," said he, "does
not come to a natural end."
Some persons in Lu were taking measures in regard to the Long Treasury
House. Min Tsz-k'ien observed, "How if it were repaired on the old
lines?" The Master upon this remarked, "This fellow is not a talker, but
when he does speak he is bound to hit the mark!"
"There is Yu's harpsichord," exclaimed the Master--"what is it doing at
my door?" On seeing, however, some disrespect shown to him by the other
disciples, he added, "Yu has got as far as the top of the hall; only he
has not yet entered the house."
Tsz-kung asked which was the worthier of the two--Tsz-chang or Tsz-hiá.
"The former," answered the Master, "goes beyond the mark; the latter
falls short of it."
"So then Tsz-chang is the better of the two, is he?" said he.
"To go too far," he replied, "is about the same as to fall short."
The Chief of the Ki family was a wealthier man than the Duke of Chow had
been, and yet Yen Yu gathered and hoarded for him, increasing his wealth
more and more.
"He is no follower of mine," said the Master. "It would serve him right,
my children, to sound the drum, and set upon him."
Characteristics of four disciples:--Tsz-káu was simple-minded; Tsang Si,
a dullard; Tsz-chang, full of airs; Tsz-lu, rough.
"As to Hwúi," said the Master, "he comes near to perfection, while
frequently in great want. Tsz-kung does not submit to the appointments
of Heaven; and yet his goods are increased;--he is often successful in
his calculations."
Tsz-chang wanted to know some marks of the naturally Good Man.
"He does not walk in others' footprints," said the Master; "yet he does
not get beyond the hall into the house."
Once the Master said, "Because we allow that a man's words have
something genuine in them, are they necessarily those of a superior man?
or words carrying only an outward semblance and show of gravity?"
Tsz-lu put a question about the practice of precepts one has heard. The
Master's reply was, "In a case where there is a father or elder brother
still left with you, how should you practise all you hear?"
When, however, the same question was put to him by Yen Yu, his reply
was, "Yes; do so."
Kung-si Hwa animadverted upon this to the Master. "Tsz-lu asked you,
sir," said he, "about the practice of what one has learnt, and you said,
'There may be a father or elder brother still alive'; but when Yen Yu
asked the same question, you answered, 'Yes, do so.' I am at a loss to
understand you, and venture to ask what you meant."
The Master replied, "Yen Yu backs out of his duties; therefore I push
him on. Tsz-lu has forwardness enough for them both; therefore I hold
him back."
On the occasion of that time of fear in K'wang, Yen Yuen having fallen
behind, the Master said to him (afterwards), "I took it for granted you
were a dead man." "How should I dare to die," said he, "while you, sir,
still lived?"
On Ki Tsz-jen putting to him a question anent Tsz-lu and Yen Yu, as to
whether they might be called "great ministers," the Master answered, "I
had expected your question, sir, to be about something extraordinary,
and lo! it is only about these two. Those whom we call 'great ministers'
are such as serve their prince conscientiously, and who, when they
cannot do so, retire. At present, as regards the two you ask about, they
may be called 'qualified ministers.'"
"Well, are they then," he asked, "such as will follow their leader?"
"They would not follow him who should slay his father and his prince!"
was the reply.
Through the intervention of Tsz-lu, Tsz-kau was being appointed governor
of Pi.
"You are spoiling a good man's son," said the Master.
Tsz-lu rejoined, "But he will have the people and their superiors to
gain experience from, and there will be the altars; what need to read
books? He can become a student afterwards."
"Here is the reason for my hatred of glib-tongued people," said the
Master.
On one occasion Tsz-lu, Tsang Sin, Yen Yu, and Kung-si Hwa were sitting
near him. He said to them, "Though I may be a day older than you, do not
(for the moment) regard me as such. While you are living this unoccupied
life you are saying, 'We do not become known.' Now suppose some one got
to know you, what then?"
Tsz-lu--first to speak--at once answered, "Give me a State of large size
and armament, hemmed in and hampered by other larger States, the
population augmented by armies and regiments, causing a dearth in it of
food of all kinds; give me charge of that State, and in three years'
time I should make a brave country of it, and let it know its place."
The Master smiled at him. "Yen," said he, "how would it be with you?"
"Give me," said Yen, "a territory of sixty or seventy li square, or of
fifty or sixty square; put me in charge of that, and in three years I
should make the people sufficiently prosperous. As regards their
knowledge of ceremonial or music, I should wait for superior men to
teach them that."
"And with you, Kung-si, how would it be?"
This disciple's reply was, "I have nothing to say about my capabilities
for such matters; my wish is to learn. I should like to be a junior
assistant, in dark robe and cap, at the services of the ancestral
temple, and at the Grand Receptions of the Princes by the Sovereign."
"And with you, Tsang Sin?"
This disciple was strumming on his harpsichord, but now the twanging
ceased, he turned from the instrument, rose to his feet, and answered
thus: "Something different from the choice of these three." "What harm?"
said the Master; "I want each one of you to tell me what his heart is
set upon." "Well, then," said he, "give me--in the latter part of
spring--dressed in full spring-tide attire--in company with five or six
young fellows of twenty, [27] or six or seven lads under that age, to do
the ablutions in the I stream, enjoy a breeze in the rain-dance, [28]
and finish up with songs on the road home."
The Master drew in his breath, sighed, and exclaimed, "Ah, I take with
you!"
The three other disciples having gone out, leaving Tsang Sin behind, the
latter said, "What think you of the answers of those three?"--"Well,
each told me what was uppermost in his mind," said the Master;--"simply
that."
"Why did you smile at Tsz-lu, sir?"
"I smiled at him because to have the charge of a State requires due
regard to the Rules of Propriety, and his words betrayed a lack of
modesty."
"But Yen, then--he had a State in view, had he not?"
"I should like to be shown a territory such as he described which does
not amount to a State."
"But had not Kung-si also a State in view?"
"What are ancestral temples and Grand Receptions, but for the feudal
lords to take part in? If Kung-si were to become an unimportant
assistant at these functions, who could become an important one?"
[Footnote 26: The men of virtuous life were Yen Yuen (Hwúi), Min
Tsz-k'ien, Yen Pihniu, and Chung-kung (Yen Yung); the speakers and
debaters were Tsai Wo and Tsz-kung; the (capable) government servants
were Yen Yu and Tsz-lu; the literary students, Tsz-yu and Tsz-hiá.]
[Footnote 27: Lit., capped ones. At twenty they underwent the ceremony
of capping, and were considered men.]
[Footnote 28: I.e., before the altars, where offerings were placed with
prayer for rain. A religious dance.]
BOOK XII
The Master's Answers--Philanthropy--Friendships
Yen Yuen was asking about man's proper regard for his fellow-man. The
Master said to him, "Self-control, and a habit of falling back upon
propriety, virtually effect it. Let these conditions be fulfilled for
one day, and every one round will betake himself to the duty. Is it to
begin in one's self, or think you, indeed! it is to begin in others?"
"I wanted you to be good enough," said Yen Yuen, "to give me a brief
synopsis of it."
Then said the Master, "Without Propriety use not your eyes; without it
use not your ears, nor your tongue, nor a limb of your body."
"I may be lacking in diligence," said Yen Yuen, "but with your favor I
will endeavor to carry out this advice."
Chung-kung asked about man's proper regard for his fellows.
To him the Master replied thus: "When you go forth from your door, be as
if you were meeting some guest of importance. When you are making use of
the common people (for State purposes), be as if you were taking part in
a great religious function. Do not set before others what you do not
desire yourself. Let there be no resentful feelings against you when you
are away in the country, and none when at home."
"I may lack diligence," said Chung-kung, "but with your favor I will
endeavor to carry out this advice."
Sz-ma Niu asked the like question. The answer he received was this: "The
words of the man who has a proper regard for his fellows are uttered
with difficulty."
"'His words--uttered with difficulty?'" he echoed, in surprise. "Is that
what is meant by proper regard for one's fellow-creatures?"
"Where there is difficulty in doing," the Master replied, "will there
not be some difficulty in utterance?"
The same disciple put a question about the "superior man." "Superior
men," he replied, "are free from trouble and apprehension."
"'Free from trouble and apprehension!'" said he. "Does that make them
'superior men'?"
The Master added, "Where there is found, upon introspection, to be no
chronic disease, how shall there be any trouble? how shall there be any
apprehension?"
The same disciple, being in trouble, remarked, "I am alone in having no
brother, while all else have theirs--younger or elder."
Tsz-hiá said to him, "I have heard this: 'Death and life have destined
times; wealth and honors rest with Heaven. Let the superior man keep
watch over himself without ceasing, showing deference to others, with
propriety of manners--and all within the four seas will be his brethren.
How should he be distressed for lack of brothers!'" [29]
Tsz-chang asked what sort of man might be termed "enlightened."
The Master replied, "That man with whom drenching slander and cutting
calumny gain no currency may well be called enlightened. Ay, he with
whom such things make no way may well be called enlightened in the
extreme."
Tsz-kung put a question relative to government. In reply the Master
mentioned three essentials:--sufficient food, sufficient armament, and
the people's confidence.
"But," said the disciple, "if you cannot really have all three, and one
has to be given up, which would you give up first?"
"The armament," he replied.
"And if you are obliged to give up one of the remaining two, which would
it be?"
"The food," said he. "Death has been the portion of all men from of old.
Without the people's trust nothing can stand."
Kih Tsz-shing once said, "Give me the inborn qualities of a gentleman,
and I want no more. How are such to come from book-learning?"
Tsz-kung exclaimed, "Ah! sir, I regret to hear such words from you. A
gentleman!--But 'a team of four can ne'er o'er-take the tongue!'
Literary accomplishments are much the same as inborn qualities, and
inborn qualities as literary accomplishments. A tiger's or leopard's
skin without the hair might be a dog's or sheep's when so made bare."
Duke Ngai was consulting Yu Joh. Said he, "It is a year of dearth, and
there is an insufficiency for Ways and Means--what am I to do?"
"Why not apply the Tithing Statute?" said the minister.
"But two tithings would not be enough for my purposes," said the duke;
"what would be the good of applying the Statute?"
The minister replied, "So long as the people have enough left for
themselves, who of them will allow their prince to be without enough?
But--when the people have not enough, who will allow their prince all
that he wants?"
Tsz-chang was asking how the standard of virtue was to be raised, and
how to discern what was illusory or misleading. The Master's answer was,
"Give a foremost place to honesty and faithfulness, and tread the path
of righteousness, and you will raise the standard of virtue. As to
discerning what is illusory, here is an example of an illusion:--Whom
you love you wish to live; whom you hate you wish to die. To have wished
the same person to live and also to be dead--there is an illusion for
you."
Duke King of Ts'i consulted Confucius about government. His answer was,
"Let a prince be a prince, and ministers be ministers; let fathers be
fathers, and sons be sons."
"Good!" exclaimed the duke; "truly if a prince fail to be a prince, and
ministers to be ministers, and if fathers be not fathers, and sons not
sons, then, even though I may have my allowance of grain, should I ever
be able to relish it?"
"The man to decide a cause with half a word," exclaimed the Master, "is
Tsz-lu!"
Tsz-lu never let a night pass between promise and performance.
"In hearing causes, I am like other men," said the Master. "The great
point is--to prevent litigation."
Tsz-chang having raised some question about government, the Master said
to him, "In the settlement of its principles be unwearied; in its
administration--see to that loyally."
"The man of wide research," said he, "who also restrains himself by the
Rules of Propriety, is not likely to transgress."
Again, "The noble-minded man makes the most of others' good qualities,
not the worst of their bad ones. Men of small mind do the reverse of
this."
Ki K'ang was consulting him about the direction of public affairs.
Confucius answered him, "A director should be himself correct. If you,
sir, as a leader show correctness, who will dare not to be correct?"
Ki K'ang, being much troubled on account of robbers abroad, consulted
Confucius on the matter. He received this reply: "If you, sir, were not
covetous, neither would they steal, even were you to bribe them to do
so."
Ki K'ang, when consulting Confucius about the government, said, "Suppose
I were to put to death the disorderly for the better encouragement of
the orderly--what say you to that?"
"Sir," replied Confucius, "in the administration of government why
resort to capital punishment? Covet what is good, and the people will be
good. The virtue of the noble-minded man is as the wind, and that of
inferior men as grass; the grass must bend, when the wind blows upon
it."
Tsz-chang asked how otherwise he would describe the learned official who
might be termed influential.
"What, I wonder, do you mean by one who is influential?" said the
Master.
"I mean," replied the disciple, "one who is sure to have a reputation
throughout the country, as well as at home."
"That," said the Master, "is reputation, not influence. The influential
man, then, if he be one who is genuinely straightforward and loves what
is just and right, a discriminator of men's words, and an observer of
their looks, and in honor careful to prefer others to himself--will
certainly have influence, both throughout the country and at home. The
man of mere reputation, on the other hand, who speciously affects
philanthropy, though in his way of procedure he acts contrary to it,
while yet quite evidently engrossed with that virtue--will certainly
have reputation, both in the country and at home."
Fan Ch'i, strolling with him over the ground below the place of the
rain-dance, said to him, "I venture to ask how to raise the standard of
virtue, how to reform dissolute habits, and how to discern what is
illusory?"
"Ah! a good question indeed!" he exclaimed. "Well, is not putting duty
first, and success second, a way of raising the standard of virtue? And
is not attacking the evil in one's self, and not the evil which is in
others, a way of reforming dissolute habits? And as to illusions, is not
one morning's fit of anger, causing a man to forget himself, and even
involving in the consequences those who are near and dear to him--is not
that an illusion?"
The same disciple asked him what was meant by "a right regard for one's
fellow-creatures." He replied, "It is love to man."
Asked by him again what was meant by wisdom, he replied, "It is
knowledge of man."
Fan Ch'i did not quite grasp his meaning.
The Master went on to say, "Lift up the straight, set aside the crooked,
so can you make the crooked straight."
Fan Ch'i left him, and meeting with Tsz-hiá he said, "I had an interview
just now with the Master, and I asked him what wisdom was. In his answer
he said, 'Lift up the straight, set aside the crooked, and so can you
make the crooked straight.' What was his meaning?"
"Ah! words rich in meaning, those," said the other. "When Shun was
emperor, and was selecting his men from among the multitude, he 'lifted
up' Káu-yáu; and men devoid of right feelings towards their kind went
far away. And when T'ang was emperor, and chose out his men from the
crowd, he 'lifted up' I-yin--with the same result."
Tsz-kung was consulting him about a friend. "Speak to him frankly, and
respectfully," said the Master, "and gently lead him on. If you do not
succeed, then stop; do not submit yourself to indignity."
The learned Tsang observed, "In the society of books the 'superior man'
collects his friends; in the society of his friends he is furthering
good-will among men."
[Footnote 29: From Confucius, it is generally thought.]
BOOK XIII
Answers on the Art of Governing--Consistency
Tsz-lu was asking about government. "Lead the way in it," said the
Master, "and work hard at it."
Requested to say more, he added, "And do not tire of it."
Chung-kung, on being made first minister to the Chief of the Ki family,
consulted the Master about government, and to him he said, "Let the
heads of offices be heads. Excuse small faults. Promote men of sagacity
and talent."
"But," he asked, "how am I to know the sagacious and talented, before
promoting them?"
"Promote those whom you do know," said the Master.
"As to those of whom you are uncertain, will others omit to notice
them?"
Tsz-lu said to the Master, "As the prince of Wei, sir, has been waiting
for you to act for him in his government, what is it your intention to
take in hand first?"
"One thing of necessity," he answered--"the rectification of terms."
"That!" exclaimed Tsz-lu. "How far away you are, sir! Why such
rectification?"
"What a rustic you are, Tsz-lu!" rejoined the Master. "A gentleman would
be a little reserved and reticent in matters which he does not
understand. If terms be incorrect, language will be incongruous; and if
language be incongruous, deeds will be imperfect. So, again, when deeds
are imperfect, propriety and harmony cannot prevail, and when this is
the case laws relating to crime will fail in their aim; and if these
last so fail, the people will not know where to set hand or foot. Hence,
a man of superior mind, certain first of his terms, is fitted to speak;
and being certain of what he says can proceed upon it. In the language
of such a person there is nothing heedlessly irregular--and that is the
sum of the matter."
Fan Ch'i requested that he might learn something of husbandry. "For
that." said the Master, "I am not equal to an old husbandman." Might he
then learn something of gardening? he asked. "I am not equal to an old
gardener." was the reply.
"A man of little mind, that!" said the Master, when Fan Ch'i had gone
out. "Let a man who is set over the people love propriety, and they will
not presume to be disrespectful. Let him be a lover of righteousness,
and they will not presume to be aught but submissive. Let him love
faithfulness and truth, and they will not presume not to lend him their
hearty assistance. Ah, if all this only were so, the people from all
sides would come to such a one, carrying their children on their backs.
What need to turn his hand to husbandry?
"Though a man," said he, "could hum through the Odes--the three
hundred--yet should show himself unskilled when given some
administrative work to do for his country; though he might know much of
that other lore, yet if, when sent on a mission to any quarter, he could
answer no question personally and unaided, what after all is he good
for?
"Let a leader," said he, "show rectitude in his own personal character,
and even without directions from him things will go well. If he be not
personally upright, his directions will not be complied with."
Once he made the remark, "The governments of Lu and of Wei are in
brotherhood."
Of King, a son of the Duke of Wei, he observed that "he managed his
household matters well. On his coming into possession, he thought, 'What
a strange conglomeration!'--Coming to possess a little more, it was,
'Strange, such a result!' And when he became wealthy, 'Strange, such
elegance!'"
The Master was on a journey to Wei, and Yen Yu was driving him. "What
multitudes of people!" he exclaimed. Yen Yu asked him, "Seeing they are
so numerous, what more would you do for them?"
"Enrich them," replied the Master.
"And after enriching them, what more would you do for them?"
"Instruct them."
"Were any one of our princes to employ me," he said, "after a
twelvemonth I might have made some tolerable progress;"
Again, "How true is that saying, 'Let good men have the management of a
country for a century, and they would be adequate to cope with
evil-doers, and thus do away with capital punishments,'"
Again, "Suppose the ruler to possess true kingly qualities, then surely
after one generation there would be good-will among men."
Again, "Let a ruler but see to his own rectitude, and what trouble will
he then have in the work before him? If he be unable to rectify himself,
how is he to rectify others?"
Once when Yen Yu was leaving the Court, the Master accosted him. "Why so
late?" he asked. "Busy with legislation," Yen replied. "The details of
it," suggested the Master; "had it been legislation, I should have been
there to hear it, even though I am not in office."
Duke Ting asked if there were one sentence which, if acted upon, might
have the effect of making a country prosperous.
Confucius answered, "A sentence could hardly be supposed to do so much
as that. But there is a proverb people use which says, 'To play the
prince is hard, to play the minister not easy.' Assuming that it is
understood that 'to play the prince is hard,' would it not be probable
that with that one sentence the country should be made to prosper?"
"Is there, then," he asked, "one sentence which, if acted upon, would
have the effect of ruining a country?"
Confucius again replied, "A sentence could hardly be supposed to do so
much as that. But there is a proverb men have which says, 'Not gladly
would I play the prince, unless my words were ne'er withstood.' Assuming
that the words were good, and that none withstood them, would not that
also be good? But assuming that they were not good, and yet none
withstood them, would it not be probable that with that one saying he
would work his country's ruin?"
When the Duke of Sheh consulted him about government, he replied, "Where
the near are gratified, the far will follow."
When Tsz-hiá became governor of Kü-fu, and consulted him about
government, he answered, "Do not wish for speedy results. Do not look at
trivial advantages. If you wish for speedy results, they will not be
far-reaching; and if you regard trivial advantages you will not
successfully deal with important affairs."
The Duke of Sheh in a conversation with Confucius said, "There are
some straightforward persons in my neighborhood. If a father has stolen
a sheep, the son will give evidence against him."
"Straightforward people in my neighborhood are different from those,"
said Confucius. "The father will hold a thing secret on his son's
behalf, and the son does the same for his father. They are on their way
to becoming straightforward."
Fan Ch'i was asking him about duty to one's fellow-men. "Be courteous,"
he replied, "in your private sphere; be serious in any duty you take in
hand to do; be leal-hearted in your intercourse with others. Even though
you were to go amongst the wild tribes, it would not be right for you to
neglect these duties."
In answer to Tsz-kung, who asked, "how he would characterize one who
could fitly be called 'learned official,'" the Master said, "He may be
so-called who in his private life is affected with a sense of his own
unworthiness, and who, when sent on a mission to any quarter of the
empire, would not disgrace his prince's commands."
"May I presume," said his questioner, "to ask what sort you would put
next to such?"
"Him who is spoken of by his kinsmen as a dutiful son, and whom the
folks of his neighborhood call' good brother.'"
"May I still venture to ask whom you would place next in order?"
"Such as are sure to be true to their word, and effective in their
work--who are given to hammering, as it were, upon one note--of inferior
calibre indeed, but fit enough, I think, to be ranked next."
"How would you describe those who are at present in the government
service?"
"Ugh! mere peck and panier men!--not worth taking into the reckoning."
Once he remarked, "If I cannot get _via media_ men to impart instruction
to, then I must of course take the impetuous and undisciplined! The
impetuous ones will at least go forward and lay hold on things; and the
undisciplined have at least something in them which needs to be brought
out."
"The Southerners," said he, "have the proverb, 'The man who sticks not
to rule will never make a charm-worker or a medical man,'
Good!--'Whoever is intermittent in his practise of virtue will live to
be ashamed of it.' Without prognostication," he added, "that will indeed
be so."
"The nobler-minded man," he remarked, "will be agreeable even when he
disagrees; the small-minded man will agree and be disagreeable."
Tsz-kung was consulting him, and asked, "What say you of a person who
was liked by all in his village?"
"That will scarcely do," he answered.
"What, then, if they all disliked him?"
"That, too," said he, "is scarcely enough. Better if he were liked by
the good folk in the village, and disliked by the bad."
"The superior man," he once observed, "is easy to serve, but difficult
to please. Try to please him by the adoption of wrong principles, and
you will fail. Also, when such a one employs others, he uses them
according to their capacity. The inferior man is, on the other hand,
difficult to serve, but easy to please. Try to please him by the
adoption of wrong principles, and you will succeed. And when he employs
others he requires them to be fully prepared for everything."
Again, "The superior man can be high without being haughty. The inferior
man can be haughty if not high."
"The firm, the unflinching, the plain and simple, the slow to speak,"
said he once, "are approximating towards their duty to their
fellow-men."
Tsz-lu asked how he would characterize one who might fitly be called an
educated gentleman. The master replied, "He who can properly be
so-called will have in him a seriousness of purpose, a habit of
controlling himself, and an agreeableness of manner: among his friends
and associates the seriousness and the self-control, and among his
brethren the agreeableness of manner."
"Let good and able men discipline the people for seven years," said the
Master, "and after that they may do to go to war."
But, said he, "To lead an undisciplined people to war--that I call
throwing them away."
BOOK XIV
Good and Bad Government--Miscellaneous Sayings
Yuen Sz asked what might be considered to bring shame on one.
"Pay," said the Master; "pay--ever looking to that, whether the country
be well or badly governed."
"When imperiousness, boastfulness, resentments, and covetousness cease
to prevail among the people, may it be considered that mutual good-will
has been effected?" To this question the Master replied, "A hard thing
overcome, it may be considered. But as to the mutual good-will--I cannot
tell."
"Learned officials," said he, "who hanker after a home life, are not
worthy of being esteemed as such."
Again, "In a country under good government, speak boldly, act boldly.
When the land is ill-governed, though you act boldly, let your words be
moderate."
Again, "Men of virtue will needs be men of words--will speak out--but
men of words are not necessarily men of virtue. They who care for their
fellow-men will needs be bold, but the bold may not necessarily be such
as care for their fellow-men."
Nan-kung Kwoh, who was consulting Confucius, observed respecting I, the
skilful archer, and Ngau, who could propel a boat on dry land, that
neither of them died a natural death; while Yu and Tsih, who with their
own hands had labored at husbandry, came to wield imperial sway.
The Master gave him no reply. But when the speaker had gone out he
exclaimed, "A superior man, that! A man who values virtue, that!"
"There have been noble-minded men," said he, "who yet were wanting in
philanthropy; but never has there been a small-minded man who had
philanthropy in him."
He asked, "Can any one refuse to toil for those he loves? Can any one
refuse to exhort, who is true-hearted?"
Speaking of the preparation of Government Notifications in his day he
said, "P'i would draw up a rough sketch of what was to be said; the
Shishuh then looked it carefully through and put it into proper shape;
Tsz-yu next, who was master of the ceremonial of State intercourse,
improved and adorned its phrases; and Tsz-ch'an of Tung-li added his
scholarly embellishments thereto."
To some one who asked his opinion of the last-named, he said, "He was a
kind-hearted man." Asked what he thought of Tsz-si, he exclaimed, "Alas
for him! alas for him!"--Asked again about Kwan Chung, his answer was,
"As to him, he once seized the town of P'in with its three hundred
families from the Chief of the Pih clan, who, afterwards reduced to
living upon coarse rice, with all his teeth gone, never uttered a word
of complaint."
"It is no light thing," said he, "to endure poverty uncomplainingly; and
a difficult thing to bear wealth without becoming arrogant."
Respecting Mang Kung-ch'oh, he said that, while he was fitted for
something better than the post of chief officer in the Cháu or Wei
families, he was not competent to act as minister in small States like
those of T'ang or Sieh.
Tsz-lu asked how he would describe a perfect man. He replied, "Let a man
have the sagacity of Tsang Wu-chung, the freedom from covetousness of
Kung-ch'oh, the boldness of Chwang of P'in, and the attainments in
polite arts of Yen Yu; and gift him further with the graces taught by
the 'Books of Rites' and 'Music'--then he may be considered a perfect
man. But," said he, "what need of such in these days? The man that may
be regarded as perfect now is the one who, seeing some advantage to
himself, is mindful of righteousness; who, seeing danger, risks his
life; and who, if bound by some covenant of long standing, never forgets
its conditions as life goes on."
Respecting Kung-shuh Wan, the Master inquired of Kung-ming Kiá, saying,
"Is it true that your master never speaks, never laughs, never takes
aught from others?"
"Those who told you that of him," said he, "have gone too far. My master
speaks when there is occasion to do so, and men are not surfeited with
his speaking. When there is occasion to be merry too, he will laugh, but
men have never overmuch of his laughing. And whenever it is just and
right to take things from others, he will take them, but never so as to
allow men to think him burdensome." "Is that the case with him?" said
the Master. "Can it be so?"
Respecting Tsang Wu-chung the Master said, "When he sought from Lu the
appointment of a successor to him, and for this object held on to his
possession of the fortified city of Fang--if you say he was not then
using constraint towards his prince, I must refuse to believe it."
Duke Wan of Tsin he characterized as "artful but not upright"; and Duke
Hwan of Ts'i as "upright but not artful."
Tsz-lu remarked, "When Duke Hwan caused his brother Kiu to be put to
death, Shau Hwuh committed suicide, but Kwan Chung did not. I should say
he was not a man who had much good-will in him--eh?"
The Master replied, "When Duke Hwan held a great gathering of the feudal
lords, dispensing with military equipage, it was owing to Kwan Chung's
energy that such an event was brought about. Match such good-will as
that--match it if you can."
Tsz-kung then spoke up. "But was not Kwan Chung wanting in good-will? He
could not give up his life when Duke Hwan caused his brother to be put
to death. Besides, he became the duke's counsellor."
"And in acting as his counsellor put him at the head of all the feudal
lords," said the Master, "and unified and reformed the whole empire; and
the people, even to this day, reap benefit from what he did. Had it not
been for him we should have been going about with locks unkempt and
buttoning our jackets (like barbarians) on the left. Would you suppose
that he should show the same sort of attachment as exists between a poor
yokel and his one wife--that he would asphyxiate himself in some sewer,
leaving no one the wiser?"
Kung-shuh Wan's steward, who became the high officer Sien, went up
accompanied by Wan to the prince's hall of audience.
When Confucius heard of this he remarked, "He may well be esteemed a
'Wan,'"
The Master having made some reference to the lawless ways of Duke Ling
of Wei, Ki K'ang said to him, "If he be like that, how is it he does not
ruin his position?"
Confucius answered, "The Chung-shuh, Yu, is charged with the
entertainment of visitors and strangers; the priest T'o has charge of
the ancestral temple; and Wang-sun Kiá has the control of the army and
its divisions:--with men such as those, how should he come to ruin?"
He once remarked, "He who is unblushing in his words will with
difficulty substantiate them."
Ch'in Shing had slain Duke Kien. Hearing of this, Confucius, after
performing his ablutions, went to Court and announced the news to Duke
Ngai, saying, "Ch'in Hang has slain his prince. May I request that you
proceed against him?"
"Inform the Chiefs of the Three Families," said the duke.
Soliloquizing upon this, Confucius said, "Since he uses me to back his
ministers, [30] I did not dare not to announce the matter to him; and
now he says, 'Inform the Three Chiefs.'"
He went to the Three Chiefs and informed them, but nothing could be
done. Whereupon again he said, "Since he uses me to back his ministers,
I did not dare not to announce the matter."
Tsz-lu was questioning him as to how he should serve his prince.
"Deceive him not, but reprove him," he answered.
"The minds of superior men," he observed, "trend upwards; those of
inferior men trend downwards."
Again, "Students of old fixed their eyes upon themselves: now they learn
with their eyes upon others."
Kü Pih-yuh despatched a man with a message to Confucius. Confucius gave
him a seat, and among other inquiries he asked, "How is your master
managing?" "My master," he replied, "has a great wish to be seldom at
fault, and as yet he cannot manage it."
"What a messenger!" exclaimed he admiringly, when the man went out.
"What a messenger!"
"When not occupying the office," was a remark of his, "devise not the
policy."
The Learned Tsang used to say, "The thoughts of the 'superior man' do
not wander from his own office."
"Superior men," said the Master, "are modest in their words, profuse in
their deeds."
Again, "There are three attainments of the superior man which are beyond
me--the being sympathetic without anxiety, wise without scepticism,
brave without fear."
"Sir," said Tsz-kung, "that is what you say of yourself."
Whenever Tsz-kung drew comparisons from others, the Master would say,
"Ah, how wise and great you must have become! Now I have no time to do
that."
Again, "My great concern is, not that men do not know me, but that they
cannot."
Again, "If a man refrain from making preparations against his being
imposed upon, and from counting upon others' want of good faith towards
him, while he is foremost to perceive what is passing--surely that is a
wise and good man."
Wi-shang Mau accosted Confucius, saying, "Kiu, how comes it that you
manage to go perching and roosting in this way? Is it not because you
show yourself so smart a speaker, now?"
"I should not dare do that," said Confucius. "Tis that I am sick of
men's immovableness and deafness to reason."
"In a well-bred horse," said he, "what one admires is not its speed, but
its good points."
Some one asked, "What say you of the remark, 'Requite enmity with
kindness'?"
"How then," he answered, "would you requite kindness? Requite enmity
with straightforwardness, and kindness with kindness."
"Ah! no one knows me!" he once exclaimed.
"Sir," said Tsz-kung, "how comes it to pass that no one knows you?"
"While I murmur not against Heaven," continued the Master, "nor cavil at
men; while I stoop to learn and aspire to penetrate into things that are
high; yet 'tis Heaven alone knows what I am."
Liáu, a kinsman of the duke, having laid a complaint against Tsz-lu
before Ki K'ang, an officer came to Confucius to inform him of the fact,
and he added, "My lord is certainly having his mind poisoned by his
kinsman Liáu, but through my influence perhaps we may yet manage to see
him exposed in the marketplace or the Court."
"If right principles are to have their course, it is so destined," said
the Master; "if they are not to have their course, it is so destined.
What can Liáu do against Destiny?"
"There are worthy men," said the Master, "fleeing from the world; some
from their district; some from the sight of men's looks; some from the
language they hear."
"The men who have risen from their posts and withdrawn in this manner
are seven in number."
Tsz-lu, having lodged overnight in Shih-mun, was accosted by the
gate-keeper in the morning. "Where from?" he asked. "From Confucius,"
Tsz-lu responded. "That is the man," said he, "who knows things are not
up to the mark, and is making some ado about them, is it not?"
When the Master was in Wei, he was once pounding on the musical stone,
when a man with a basket of straw crossed his threshold, and exclaimed,
"Ah, there is a heart that feels! Aye, drub the stone!" After which he
added, "How vulgar! how he hammers away on one note!--and no one knows
him, and he gives up, and all is over!
Be it deep, our skirts we'll raise to the waist,
--Or shallow, then up to the knee,'"
"What determination!" said the Master. "Yet it was not
hard to do."
Tsz-chang once said to him, "In the 'Book of the Annals'
it is stated that while Káu-tsung was in the Mourning Shed he
spent the three years without speaking. What is meant by
that?"
"Why must you name Káu-tsung?" said the Master. "It
was so with all other ancient sovereigns: when one of them
died, the heads of every department agreed between themselves
that they should give ear for three years to the Prime Minister."
"When their betters love the Rules, then the folk are easy
tools," was a saying of the Master.
Tsz-lu having asked what made a "superior man," he answered,
"Self-culture, with a view to becoming seriously-minded."
"Nothing more than that?" said he.
"Self-culture with a view to the greater satisfaction of
others," added the Master.
"That, and yet no more?"
"Self-culture with a view to the greater satisfaction of all the
clans and classes," he again added. "Self-culture for the sake
of all--a result that, that would almost put Yau and Shun into
the shade!"
To Yuen Jang, [31] who was sitting waiting for him in a squatting
(disrespectful) posture, the Master delivered himself as follows:
"The man who in his youth could show no humility or subordination,
who in his prime misses his opportunity, and who when old age
comes upon him will not die--that man is a miscreant." And he
tapped him on the shin with his staff.
Some one asked about his attendant--a youth from the village
of Kiueh--whether he was one who improved. He replied, "I note
that he seats himself in the places reserved for his betters,
and that when he is walking he keeps abreast with his seniors.
He is not one of those who care for improvement: he wants to
be a man all at once."
[Footnote 30: Confucius had now retired from office, and this incident
occurred only two years before his death.]
[Footnote 31: It is a habit with the Chinese, when a number are out
walking together, for the eldest to go first, the others pairing off
according to their age. It is a custom much older than the time of
Confucius.]
BOOK XV
Practical Wisdom--Reciprocity the Rule of Life
Duke Ling of Wei was consulting Confucius about army arrangements. His
answer was, "Had you asked me about such things as temple requisites, I
have learnt that business, but I have not yet studied military matters."
And he followed up this reply by leaving on the following day.
After this, during his residence in the State of Ch'in, his followers,
owing to a stoppage of food supply, became so weak and ill that not one
of them could stand. Tsz-lu, with indignation pictured on his
countenance, exclaimed, "And is a gentleman to suffer starvation?"
"A gentleman," replied the Master, "will endure it unmoved, but a common
person breaks out into excesses under it."
Addressing Tsz-kung, the Master said, "You regard me as one who studies
and stores up in his mind a multiplicity of things--do you not?"--"I
do," he replied; "is it not so?"--"Not at all. I have one idea--one cord
on which to string all."
To Tsz-lu he remarked, "They who know Virtue are rare."
"If you would know one who without effort ruled well, was not Shun such
a one? What did he indeed do? He bore himself with reverent dignity and
undeviatingly 'faced the south,' and that was all."
Tsz-chang was consulting him about making way in life. He answered, "Be
true and honest in all you say, and seriously earnest in all you do, and
then, even if your country be one inhabited by barbarians, South or
North, you will make your way. If you do not show yourself thus in word
and deed how should you succeed, even in your own district or
neighborhood?--When you are afoot, let these two counsels be two
companions preceding you, yourself viewing them from behind; when you
drive, have them in view as on the yoke of your carriage. Then may you
make your way."
Tsz-chang wrote them on the two ends of his cincture.
"Straight was the course of the Annalist Yu," said the Master--"aye,
straight as an arrow flies; were the country well governed or ill
governed, his was an arrow-like course.
"A man of masterly mind, too, is Kü Pih-yuh! When the land is being
rightly governed he will serve; when it is under bad government he is
apt to recoil, and brood."
"Not to speak to a man." said he, "to whom you ought to speak, is to
lose your man; to speak to one to whom you ought not to speak is to lose
your words. Those who are wise will not lose their man nor yet their
words."
Again, "The scholar whose heart is in his work, and who is
philanthropic, seeks not to gain a livelihood by any means that will do
harm to his philanthropy. There have been men who have destroyed their
own lives in the endeavor to bring that virtue in them to perfection."
Tsz-kung asked how to become philanthropic. The Master answered him
thus: "A workman who wants to do his work well must first sharpen his
tools. In whatever land you live, serve under some wise and good man
among those in high office, and make friends with the more humane of its
men of education."
Yen Yuen consulted him on the management of a country. He answered:--
"Go by the Hiá Calendar. Have the State carriages like those of the Yin
princes. Wear the Chow cap. For your music let that of Shun be used for
the posturers. Put away the songs of Ch'ing, and remove far from you men
of artful speech: the Ch'ing songs are immodest, and artful talkers are
dangerous."
Other sayings of the Master:--
"They who care not for the morrow will the sooner have their sorrow.
"Ah, 'tis hopeless! I have not yet met with the man who loves Virtue as
he loves Beauty.
"Was not Tsang Wan like one who surreptitiously came by the post he
held? He knew the worth of Hwúi of Liu-hiá, and could not stand in his
presence.
"Be generous yourself, and exact little from others; then you banish
complaints.
"With one who does not come to me inquiring 'What of this?' and 'What of
that?' I never can ask 'What of this?' and give him up.
"If a number of students are all day together, and in their conversation
never approach the subject of righteousness, but are fond merely of
giving currency to smart little sayings, they are difficult indeed to
manage.
"When the 'superior man' regards righteousness as the thing material,
gives operation to it according to the Rules of Propriety, lets it issue
in humility, and become complete in sincerity--there indeed is your
superior man!
"The trouble of the superior man will be his own want of ability: it
will be no trouble to him that others do not know him.
"Such a man thinks it hard to end his days and leave a name to be no
longer named.
"The superior man is exacting of himself; the common man is exacting of
others.
"A superior man has self-respect, and does not strive; is sociable, yet
no party man.
"He does not promote a man because of his words, or pass over the words
because of the man."
Tsz-kung put to him the question, "Is there one word upon which the
whole life may proceed?"
The Master replied, "Is not Reciprocity such a word?--what you do not
yourself desire, do not put before others."
"So far as I have to do with others, whom do I over-censure? whom do I
over-praise? If there be something in them that looks very praiseworthy,
that something I put to the test. I would have the men of the present
day to walk in the straight path whereby those of the Three Dynasties
have walked.
"I have arrived as it were at the annalist's blank page.--Once he who
had a horse would lend it to another to mount; now, alas! it is not so.
"Artful speech is the confusion of Virtue. Impatience over little things
introduces confusion into great schemes.
"What is disliked by the masses needs inquiring into; so also does that
which they have a preference for.
"A man may give breadth to his principles: it is not principles (in
themselves) that give breadth to the man.
"Not to retract after committing an error may itself be called error.
"If I have passed the whole day without food and the whole night without
sleep, occupied with my thoughts, it profits me nothing: I were better
engaged in learning.
"The superior man deliberates upon how he may walk in truth, not upon
what he may eat. The farmer may plough, and be on the way to want: the
student learns, and is on his way to emolument. To live a right life is
the concern of men of nobler minds: poverty gives them none.
"Whatsoever the intellect may attain to, unless the humanity within is
powerful enough to keep guard over it, is assuredly lost, even though it
be gained.
"If there be intellectual attainments, and the humanity within is
powerful enough to keep guard over them, yet, unless (in a ruler) there
be dignity in his rule, the people will fail to show him respect.
"Again, given the intellectual attainments, and humanity sufficient to
keep watch over them, and also dignity in ruling, yet if his movements
be not in accordance with the Rules of Propriety, he is not yet fully
qualified.
"The superior man may not be conversant with petty details, and yet may
have important matters put into his hands. The inferior man may not be
charged with important matters, yet may be conversant with the petty
details.
"Good-fellowship is more to men than fire and water. I have seen men
stepping into fire and into water, and meeting with death thereby; I
have not yet seen a man die from planting his steps in the path of
good-fellowship.
"Rely upon good nature. 'Twill not allow precedence even to a teacher.
"The superior man is inflexibly upright, and takes not things upon
trust.
"In serving your prince, make your service the serious concern, and let
salary be a secondary matter.
"Where instruction is to be given, there must be no distinction of
persons.
"Where men's methods are not identical, there can be no planning by one
on behalf of another.
"In speaking, perspicuity is all that is needed."
When the blind music-master Mien paid him a visit, on his approaching
the steps the Master called out "Steps," and on his coming to the mat,
said "Mat." When all in the room were seated, the Master told him
"So-and-so is here, so-and-so is here."
When the music-master had left, Tsz-chang said to him, "Is that the way
to speak to the music-master?" "Well," he replied, "it is certainly the
way to assist him."
BOOK XVI
Against Intestine Strife--Good and Bad Friendships
The Chief of the Ki family was about to make an onslaught upon the
Chuen-yu domain.
Yen Yu and Tsz-lu in an interview with Confucius told him, "The Ki is
about to have an affair with Chuen-yu."
"Yen," said Confucius, "does not the fault lie with you? The Chief of
Chuen-yu in times past was appointed lord of the East Mung (mountain);
besides, he dwells within the confines of your own State, and is an
official of the State-worship; how can you think of making an onslaught
upon him?"
"It is the wish of our Chief," said Yen Yu, "not the wish of either of
us ministers."
Confucius said, "Yen, there is a sentence of Cháu Jin which runs thus:
'Having made manifest their powers and taken their place in the official
list, when they find themselves incompetent they resign; if they cannot
be firm when danger threatens the government, nor lend support when it
is reeling, of what use then shall they be as Assistants?'--Besides, you
are wrong in what you said. When a rhinoceros or tiger breaks out of its
cage--when a jewel or tortoise-shell ornament is damaged in its
casket--whose fault is it?"
"But," said Yen Yu, "so far as Chuen-yu is concerned, it is now
fortified, and it is close to Pi; and if he does not now take it, in
another generation it will certainly be a trouble to his descendants."
"Yen!" exclaimed Confucius, "it is a painful thing to a superior man to
have to desist from saying, 'My wish is so-and-so,' and to be obliged to
make apologies. For my part, I have learnt this--that rulers of States
and heads of Houses are not greatly concerned about their small
following, but about the want of equilibrium in it--that they do not
concern themselves about their becoming poor, but about the best means
of living quietly and contentedly; for where equilibrium is preserved
there will be no poverty, where there is harmony their following will
not be small, and where there is quiet contentment there will be no
decline nor fall. Now if that be the case, it follows that if men in
outlying districts are not submissive, then a reform in education and
morals will bring them to; and when they have been so won, then will you
render them quiet and contented. At the present time you two are
Assistants of your Chief; the people in the outlying districts are not
submissive, and cannot be brought round. Your dominion is divided,
prostrate, dispersed, cleft in pieces, and you as its guardians are
powerless. And plans are being made for taking up arms against those who
dwell within your own State. I am apprehensive that the sorrow of the Ki
family is not to lie in Chuen-yu, but in those within their own screen."
"When the empire is well-ordered," said Confucius, "it is from the
emperor that edicts regarding ceremonial, music, and expeditions to
quell rebellion go forth. When it is being ill governed, such edicts
emanate from the feudal lords; and when the latter is the case, it will
be strange if in ten generations there is not a collapse. If they
emanate merely from the high officials, it will be strange if the
collapse do not come in five generations. When the State-edicts are in
the hands of the subsidiary ministers, it will be strange if in three
generations there is no collapse.
"When the empire is well-ordered, government is not left in the hands of
high officials.
"When the empire is well-ordered, the common people will cease to
discuss public matters."
"For five generations," he said, "the revenue has departed from the
ducal household. Four generations ago the government fell into the hands
of the high officials. Hence, alas! the straitened means of the
descendants of the three Hwan families."
"There are," said he, "three kinds of friendships which are profitable,
and three which are detrimental. To make friends with the upright, with
the trustworthy, with the experienced, is to gain benefit; to make
friends with the subtly perverse, with the artfully pliant, with the
subtle in speech, is detrimental."
Again, "There are three kinds of pleasure which are profitable, and
three which are detrimental. To take pleasure in going regularly through
the various branches of Ceremonial and Music, in speaking of others'
goodness, in having many worthy wise friends, is profitable. To take
pleasure in wild bold pleasures, in idling carelessly about, in the too
jovial accompaniments of feasting, is detrimental."
Again, "Three errors there be, into which they who wait upon their
superior may fall:--(1) to speak before the opportunity comes to them to
speak, which I call heedless haste; (2) refraining from speaking when
the opportunity has come, which I call concealment; and (3) speaking,
regardless of the mood he is in, which I call blindness."
Again, "Three things a superior should guard against:--(1) against the
lusts of the flesh in his earlier years while the vital powers are not
fully developed and fixed; (2) against the spirit of combativeness when
he has come to the age of robust manhood and when the vital powers are
matured and strong, and (3) against ambitiousness when old age has come
on and the vital powers have become weak and decayed."
"Three things also such a man greatly reveres:--(1) the ordinances of
Heaven, (2) great men, (3) words of sages. The inferior man knows not
the ordinances of Heaven and therefore reveres them not, is unduly
familiar in the presence of great men, and scoffs at the words of
sages."
"They whose knowledge comes by birth are of all men the first in
understanding; they to whom it comes by study are next; men of poor
intellectual capacity, who yet study, may be added as a yet inferior
class; and lowest of all are they who are poor in intellect and never
learn."
"Nine things there are of which the superior man should be mindful:--to
be clear in vision, quick in hearing, genial in expression, respectful
in demeanor, true in word, serious in duty, inquiring in doubt, firmly
self-controlled in anger, just and fair when the way to success opens
out before him."
"Some have spoken of 'looking upon goodness as upon something beyond
their reach,' and of 'looking upon evil as like plunging one's hands
into scalding liquid';--I have seen the men, I have heard the sayings.
"Some, again, have talked of 'living in seclusion to work out their
designs,' and of 'exercising themselves in righteous living in order to
render their principles the more effective';--I have heard the sayings,
I have not seen the men."
"Duke King of Ts'i had his thousand teams of four, yet on the day of his
death the people had nothing to say of his goodness. Peh-I and Shuh-Ts'i
starved at the foot of Shau-yang, and the people make mention of them to
this day.
'E'en if not wealth thine object be,
'Tis all the same, thou'rt changed to me.'
"Is not this apropos in such cases?"
Tsz-k'in asked of Pih-yu, "Have you heard anything else peculiar from
your father?"
"Not yet," said he. "Once, though, he was standing alone when I was
hurrying past him over the vestibule, and he said, 'Are you studying the
Odes?' 'Not yet,' I replied. 'If you do not learn the Odes,' said he,
'you will not have the wherewithal for conversing,' I turned away and
studied the Odes. Another day, when he was again standing alone and I
was hurrying past across the vestibule, he said to me, 'Are you learning
the Rules of Propriety?' 'Not yet,' I replied. 'If you have not studied
the Rules, you have nothing to stand upon,' said he. I turned away and
studied the Rules.--These two things I have heard from him."
Tsz-k'in turned away, and in great glee exclaimed, "I asked one thing,
and have got three. I have learnt something about the Odes, and about
the Rules, and moreover I have learnt how the superior man will turn
away his own son."
The wife of the ruler of a State is called by her husband "My helpmeet."
She speaks of herself as "Your little handmaiden." The people of that
State call her "The prince's helpmeet," but addressing persons of
another State they speak of her as "Our little princess." When persons
of another State name her they say also "Your prince's helpmeet."
BOOK XVII
The Master Induced to Take Office--Nature and Habit
Yang Ho was desirous of having an interview with Confucius, but on the
latter's failing to go and see him, he sent a present of a pig to his
house. Confucius went to return his acknowledgments for it at a time
when he was not at home. They met, however, on the way.
He said to Confucius, "Come, I want a word with you. Can that man be
said to have good-will towards his fellow-men who hugs and hides his own
precious gifts and allows his country to go on in blind error?"
"He cannot," was the reply.
"And can he be said to be wise who, with a liking for taking part in the
public service, is constantly letting slip his opportunities?"
"He cannot," was the reply again.
"And the days and months are passing; and the years do not wait for us."
"True," said Confucius; "I will take office."
It was a remark of the Master that while "by nature we approximate
towards each other, by experience we go far asunder."
Again, "Only the supremely wise and the most deeply ignorant do not
alter."
The Master once, on his arrival at Wu-shing, heard the sound of stringed
instruments and singing. His face beamed with pleasure, and he said
laughingly, "To kill a cock--why use an ox-knife?"
Tsz-yu, the governor, replied, "In former days, sir, I heard you say,
'Let the superior man learn right principles, and he will be loving to
other men; let the ordinary person learn right principles, and he will
be easily managed.'"
The Master (turning to his disciples) said, "Sirs, what he says is
right: what I said just now was only in play."
Having received an invitation from Kung-shan Fuh-jau, who was in revolt
against the government and was holding to his district of Pi, the Master
showed an inclination to go.
Tsz-lu was averse to this, and said, "You can never go, that is certain;
how should you feel you must go to that person?"
"Well," said the Master, "he who has invited me must surely not have
done so without a sufficient reason! And if it should happen that my
services were enlisted, I might create for him another East Chow--don't
you think so?"
Tsz-chang asked Confucius about the virtue of philanthropy. His answer
was, "It is the being able to put in practice five qualities, in any
place under the sun."
"May I ask, please, what these are?" said the disciple.
"They are," he said, "dignity, indulgence, faithfulness, earnestness,
kindness. If you show dignity you will not be mocked; if you are
indulgent you will win the multitude; if faithful, men will place their
trust in you; if earnest, you will do something meritorious; and if
kind, you will be enabled to avail yourself amply of men's services."
Pih Hih sent the Master an invitation, and he showed an inclination to
go.
Tsz-lu (seeing this) said to him, "In former days, sir, I have heard you
say, 'A superior man will not enter the society of one who does not that
which is good in matters concerning himself'; and this man is in revolt,
with Chung-man in his possession; if you go to him, how will the case
stand?"
"Yes," said the Master, "those are indeed my words; but is it not said,
'What is hard may be rubbed without being made thin,' and 'White may be
stained without being made black'?--I am surely not a gourd! How am I to
be strung up like that kind of thing--and live without means?"
"Tsz-lu," said the Master, "you have heard of the six words with their
six obfuscations?"
"No," said he, "not so far."
"Sit down, and I will tell you them. They are these six virtues, cared
for without care for any study about them:--philanthropy, wisdom,
faithfulness, straightforwardness, courage, firmness. And the six
obfuscations resulting from not liking to learn about them are,
respectively, these:--fatuity, mental dissipation, mischievousness,
perversity, insubordination, impetuosity."
"My children," said he once, "why does no one of you study the
Odes?--They are adapted to rouse the mind, to assist observation, to
make people sociable, to arouse virtuous indignation. They speak of
duties near and far--the duty of ministering to a parent, the duty of
serving one's prince; and it is from them that one becomes conversant
with the names of many birds, and beasts, and plants, and trees."
To his son Pih-yu he said, "Study you the Odes of Chow and the South,
and those of Shau and the South. The man who studies not these is, I
should say, somewhat in the position of one who stands facing a wall!"
"'Etiquette demands it.' 'Etiquette demands it,' so people plead," said
he; "but do not these hankerings after jewels and silks indeed demand
it? Or it is, 'The study of Music requires it'--'Music requires it'; but
do not these predilections for bells and drums require it?"
Again, "They who assume an outward appearance of severity, being
inwardly weak, may be likened to low common men; nay, are they not
somewhat like thieves that break through walls and steal?"
Again, "The plebeian kind of respect for piety is the very pest of
virtue."
Again, "Listening on the road, and repeating in the lane--this is
abandonment of virtue."
"Ah, the low-minded creatures!" he exclaimed. "How is it possible indeed
to serve one's prince in their company? Before they have got what they
wanted they are all anxiety to get it, and after they have got it they
are all anxiety lest they should lose it; and while they are thus full
of concern lest they should lose it, there is no length to which they
will not go."
Again, "In olden times people had three moral infirmities; which, it may
be, are now unknown. Ambitiousness in those olden days showed itself in
momentary outburst; the ambitiousness of to-day runs riot. Austerity in
those days had its sharp angles; in these it is irritable and perverse.
Feebleness of intellect then was at least straightforward; in our day it
is never aught but deceitful."
Again, "Rarely do we find mutual good feeling where there is fine speech
and studied mien."
Again, "To me it is abhorrent that purple color should be made to
detract from that of vermilion. Also that the Odes of Ch'ing should be
allowed to introduce discord in connection with the music of the Festal
Songs and Hymns. Also that sharp-whetted tongues should be permitted to
subvert governments."
Once said he, "Would that I could dispense with speech!"
"Sir," said Tsz-kung, "if you were never to speak, what should your
pupils have to hand down from you?"
"Does Heaven ever speak?" said the Master. "The four seasons come and
go, and all creatures live and grow. Does Heaven indeed speak?"
Once Ju Pi desired an interview with Confucius, from which the latter
excused himself on the score of ill-health; but while the attendant was
passing out through the doorway with the message he took his lute and
sang, in such a way as to let him hear him.
Tsai Wo questioned him respecting the three years' mourning, saying that
one full twelve-month was a long time--that, if gentlemen were for three
years to cease from observing rules of propriety, propriety must
certainly suffer, and that if for three years they neglected music,
music must certainly die out--and that seeing nature has taught us that
when the old year's grain is finished the new has sprung up for
us--seeing also that all the changes[32] in procuring fire by friction
have been gone through in the four seasons--surely a twelve-month might
suffice.
The Master asked him, "Would it be a satisfaction to you--that returning
to better food, that putting on of fine clothes?"
"It would," said he.
"Then if you can be satisfied in so doing, do so. But to a gentleman,
who is in mourning for a parent, the choicest food will not be
palatable, nor will the listening to music be pleasant, nor will
comforts of home make him happy in mind. Hence he does not do as you
suggest. But if you are now happy in your mind, then do so."
Tsai Wo went out. And the Master went on to say, "It is want of human
feeling in this man. After a child has lived three years it then breaks
away from the tender nursing of its parents. And this three years'
mourning is the customary mourning prevalent all over the empire. Can
this man have enjoyed the three years of loving care from his parents?"
"Ah, it is difficult," said he, "to know what to make of those who are
all day long cramming themselves with food and are without anything to
apply their minds to! Are there no dice and chess players? Better,
perhaps, join in that pursuit than do nothing at all!"
"Does a gentleman," asked Tsz-lu, "make much account of bravery?"
"Righteousness he counts higher," said the Master. "A gentleman who is
brave without being just may become turbulent; while a common person who
is brave and not just may end in becoming a highwayman."
Tsz-kung asked, "I suppose a gentleman will have his aversions as well
as his likings?"
"Yes," replied the Master, "he will dislike those who talk much about
other people's ill-deeds. He will dislike those who, when occupying
inferior places, utter defamatory words against their superiors. He will
dislike those who, though they may be brave, have no regard for
propriety. And he will dislike those hastily decisive and venturesome
spirits who are nevertheless so hampered by limited intellect."
"And you, too, Tsz-kung," he continued, "have your aversions, have you
not?"
"I dislike," said he, "those plagiarists who wish to pass for wise
persons. I dislike those people who wish their lack of humility to be
taken for bravery. I dislike also those divulgers of secrets who think
to be accounted straightforward."
"Of all others," said the Master, "women-servants and men-servants are
the most difficult people to have the care of. Approach them in a
familiar manner, and they take liberties; keep them at a distance, and
they grumble."
Again, "When a man meets with odium at forty, he will do so to the end."
[Footnote 32: Different woods were adopted for this purpose at the
various seasons.]
BOOK XVIII
Good Men in Seclusion--Duke of Chow to His Son
"In the reign of the last king of the Yin dynasty," Confucius I said,
"there were three men of philanthropic spirit:--the viscount of Wei, who
withdrew from him; the viscount of Ki, who became his bondsman; and
Pi-kan, who reproved him and suffered death."
Hwúi of Liu-hiá, who filled the office of Chief Criminal Judge, was
thrice dismissed. A person remarked to him, "Can you not yet bear to
withdraw?" He replied, "If I act in a straightforward way in serving
men, whither in these days should I go, where I should not be thrice
dismissed? Were I to adopt crooked ways in their service, why need I
leave the land where my parents dwell?"
Duke King of Ts'i remarked respecting his attitude towards Confucius,
"If he is to be treated like the Chief of the Ki family, I cannot do it.
I should treat him as somewhere between the Ki and Mang Chiefs.--I am
old," he added, "and not competent to avail myself of him."
Confucius, hearing of this, went away.
The Ts'i officials presented to the Court of Lu a number of female
musicians. Ki Hwan accepted them, and for three days no Court was held.
Confucius went away.
Tsieh-yu, the madman [33] of Ts'u, was once passing Confucius, singing
as he went along. He sang--
"Ha, the phoenix! Ha, the phoenix!
How is Virtue lying prone!
Vain to chide for what is o'er,
Plan to meet what's yet in store.
Let alone! Let alone!
Risky now to serve a throne."
Confucius alighted, wishing to enter into conversation with him; but the
man hurried along and left him, and he was therefore unable to get a
word with him.
Ch'ang-tsü and Kieh-nih [34] were working together on some ploughed
land. Confucius was passing by them, and sent Tsz-lu to ask where the
ford was.
Ch'ang-tsü said, "Who is the person driving the carriage?"
"Confucius," answered Tsz-lu.
"He of Lu?" he asked.
"The same," said Tsz-lu.
"He knows then where the ford is," said he.
Tsz-lu then put his question to Kieh-nih; and the latter asked, "Who are
you?"
Tsz-lu gave his name.
"You are a follower of Confucius of Lu, are you not?"
"You are right," he answered.
"Ah, as these waters rise and overflow their bounds," said he, "'tis so
with all throughout the empire; and who is he that can alter the state
of things? And you are a follower of a learned man who withdraws from
his chief; had you not better be a follower of such as have forsaken the
world?" And he went on with his harrowing, without stopping.
Tsz-lu went and informed his Master of all this. He was deeply touched,
and said, "One cannot herd on equal terms with beasts and birds: if I am
not to live among these human folk, then with whom else should I live?
Only when the empire is well ordered shall I cease to take part in the
work of reformation."
Tsz-lu was following the Master, but had dropped behind on the way, when
he encountered an old man with a weed-basket slung on a staff over his
shoulder. Tsz-lu inquired of him, "Have you seen my Master, sir?" Said
the old man, "Who is your master?--you who never employ your four limbs
in laborious work; you who do not know one from another of the five
sorts of grain!" And he stuck his staff in the ground, and began his
weeding.
Tsz-lu brought his hands together on his breast and stood still.
The old man kept Tsz-lu and lodged him for the night, killed a fowl and
prepared some millet, entertained him, and brought his two sons out to
see him.
On the morrow Tsz-lu went on his way, and told all this to the Master,
who said, "He is a recluse," and sent Tsz-lu back to see him again. But
by the time he got there he was gone.
Tsz-lu remarked upon this, "It is not right he should evade official
duties. If he cannot allow any neglect of the terms on which elders and
juniors should live together, how is it that he neglects to conform to
what is proper as between prince and public servant? He wishes for
himself personally a pure life, yet creates disorder in that more
important relationship. When a gentleman undertakes public work, he will
carry out the duties proper to it; and he knows beforehand that right
principles may not win their way."
Among those who have retired from public life have been Peh-I and
Shuh-Ts'i, Yu-chung, I-yih, Chu-chang, Hwúi of Liuhia, and Sháu-lien.
"Of these," said the Master, "Peh-I and Shuh-Ts'i may be characterized,
I should say, as men who never declined from their high resolve nor
soiled themselves by aught of disgrace.
"Of Hwúi of Liu-hiá and Sháu-lien, if one may say that they did decline
from high resolve, and that they did bring disgrace upon themselves, yet
their words were consonant with established principles, and their action
consonant with men's thoughts and wishes; and this is all that may be
said of them.
"Of Yu-chung and I-yih, if it be said that when they retired into
privacy they let loose their tongues, yet in their aim at personal
purity of life they succeeded, and their defection was also successful
in its influence.
"My own rule is different from any adopted by these: I will take no
liberties, I will have no curtailing of my liberty."
The chief music-master went off to Ts'i. Kan, the conductor of the music
at the second repast, went over to Ts'u. Liáu, conductor at the third
repast, went over to Ts'ai. And Kiueh, who conducted at the fourth, went
to Ts'in.
Fang-shuh, the drummer, withdrew into the neighborhood of the Ho. Wu the
tambourer went to the Han. And Yang the junior music-master, and Siang
who played on the musical stone, went to the sea-coast.
Anciently the Duke of Chow, addressing his son the Duke of Lu, said, "A
good man in high place is not indifferent about the members of his own
family, and does not give occasion to the chief ministers to complain
that they are not employed; nor without great cause will he set aside
old friendships; nor does he seek for full equipment for every kind of
service in any single man."
There were once eight officials during this Chow dynasty, who were four
pairs of twins, all brothers--the eldest pair Tab and Kwoh, the next Tub
and Hwuh, the third Yé and Hiá, the youngest Sui and Kwa.
[Footnote 33: He only pretended to be mad, in order to escape being
employed in the public service.]
[Footnote 34: Two worthies who had abandoned public life, owing to the
state of the times.]
BOOK XIX
Teachings of Various Chief Disciples
"The learned official," said Tsz-chang, "who when he sees danger ahead
will risk his very life, who when he sees a chance of success is mindful
of what is just and proper, who in his religious acts is mindful of the
duty of reverence, and when in mourning thinks of his loss, is indeed a
fit and proper person for his place."
Again he said, "If a person hold to virtue but never advance in it, and
if he have faith in right principles and do not build himself up in
them, how can he be regarded either as having such, or as being without
them?"
Tsz-hiá's disciples asked Tsz-chang his views about intercourse with
others. "What says your Master?" he rejoined. "He says," they replied,
"'Associate with those who are qualified, and repel from you such as are
not,'" Tsz-chang then said, "That is different from what I have learnt.
A superior man esteems the worthy and wise, and bears with all. He makes
much of the good and capable, and pities the incapable. Am I eminently
worthy and wise?--who is there then among men whom I will not bear with?
Am I not worthy and wise?--others will be minded to repel me: I have
nothing to do with repelling them."
Sayings of Tsz-hiá:--
"Even in inferior pursuits there must be something worthy of
contemplation, but if carried to an extreme there is danger of
fanaticism; hence the superior man does not engage in them.
"The student who daily recognizes how much he yet lacks, and as the
months pass forgets not what he has succeeded in learning, may
undoubtedly be called a lover of learning.
"Wide research and steadfast purpose, eager questioning and close
reflection--all this tends to humanize a man.
"As workmen spend their time in their workshops for the perfecting of
their work, so superior men apply their minds to study in order to make
themselves thoroughly conversant with their subjects.
"When an inferior man does a wrong thing, he is sure to gloss it over.
"The superior man is seen in three different aspects:--look at him from
a distance, he is imposing in appearance; approach him, he is gentle and
warm-hearted; hear him speak, he is acute and strict.
"Let such a man have the people's confidence, and he will get much work
out of them; so long, however, as he does not possess their confidence
they will regard him as grinding them down.
"When confidence is reposed in him, he may then with impunity administer
reproof; so long as it is not, he will be regarded as a detractor.
"Where there is no over-stepping of barriers in the practice of the
higher virtues, there may be freedom to pass in and out in the practice
of the lower ones."
Tsz-yu had said, "The pupils in the school of Tsz-hiá are good enough at
such things as sprinkling and scrubbing floors, answering calls and
replying to questions from superiors, and advancing and retiring to and
from such; but these things are only offshoots--as to the root of things
they are nowhere. What is the use of all that?"
When this came to the ears of Tsz-hiá, he said, "Ah! there he is
mistaken. What does a master, in his methods of teaching, consider first
in his precepts? And what does he account next, as that about which he
may be indifferent? It is like as in the study of plants--classification
by _differentiae_. How may a master play fast and loose in his methods
of instruction? Would they not indeed be sages, who could take in at
once the first principles and the final developments of things?"
Further observations of Tsz-hiá:--
"In the public service devote what energy and time remain to study.
After study devote what energy and time remain to the public service.
"As to the duties of mourning, let them cease when the grief is past.
"My friend Tsz-chang, although he has the ability to tackle hard things,
has not yet the virtue of philanthropy."
The learned Tsang observed, "How loftily Tsz-chang bears himself!
Difficult indeed along with him to practise philanthropy!"
Again he said, "I have heard this said by the Master, that 'though men
may not exert themselves to the utmost in other duties, yet surely in
the duty of mourning for their parents they will do so!'"
Again, "This also I have heard said by the Master: 'The filial piety of
Mang Chwang in other respects might be equalled, but as manifested in
his making no changes among his father's ministers, nor in his father's
mode of government--that aspect of it could not easily be equalled.'"
Yang Fu, having been made senior Criminal Judge by the Chief of the Mang
clan, consulted with the learned Tsang. The latter advised him as
follows: "For a long time the Chiefs have failed in their government,
and the people have become unsettled. When you arrive at the facts of
their cases, do not rejoice at your success in that, but rather be sorry
for them, and have pity upon them."
Tsz-kung once observed, "We speak of 'the iniquity of Cháu'--but 'twas
not so great as this. And so it is that the superior man is averse from
settling in this sink, into which everything runs that is foul in the
empire."
Again he said, "Faults in a superior man are like eclipses of the sun or
moon: when he is guilty of a trespass men all see it; and when he is
himself again, all look up to him."
Kung-sun Ch'an of Wei inquired of Tsz-kung how Confucius acquired his
learning.
Tsz-kung replied, "The teachings of Wan and Wu have not yet fallen to
the ground. They exist in men. Worthy and wise men have the more
important of these stored up in their minds; and others, who are not
such, store up the less important of them; and as no one is thus without
the teachings of Wan and Wu, how should our Master not have learned? And
moreover what permanent preceptor could he have?"
Shuh-sun Wu-shuh, addressing the high officials at the Court, remarked
that Tsz-kung was a greater worthy than Confucius.
Tsz-fuh King-pih went and informed Tsz-kung of this remark.
Tsz-kung said, "Take by way of comparison the walls outside our houses.
My wall is shoulder-high, and you may look over it and see what the
house and its contents are worth. My Master's wall is tens of feet high,
and unless you should effect an entrance by the door, you would fail to
behold the beauty of the ancestral hall and the rich array of all its
officers. And they who effect an entrance by the door, methinks, are
few! Was it not, however, just like him--that remark of the Chief?"
Shuh-sun Wu-shuh had been casting a slur on the character of Confucius.
"No use doing that," said Tsz-kung; "he is irreproachable. The wisdom
and worth of other men are little hills and mounds of earth:
traversible. He is the sun, or the moon, impossible to reach and pass.
And what harm, I ask, can a man do to the sun or the moon, by wishing to
intercept himself from either? It all shows that he knows not how to
gauge capacity."
Tsz-k'in, addressing Tsz-kung, said, "You depreciate yourself. Confucius
is surely not a greater worthy than yourself."
Tsz-kung replied, "In the use of words one ought never to be
incautious; because a gentleman for one single utterance of his is apt
to be considered a wise man, and for a single utterance may be accounted
unwise. No more might one think of attaining to the Master's perfections
than think of going upstairs to Heaven! Were it ever his fortune to be
at the head of the government of a country, then that which is spoken of
as 'establishing the country' would be establishment indeed; he would be
its guide and it would follow him, he would tranquillize it and it would
render its willing homage: he would give forward impulses to it to which
it would harmoniously respond. In his life he would be its glory, at his
death there would be great lamentation. How indeed could such as he be
equalled?"
BOOK XX
Extracts from the Book of History
The Emperor Yau said to Shun, "Ah, upon you, upon your person, lies the
Heaven-appointed order of succession! Faithfully hold to it, without any
deflection; for if within the four seas necessity and want befall the
people, your own revenue will forever come to an end."
Shun also used the same language in handing down the appointment to Yu.
The Emperor T'ang in his prayer, said, "I, the child Li, presume to
avail me of an ox of dusky hue, and presume to manifestly announce to
Thee, O God, the most high and Sovereign Potentate, that to the
transgressor I dare not grant forgiveness, nor yet keep in abeyance Thy
ministers. Judgment rests in Thine heart, O God. Should we ourself
transgress, may the guilt not be visited everywhere upon all. Should the
people all transgress, be the guilt upon ourself!"
Chow possessed great gifts, by which the able and good were richly
endowed.
"Although," said King Wu, "he is surrounded by his near relatives, they
are not to be compared with men of humane spirit. The people are
suffering wrongs, and the remedy rests with me--the one man."
After Wu had given diligent attention to the various weights and
measures, examined the laws and regulations, and restored the degraded
officials, good government everywhere ensued.
He caused ruined States to flourish again, reinstated intercepted heirs,
and promoted to office men who had gone into retirement; and the hearts
of the people throughout the empire drew towards him.
Among matters of prime consideration with him were these--food for the
people, the duty of mourning, and sacrificial offerings to the departed.
He was liberal and large-hearted, and so won all hearts; true, and so
was trusted by the people; energetic, and thus became a man of great
achievements; just in his rule, and all were well content.
Tsz-chang in a conversation with Confucius asked, "What say you is
essential for the proper conduct of government?"
The Master replied, "Let the ruler hold in high estimation the five
excellences, and eschew the four evils; then may he conduct his
government properly."
"And what call you the five excellences?" he was asked.
"They are," he said, "Bounty without extravagance; burdening without
exciting discontent; desire without covetousness; dignity without
haughtiness; show of majesty without fierceness."
"What mean you," asked Tsz-chang, "by bounty without extravagance?"
"Is it not this," he replied--"to make that which is of benefit to the
people still more beneficial? When he selects for them such labors as it
is possible for them to do, and exacts them, who will then complain? So
when his desire is the virtue of humaneness, and he attains it, how
shall he then be covetous? And if--whether he have to do with few or
with many, with small or with great--he do not venture ever to be
careless, is not this also to have dignity without haughtiness? And
if--when properly vested in robe and cap, and showing dignity in his
every look--his appearance be so imposing that the people look up to and
stand in awe of him, is not this moreover to show majesty without
fierceness?"
"What, then, do you call the four evils?" said Tsz-chang.
The answer here was, "Omitting to instruct the people and then
inflicting capital punishment on them--which means cruel tyranny.
Omitting to give them warning and yet looking for perfection in
them--which means oppression. Being slow and late in issuing
requisitions, and exacting strict punctuality in the returns--which
means robbery. And likewise, in intercourse with men, to expend and to
receive in a stingy manner--which is to act the part of a mere
commissioner."
"None can be a superior man," said the Master, "who does not recognize
the decrees of Heaven.
"None can have stability in him without a knowledge of the proprieties.
"None can know a man without knowing his utterances."
THE SAYINGS OF MENICUS
[Translated into English by James Legge_]
INTRODUCTION
A hundred years after the time of Confucius the Chinese nation seemed to
have fallen back into their original condition of lawlessness and
oppression. The King's power and authority was laughed to scorn, the
people were pillaged by the feudal nobility, and famine reigned in many
districts. The foundations of truth and social order seemed to be
overthrown. There were teachers of immorality abroad, who published the
old Epicurean doctrine, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."
This teaching was accompanied by a spirit of cold-blooded egotism which
extinguished every spark of Confucian altruism. Even the pretended
disciples of Confucius confused the precepts of the Master, and by
stripping them of their narrow significance rendered them nugatory. It
was at this point that Mang-tsze, "Mang the philosopher," arose. He was
sturdy in bodily frame, vigorous in mind, profound in political sagacity
and utterly fearless in denouncing the errors of his countrymen. He had
been brought up among the disciples of Confucius, in whose province he
was born B.C. 372, but he was much more active and aggressive, less a
Mystic than a fanatic, in comparison! with his Master. He resolved on
active measures in stemming the tendency of his day. He did indeed
surround himself with a school of disciples, but instead of making a
series of desultory travels, teaching in remote places and along the
high-road, he went to the heart of the evil. He presented himself like a
second John the Baptist at the courts of kings and princes, and there
boldly denounced vice and misrule. It was not difficult for a Chinese
scholar and teacher to find access to the highest of the land. The
Chinese believed in the divine right of learning, just as they believed
in the divine right of kings. Mang employed every weapon of persuasion
in trying to combat heresy and oppression; alternately ridiculing and
reproving: now appealing in a burst of moral enthusiasm, and now
denouncing in terms of cutting sarcasm the abuses which after all he
failed to check. The last prince whom he successfully confronted was the
Marquis of Lu, who turned him carelessly away. He accepted this as the
Divine sentence of his failure, "That I have not found in this marquis,
a ruler who would hearken to me is an intimation of heaven." Henceforth
he lived in retirement until his ninety-seventh year; but from his
apparent failure sprang a practical success. His written teachings are
amongst the most lively and epigrammatic works of Chinese literature,
have done much to keep alive amongst his countrymen the spirit of
Confucianism, and even Western readers may drink wisdom from this spring
of Oriental lore. The following selections from his sayings well exhibit
the spirit of his system of philosophy and morality.
E.W.
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS
BOOK I
KING HWUY OF LËANG
Part I
Mencius went to see King Hwuy of Lëang. [1] The king said, "Venerable
Sir, since you have not counted it far to come here a distance of a
thousand li, may I presume that you are likewise provided with counsels
to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty used that
word 'profit'? What I am likewise provided with are counsels to
benevolence and righteousness; and these are my only topics.
"If your Majesty say, 'What is to be done to profit my kingdom?' the
great officers will say, 'What is to be done to profit our families?'
and the inferior officers and the common people will say, 'What is to be
done to profit our persons?' Superiors and inferiors will try to take
the profit the one from the other, and the kingdom will be endangered.
In the kingdom of ten thousand chariots, the murderer of his ruler will
be the chief of a family of a thousand chariots. In the State of a
thousand chariots, the murderer of his ruler will be the chief of a
family of a hundred chariots. To have a thousand in ten thousand, and a
hundred in a thousand, cannot be regarded as not a large allowance; but
if righteousness be put last and profit first, they will not be
satisfied without snatching all.
"There never was a man trained to benevolence who neglected his parents.
There never was a man trained to righteousness who made his ruler an
after consideration. Let your Majesty likewise make benevolence and
righteousness your only themes--Why must you speak of profit?"
When Mencius, another day, was seeing King Hwuy of Lëang, the King went
and stood with him by a pond, and, looking round on the wild geese and
deer, large and small, said, "Do wise and good princes also take
pleasure in these things?" Mencius replied, "Being wise and good, they
then have pleasure in these things. If they are not wise and good,
though they have these things, they do not find pleasure." It is said in
the 'Book of Poetry':--
'When he planned the commencement of the Marvellous tower,
He planned it, and defined it,
And the people in crowds undertook the work,
And in no time completed it.
When he planned the commencement, he said, "Be not in a hurry."
But the people came as if they were his children.
The king was in the Marvellous park,
Where the does were lying down--
The does so sleek and fat;
With the white birds glistening.
The king was by the Marvellous pond;--
How full was it of fishes leaping about!'
King Wan used the strength of the people to make his tower and pond, and
the people rejoiced to do the work, calling the tower 'the Marvellous
Tower,' and the pond 'the Marvellous Pond,' and being glad that he had
his deer, his fishes and turtles. The ancients caused their people to
have pleasure as well as themselves, and therefore they could enjoy it.
"In the Declaration of T'ang it is said, 'O Sun, when wilt thou expire?
We will die together with thee.' The people wished for Këeh's death,
though they should die with him. Although he had his tower, his pond,
birds and animals, how could he have pleasure alone?"
King Hwuy of Lëang said, "Small as my virtue is, in the government of my
kingdom, I do indeed exert my mind to the utmost. If the year be bad
inside the Ho, I remove as many of the people as I can to the east of
it, and convey grain to the country inside. If the year be bad on the
east of the river, I act on the same plan. On examining the governmental
methods of the neighboring kingdoms, I do not find there is any ruler
who exerts his mind as I do. And yet the people of the neighboring kings
do not decrease, nor do my people increase--how is this?"
Mencius replied, "Your Majesty loves war; allow me to take an
illustration from war. The soldiers move forward at the sound of the
drum; and when the edges of their weapons have been crossed, on one
side, they throw away their buff coats, trail their weapons behind them,
and run. Some run a hundred paces and then stop; some run fifty paces
and stop. What would you think if these, because they had run but fifty
paces, should laugh at those who ran a hundred paces?" The king said,
"They cannot do so. They only did not run a hundred paces; but they also
ran." Mencius said, "Since your Majesty knows this you have no ground to
expect that your people will become more numerous than those of the
neighboring kingdoms.
"If the seasons of husbandry be not interfered with, the grain will be
more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools
and ponds, the fish and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If
the axes and bills enter the hill-forests only at the proper times, the
wood will be more than can be used. When the grain and fish and turtles
are more than can be eaten, and there is more wood than can be used,
this enables the people to nourish their living and do all offices for
their dead, without any feeling against any. But this condition, in
which the people nourish their living, and do all offices to their dead
without having any feeling against any, is the first step in the Royal
way.
"Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five
acres, and persons of fifty years will be able to wear silk. In keeping
fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their time of breeding be
neglected, and persons of seventy years will be able to eat flesh. Let
there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of
the field allotment of a hundred acres, and the family of several mouths
will not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to the
teaching in the various schools, with repeated inculcation of the filial
and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the
roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It has never
been that the ruler of a State where these results were seen, persons of
seventy wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people
suffering neither from hunger nor cold, did not attain to the Royal
dignity.
"Your dogs and swine eat the food of men, and you do not know to store
up of the abundance. There are people dying from famine on the roads,
and you do not know to issue your stores for their relief. When men die,
you say, 'It is not owing to me; it is owing to the year,' In what does
this differ from stabbing a man and killing him, and then saying, 'It
was not I; it was the weapon'? Let your Majesty cease to lay the blame
on the year and instantly the people, all under the sky, will come to
you."
King Hwuy of Lëang said, "I wish quietly to receive your instructions."
Mencius replied, "Is there any difference between killing a man with a
stick and with a sword?" "There is no difference," was the answer.
Mencius continued, "Is there any difference between doing it with a
sword and with governmental measures?" "There is not," was the answer
again.
Mencius then said, "In your stalls there are fat beasts; in your stables
there are fat horses. But your people have the look of hunger, and in
the fields there are those who have died of famine. This is leading on
beasts to devour men. Beasts devour one another, and men hate them for
doing so. When he who is called the parent of the people conducts his
government so as to be chargeable with leading on beasts to devour men,
where is that parental relation to the people? Chung-ne said, 'Was he
not without posterity who first made wooden images to bury with the
dead?' So he said, because that man made the semblances of men and used
them for that purpose; what shall be thought of him who causes his
people to die of hunger?"
King Hwuy of Lëang said, "There was not in the kingdom a stronger State
than Ts'in, as you, venerable Sir, know. But since it descended to me,
on the east we were defeated by Ts'e, and then my eldest son perished;
on the west we lost seven hundred li of territory to Ts'in; and on the
south we have sustained disgrace at the hands of Ts'oo. I have brought
shame on my departed predecessors, and wish on their account to wipe it
away once for all. What course is to be pursued to accomplish this?"
Mencius replied, "With a territory only a hundred li square it has been
possible to obtain the Royal dignity. If your Majesty will indeed
dispense a benevolent government to the people, being sparing in the use
of punishments and fines, and making the taxes and levies of produce
light, so causing that the fields shall be ploughed deep, and the
weeding well attended to, and that the able-bodied, during their days of
leisure, shall cultivate their filial piety, fraternal duty,
faithfulness, and truth, serving thereby, at home, their fathers and
elder brothers, and, abroad, their elders and superiors, you will then
have a people who can be employed with sticks which they have prepared
to oppose the strong buff-coats and sharp weapons of the troops of Ts'in
and Ts'oo.
"The rulers of those States rob their people of their time, so that they
cannot plough and weed their fields in order to support their parents.
Parents suffer from cold and hunger; elder and younger brothers, wives
and children, are separated and scattered abroad. Those rulers drive
their people into pitfalls or into the water; and your Majesty will go
to punish them. In such a case, who will oppose your Majesty? In
accordance with this is the saying, 'The benevolent has no enemy!' I beg
your Majesty not to doubt what I said."
Mencius had an interview with King Sëang[2] of Lëang. When he came out
he said to some persons, "When I looked at him from a distance, he did
not appear like a ruler; when I drew near to him, I saw nothing
venerable about him. Abruptly he asked me, 'How can the kingdom, all
under the sky, be settled?' I replied, 'It will be settled by being
united under one sway,'
"'Who can so unite it?' he asked.
"I replied, 'He who has no pleasure in killing men can so unite it.'
"'Who can give it to him?' he asked.
"I replied, 'All under heaven will give it to him. Does your Majesty
know the way of the growing grain? During the seventh and eighth months,
when drought prevails, the plants become dry. Then the clouds collect
densely in the heavens, and send down torrents of rain, so that the grain
erects itself as if by a shoot. When it does so, who can keep it back?
Now among those who are shepherds of men throughout the kingdom, there
is not one who does not find pleasure in killing men. If there were one
who did not find pleasure in killing men, all the people under the sky
would be looking towards him with outstretched necks. Such being indeed
the case, the people would go to him as water flows downwards with a
rush, which no one can repress."
King Seuen of Ts'e asked, saying, "May I be informed by you of the
transactions of Hwan of Ts'e and Wan of Ts'in?"
Mencius replied, "There were none of the disciples of Chung-ne who spoke
about the affairs of Hwan and Wan, and therefore they have not been
transmitted to these after-ages; your servant has not heard of them. If
you will have me speak, let it be about the principles of attaining to
the Royal sway."
The king said, "Of what kind must his virtue be who can attain to the
Royal sway?" Mencius said, "If he loves and protects the people, it is
impossible to prevent him from attaining it."
The king said, "Is such an one as poor I competent to love and protect
the people?" "Yes," was the reply. "From what do you know that I am
competent to that?" "I have heard," said Mencius, "from Hoo Heih the
following incident:--'The king,' said he, 'was sitting aloft in the
hall, when some people appeared leading a bull past below it. The king
saw it, and asked where the bull was going, and being answered that they
were going to consecrate a bell with its blood, he said, "Let it go, I
cannot bear its frightened appearance--as if it were an innocent person
going to the place of death." They asked in reply whether, if they did
so, they should omit the consecration of the bell, but the king said,
"How can that be omitted? Change it for a sheep."' I do not know whether
this incident occurred."
"It did," said the king, and Mencius replied, "The heart seen in this is
sufficient to carry you to the Royal sway. The people all supposed that
your Majesty grudged the animal, but your servant knows surely that it
was your Majesty's not being able to bear the sight of the creature's
distress which made you do as you did."
The king said, "You are right; and yet there really was an appearance of
what the people imagined. But though Ts'e be narrow and small, how
should I grudge a bull? Indeed it was because I could not bear its
frightened appearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the
place of death, that therefore I changed it for a sheep."
Mencius said, "Let not your Majesty deem it strange that the people
should think you grudged the animal. When you changed a large one for a
small, how should they know the true reason? If you felt pained by its
being led without any guilt to the place of death, what was there to
choose between a bull and a sheep?" The king laughed and said, "What
really was my mind in the matter? I did not grudge the value of the
bull, and yet I changed it for a sheep! There was reason in the people's
saying that I grudged the creature."
Mencius said, "There is no harm in their saying so. It was an artifice
of benevolence. You saw the bull, and had not seen the sheep. So is the
superior man affected towards animals, that, having seen them alive, he
cannot bear to see them die, and, having heard their dying cries, he
cannot bear to eat their flesh. On this account he keeps away from his
stalls and kitchen."
The king was pleased and said, "The Ode says,
'What other men have in their minds,
I can measure by reflection,'
This might be spoken of you, my Master. I indeed did the thing, but when
I turned my thoughts inward and sought for it, I could not discover my
own mind. When you, Master, spoke those words, the movements of
compassion began to work in my mind. But how is it that this heart has
in it what is equal to the attainment of the Royal sway?"
Mencius said, "Suppose a man were to make this statement to your
Majesty, 'My strength is sufficient to lift three thousand catties, but
is not sufficient to lift one feather; my eyesight is sharp enough to
examine the point of an autumn hair, but I do not see a wagon-load of
fagots,' would your Majesty allow what he said?" "No," was the king's
remark, and Mencius proceeded, "Now here is kindness sufficient to reach
to animals, and yet no benefits are extended from it to the people--how
is this? is an exception to be made here? The truth is, the feather's
not being lifted is because the strength was not used; the wagon-load of
firewood's not being seen is because the eyesight was not used; and the
people's not being loved and protected is because the kindness is not
used. Therefore your Majesty's not attaining to the Royal sway is
because you do not do it, and not because you are not able to do it."
The king asked, "How may the difference between him who does not do a
thing and him who is not able to do it be graphically set forth?"
Mencius replied, "In such a thing as taking the T'ae mountain under your
arm, and leaping with it over the North Sea, if you say to people, 'I am
not able to do it,' that is a real case of not being able. In such a
matter as breaking off a branch from a tree at the order of a superior,
if you say to people, 'I am not able to do it,' it is not a case of not
being able to do it. And so your Majesty's not attaining to the Royal
sway is not such a case as that of taking the T'ae mountain under your
arm and leaping over the North Sea with it; but it is a case like that
of breaking off a branch from a tree.
"Treat with reverence due to age the elders in your own family, so that
those in the families of others shall be similarly treated; treat with
the kindness due to youth the young in your own family, so that those in
the families of others shall be similarly treated--do this and the
kingdom may be made to go round in your palm. It is said in the 'Book of
Poetry,'
'His example acted on his wife,
Extended to his brethren,
And was felt by all the clans and States;'
Telling us how King Wan simply took this kindly heart, and exercised it
towards those parties. Therefore the carrying out of the feeling of
kindness by a ruler will suffice for the love and protection of all
within the four seas; and if he do not carry it out, he will not be able
to protect his wife and children. The way in which the ancients came
greatly to surpass other men was no other than this, that they carried
out well what they did, so as to affect others. Now your kindness is
sufficient to reach to animals, and yet no benefits are extended from it
to the people. How is this? Is an exception to be made here?
"By weighing we know what things are light, and what heavy. By measuring
we know what things are long, and what short. All things are so dealt
with, and the mind requires specially to be so. I beg your Majesty to
measure it.--Your Majesty collects your equipments of war, endangers
your soldiers and officers and excites the resentment of the various
princes--do these things cause you pleasure in your mind?"
The king said, "No. How should I derive pleasure from these things? My
object in them is to seek for what I greatly desire."
Mencius said, "May I hear from you what it is that your Majesty greatly
desires?" The king laughed, and did not speak. Mencius resumed, "Are you
led to desire it because you have not enough of rich and sweet food for
your mouth? or because you have not enough of light and warm clothing
for your body? or because you have not enough of beautifully colored
objects to satisfy your eyes? or because there are not voices and sounds
enough to fill your ears? or because you have not enough of attendants
and favorites to stand before you and receive your orders? Your
Majesty's various officers are sufficient to supply you with all these
things. How can your Majesty have such a desire on account of them?"
"No," said the king, "my desire is not on account of them." Mencius
observed, "Then what your Majesty greatly desires can be known. You
desire to enlarge your territories, to have Ts'in and Ts'oo coming to
your court, to rule the Middle States, and to attract to you the
barbarous tribes that surround them. But to do what you do in order to
seek for what you desire is like climbing a tree to seek for fish."
"Is it so bad as that?" said the king. "I apprehend it is worse," was
the reply. "If you climb a tree to seek for fish, although you do not
get the fish, you have no subsequent calamity. But if you do what you do
in order to seek for what you desire, doing it even with all your heart,
you will assuredly afterwards meet with calamities." The king said, "May
I hear what they will be?" Mencius replied, "If the people of Tsow were
fighting with the people of Ts'oo, which of them does your Majesty think
would conquer?" "The people of Ts'oo would conquer," was the answer, and
Mencius pursued, "So then, a small State cannot contend with a great,
few cannot contend with many, nor can the weak contend with the strong.
The territory within the seas would embrace nine divisions, each of a
thousand li square. All Ts'e together is one of them. If with one part
you try to subdue the other eight, what is the difference between that
and Tsow's contending with Ts'oo? With the desire which you have, you
must turn back to the proper course for its attainment.
"Now, if your Majesty will institute a government whose action shall all
be benevolent, this will cause all the officers in the kingdom to wish
to stand in your Majesty's court, the farmers all to wish to plough in
your Majesty's fields, the merchants, both travelling and stationary,
all to wish to store their goods in your Majesty's market-places,
travellers and visitors all to wish to travel on your Majesty's roads,
and all under heaven who feel aggrieved by their rulers to wish to come
and complain to your Majesty. When they are so bent, who will be able to
keep them back?"
The king said, "I am stupid and cannot advance to this. But I wish you,
my Master, to assist my intentions. Teach me clearly, and although I am
deficient in intelligence and vigor, I should like to try at least to
institute such a government."
Mencius replied, "They are only men of education, who, without a certain
livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if
they have not a certain livelihood, they will be found not to have a
fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which
they will not do in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of
depravity, and of wild license. When they have thus been involved in
crime, to follow them up and punish them, is to entrap the people. How
can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a
benevolent man?"
"Therefore, an intelligent ruler will regulate the livelihood of the
people, so as to make sure that, above, they shall have sufficient
wherewith to serve their parents, and below, sufficient wherewith to
support their wives and children; that in good years they shall always
be abundantly satisfied, and that in bad years they shall not be in
danger of perishing. After this he may urge them, and they will proceed
to what is good, for in this case the people will follow after that with
readiness.
"But now the livelihood of the people is so regulated, that, above, they
have not sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, they
have not sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children; even
in good years their lives are always embittered, and in bad years they
are in danger of perishing. In such circumstances their only object is
to escape from death, and they are afraid they will not succeed in doing
so--what leisure have they to cultivate propriety and righteousness?
"If your Majesty wishes to carry out a benevolent government, why not
turn back to what is the essential step to its attainment?
"Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five
acres, and persons of fifty years will be able to wear silk. In keeping
fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be
neglected, and persons of seventy years will be able to eat flesh. Let
there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of
the field-allotment of a hundred acres, and the family of eight mouths
will not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to the
teaching in the various schools, with repeated inculcation of the filial
and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the
roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It has never
been that the ruler of a State, where these results were seen, the old
wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering
neither from hunger nor cold, did not attain to the Royal dignity."
[NOTE: _Books II, III, and IV are omitted_]
[Footnote 1: The title of this book in Chinese is--"King Hwuy of Lëang;
in chapters and sentences." Like the Books of the Confucian Analects,
those of this work are headed by two or three words at or near the
commencement of them. Each Book is divided into two parts. This
arrangement was made by Chaou K'e, and to him are due also the divisions
into chapters, and sentences, or paragraphs, containing, it may be, many
sentences.]
[Footnote 2: Sëang was the son of King Hwuy. The first year of his reign
is supposed to be B.C. 317. Sëang's name was Hih. As a posthumous
epithet, Sëang has various meanings: "Land-enlarger and Virtuous";
"Successful in Arms." The interview here recorded seems to have taken
place immediately after Hih's accession, and Mencius, it is said, was so
disappointed by it that he soon after left the country.]
THE SHI-KING
[_Metrical translation by James Legge_]
INTRODUCTION
The wisdom of Confucius as a social reformer, as a teacher and guide of
the Chinese people, is shown in many ways. He not only gave them a code
of personal deportment, providing them with rules for the etiquette and
ceremony of life, but he instilled into them that profound spirit of
domestic piety which is one of the strongest features in the Chinese
character. He took measures to secure also the intellectual cultivation
of his followers, and his Five Canons contain all the most ancient works
of Chinese literature, in the departments of poetry, history,
philosophy, and legislation. The Shi-King is a collection of Chinese
poetry made by Confucius himself. This great anthology consists of more
than three hundred pieces, covering the whole range of Chinese lyric
poetry, the oldest of which dates some eighteen centuries before Christ,
while the latest of the selections must have been written at the
beginning of the sixth century before Christ. These poems are of the
highest interest, and even nowadays may be read with delight by
Europeans. The ballad and the hymn are among the earliest forms of
national poetry, and the contents of the Shi-King naturally show
specimens of lyric poetry of this sort. We find there not only hymns,
but also ballads of a really fine and spirited character. Sometimes the
poems celebrate the common pursuits, occupations, and incidents of life.
They rise to the exaltation of the epithalamium, or of the vintage song;
at other times they deal with sentiment and human conduct, being in the
highest degree sententious and epigrammatic. We must give the credit to
Confucius of having saved for us the literature of China, and of having
set his people an example in preserving the monuments of a remote
antiquity. While the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome have largely
perished in the convulsions that followed the breaking up of the Roman
empire in Europe, when the kingdom of China fell into disorder and
decrepitude this one great teacher stepped forward to save the precious
record of historic fact, philosophical thought, and of legislation as
well as poetry, from being swept away by the deluge of revolution.
Confucius showed his wisdom by the high value he set upon the poetry of
his native land, and his name must be set side by side with that of the
astute tyrant of Athens who collected the poems of Homer and preserved
them as a precious heritage to the Greek world. Confucius has given us
his opinion with regard to the poems of the Shi-King. No man, he says,
is worth speaking to who has not mastered the poems of an anthology, the
perusal of which elevates the mind and purifies it from all corrupt
thoughts. Thanks to the work of modern scholarship, English readers can
now verify this dictum for themselves.
E. W.
THE SHI-KING
_PART I--LESSONS FROM THE STATES_
BOOK I
THE ODES OF CHOW AND THE SOUTH
~Celebrating the Virtue of King Wan's Bride~
Hark! from the islet in the stream the voice
Of the fish-hawks that o'er their nests rejoice!
From them our thoughts to that young lady go,
Modest and virtuous, loth herself to show.
Where could be found to share our prince's state,
So fair, so virtuous, and so fit a mate?
See how the duckweed's stalks, or short or long,
Sway left and right, as moves the current strong!
So hard it was for him the maid to find!
By day, by night, our prince with constant mind
Sought for her long, but all his search was vain.
Awake, asleep, he ever felt the pain
Of longing thought, as when on restless bed,
Tossing about, one turns his fevered head.
Here long, there short, afloat the duckweed lies;
But caught at last, we seize the longed-for prize.
The maiden modest, virtuous, coy, is found;
Strike every lute, and joyous welcome sound.
Ours now, the duckweed from the stream we bear,
And cook to use with other viands rare.
He has the maiden, modest, virtuous, bright;
Let bells and drums proclaim our great delight
~Celebrating the Industry of King Wan's Queen~
Sweet was the scene. The spreading dolichos
Extended far, down to the valley's depths,
With leaves luxuriant. The orioles
Fluttered around, and on the bushy trees
In throngs collected--whence their pleasant notes
Resounded far in richest melody.
The spreading dolichos extended far,
Covering the valley's sides, down to its depths,
With leaves luxuriant and dense. I cut
It down, then boiled, and from the fibres spun
Of cloth, both fine and coarse, large store,
To wear, unwearied of such simple dress.
Now back to my old home, my parents dear
To see, I go. The matron I have told,
Who will announcement make. Meanwhile my clothes,
My private clothes I wash, and rinse my robes.
Which of them need be rinsed? and which need not?
My parents dear to visit, back I go.
~In Praise of a Bride~
Graceful and young the peach-tree stands;
How rich its flowers, all gleaming bright!
This bride to her new home repairs;
Chamber and house she'll order right.
Graceful and young the peach-tree stands;
Large crops of fruit it soon will show.
This bride to her new home repairs;
Chamber and house her sway shall know.
Graceful and young the peach-tree stands,
Its foliage clustering green and full.
This bride to her new home repairs;
Her household will attest her rule.
~Celebrating T'ae-Sze's Freedom from Jealousy~
In the South are the trees whose branches are bent,
And droop in such fashion that o'er their extent
All the dolichos' creepers fast cling.
See our princely lady, from whom we have got
Rejoicing that's endless! May her happy lot
And her honors repose ever bring!
In the South are the trees whose branches are bent,
And droop in such fashion that o'er their extent
All the dolichos' creepers are spread.
See our princely lady, from whom we have got
Rejoicing that's endless! Of her happy lot
And her honors the greatness ne'er fade!
In the South are the trees whose branches are bent,
And droop in such fashion that o'er their extent
All the dolichos' creepers entwine.
See our princely lady, from whom we have got
Rejoicing that's endless! May her happy lot
And her honors complete ever shine!
~The Fruitfulness of the Locust~
Ye locusts, wingèd tribes,
Gather in concord fine;
Well your descendants may
In numerous bright hosts shine!
Ye locusts, wingèd tribes,
Your wings in flight resound;
Well your descendants may
In endless lines be found!
Ye locusts, wingèd tribes,
Together cluster strong;
Well your descendants may
In swarms forever throng!
~Lamenting the Absence of a Cherished Friend~
Though small my basket, all my toil
Filled it with mouse-ears but in part.
I set it on the path, and sighed
For the dear master of my heart.
My steeds, o'er-tasked, their progress stayed,
When midway up that rocky height.
Give me a cup from that gilt vase--
When shall this longing end in sight?
To mount that lofty ridge I drove,
Until my steeds all changed their hue.
A cup from that rhinoceros's horn
May help my longing to subdue.
Striving to reach that flat-topped hill,
My steeds, worn out, relaxed their strain;
My driver also sank oppressed:--
I'll never see my lord again!
~Celebrating the Goodness of the Descendants of King Wan~
As the feet of the _lin_, which avoid each living thing,
So our prince's noble sons no harm to men will bring.
They are the _lin!_
As the front of the _lin_, never forward thrust in wrath,
So our prince's noble grandsons of love tread the path.
They are the _lin!_
As the horn of the _lin_, flesh-tipped, no wound to give,
So our prince's noble kindred kindly with all live.
They are the _lin!_
[NOTE.--The "lin" is the female of "K'e"--a fabulous animal--the
symbol of all goodness and benevolence; having the body of a
deer, the tail of an ox, the hoofs of a horse, one horn, the scales of a
fish, etc. Its feet do not tread on any living thing--not even on live
grass; it does not butt with its forehead; and the end of its horn is
covered with flesh--to show that, while able for war, it wills to have
peace. The "lin" was supposed to appear inaugurating a golden age,
but the poet finds a better auspice of that in the character of Wan's
family and kindred.]
~The Virtuous Manners of the Young Women~
High and compressed, the Southern trees
No shelter from the sun afford.
The girls free ramble by the Han,
But will not hear enticing word.
Like the broad Han are they,
Through which one cannot dive;
And like the Keang's long stream,
Wherewith no raft can strive.
Many the fagots bound and piled;
The thorns I'd hew still more to make.
As brides, those girls their new homes seek;
Their colts to feed I'd undertake.
Like the broad Han are they,
Through which one cannot dive;
And like the Keang's long stream,
Wherewith no raft can strive.
Many the fagots bound and piled;
The Southern-wood I'd cut for more.
As brides, those girls their new homes seek;
Food for their colts I'd bring large store.
Like the broad Han are they,
Through which one cannot dive;
And like the Keang's long stream,
Wherewith no raft can strive.
~Praise of a Rabbit-Catcher~
Careful he sets his rabbit-nets all round;
_Chang-chang_ his blows upon the pegs resound.
Stalwart the man and bold! his bearing all
Shows he might be his prince's shield and wall.
Careful he is his rabbit-nets to place
Where many paths of rabbits' feet bear trace.
Stalwart the man and bold! 'tis plain to see
He to his prince companion good would be.
Careful he is his rabbit-nets to spread,
Where in the forest's depth the trees give shade.
Stalwart the man and bold! fit his the part
Guide to his prince to be, and faithful heart.
~The Song of the Plantain-Gatherers~
We gather and gather the plantains;
Come gather them anyhow.
Yes, gather and gather the plantains,
And here we have got them now.
We gather and gather the plantains;
Now off the ears we must tear.
Yes, gather and gather the plantains,
And now the seeds are laid bare.
We gather and gather the plantains,
The seeds in our skirts are placed.
Yes, gather and gather the plantains.
Ho! safe in the girdled waist!
~The Affection of the Wives on the Joo~
Along the raised banks of the Joo,
To hew slim stem and branch I wrought,
My lord away, my husband true,
Like hunger-pang my troubled thought!
Along the raised banks of the Joo,
Branch and fresh shoot confessed my art.
I've seen my lord, my husband true,
And still he folds me in his heart.
As the toiled bream makes red its tail,
Toil you, Sir, for the Royal House;
Amidst its blazing fires, nor quail:--
Your parents see you pay your vows.
BOOK II
THE ODES OF SHAOU AND THE SOUTH
~The Marriage of a Princess~
In the magpie's nest
Dwells the dove at rest.
This young bride goes to her future home;
To meet her a hundred chariots come.
Of the magpie's nest
Is the dove possessed.
This bride goes to her new home to live;
And escort a hundred chariots give.
The nest magpie wove
Now filled by the dove.
This bride now takes to her home her way;
And these numerous cars her state display.
~The Industry and Reverence of a Prince's Wife~
Around the pools, the islets o'er,
Fast she plucks white Southern-wood,
To help the sacrificial store;
And for our prince does service good.
Where streams among the valleys shine,
Of Southern-woods she plucks the white;
And brings it to the sacred shrine,
To aid our prince in solemn rite.
In head-dress high, most reverent, she
The temple seeks at early dawn.
The service o'er, the head-dress see
To her own chamber slow withdrawn.
~The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails His Absence~
Shrill chirp the insects in the grass;
All about the hoppers spring.
While I my husband do not see,
Sorrow must my bosom wring.
O to meet him!
O to greet him!
Then my heart would rest and sing.
Ascending high that Southern hill,
Turtle ferns I strove to get.
While I my husband do not see,
Sorrow must my heart beset.
O to meet him!
O to greet him!
Then my heart would cease to fret.
Ascending high that Southern hill,
Spinous ferns I sought to find.
While I my husband do not see,
Rankles sorrow in my mind.
O to meet him!
O to greet him!
In my heart would peace be shrined.
~The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer~
She gathers fast the large duckweed,
From valley stream that southward flows;
And for the pondweed to the pools
Left on the plains by floods she goes.
The plants, when closed her toil, she puts
In baskets round and baskets square.
Then home she hies to cook her spoil,
In pans and tripods ready there.
In sacred chamber this she sets,
Where the light falls down through the wall.
'Tis she, our lord's young reverent wife,
Who manages this service all.
~The Love of the People for the Duke of Shaou~
O fell not that sweet pear-tree!
See how its branches spread.
Spoil not its shade,
For Shaou's chief laid
Beneath it his weary head.
O clip not that sweet pear-tree!
Each twig and leaflet spare.
'Tis sacred now,
Since the lord of Shaou,
When weary, rested him there.
O touch not that sweet pear-tree!
Bend not a twig of it now.
There long ago,
As the stories show,
Oft halted the chief of Shaou.
~The Easy Dignity of the Officers at Some Court~
Arrayed in skins of lamb or sheep,
With five silk braidings all of white,
From court they go, to take their meal,
All self-possessed, with spirits light.
How on their skins of lamb or sheep
The five seams wrought with white silk show!
With easy steps, and self-possessed,
From court to take their meal, they go.
Upon their skins of lamb or sheep
Shines the white silk the seams to link.
With easy steps and self-possessed,
They go from court to eat and drink.
~Anxiety of a Young Lady to Get Married~
Ripe, the plums fall from the bough;
Only seven-tenths left there now!
Ye whose hearts on me are set,
Now the time is fortunate!
Ripe, the plums fall from the bough;
Only three-tenths left there now!
Ye who wish my love to gain,
Will not now apply in vain!
No more plums upon the bough!
All are in my basket now!
Ye who me with ardor seek,
Need the word but freely speak!
BOOK III
THE ODES OF P'EI
~An Officer Bewails the Neglect with which He is Treated~
It floats about, that boat of cypress wood,
Now here, now there, as by the current borne.
Nor rest nor sleep comes in my troubled mood;
I suffer as when painful wound has torn
The shrinking body. Thus I dwell forlorn,
And aimless muse, my thoughts of sorrow full.
I might with wine refresh my spirit worn;
I might go forth, and, sauntering try to cool
The fever of my heart; but grief holds sullen rule.
My mind resembles not a mirror plate,
Reflecting all the impressions it receives.
The good I love, the bad regard with hate;
I only cherish whom my heart believes.
Colleagues I have, but yet my spirit grieves,
That on their honor I cannot depend.
I speak, but my complaint no influence leaves
Upon their hearts; with mine no feelings blend;
With me in anger they, and fierce disdain contend.
My mind is fixed, and cannot, like a stone,
Be turned at will indifferently about;
And what I think, to that, and that alone,
I utterance give, alike within, without;
Nor can like mat be rolled and carried out.
With dignity in presence of them all,
My conduct marked, my goodness who shall scout?
My foes I boldly challenge, great and small,
If there be aught in me they can in question call.
How full of trouble is my anxious heart!
With hate the blatant herd of creatures mean
Ceaseless pursue. Of their attacks the smart
Keeps my mind in distress. Their venomed spleen
Aye vents itself; and with insulting mien
They vex my soul; and no one on my side
A word will speak. Silent, alone, unseen,
I think of my sad case; then opening wide
My eyes, as if from sleep, I beat my breast, sore-tried.
Thy disc, O sun, should ever be complete,
While thine, O changing moon, doth wax and wane.
But now our sun hath waned, weak and effete,
And moons are ever full. My heart with pain
Is firmly bound, and held in sorrow's chain,
As to the body cleaves an unwashed dress.
Silent I think of my sad case; in vain
I try to find relief from my distress.
Would I had wings to fly where ills no longer press!
~A Wife Deplores the Absence of Her Husband~
Away the startled pheasant flies,
With lazy movement of his wings.
Borne was my heart's lord from my eyes;--
What pain the separation brings!
The pheasant, though no more in view,
His cry, below, above, forth sends.
Alas! my princely lord, 'tis you--
Your absence, that my bosom rends.
At sun and moon I sit and gaze,
In converse with my troubled heart.
Far, far from me my husband stays!
When will he come to heal its smart?
Ye princely men who with him mate,
Say, mark ye not his virtuous way.
His rule is--covet nought, none hate;--
How can his steps from goodness stray?
~The Plaint of a Rejected Wife~
The east wind gently blows,
With cloudy skies and rain.
'Twixt man and wife should ne'er be strife,
But harmony obtain.
Radish and mustard plants
Are used, though some be poor;
While my good name is free from blame,
Don't thrust me from your door.
I go along the road,
Slow, with reluctant heart.
Your escort lame to door but came,
There glad from me to part.
Sow-thistle, bitter called,
As shepherd's purse is sweet;
With your new mate you feast elate,
As joyous brothers meet.
Part clear, the stream of King
Is foul beside the Wei.
You feast elate with your new mate,
And take no heed of me.
Loose mate, avoid my dam,
Nor dare my basket move!
Person slighted, life all blighted,
What can the future prove?
The water deep, in boat,
Or raft-sustained, I'd go;
And where the stream did narrow seem,
I dived or breasted through.
I labored to increase
Our means, or great or small;
When 'mong friends near death did appear,
On knees to help I'd crawl.
No cherishing you give,
I'm hostile in your eyes.
As pedler's wares for which none cares,
My virtues you despise.
When poverty was nigh,
I strove our means to spare;
You, now rich grown, me scorn to own;
To poison me compare.
The stores for winter piled
Are all unprized in spring.
So now, elate with your new mate,
Myself away you fling.
Your cool disdain for me
A bitter anguish hath.
The early time, our love's sweet prime,
In you wakes only wrath.
~Soldiers of Wei Bewail Separation from Their Families~
List to the thunder and roll of the drum!
See how we spring and brandish the dart!
Some raise Ts'aou's walls; some do field work at home;
But we to the southward lonely depart.
Our chief, Sun Tsze-chung, agreement has made,
Our forces to join with Ch'in and with Sung.
When shall we back from this service be led?
Our hearts are all sad, our courage unstrung.
Here we are halting, and there we delay;
Anon we soon lose our high-mettled steeds.
The forest's gloom makes our steps go astray;
Each thicket of trees our searching misleads.
For death as for life, at home or abroad,
We pledged to our wives our faithfulest word.
Their hands clasped in ours, together we vowed,
We'd live to old age in sweetest accord.
This march to the South can end but in ill;
Oh! never shall we our wives again meet.
The word that we pledged we cannot fulfil;
Us home returning they never will greet.
~An Officer Tells of His Mean Employment~
With mind indifferent, things I easy take;
In every dance I prompt appearance make:--
Then, when the sun is at his topmost height,
There, in the place that courts the public sight.
With figure large I in the courtyard dance,
And the duke smiles, when he beholds me prance.
A tiger's strength I have; the steeds swift bound;
The reins as ribbons in my hands are found.
See how I hold the flute in my left hand;
In right the pheasant's plume, waved like a wand;
With visage red, where rouge you think to trace,
While the duke pleased, sends down the cup of grace!
Hazel on hills; the _ling_ in meadow damp;--
Each has its place, while I'm a slighted scamp.
My thoughts go back to th' early days of Chow,
And muse upon its chiefs, not equalled now.
O noble chiefs, who then the West adorned,
Would ye have thus neglected me and scorned?
~An Officer Sets Forth His Hard Lot~
My way leads forth by the gate on the north;
My heart is full of woe.
I hav'n't a cent, begged, stolen, or lent,
And friends forget me so.
So let it be! 'tis Heaven's decree.
What can I say--a poor fellow like me?
The King has his throne, sans sorrow or moan;
On me fall all his cares,
And when I come home, resolved not to roam,
Each one indignant stares.
So let it be! 'tis Heaven's decree.
What can I say--a poor fellow like me?
Each thing of the King, and the fate of the State,
On me come more and more.
And when, sad and worn, I come back forlorn,
They thrust me from the door.
So let it be! 'tis Heaven's decree.
What can I say--a poor fellow like me?
~The Complaint of a Neglected Wife~
When the upper robe is green,
With a yellow lining seen,
There we have a certain token,
Right is wronged and order broken.
How can sorrow from my heart
In a case like this depart?
Color green the robe displays;
Lower garment yellow's blaze.
Thus it is that favorite mean
In the place of wife is seen.
Vain the conflict with my grief;
Memory denies relief.
Yes, 'twas you the green who dyed,
You who fed the favorite's pride.
Anger rises in my heart,
Pierces it as with a dart.
But on ancient rules lean I,
Lest to wrong my thoughts should fly.
Fine or coarse, if thin the dress,
Cold winds always cause distress.
Hard my lot, my sorrow deep,
But my thoughts in check I keep.
Ancient story brings to mind
Sufferers who were resigned.
[NOTE.--Yellow is one of the five "correct" colors of the Chinese, while
green is one of the "intermediate" colors that are less esteemed. Here
we have the yellow used merely as a lining to the green, or employed in
the lower, or less honorable, part of the dress;--an inversion of
propriety, and intimating how a favorite had usurped the place of the
rightful wife and thrust her down.]
~In Praise of a Maiden~
O sweet maiden, so fair and retiring,
At the corner I'm waiting for you;
And I'm scratching my head, and inquiring
What on earth it were best I should do.
Oh! the maiden, so handsome and coy,
For a pledge gave a slim rosy reed.
Than the reed is she brighter, my joy;
On her loveliness how my thoughts feed!
In the pastures a _t'e_ blade she sought,
And she gave it, so elegant, rare.
Oh! the grass does not dwell in my thought,
But the donor, more elegant, fair.
~Discontent~
As when the north winds keenly blow,
And all around fast falls the snow,
The source of pain and suffering great,
So now it is in Wei's poor state.
Let us join hands and haste away,
My friends and lovers all.
'Tis not a time will brook delay;
Things for prompt action call.
As when the north winds whistle shrill,
And drifting snows each hollow fill,
The source of pain and suffering great,
So now it is in Wei's poor state,
Let us join hands, and leave for aye,
My friends and lovers all,
'Tis not a time will brook delay;
Things for prompt action call.
We look for red, and foxes meet;
For black, and crows our vision greet.
The creatures, both of omen bad,
Well suit the state of Wei so sad.
Let us join hands and mount our cars,
My friends and lovers all.
No time remains for wordy jars;
Things for prompt action call.
~Chwang Keang Bemoans Her Husband's Cruelty~
Fierce is the wind and cold;
And such is he.
Smiling he looks, and bold
Speaks mockingly.
Scornful and lewd his words,
Haughty his smile.
Bound is my heart with cords
In sorrow's coil.
As cloud of dust wind-blown,
Just such is he.
Ready he seems to own,
And come to me.
But he comes not nor goes,
Stands in his pride.
Long, long, with painful throes,
Grieved I abide.
Strong blew the wind; the cloud
Hastened away.
Soon dark again, the shroud
Covers the day.
I wake, and sleep no more
Visits my eyes.
His course I sad deplore,
With heavy sighs.
Cloudy the sky, and dark;
The thunders roll.
Such outward signs well mark
My troubled soul.
I wake, and sleep no more
Comes to give rest.
His course I sad deplore,
In anguished breast.
[NOTE: Selections from Books IV., V., and VI.,
have been omitted.--EDITOR.]
BOOK VII
THE ODES OF CH'ING
~The People's Admiration for Duke Woo~
The black robes well your form befit;
When they are worn we'll make you new.
Now for your court! oh! there we'll sit,
And watch how you your duties do.
And when we to our homes repair,
We'll send to you our richest fare,
Such is the love to you we bear!
Those robes well with your virtue match;
When they are worn we'll make you new.
Now for your court! There will we watch,
Well pleased, how you your duties do.
And when we to our homes repair,
We'll send to you our richest fare,
Such is the love to you we bear!
Those robes your character beseem;
When they are worn we'll make you new.
Now for your court! oh! there we deem
It pleasure great your form to view.
And when we to our homes repair,
We'll send to you our richest fare,
Such is the love to you we bear!
~A Wife Consoled by Her Husband's Arrival~
Cold is the wind, fast falls the rain,
The cock aye shrilly crows.
But I have seen my lord again;--
Now must my heart repose.
Whistles the wind, patters the rain,
The cock's crow far resounds.
But I have seen my lord again,
And healed are my heart's wounds.
All's dark amid the wind and rain,
Ceaseless the cock's clear voice!
But I have seen my lord again;--
Should not my heart rejoice?
~In Praise of Some Lady~
There by his side in chariot rideth she,
As lovely flower of the hibiscus tree,
So fair her face; and when about they wheel,
Her girdle gems of _Ken_ themselves reveal.
For beauty all the House of Këang have fame;
Its eldest daughter--she beseems her name.
There on the path, close by him, walketh she,
Bright as the blossom of hibiscus tree,
And fair her face; and when around they flit,
Her girdle gems a tinkling sound emit.
Among the Keang she has distinguished place,
For virtuous fame renowned, and peerless grace.
~A Man's Praise of His Wife~
My path forth from the east gate lay,
Where cloud-like moved the girls at play.
Numerous are they, as clouds so bright,
But not on them my heart's thoughts light.
Dressed in a thin white silk, with coiffure gray
Is she, my wife, my joy in life's low way.
Forth by the covering wall's high tower,
I went, and saw, like rush in flower,
Each flaunting girl. Brilliant are they,
But not with them my heart's thoughts stay.
In thin white silk, with head-dress madder-dyed,
Is she, my sole delight, 'foretime my bride.
~An Entreaty~
Along the great highway,
I hold you by the cuff.
O spurn me not, I pray,
Nor break old friendship off.
Along the highway worn,
I hold your hand in mine.
Do not as vile me scorn;
Your love I can't resign.
~A Woman Scorning Her Lover~
O dear! that artful boy
Refuses me a word!
But, Sir, I shall enjoy
My food, though you're absurd!
O dear! that artful boy
My table will not share!
But, Sir, I shall enjoy
My rest, though you're not there!
~A Lady Mourns the Absence of Her Student Lover~
You student, with the collar blue,
Long pines my heart with anxious pain.
Although I do not go to you,
Why from all word do you refrain?
O you, with girdle strings of blue,
My thoughts to you forever roam!
Although I do not go to you,
Yet why to me should you not come?
How reckless you, how light and wild,
There by the tower upon the wall!
One day, from sight of you exiled,
As long as three long months I call.
[NOTE: Selections from Books IV., V., and VI., have been
omitted.--EDITOR.]
BOOK VIII
THE ODES OF TS'E
~A Wife Urging Her Husband to Action~
His lady to the marquis says,
"The cock has crowed; 'tis late.
Get up, my lord, and haste to court.
'Tis full; for you they wait."
She did not hear the cock's shrill sound,
Only the blueflies buzzing round.
Again she wakes him with the words,
"The east, my lord, is bright.
A crowded court your presence seeks;
Get up and hail the light."
'Twas not the dawning light which shone,
But that which by the moon was thrown.
He sleeping still, once more she says,
"The flies are buzzing loud.
To lie and dream here by your side
Were pleasant, but the crowd
Of officers will soon retire;
Draw not on you and me their ire!"
~The Folly of Useless Effort~
The weeds will but the ranker grow,
If fields too large you seek to till.
To try to gain men far away
With grief your toiling heart will fill,
If fields too large you seek to till,
The weeds will only rise more strong.
To try to gain men far away
Will but your heart's distress prolong.
Things grow the best when to themselves
Left, and to nature's vigor rare.
How young and tender is the child,
With his twin tufts of falling hair!
But when you him ere long behold,
That child shall cap of manhood wear!
~The Prince of Loo~
A grand man is the prince of Loo,
With person large and high.
Lofty his front and suited to
The fine glance of his eye!
Swift are his feet. In archery
What man with him can vie?
With all these goodly qualities,
We see him and we sigh!
Renowned through all the land is he,
The nephew of our lord.
With clear and lovely eyes, his grace
May not be told by word.
All day at target practice,
He'll never miss the bird.
Such is the prince of Loo, and yet
With grief for him we're stirred!
All grace and beauty he displays,
High forehead and eyes bright.
And dancing choice! His arrows all
The target hit aright.
Straight through they go, and every one
Lights on the self-same spot.
Rebellion he could well withstand,
And yet we mourn his lot!
BOOK IX
THE ODES OF WEI
~On the Misgovernment of the State~
A fruit, small as the garden peach,
May still be used for food.
A State, though poor as ours, might thrive,
If but its rule were good.
Our rule is bad, our State is sad,
With mournful heart I grieve.
All can from instrument and voice
My mood of mind perceive.
Who know me not, with scornful thought,
Deem me a scholar proud.
"Those men are right," they fiercely say,
"What mean your words so loud?"
Deep in my heart my sorrows lie,
And none the cause may know.
How should they know who never try
To learn whence comes our woe?
The garden jujube, although small,
May still be used for food.
A State, though poor as ours, might thrive,
If but its rule were good.
Our rule is bad, our State is sad,
With mournful heart I grieve.
Methinks I'll wander through the land,
My misery to relieve.
Who know me not, with scornful thought,
Deem that wild views I hold.
"Those men are right," they fiercely say,
"What mean your words so bold?"
Deep in my heart my sorrows lie,
And none the cause may know.
How can they know, who never try
To learn whence comes our woe?
~The Mean Husband~
Thin cloth of dolichos supplies the shoes,
In which some have to brave the frost and cold.
A bride, when poor, her tender hands must use,
Her dress to make, and the sharp needle hold.
This man is wealthy, yet he makes his bride
Collars and waistbands for his robes provide.
Conscious of wealth, he moves with easy mien;
Politely on the left he takes his place;
The ivory pin is at his girdle seen:--
His dress and gait show gentlemanly grace.
Why do we brand him in our satire here?
'Tis this---his niggard soul provokes the sneer.
~A Young Soldier on Service~
To the top of that tree-clad hill I go,
And towards my father I gaze,
Till with my mind's eye his form I espy,
And my mind's ear hears how he says:--
"Alas for my son on service abroad!
He rests not from morning till eve.
May he careful be and come back to me!
While he is away, how I grieve!"
To the top of that barren hill I climb,
And towards my mother I gaze,
Till with my mind's eye her form I espy,
And my mind's ear hears how she says:--
"Alas for my child on service abroad!
He never in sleep shuts an eye.
May he careful be, and come back to me!
In the wild may his body not lie!"
Up the lofty ridge I, toiling, ascend,
And towards my brother I gaze,
Till with my mind's eye his form I espy,
And my mind's ear hears how he says:--
"Alas! my young brother, serving abroad,
All day with his comrades must roam.
May he careful be, and come back to me,
And die not away from his home."
BOOK X
THE ODES OF TANG
~The King Goes to War~
The wild geese fly the bushy oaks around,
With clamor loud. _Suh-suh_ their wings resound,
As for their feet poor resting-place is found.
The King's affairs admit of no delay.
Our millet still unsown, we haste away.
No food is left our parents to supply;
When we are gone, on whom can they rely?
O azure Heaven, that shinest there afar,
When shall our homes receive us from the war?
The wild geese on the bushy jujube-trees
Attempt to settle and are ill at ease;--
_Suh-suh_ their wings go flapping in the breeze.
The King's affairs admit of no delay;
Our millet still unsown, we haste away.
How shall our parents their requirements get?
How in our absence shall their wants be met?
O azure Heaven, that shinest there afar,
When shall our homes receive us from the war?
The bushy mulberry-trees the geese in rows
Seek eager and to rest around them close--
With rustling loud, as disappointment grows.
The King's affairs admit of no delay;
To plant our rice and maize we cannot stay.
How shall our parents find their wonted food?
When we are gone, who will to them be good?
O azure Heaven, that shinest there afar,
When shall our homes receive us from the war?
~Lament of a Bereaved Person~
A russet pear-tree rises all alone,
But rich the growth of leaves upon it shown!
I walk alone, without one brother left,
And thus of natural aid am I bereft.
Plenty of people there are all around,
But none like my own father's sons are found.
Ye travellers, who forever hurry by,
Why on me turn the unsympathizing eye?
No brother lives with whom my cause to plead;--
Why not perform for me the helping deed?
A russet pear-tree rises all alone,
But rich with verdant foliage o'ergrown.
I walk alone, without one brother's care,
To whom I might, amid my straits repair.
Plenty of people there are all around,
But none like those of my own name are found.
Ye travellers, who forever hurry by,
Why on me turn the unsympathizing eye?
No brother lives with whom my cause to plead;--
Why not perform for me the helping deed?
~The Drawbacks of Poverty~
On the left of the way, a russet pear-tree
Stands there all alone--a fit image of me.
There is that princely man! O that he would come,
And in my poor dwelling with me be at home!
In the core of my heart do I love him, but say,
Whence shall I procure him the wants of the day?
At the bend in the way a russet pear-tree
Stands there all alone--a fit image of me.
There is that princely man! O that he would come,
And rambling with me be himself here at home!
In the core of my heart I love him, but say,
Whence shall I procure him the wants of the day?
~A Wife Mourns for Her Husband~
The dolichos grows and covers the thorn,
O'er the waste is the dragon-plant creeping.
The man of my heart is away and I mourn--
What home have I, lonely and weeping?
Covering the jujubes the dolichos grows,
The graves many dragon-plants cover;
But where is the man on whose breast I'd repose?
No home have I, having no lover!
Fair to see was the pillow of horn,
And fair the bed-chamber's adorning;
But the man of my heart is not here, and I mourn
All alone, and wait for the morning.
While the long days of summer pass over my head,
And long winter nights leave their traces,
I'm alone! Till a hundred of years shall have fled,
And then I shall meet his embraces.
Through the long winter nights I am burdened with fears,
Through the long summer days I am lonely;
But when time shall have counted its hundreds of years
I then shall be his--and his only!
BOOK XI
THE ODES OF TS'IN
~Celebrating the Opulence of the Lords of Ts'in~
Our ruler to the hunt proceeds;
And black as iron are his steeds
That heed the charioteer's command,
Who holds the six reins in his hand.
His favorites follow to the chase,
Rejoicing in his special grace.
The season's males, alarmed, arise--
The season's males, of wondrous size.
Driven by the beaters, forth they spring,
Soon caught within the hunters' ring.
"Drive on their left," the ruler cries;
And to its mark his arrow flies.
The hunting done, northward he goes;
And in the park the driver shows
The horses' points, and his own skill
That rules and guides them at his will.
Light cars whose teams small bells display,
The long-and short-mouthed dogs convey.
~A Complaint~
He lodged us in a spacious house,
And plenteous was our fare.
But now at every frugal meal
There's not a scrap to spare.
Alas! alas that this good man
Could not go on as he began!
~A Wife's Grief Because of Her Husband's Absence~
The falcon swiftly seeks the north,
And forest gloom that sent it forth.
Since I no more my husband see,
My heart from grief is never free.
O how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
Bushy oaks on the mountain grow,
And six elms where the ground is low.
But I, my husband seen no more,
My sad and joyless fate deplore.
O how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
The hills the bushy wild plums show,
And pear-trees grace the ground below.
But, with my husband from me gone,
As drunk with grief, I dwell alone.
O how is it, I long to know,
That he, my lord, forgets me so?
~Lament for Three Brothers~
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And rest upon the jujubes find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the first, Yen-seih to see.
He stood alone; a hundred men
Could show no other such as he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save Yen-seih from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And on the mulberry-trees rest find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the next, Chung-hang to see.
When on him pressed a hundred men,
A match for all of them was he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save Chung-hang from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
They flit about, the yellow birds,
And rest upon the thorn-trees find.
Who buried were in duke Muh's grave,
Alive to awful death consigned?
'Mong brothers three, who met that fate,
'Twas sad the third, K'ëen-foo, to see.
A hundred men in desperate fight
Successfully withstand could he.
When to the yawning grave he came,
Terror unnerved and shook his frame.
Why thus destroy our noblest men,
To thee we cry, O azure Heaven!
To save K'ëen-foo from death, we would
A hundred lives have freely given.
[NOTE.--The incident related in this poem occurred in the year B.C. 620,
when the duke of Muh died after playing an important part in the affairs
of Northwest China. Muh required the three officers here celebrated, to
be buried with him, and according to the "Historical Records" this
barbarous practice began with duke Ching, Muh's predecessor. In all, 170
individuals were buried with Muh. The death of the last distinguished
man of the Ts'in dynasty, the Emperor I, was subsequently celebrated by
the entombment with him of all the inmates of his harem.]
~In Praise of a Ruler of Ts'in~
What trees grow on the Chung-nan hill?
The white fir and the plum.
In fur of fox, 'neath 'broidered robe,
Thither our prince is come.
His face glows with vermilion hue.
O may he prove a ruler true!
What find we on the Chung-nan hill?
Deep nook and open glade.
Our prince shows there the double _Ke_
On lower robe displayed.
His pendant holds each tinkling gem,
Long life be his, and deathless fame!
~The Generous Nephew~
I escorted my uncle to Tsin,
Till the Wei we crossed on the way.
Then I gave as I left
For his carriage a gift
Four steeds, and each steed was a bay.
I escorted my uncle to Tsin,
And I thought of him much in my heart.
Pendent stones, and with them
Of fine jasper a gem,
I gave, and then saw him depart.
BOOK XII
THE ODES OF CH'IN
~The Contentment of a Poor Recluse~
My only door some pieces of crossed wood,
Within it I can rest enjoy.
I drink the water wimpling from the spring;
Nor hunger can my peace destroy.
Purged from ambition's aims I say, "For fish.
We need not bream caught in the Ho;
Nor, to possess the sweets of love, require
To Ts'e, to find a Keang, to go.
"The man contented with his lot, a meal
Of fish without Ho carp can make;
Nor needs, to rest in his domestic joy,
A Tsze of Sung as wife to take."
~The Disappointed Lover~
Where grow the willows near the eastern gate,
And 'neath their leafy shade we could recline,
She said at evening she would me await,
And brightly now I see the day-star shine!
Here where the willows near the eastern gate
Grow, and their dense leaves make a shady gloom,
She said at evening she would me await.
See now the morning star the sky illume!
~A Love-Song~
The moon comes forth, bright in the sky;
A lovelier sight to draw my eye
Is she, that lady fair.
She round my heart has fixed love's chain,
But all my longings are in vain.
'Tis hard the grief to bear.
The moon comes forth, a splendid sight;
More winning far that lady bright,
Object of my desire!
Deep-seated is my anxious grief;
In vain I seek to find relief;
While glows the secret fire.
The rising moon shines mild and fair;
More bright is she, whose beauty rare
My heart with longing fills.
With eager wish I pine in vain;
O for relief from constant pain,
Which through my bosom thrills!
~The Lament of a Lover~
There where its shores the marsh surround,
Rushes and lotus plants abound.
Their loveliness brings to my mind
The lovelier one that I would find.
In vain I try to ease the smart
Of wounded love that wrings my heart.
In waking thought and nightly dreams,
From every pore the water streams.
All round the marsh's shores are seen
Valerian flowers and rushes green.
But lovelier is that Beauty rare,
Handsome and large, and tall and fair,
I wish and long to call her mine,
Doomed with the longing still to pine.
Nor day nor night e'er brings relief;
My inmost heart is full of grief.
Around the marsh, in rich display,
Grow rush and lotus flowers, all gay.
But not with her do they compare,
So tall and large, majestic, fair.
Both day and night, I nothing speed;
Still clings to me the aching need.
On side, on back, on face, I lie,
But vain each change of posture.
THE ODES OF KWEI
~The Wish of an Unhappy Man~
Where the grounds are wet and low,
There the trees of goat-peach grow,
With their branches small and smooth,
Glossy in their tender youth.
Joy it were to me, O tree,
Consciousness to want like thee.
Where the grounds are wet and low,
There the trees of goat-peach grow.
Soft and fragrant are their flowers,
Glossy from the vernal showers.
Joy it were to me, O tree,
Ties of home to want like thee.
Where the grounds are wet and low,
There the trees of goat-peach grow,
What delicious fruits they bear,
Glossy, soft, of beauty rare!
Joy it were to me, O tree,
Household cares to want like thee.
BOOK XIV
THE ODES OF TS'AOU
~Against Frivolous Pursuits~
Like splendid robes appear the wings
Of the ephemeral fly;
And such the pomp of those great men,
Which soon in death shall lie!
I grieve! Would they but come to me!
To teach them I should try.
The wings of the ephemeral fly
Are robes of colors gay;
And such the glory of those men,
Soon crumbling to decay!
I grieve! Would they but rest with me,
They'd learn a better way!
The ephemeral fly bursts from its hole,
With gauzy wings like snow;
So quick the rise, so quick the fall,
Of those great men we know!
I grieve! Would they but lodge with me,
Forth they would wiser go.
BOOK XV
THE ODES OF PIN
~The Duke of Chow Tells of His Soldiers~
To the hills of the east we went,
And long had we there to remain.
When the word of recall was sent,
Thick and fast came the drizzling rain.
When told our return we should take,
Our hearts in the West were and sore;
But there did they clothes for us make:--
They knew our hard service was o'er.
On the mulberry grounds in our sight
The large caterpillars were creeping;
Lonely and still we passed the night,
All under our carriages sleeping.
To the hills of the East we went,
And long had we there to remain.
When the word of recall was sent,
Thick and fast came the drizzling rain.
The heavenly gourds rise to the eye,
With their fruit hanging under the eave.
In our chambers the sow-bug we spy;
Their webs on our doors spiders weave.
Our paddocks seem crowded with deer,
With the glow-worm's light all about.
Such thoughts, while they filled us with fear,
We tried, but in vain, to keep out.
To the hills of the East we went,
And long had we there to remain.
When the word of recall was sent,
Thick and fast came the drizzling rain.
On ant-hills screamed cranes with delight;
In their rooms were our wives sighing sore.
Our homes they had swept and made tight:--
All at once we arrived at the door.
The bitter gourds hanging are seen,
From branches of chestnut-trees high.
Three years of toil away we had been,
Since such a sight greeted the eye.
To the hills of the East we went,
And long had we there to remain.
When the word of recall was sent,
Thick and fast came the drizzling rain.
With its wings now here, and now there,
Is the oriole sporting in flight.
Those brides to their husbands repair,
Their steeds red and bay, flecked with white.
Each mother has fitted each sash;
Their equipments are full and complete;
But fresh unions, whatever their dash,
Can ne'er with reunions compete.
~There is a Proper Way for Doing Everything~
In hewing an axe-shaft, how must you act?
Another axe take, or you'll never succeed.
In taking a wife, be sure 'tis a fact,
That with no go-between you never can speed.
In hewing an axe-shaft, hewing a shaft,
For a copy you have the axe in your hand.
In choosing a wife, you follow the craft,
And forthwith on the mats the feast-vessels stand.
PART II.--MINOR ODES TO THE KINGDOM
BOOK I
DECADE OF LUH MING
~A Festal Ode~
With sounds of happiness the deer
Browse on the celery of the meads.
A nobler feast is furnished here,
With guests renowned for noble deeds.
The lutes are struck; the organ blows,
Till all its tongues in movement heave.
Each basket loaded stands, and shows
The precious gifts the guests receive.
They love me and my mind will teach,
How duty's highest aim to reach.
With sounds of happiness the deer
The southern-wood crop in the meads,
What noble guests surround me here,
Distinguished for their worthy deeds!
From them my people learn to fly
Whate'er is mean; to chiefs they give
A model and a pattern high;--
They show the life they ought to live.
Then fill their cups with spirits rare,
Till each the banquet's joy shall share.
With sounds of happiness the deer
The salsola crop in the fields.
What noble guests surround me here!
Each lute for them its music yields.
Sound, sound the lutes, or great or small.
The joy harmonious to prolong;--
And with my spirits rich crown all
The cups to cheer the festive throng.
Let each retire with gladdened heart,
In his own sphere to play his part.
~A Festal Ode Complimenting an Officer~
On dashed my four steeds, without halt, without stay,
Though toilsome and winding from Chow was the way.
I wished to return--but the monarch's command
Forbade that his business be done with slack hand;
And my heart was with sadness oppressed.
On dashed my four steeds; I ne'er slackened the reins.
They snorted and panted--all white, with black manes.
I wished to return, but our sovereign's command
Forbade that his business be done with slack hand;--
And I dared not to pause or to rest.
Unresting the Filial doves speed in their flight,
Ascending, then sweeping swift down from the height,
Now grouped on the oaks. The king's high command
Forbade that his business be done with slack hand;--
And my father I left, sore distressed.
Unresting the Filial doves speed in their flight,
Now fanning the air and anon they alight
On the medlars thick grouped. But our monarch's command
Forbade that his business be done with slack hand;--
Of my mother I thought with sad breast.
My four steeds I harnessed, all white and black-maned,
Which straight on their way, fleet and emulous strained.
I wished to return; and now venture in song
The wish to express, and announce how I long
For my mother my care to attest.
[NOTE.--Both Maou and Choo agree that this ode was composed in
honor of the officer who narrates the story in it, although they say it
was not written by the officer himself, but was put into his mouth, as
it were, to express the sympathy of his entertainer with him, and the
appreciation of his devotion to duty.]
~The Value of Friendship~
The woodmen's blows responsive ring,
As on the trees they fall;
And when the birds their sweet notes sing,
They to each other call.
From the dark valley comes a bird,
And seeks the lofty tree.
_Ying_ goes its voice, and thus it cries,
"Companion, come to me."
The bird, although a creature small,
Upon its mate depends;
And shall we men, who rank o'er all,
Not seek to have our friends?
All spirits love the friendly man,
And hearken to his prayer.
What harmony and peace they can
Bestow, his lot shall share.
_Hoo-hoo_ the woodmen all unite
To shout, as trees they fell.
They do their work with all their might;--
What I have done I'll tell.
I've strained and made my spirits clear,
The fatted lambs I've killed.
With friends who my own surname bear,
My hall I've largely filled.
Some may be absent, casually,
And leave a broken line;
But better this than absence by
An oversight of mine.
My court I've sprinkled and swept clean,
Viands in order set.
Eight dishes loaded stand with grain;
There's store of fatted meat.
My mother's kith and kin I'm sure
I've widely called by name.
That some be hindered better is
Than ~I~ give cause for blame.
On the hill-side the trees they fell,
All working with good-will
I labor too, with equal zeal.
And the host's part fulfil.
Spirits I've set in order meet,
The dishes stand in rows.
The guests are here; no vacant seat
A brother absent shows.
The loss of kindly feeling oft
From slightest things shall grow,
Where all the fare is dry and spare,
Resentments fierce may glow.
My store of spirits is well strained,
If short prove the supply,
My messengers I straightway send,
And what is needed buy.
I beat the drums, and in the dance
Lead joyously the train.
Oh! good it is, when falls the chance
The sparkling cup to drain.
~The Response to a Festal Ode~
Heaven shields and sets thee fast.
It round thee fair has cast
Thy virtue pure.
Thus richest joy is thine;--
Increase of corn and wine,
And every gift divine,
Abundant, sure.
Heaven shields and sets thee fast.
From it thou goodness hast;
Right are thy ways.
Its choicest gifts 'twill pour,
That last for evermore,
Nor time exhaust the store
Through endless days.
Heaven shields and sets thee fast,
Makes thine endeavor last
And prosper well.
Like hills and mountains high,
Whose masses touch the sky;
Like streams aye surging by;
Thine increase swell!
With rite and auspice fair,
Thine offerings thou dost bear,
And son-like give,
The season's round from spring,
To olden duke and king,
Whose words to thee we bring:--
"Forever live,"
The spirits of thy dead
Pour blessings on thy head,
Unnumbered sweet.
Thy subjects, simple, good,
Enjoy their drink and food.
Our tribes of every blood
Follow thy feet.
Like moons that wax in light;
Or suns that scale the height;
Or ageless hill;
Nor change, nor autumn know;
As pine and cypress grow;
The sons that from thee flow
Be lasting still!
~An Ode of Congratulation~
The russet pear-tree stands there all alone;
How bright the growth of fruit upon it shown!
The King's affairs no stinting hands require,
And days prolonged still mock our fond desire.
But time has brought the tenth month of the year;
My woman's heart is torn with wound severe.
Surely my warrior lord might now appear!
The russet pear-tree stands there all alone;
How dense the leafy shade all o'er it thrown!
The King's affairs require no slackening hand,
And our sad hearts their feelings can't command.
The plants and trees in beauty shine; 'tis spring.
From off my heart its gloom I fain would fling.
This season well my warrior home may bring!
I climbed that northern hill, and medlars sought;
The spring nigh o'er, to ripeness they were brought.
"The King's affairs cannot be slackly done";--
'Tis thus our parents mourn their absent son.
But now his sandal car must broken be;
I seem his powerful steeds worn out to see.
Relief has gone! He can't be far from me!
Alas! they can't have marched; they don't arrive!
More hard it grows with my distress to strive.
The time is passed, and still he is not here!
My sorrows multiply; great is my fear.
But lo! by reeds and shell I have divined,
That he is near, they both assure my mind;--
Soon at my side my warrior I shall find!
~An Ode on the Return of the Troops~
Forth from the city in our cars we drove,
Until we halted at the pasture ground.
The general came, and there with ardor strove
A note of zeal throughout the host to sound.
"Direct from court I come, by orders bound
The march to hasten";--it was thus he spake.
Then with the carriage-officers around,
He strictly charged them quick despatch to make:--
"Urgent the King's affairs, forthwith the field we take."
While there we stopped, the second corps appeared,
And 'twixt Us and the city took its place.
The guiding standard was on high upreared,
Where twining snakes the tortoises embrace,
While oxtails, crest-like, did the staff's top grace.
We watched the sheet unfolding grandly wave;
Each flag around showed falcons on its face.
With anxious care looked on our leader brave;
Watchful the carriage-officers appeared and grave.
Nan Chung, our chief, had heard the royal call
To go where inroad by Heen-yuns was made,
And 'cross the frontier build a barrier wall.
Numerous his chariots, splendidly arrayed!
The standards--this where dragons were displayed,
And that where snakes round tortoises were coiled--
Terrific flew. "Northward our host," he said,
"Heaven's son sends forth to tame the Heen-yun wild."
Soon by this awful chief would all their tribes be foiled.
When first we took the field, and northward went,
The millet was in flower;--a prospect sweet.
Now when our weary steps are homeward bent,
The snow falls fast, the mire impedes our feet.
Many the hardships we were called to meet,
Ere the King's orders we had all fulfilled.
No rest we had; often our friends to greet
The longing came; but vain regrets we stilled;
By tablets stern our hearts with fresh resolve were thrilled.
"Incessant chirp the insects in the grass;
All round about the nimble hoppers spring.
From them our thoughts quick to our husbands pass?
Although those thoughts our hearts with anguish wring.
Oh! could we see them, what relief 'twould bring!
Our hearts, rejoiced, at once would feel at rest."
Thus did our wives, their case deploring, sing;
The while our leader farther on had pressed,
And smitten with his power the wild Jung of the west.
The spring days now are lengthening out their light;
The plants and trees are dressed in living green;
The orioles resting sing, or wing their flight;
Our wives amid the southern-wood are seen,
Which white they bring, to feed their silkworms keen.
Our host, returned, sweeps onwards to the hall,
Where chiefs are questioned, shown the captives mean
Nan Chung, majestic, draws the gaze of all,
Proud o'er the barbarous foe his victories to recall.
BOOK II
THE DECADE OF PIH H'WA
~An Ode Appropriate to a Festivity~
The dew lies heavy all around,
Nor, till the sun shines, leaves the ground.
Far into night we feasting sit;
We drink, and none his place may quit.
The dew lies heavy, and its gems
Stud the luxuriant, grassy stems.
The happy night with wassail rings;
So feasted here the former kings.
The jujube and the willow-tree
All fretted with the dew we see.
Each guest's a prince of noble line,
In whom the virtues all combine.
The _t'ung_ and _e_ their fruits display,
Pendant from every graceful spray.
My guests are joyous and serene,
No haggard eye, no ruffled mien.
BOOK III
THE DECADE OF TUNG RUNG
~Celebrating a Hunting Expedition~
Our chariots were well-built and firm,
Well-matched our steeds, and fleet and strong.
Four, sleek and large, each chariot drew,
And eastward thus we drove along.
Our hunting cars were light and good,
Each with its team of noble steeds.
Still further east we took the way
To Foo-mere's grassy plains that leads.
Loud-voiced, the masters of the chase
Arranged the huntsmen, high and low.
While banners streamed, and ox-tails flew,
We sought the prey on distant Gaou.
Each with full team, the princes came,
A lengthened train in bright array.
In gold-wrought slippers, knee-caps red,
They looked as on an audience day.
Each right thumb wore the metal guard;
On the left arm its shield was bound.
In unison the arrows flew;
The game lay piled upon the ground.
The leaders of the tawny teams
Sped on their course, direct and true.
The drivers perfect skill displayed;
Like blow well aimed each arrow flew.
Neighing and pleased, the steeds returned;
The bannered lines back slowly came.
No jostling rude disgraced the crowd;
The king declined large share of game.
So did this famous hunt proceed!
So free it was from clamorous sound!
Well does our King become his place,
And high the deeds his reign have crowned!
~The King's Anxiety for His Morning Levée~
How goes the night? For heavy morning sleep
Ill suits the king who men would loyal keep.
The courtyard, ruddy with the torch's light,
Proclaims unspent the deepest hour of night.
Already near the gate my lords appear;
Their tinkling bells salute my wakeful ear.
How goes the night? I may not slumber on.
Although not yet the night is wholly gone,
The paling torch-light in the court below
Gives token that the hours swift-footed go.
Already at the gate my lords appear;
Their tinkling bells with measured sound draw near.
How goes the night? I may not slumber now.
The darkness smiles with morning on its brow.
The courtyard torch no more gives forth its ray,
But heralds with its smoke the coming day.
My princes pass the gate, and gather there;
I see their banners floating in the air.
~Moral Lessons from Natural Facts~
All true words fly, as from yon reedy marsh
The crane rings o'er the wild its screaming harsh.
Vainly you try reason in chains to keep;--
Freely it moves as fish sweeps through the deep.
Hate follows love, as 'neath those sandal-trees
The withered leaves the eager searcher sees.
The hurtful ne'er without some good was born;--
The stones that mar the hill will grind the corn.
All true words spread, as from the marsh's eye
The crane's sonorous note ascends the sky.
Goodness throughout the widest sphere abides,
As fish round isle and through the ocean glides.
And lesser good near greater you shall see,
As grows the paper shrub 'neath sandal-tree.
And good emerges from what man condemns;--
Those stones that mar the hill will polish gems.
BOOK IV
THE DECADE OF K'E-FOO
~On the Completion of a Royal Palace~
On yonder banks a palace, lo! upshoots,
The tender blue of southern hill behind;
Firm-founded, like the bamboo's clamping roots;
Its roof made pine-like, to a point defined.
Fraternal love here bears its precious fruits,
And unfraternal schemes be ne'er designed!
Ancestral sway is his. The walls they rear,
Five thousand cubits long; and south and west
The doors are placed. Here will the king appear,
Here laugh, here talk, here sit him down and rest.
To mould the walls, the frames they firmly tie;
The toiling builders beat the earth and lime.
The walls shall vermin, storm, and bird defy;--
Fit dwelling is it for his lordly prime.
Grand is the hall the noble lord ascends;--
In height, like human form most reverent, grand;
And straight, as flies the shaft when bow unbends;
Its tints, like hues when pheasant's wings expand.
High pillars rise the level court around;
The pleasant light the open chamber steeps;
And deep recesses, wide alcoves, are found,
Where our good king in perfect quiet sleeps.
Laid is the bamboo mat on rush mat square;--
Here shall he sleep, and, waking, say, "Divine
What dreams are good? For bear and grizzly bear,
And snakes and cobras, haunt this couch of mine."
Then shall the chief diviner glad reply,
"The bears foreshow that Heaven will send you sons.
The snakes and cobras daughters prophesy.
These auguries are all auspicious ones.
"Sons shall be his--on couches lulled to rest.
The little ones, enrobed, with sceptres play;
Their infant cries are loud as stern behest;
Their knees the vermeil covers shall display.
As king hereafter one shall be addressed;
The rest, our princes, all the States shall sway.
"And daughters also to him shall be born.
They shall be placed upon the ground to sleep;
Their playthings tiles, their dress the simplest worn;
Their part alike from good and ill to keep,
And ne'er their parents' hearts to cause to mourn;
To cook the food, and spirit-malt to steep."
~The Condition of King Seuen's Flocks~
Who dares to say your sheep are few?
The flocks are all three hundred strong.
Who dares despise your cattle too?
There ninety, black-lipped, press along.
Though horned the sheep, yet peaceful each appears;
The cattle come with moist and flapping ears.
These climb the heights, those drink the pool;
Some lie at rest, while others roam.
With rain-coats, and thin splint hats cool,
And bearing food, your herdsmen come.
In thirties, ranged by hues, the creatures stand;
Fit victims they will yield at your command.
Your herdsmen twigs and fagots bring,
With prey of birds and beasts for food.
Your sheep, untouched by evil thing,
Approach, their health and vigor good.
The herdsman's waving hand they all behold,
And docile come, and pass into the fold.
Your herdsmen dream;--fish take the place
Of men; on banners falcons fly,
Displacing snakes and tortoises.
The augur tells his prophecy:--
"The first betoken plenteous years; the change
Of banners shows of homes a widening range."
BOOK V
THE DECADE OF SEAOU MIN
~A Eunuch Complains of His Fate~
A few fine lines, at random drawn,
Like the shell-pattern wrought in lawn
To hasty glance will seem.
My trivial faults base slander's slime
Distorted into foulest crime,
And men me worthless deem.
A few small points, pricked down on wood,
May be made out a picture good
Of the bright Southern Sieve.
Who planned, and helped those slanderers vile,
My name with base lies to defile?
Unpitied, here I grieve.
With babbling tongues you go about,
And only scheme how to make out
The lies you scatter round.
Hear me--Be careful what you say;
People ere long your words will weigh,
And liars you'll be found.
Clever you are with changeful schemes!
How else could all your evil dreams
And slanders work their way?
Men now believe you; by and by,
The truth found out, each vicious lie
Will ill for ill repay.
The proud rejoice; the sufferer weeps.
O azure Heaven, from out thy deeps
Why look in silence down?
Behold those proud men and rebuke;
With pity on the sufferers look,
And on the evil frown.
Those slanderers I would gladly take,
With all who help their schemes to make,
And to the tigers throw.
If wolves and tigers such should spare,
Td hurl them 'midst the freezing air,
Where the keen north winds blow.
And should the North compassion feel
I'd fling them to great Heaven, to deal
On them its direst woe.
As on the sacred heights you dwell,
My place is in the willow dell,
One is the other near.
Before you, officers, I spread
These lines by me, poor eunuch, made.
Think not Mang-tsze severe.
~An Officer Deplores the Misery of the Time~
In the fourth month summer shines;
In the sixth the heat declines.
Nature thus grants men relief;
Tyranny gives only grief.
Were not my forefathers men?
Can my suffering 'scape their ken?
In the cold of autumn days
Each plant shrivels and decays.
Nature then is hard and stern;
Living things sad lessons learn.
Friends dispersed, all order gone,
Place of refuge have I none.
Winter days are wild and fierce;
Rapid gusts each crevice pierce.
Such is my unhappy lot,
Unbefriended and forgot!
Others all can happy be;
I from misery ne'er am free.
On the mountains are fine trees;
Chestnuts, plum-trees, there one sees.
All the year their forms they show;
Stately more and more they grow.
Noble turned to ravening thief!
What the cause? This stirs my grief.
Waters from that spring appear
Sometimes foul, and sometimes clear,
Changing oft as falls the rain,
Or the sky grows bright again.
New misfortunes every day
Still befall me, misery's prey.
Aid from mighty streams obtained,
Southern States are shaped and drained.
Thus the Keang and Han are thanked,
And as benefactors ranked.
Weary toil my vigor drains;
All unnoticed it remains!
Hawks and eagles mount the sky;
Sturgeons in deep waters lie.
Out of reach, they safely get,
Arrow fear not, nor the net.
Hiding-place for me there's none;
Here I stay, and make my moan.
Ferns upon the hills abound;
_Ke_ and _e_ in marshy ground.
Each can boast its proper place,
Where it grows for use or grace.
I can only sing the woe,
Which, ill-starred, I undergo.
~On the Alienation of a Friend~
Gently and soft the east wind blows,
And then there falls the pelting rain.
When anxious fears pressed round you close,
Then linked together were we twain.
Now happy, and your mind at rest,
You turn and cast me from your breast.
Gently and soft the east wind blows,
And then there comes the whirlwind wild.
When anxious fears pressed round you close,
Your bosom held me as a child.
Now happy, and in peaceful state,
You throw me off and quite forget.
Gently and soft the east wind blows,
Then round the rocky height it storms.
Each plant its leaves all dying shows;
The trees display their withered forms.
My virtues great forgotten all,
You keep in mind my faults, though small.
BOOK VI
THE DECADE OF PIH SHAN
~A Picture of Husbandry~
Various the toils which fields so large demand!
We choose the seed; we take our tools in hand.
In winter for our work we thus prepare;
Then in the spring, bearing the sharpened 'share,
We to the acres go that south incline,
And to the earth the different seeds consign.
Soon, straight and large, upward each plant aspires;--
All happens as our noble lord desires.
The plants will ear; within their sheath confined,
The grains will harden, and be good in kind.
Nor darnel these, nor wolf's-tail grass infests;
From core and leaf we pick the insect pests,
And pick we those that eat the joints and roots:--
So do we guard from harm the growing fruits.
May the great Spirit, whom each farmer names,
Those insects take, and cast them to the flames!
The clouds o'erspread the sky in masses dense,
And gentle rain down to the earth dispense.
First may the public fields the blessing get,
And then with it our private fields we wet!
Patches of unripe grain the reaper leaves;
And here and there ungathered are the sheaves.
Handfuls besides we drop upon the ground,
And ears untouched in numbers lie around;--
These by the poor and widows shall be found.
When wives and children to the toilers come,
Bringing provisions from each separate home,
Our lord of long descent shall oft appear;
The Inspector also, glad the men to cheer.
They too shall thank the Spirits of the air,
With sacrifices pure for all their care;
Now red, now black, the victims that they slay,
As North or South the sacrifice they pay;
While millet bright the altars always show;--
And we shall thus still greater blessings know.
~The Complaint of an Officer~
O Heaven above, before whose light
Revealed is every deed and thought,
To thee I cry.
Hither on toilsome service brought,
In this wild K'ew I watch time's flight,
And sadly sigh.
The second month had just begun,
When from the east we took our way.
Through summer hot
We passed, and many a wintry day.
Summer again its course has run.
O bitter lot!
There are my compeers, gay at court,
While here the tears my face begrime.
I'd fain return--
But there is that dread net for crime!
The fear of it the wish cuts short.
In vain I burn!
Ere we the royal city left,
The sun and moon renewed the year.
We marched in hope.
Now to its close this year is near.
Return deferred, of hope bereft,
All mourn and mope.
My lonesome state haunts aye my breast,
While duties grow, and cares increase,
Too hard to bear.
Toils that oppress me never cease;
Not for a moment dare I rest,
Nigh to despair.
I think with fond regard of those,
Who in their posts at court remain,
My friends of old.
Fain would I be with them again,
But fierce reproof return would cause.
This post I hold.
When for the West I left my home,
The sun and moon both mildly shone,
Our hearts to cheer.
We'd soon be back, our service done!
Alas! affairs more urgent come,
And fix us here.
The year is hastening to expire.
We gather now the southern-wood,
The beans we reap;--
That for its fragrance, these for food.
Such things that constant care require
Me anxious keep.
Thinking of friends still at their posts,
I rise and pass the night outside,
So vexed my mind.
But soon what changes may betide?
I here will stay, whate'er it costs,
And be resigned.
My honored friends, O do not deem
Your rest which seems secure from ill
Will ever last!
Your duties quietly fulfil,
And hold the upright in esteem,
With friendship fast.
So shall the Spirits hear your cry,
You virtuous make, and good supply,
In measure vast.
My honored friends, O do not deem
Repose that seems secure from ill
Will lasting prove.
Your duties quietly fulfil,
And hold the upright in esteem,
With earnest love.
So shall the Spirits hear your prayer,
And on you happiness confer,
Your hopes above.
BOOK VII
DECADE OF SANG HOO
~The Rejoicings of a Bridegroom~
With axle creaking, all on fire I went,
To fetch my young and lovely bride.
No thirst or hunger pangs my bosom rent--
I only longed to have her by my side.
I feast with her, whose virtue fame had told,
Nor need we friends our rapture to behold.
The long-tailed pheasants surest covert find,
Amid the forest on the plain.
Here from my virtuous bride, of noble mind,
And person tall, I wisdom gain.
I praise her while we feast, and to her say,
"The love I bear you ne'er will know decay.
"Poor we may be; spirits and viands fine
My humble means will not afford.
But what we have, we'll taste and not repine;
From us will come no grumbling word.
And though to you no virtue I can add,
Yet we will sing and dance, in spirit glad.
"I oft ascend that lofty ridge with toil,
And hew large branches from the oaks;
Then of their leafy glory them I spoil,
And fagots form with vigorous strokes.
Returning tired, your matchless grace I see,
And my whole soul dissolves in ecstasy.
"To the high hills I looked, and urged each steed;
The great road next was smooth and plain.
Up hill, o'er dale, I never slackened speed;
Like lute-string sounded every rein.
I knew, my journey ended, I should come
To you, sweet bride, the comfort of my home."
~Against Listening to Slanderers~
Like the blueflies buzzing round,
And on the fences lighting,
Are the sons of slander found,
Who never cease their biting.
O thou happy, courteous king,
To the winds their slanders fling.
Buzzing round the blueflies hear,
About the jujubes flocking!
So the slanderers appear,
Whose calumnies are shocking.
By no law or order bound,
All the kingdom they confound.
How they buzz, those odious flies,
Upon the hazels clust'ring!
And as odious are the lies
Of those slanderers blust'ring.
Hatred stirred between us two
Shows the evil they can do.
BOOK VIII
THE DECADE OF TOO JIN SZE
~In Praise of By-gone Simplicity~
In the old capital they stood,
With yellow fox-furs plain,
Their manners all correct and good,
Speech free from vulgar stain.
Could we go back to Chow's old days,
All would look up to them with praise.
In the old capital they wore
_T'ae_ hats and black caps small;
And ladies, who famed surnames bore,
Their own thick hair let fall.
Such simple ways are seen no more,
And the changed manners I deplore.
Ear-rings, made of plainest gold,
In the old days were worn.
Each lady of a noble line
A Yin or Keih seemed born.
Such officers and ladies now
I see not and my sorrows grow.
With graceful sweep their girdles fell,
Then in the days of old.
The ladies' side-hair, with a swell,
Like scorpion's tail, rose bold.
Such, if I saw them in these days,
I'd follow with admiring gaze.
So hung their girdles, not for show;--
To their own length 'twas due.
'Twas not by art their hair curled so;--
By nature so it grew.
I seek such manners now in vain,
And pine for them with longing pain.
[NOTE.--Yin and Keih were clan names of great families, the ladies
of which would be leaders of fashion in the capital.]
~A Wife Bemoans Her Husband's Absence~
So full am I of anxious thought,
Though all the morn king-grass I've sought,
To fill my arms I fail.
Like wisp all-tangled is my hair!
To wash it let me home repair.
My lord soon may I hail!
Though 'mong the indigo I've wrought
The morning long; through anxious thought
My skirt's filled but in part.
Within five days he was to appear;
The sixth has come and he's not here.
Oh! how this racks my heart!
When here we dwelt in union sweet,
If the hunt called his eager feet,
His bow I cased for him.
Or if to fish he went away,
And would be absent all the day,
His line I put in trim.
What in his angling did he catch?
Well worth the time it was to watch
How bream and tench he took.
Men thronged upon the banks and gazed;
At bream and tench they looked amazed,
The triumphs of his hook.
~The Earl of Shaou's Work~
As the young millet, by the genial rain
Enriched, shoots up luxuriant and tall,
So, when we southward marched with toil and pain,
The Earl of Shaou cheered and inspired us all.
We pushed our barrows, and our burdens bore;
We drove our wagons, and our oxen led.
"The work once done, our labor there is o'er,
And home we travel," to ourselves we said.
Close kept our footmen round the chariot track;
Our eager host in close battalions sped.
"When once our work is done, then we go back,
Our labor over," to themselves they said.
Hard was the work we had at Seay to do,
But Shaou's great earl the city soon upreared.
The host its service gave with ardor true;--
Such power in all the earl's commands appeared!
We did on plains and low lands what was meet;
We cleared the springs and streams, the land to drain.
The Earl of Shaou announced his work complete,
And the King's heart reposed, at rest again.
~The Plaint of King Yew's Forsaken Wife~
The fibres of the white-flowered rush
Are with the white grass bound.
So do the two together go,
In closest union found.
And thus should man and wife abide,
The twain combined in one;
But this bad man sends me away,
And bids me dwell alone.
Both rush and grass from the bright clouds
The genial dew partake.
Kind and impartial, nature's laws
No odious difference make.
But providence appears unkind;
Events are often hard.
This man, to principle untrue,
Denies me his regard.
Northward the pools their waters send,
To flood each paddy field;
So get the fields the sap they need,
Their store of rice to yield.
But that great man no deed of grace
Deigns to bestow on me.
My songs are sighs. At thought of him
My heart aches wearily.
The mulberry branches they collect,
And use their food to cook;
But I must use a furnace small,
That pot nor pan will brook.
So me that great man badly treats,
Nor uses as his wife,
Degrades me from my proper place,
And fills with grief my life.
The bells and drums inside the court
Men stand without and hear;
So should the feelings in my breast,
To him distinct appear.
All-sorrowful, I think of him,
Longing to move his love;
But he vouchsafes no kind response;
His thoughts far from me rove.
The marabow stands on the dam,
And to repletion feeds;
The crane deep in the forest cries,
Nor finds the food it needs.
So in my room the concubine
By the great man is placed;
While I with cruel banishment
Am cast out and disgraced.
The yellow ducks sit on the dam,
With left wing gathered low;
So on each other do they lean,
And their attachment show.
And love should thus the man and wife
In closest concord bind;
But that man turns away from me,
And shows a fickle mind.
When one stands on a slab of stone,
No higher than the ground,
Nothing is added to his height;--
Low with the stone he's found.
So does the favorite's mean estate
Render that great man mean,
While I by him, to distance sent,
Am pierced with sorrow keen.
~Hospitality~
A few gourd leaves that waved about
Cut down and boiled;--the feast how spare!
But the good host his spirits takes,
Pours out a cup, and proves them rare.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Or baked, or roast:--how small the feast!
But the good host his spirits takes,
And fills the cup of every guest.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or broiled:--how poor the meal!
But the guests from the spirit vase
Fill their host's cup, and drink his weal.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or baked:--no feast we think!
But from the spirit vase they take,
Both host and guests, and joyous drink.
~On the Misery of Soldiers~
Yellow now is all the grass;
All the days in marching pass.
On the move is every man;
Hard work, far and near, they plan.
Black is every plant become;
Every man is torn from home.
Kept on foot, our state is sad;--
As if we no feelings had!
Not rhinoceroses we!
Tigers do we care to be?
Fields like these so desolate
Are to us a hateful fate.
Long-tailed foxes pleased may hide
'Mong the grass, where they abide.
We, in box carts slowly borne,
On the great roads plod and mourn.
PART III.--GREATER ODES OF THE KINGDOM
BOOK I
DECADE OF KING WAN
~Celebrating King Wan~
The royal Wan now rests on high,
Enshrined in brightness of the sky.
Chow as a state had long been known,
And Heaven's decree at last was shown.
Its lords had borne a glorious name;
God kinged them when the season came.
King Wan ruled well when earth he trod;
Now moves his spirit near to God.
A strong-willed, earnest king was Wan,
And still his fame rolls widening on.
The gifts that God bestowed on Chow
Belong to Wan's descendants now.
Heaven blesses still with gifts divine
The hundred scions of his line;
And all the officers of Chow
From age to age more lustrous grow.
More lustrous still from age to age,
All reverent plans their zeal engage;
And brilliant statesmen owe their birth
To this much-favored spot of earth.
They spring like products of the land--
The men by whom the realm doth stand.
Such aid their numerous bands supply,
That Wan rests tranquilly on high.
Deep were Wan's thoughts, sustained his ways;
His reverence lit its trembling rays.
Resistless came great Heaven's decree;
The sons of Shang must bend the knee;--
The sons of Shang, each one a king,
In numbers beyond numbering.
Yet as God spoke, so must it be:--
The sons of Shang all bent the knee.
Now each to Chow his homage pays--
So dark and changing are Heaven's ways.
When we pour our libations here,
The officers of Shang appear,
Quick and alert to give their aid:--
Such is the service by them paid,
While still they do not cast aside
The cap and broidered axe--their pride.
Ye servants of our line of kings,
Remember him from whom it springs.
Remember him from whom it springs;--
Let this give to your virtue wings.
Seek harmony with Heaven's great mind;--
So shall you surest blessing find.
Ere Shang had lost the nation's heart,
Its monarchs all with God had part
In sacrifice. From them you see
'Tis hard to keep high Heaven's decree.
'Tis hard to keep high Heaven's decree!
O sin not, or you cease to be.
To add true lustre to your name,
See Shang expire in Heaven's dread flame.
For Heaven's high dealings are profound,
And far transcend all sense and sound.
From Wan your pattern you must draw,
And all the States will own your law.
[Book II. is omitted]
BOOK III [*]
DECADE OF TANG
~King Seuen on the Occasion of a Great Drought~
Grand shone the Milky Way on high,
With brilliant span athwart the sky,
Nor promise gave of rain.
King Seuen long gazed; then from him broke,
In anguished tones the words he spoke.
Well might he thus complain!
"O Heaven, what crimes have we to own,
That death and ruin still come down?
Relentless famine fills our graves.
Pity the king who humbly craves!
Our miseries never cease.
To every Spirit I have vowed;
The choicest victim's blood has flowed.
As offerings I have freely paid
My store of gems and purest jade.
Hear me, and give release!
"The drought consumes us. As on wing
Its fervors fly, and torment bring.
With purest mind and ceaseless care
My sacrifices I prepare.
At thine own border altars, Heaven,
And in my father's fane, I've given
What might relief have found.
What Powers above, below, have sway,
To all my precious gifts I pay,
Then bury in the ground.
Yes, every Spirit has received
Due honor, and, still unrelieved,
Our sufferings greater grow.
How-tseih can't give the needed aid,
And help from God is still delayed!
The country lies a ruined waste.
O would that I alone might taste
This bitter cup of woe!
"The drought consumes us. Nor do I
To fix the blame on others try.
I quake with dread; the risk I feel,
As when I hear the thunders peal,
Or fear its sudden crash.
Our black-haired race, a remnant now,
Will every one be swept from Chow,
As by the lightning's flash.
Nor I myself will live alone.
God from his great and heavenly throne
Will not spare even me.
O friends and officers, come, blend
Your prayers with mine; come, lowly bend.
Chow's dynasty will pass away;
Its altars at no distant day
In ruins all shall be!
"The drought consumes us. It keeps on
Its fatal course. All hope is gone.
The air more fierce and fiery glows.
Where can I fly? Where seek repose?
Death marks me for its prey.
Above, no saving hand! Around,
No hope, no comfort, can be found.
The dukes and ministers of old
Give us no help. Can ye withhold
Your sympathy, who lately reigned?
And parents, how are you restrained,
In this so dreadful day?
"The drought consumes us. There on high
The hills are parched. The streams are dry.
Drought's demon stalks abroad in ire,
And scatters wide his flames and fire.
Alas, my woful heart!
The fires within its strength consume;
The heat without creates a gloom
That from it will not part.
The dukes and ministers by-gone
Respond not to my prayer and moan.
God in great Heaven, permission give
That I may in retirement live,
And try to heal my smart!
"The drought consumes us. Still I strive,
And will not leave while I survive.
Duty to shun I fear.
Why upon me has come this drought?
Vainly I try to search it out,
Vainly, with quest severe.
For a good harvest soon I prayed,
Nor late the rites I duly paid,
To Spirits of the air and land.
There wanted nought they could demand,
Their favor to secure.
God in great heaven, be just, be kind!
Thou dost not bear me in Thy mind.
My cry, ye wisest Spirits, hear!
Ye whom I constantly revere,
Why do I this endure?
"The drought consumes us. People fly,
And leave their homes. Each social tie
And bond of rule is snapt.
The Heads of Boards are all perplexed;
My premier's mind is sorely vexed;
In trouble all are wrapt.
The Masters of my Horse and Guards;
My cook, and men of different wards:--
Not one has from the struggle shrunk.
Though feeling weak, they have not sunk,
But done their best to aid.
To the great sky I look with pain;--
Why do these grievous sorrows rain
On my devoted head?
"Yes, at the mighty sky I gaze,
And lo! the stars pursue their maze,
And sparkle clear and bright.
Ah! Heaven nor helps, nor seems to ken.
Great officers and noble men,
With all your powers ye well have striven,
And reverently have sought from Heaven
Its aid in our great fight.
My death is near; but oh! keep on,
And do as thus far you have done.
Regard you only me?
No, for yourselves and all your friends,
On whom for rule the land depends,
You seek security.
I turn my gaze to the great sky;--
When shall this drought be done, and I
Quiet and restful be?"
[NOTE *: Selections from Book II. are omitted.--EDITOR.]
PART IV.--ODES OF THE TEMPLE AND ALTAR
BOOK I
SACRIFICIAL ODES OF CHOW
~Appropriate to a Sacrifice to King Wan~
My offerings here are given,
A ram, a bull.
Accept them, mighty Heaven,
All-bountiful.
Thy statutes, O great king,
I keep, I love;
So on the realm to bring
Peace from above.
From Wan comes blessing rich;
Now on the right
He owns those gifts to which
Him I invite.
Do I not night and day,
Revere great Heaven,
That thus its favor may
To Chow be given?
~On Sacrificing to the Kings Woo, Ching, and K'ang~
The arm of Woo was full of might;
None could his fire withstand;
And Ching and K'ang stood forth to sight,
As kinged by God's own hand.
We err not when we call them sage.
How grandly they maintained
Their hold of all the heritage
That Wan and Woo had gained!
As here we worship, they descend,
While bells and drums resound,
And stones and lutes their music blend.
With blessings we are crowned.
The rites correctly we discharge;
The feast we freely share.
Those Sires Chow's glory will enlarge,
And ever for it care.
THE TRAVELS OF FÂ-HIEN
[Translation by James Legge]
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION
Nothing of great importance is known about Fâ-hien in addition to what
may be gathered from his own record of his travels. I have read the
accounts of him in the "Memoirs of Eminent Monks," compiled in A.D. 519,
and a later work, the "Memoirs of Marvellous Monks," by the third
emperor of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1403-1424), which, however, is nearly
all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has an appearance of
verisimilitude can be brought within brief compass.
His surname, they tell us, was Kung, and he was a native of Wu-yang in
P'ing-yang, which is still the name of a large department in Shan-hsî.
He had three brothers older than himself; but when they all died before
shedding their first teeth, his father devoted him to the service of the
Buddhist society, and had him entered as a Srâmanera, still keeping him
at home in the family. The little fellow fell dangerously ill, and the
father sent him to the monastery, where he soon got well and refused to
return to his parents.
When he was ten years old, his father died; and an uncle, considering
the widowed solitariness and helplessness of the mother, urged him to
renounce the monastic life, and return to her, but the boy replied, "I
did not quit the family in compliance with my father's wishes, but
because I wished to be far from the dust and vulgar ways of life. This
is why I choose monkhood." The uncle approved of his words and gave over
urging him. When his mother also died, it appeared how great had been
the affection for her of his fine nature; but after her burial he
returned to the monastery.
On one occasion he was cutting rice with a score or two of his
fellow-disciples, when some hungry thieves came upon them to take away
their grain by force. The other Srâmaneras all fled, but our young hero
stood his ground, and said to the thieves, "If you must have the grain,
take what you please. But, sirs, it was your former neglect of charity
which brought you to your present state of destitution; and now, again,
you wish to rob others. I am afraid that in the coming ages you will
have still greater poverty and distress; I am sorry for you beforehand."
With these words he followed his companions to the monastery, while the
thieves left the grain and went away, all the monks, of whom there were
several hundred, doing homage to his conduct and courage.
When he had finished his novitiate and taken on him the obligations of
the full Buddhist orders, his earnest courage, clear intelligence, and
strict regulation of his demeanor, were conspicuous; and soon after, he
undertook his journey to India in search of complete copies of the
Vinaya-pitaka. What follows this is merely an account of his travels in
India and return to China by sea, condensed from his own narrative, with
the addition of some marvellous incidents that happened to him, on his
visit to the Vulture Peak near Râjagriha.
It is said in the end that after his return to China, he went to the
capital (evidently Nanking), and there, along with the Indian Sramana
Buddha-bhadra, executed translations of some of the works which he had
obtained in India; and that before he had done all that he wished to do
in this way, he removed to King-chow (in the present Hoo-pih), and died
in the monastery of Sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the great sorrow
of all who knew him. It is added that there is another larger work
giving an account of his travels in various countries.
Such is all the information given about our author, beyond what he has
himself told us. Fâ-hien was his clerical name, and means "Illustrious
in the Law," or "Illustrious master of the Law." The Shih which often
precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of Buddha as Sâkyamuni, "the
Sâkya, mighty in Love, dwelling in Seclusion and Silence," and may be
taken as equivalent to Buddhist. He is sometimes said to have belonged
to "the eastern Tsin dynasty" (A.D. 317-419), and sometimes to "the
Sung," that is, the Sung dynasty of the House of Liû (A.D. 420-478). If
he became a full monk at the age of twenty, and went to India when he
was twenty-five, his long life may have been divided pretty equally
between the two dynasties.
If there were ever another and larger account of Fâ-hien's travels than
the narrative of which a translation is now given, it has long ceased to
be in existence.
In the catalogue of the imperial library of the Suy dynasty (A.D.
589-618), the name Fâ-hien occurs four times. Towards the end of the
last section of it, after a reference to his travels, his labors in
translation at Kin-ling (another name for Nanking), in conjunction with
Buddha-bhadra, are described. In the second section we find "A Record of
Buddhistic Kingdoms"--with a note, saying that it was the work of "the
Sramana, Fâ-hien"; and again, we have "Narrative of Fâ-hien in two
Books," and "Narrative of Fâ-hien's Travels in one Book." But all these
three entries may possibly belong to different copies of the same work,
the first and the other two being in separate subdivisions of the
catalogue.
In the two Chinese copies of the narrative in my possession the title is
"Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms." In the Japanese or Corean recension the
title is twofold; first, "Narrative of the Distinguished Monk, Fâ-hien";
and then, more at large, "Incidents of Travels in India, by the Sramana
of the Eastern Tsîn, Fâ-hien, recorded by himself."
There is still earlier attestation of the existence of our little work
than the Suy catalogue. The "Catalogue Raisonné" of the imperial library
of the present dynasty mentions two quotations from it by Le Tâo-yüen, a
geographical writer of the dynasty of the Northern Wei (A.D. 386-584),
one of them containing eighty-nine characters, and the other two hundred
and seventy-six; both of them given as from the "Narrative of Fâ-hien."
In all catalogues subsequent to that of Suy our work appears. The
evidence for its authenticity and genuineness is all that could be
required. It is clear to myself that the "Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms"
and the "Narrative of his Travels by Fâ-hien" were designations of one
and the same work, and that it is doubtful whether any larger work on
the same subject was ever current. With regard to the text subjoined to
my translation, it was published in Japan in 1779. The editor had before
him four recensions of the narrative; those of the Sung and Ming
dynasties, with appendices on the names of certain characters in them;
that of Japan; and that of Corea. He wisely adopted the Corean text,
published in accordance with a royal rescript in 1726, so far as I can
make out; but the different readings of the other texts are all given in
top-notes, instead of foot-notes as with us, this being one of the
points in which customs in the East and West go by contraries. Very
occasionally, the editor indicates by a single character, equivalent to
"right" or "wrong," which reading in his opinion is to be preferred.
The editors of the "Catalogue Raisonné" intimate their doubts of the
good taste and reliability of all Fâ-hien's statements. It offends them
that he should call central India the "Middle Kingdom," and China, which
to them was the true and only Middle Kingdom, but "a Border-land"--it
offends them as the vaunting language of a Buddhist writer, whereas the
reader will see in the expressions only an instance of what Fâ-hien
calls his "simple straightforwardness."
As an instance of his unreliability they refer to his account of the
Buddhism of Khoten, whereas it is well-known, they say, that the
Khoteners from ancient times till now have been Mohammedans;--as if they
could have been so one hundred and seventy years before Mohammed was
born, and two hundred twenty-two years before the year of the Hegira!
And this is criticism in China. The catalogue was ordered by the
K'ien-lung emperor in 1722. Between three and four hundred of the "Great
Scholars" of the empire were engaged on it in various departments, and
thus egregiously ignorant did they show themselves of all beyond the
limits of their own country, and even of the literature of that country
itself.
Much of what Fâ-hien tells his readers of Buddhist miracles and legends
is indeed unreliable and grotesque; but we have from him the truth as to
what he saw and heard.
In concluding this introduction I wish to call attention to some
estimates of the number of Buddhists in the world which have become
current, believing, as I do, that the smallest of them is much above
what is correct.
In a note on the first page of his work on the Bhilsa Topes (1854),
General Cunningham says: "The Christians number about two hundred and
seventy millions; the Buddhists about two hundred and twenty-two
millions, who are distributed as follows: China one hundred and seventy
millions, Japan twenty-five millions, Anam fourteen millions, Siam three
millions, Ava eight millions, Nepál one million, and Ceylon one
million." In his article on M.J. Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire's "Le Bouddha
et sa Religion," republished in his "Chips from a German workshop," vol.
i. (1868), Professor Max Müller says, "The young prince became the
founder of a religion which, after more than two thousand years, is
still professed by four hundred and fifty-five millions of human
beings," and he appends the following note: "Though truth is not settled
by majorities, it would be interesting to know which religion counts at
the present moment the largest numbers of believers. Berghaus, in his
'Physical Atlas,' gives the following division of the human race
according to religion: 'Buddhists 31.2 per cent., Christians 30.7,
Mohammedans 15.7, Brahmanists 13.4, Heathens 8.7, and Jews O.3.' As
Berghaus does not distinguish the Buddhists in China from the followers
of Confucius and Laotse, the first place on the scale belongs really to
Christianity. It is difficult in China to say to what religion a man
belongs, as the same person may profess two or three. The emperor
himself, after sacrificing according to the ritual of Confucius, visits
a Tao-tsé temple, and afterwards bows before an image of Fo in a
Buddhist chapel." ("Mélanges Asiatiques de St. Pétersbourg," vol. ii. p.
374.)
Both these estimates are exceeded by Dr. T.W. Rhys Davids (intimating
also the uncertainty of the statements, and that numbers are no evidence
of truth) in the introduction to his "Manual of Buddhism." The Buddhists
there appear as amounting in all to five hundred millions:--thirty
millions of Southern Buddhists, in Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Anam, and India
(Jains); and four hundred and seventy millions of Northern Buddhists, of
whom nearly thirty-three millions are assigned to Japan, and 414,686,974
to the eighteen provinces of China proper. According to him, Christians
amount to about 26 per cent, of mankind, Hindus to about 13, Mohammedans
to about 12-1/2, Buddhists to about 40, and Jews to about one-half of
one per cent.
In regard to all these estimates, it will be observed that the immense
numbers assigned to Buddhism are made out by the multitude of Chinese
with which it is credited. Subtract Cunningham's one hundred and seventy
millions of Chinese from his total of two hundred and twenty-two
millions, and there remain only fifty-two millions of Buddhists.
Subtract Davids's four hundred fourteen and one-half millions of Chinese
from his total of five hundred millions, and there remain only
eighty-five and one-half millions for Buddhism. Of the numbers assigned
to other countries, as well as of their whole populations, I am in
considerable doubt, excepting in the cases of Ceylon and India; but the
greatness of the estimates turns upon the immense multitudes said to be
in China. I do not know what total population Cunningham allowed for
that country, nor on what principle he allotted one hundred and seventy
millions of it to Buddhism; perhaps he halved his estimate of the whole,
whereas Berghaus and Davids allotted to it the highest estimates that
have been given of the people.
But we have no certain information of the population of China. At an
interview with the former Chinese ambassador, Kwo Sung-tâo, in Paris, in
1878, I begged him to write out for me the amount, with the authority
for it, and he assured me that it could not be done. I have read
probably almost everything that has been published on the subject, and
endeavored by methods of my own to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion;--without reaching a result which I can venture to lay before
the public. My impression has been that four hundred millions is hardly
an exaggeration.
But supposing that we had reliable returns of the whole population, how
shall we proceed to apportion that among Confucianists, Tâoists, and
Buddhists? Confucianism is the orthodoxy of China. The common name for
it is Jû Chiâo, "the Doctrines held by the Learned Class," entrance into
the circle of which is, with a few insignificant exceptions, open to all
the people. The mass of them and the masses under their influence are
preponderatingly Confucian; and in the observance of ancestral worship,
the most remarkable feature of the religion proper of China from the
earliest times, of which Confucius was not the author but the prophet,
an overwhelming majority are regular and assiduous.
Among "the strange principles" which the emperor of the K'ang-hsî
period, in one of his famous Sixteen Precepts, exhorted his people to
"discountenance and put away, in order to exalt the correct doctrine,"
Buddhism and Tâoism were both included. If, as stated in the note quoted
from Professor Müller, the emperor countenances both the Tâoist worship
and the Buddhist, he does so for reasons of state; to please especially
his Buddhistic subjects in Thibet and Mongolia, and not to offend the
many whose superstitious fancies incline to Tâoism.
When I went out and in as a missionary among the Chinese people for
about thirty years, it sometimes occurred to me that only the inmates of
their monasteries and the recluses of both systems should be enumerated
as Buddhists and Taoists; but I was in the end constrained to widen that
judgment, and to admit a considerable following of both among the
people, who have neither received the tonsure nor assumed the yellow
top. Dr. Eitel, in concluding his discussion of this point in his
"Lecture on Buddhism, an Event in History," says: "It is not too much to
say that most Chinese are theoretically Confucianists, but emotionally
Buddhists or Taoists. But fairness requires us to add that, though the
mass of the people are more or less influenced by Buddhist doctrines,
yet the people, as a whole, have no respect for the Buddhist church, and
habitually sneer at Buddhist priests." For the "most" in the former of
these two sentences I would substitute "nearly all;" and between my
friend's "but" and "emotionally" I would introduce "many are," and would
not care to contest his conclusion further. It does seem to me
preposterous to credit Buddhism with the whole of the vast population of
China, the great majority of whom are Confucianists. My own opinion is
that its adherents are not so many as those even of Mohammedanism, and
that instead of being the most numerous of the religions (so-called) of
the world, it is only entitled to occupy the fifth place, ranking below
Christianity, Confucianism, Brahmanism, and Mohammedanism, and followed,
some distance off, by Tâoism. To make a table of percentages of mankind,
and to assign to each system its proportion, are to seem to be wise
where we are deplorably ignorant; and, moreover, if our means of
information were much better than they are, our figures would merely
show the outward adherence. A fractional percentage might tell more for
one system than a very large integral one for another.
JAMES LEGGE.
THE TRAVELS OF FÂ-HIEN
CHAPTER I
~From Ch'ang-gan to the Sandy Desert~
Fâ-Hien had been living in Ch'ang-gan. [1] Deploring the mutilated and
imperfect state of the collection of the Books of Discipline, in the
second year of the period Hwang-che, being the Ke-hâe year of the cycle,
[2] he entered into an engagement with Hwuy-king, Tâo-ching, Hwuy-ying,
and Hwuy-wei, that they should go to India and seek for the Disciplinary
Rules.
After starting from Ch'ang-gan, they passed through Lung, [3] and came
to the kingdom of K'een-kwei,[4] where they stopped for the summer
retreat. When that was over, they went forward to the kingdom of
Now-t'an, crossed the mountain of Yang-low, and reached the emporium of
Chang-yih.[5] There they found the country so much disturbed that
travelling on the roads was impossible for them. Its king, however, was
very attentive to them, kept them in his capital, and acted the part of
their dânapati.[6]
Here they met with Che-yen, Hwuy-keen, Sang-shâo, Pâo-yun, and
Sang-king; and in pleasant association with them, as bound on the same
journey with themselves, they passed the summer retreat of that year [7]
together, resuming after it their travelling, and going on to
T'un-hwang, [8] the chief town in the frontier territory of defence
extending for about eighty li from east to west, and about forty from
north to south. Their company, increased as it had been, halted there
for some days more than a month, after which Fâ-hien and his four
friends started first in the suite of an envoy, having separated for a
time from Pâo-yun and his associates.
Le Hâo, the prefect of Tun-hwang, had supplied them with the means of
crossing the desert before them, in which there are many evil demons and
hot winds. Travellers who encounter them perish all to a man. There is
not a bird to be seen in the air above, nor an animal on the ground
below. Though you look all round most earnestly to find where you can
cross, you know not where to make your choice, the only mark and
indication being the dry bones of the dead left upon the sand.
[Footnote 1: Ch'ang-gan is still the name of the principal district (and
its city) in the department of Se-gan, Shen-se. It had been the capital
of the first empire of Han (B.C. 202 A.D. 24), as it subsequently was
that of Suy (A.D. 589-618).]
[Footnote 2: The period Hwang-che embraced from A.D. 399 to 414, being
the greater portion of the reign of Yâo Hing of the After Ts'in, a
powerful prince. He adopted Hwang-che for the style of his reign in 399,
and the cyclical name of that year was Kang-tsze. It is not possible at
this distance of time to explain, if it could be explained, how Fâ-hien
came to say that Ke-hâe was the second year of the period. It seems most
reasonable to suppose that he set out on his pilgrimage in A.D. 399, the
cycle name of which was Ke-hâe. In the "Memoirs of Eminent Monks" it is
said that our author started in the third year of the period Lung-gan of
the Eastern Ts'in, which was A.D. 399.]
[Footnote 3: Lung embraced the western part of Shen-se and the eastern
part of Kan-suh. The name remains in Lung Chow, in the extreme west of
Shen-se.]
[Footnote 4: K'een-kwei was the second king of "the Western Ts'in."
Fâ-hien would find him at his capital, somewhere in the present
department of Lan-chow, Kan-suh.]
[Footnote 5: Chang-yih is still the name of a district in Kan-chow
department, Kan-suh. It is a long way north and west from Lan-chow, and
not far from the Great Wall. Its king at this time was, probably,
Twan-yeh of "the northern Lëang."]
[Footnote 6: Dâna is the name for religious charity, the first of the
six pâramitâs, or means of attaining to nirvâna; and a dânapati is "one
who practises dâna and thereby crosses the sea of misery."]
[Footnote 7: This was the second summer since the pilgrims left
Ch'ang-gan. We are now, therefore, probably, in A.D. 400.]
[Footnote 8: T'un-hwang is still the name of one of the two districts
constituting the department of Gan-se, the most western of the
prefectures of Kan-suh; beyond the termination of the Great Wall.]