CHAP. I. The Master said, 'T'ai-po may be said to have
reached the highest point of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the
kingdom, and the people in ignorance of his motives could not
express their approbation of his conduct.'
CHAP. II. 1. The Master said, 'Respectfulness, without the
rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without
the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules
of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness,
without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
2. 'When those who are in high stations perform well all their
duties to their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. When old
friends are not neglected by them, the people are preserved from
meanness.'
CHAP. III. The philosopher Tsang being ill, he called to him
the disciples of his school, and said, 'Uncover my feet, uncover my
hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "We should be apprehensive
and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin
ice," and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape
from all injury to my person, O ye, my little children.'
CHAP. IV. 1. The philosopher Tsang being ill, Meng Chang
went to ask how he was.
2. Tsang said to him, 'When a bird is about to die, its notes are
mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good.
3. 'There are three principles of conduct which the man of
high rank should consider specially important:-- that in his
deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedlessness;
that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sincerity; and
that in his words and tones he keep far from lowness and
impropriety. As to such matters as attending to the sacrificial
vessels, there are the proper officers for them.'
CHAP. V. The philosopher Tsang said, 'Gifted with ability, and
yet putting questions to those who were not so; possessed of much,
and yet putting questions to those possessed of little; having, as
though he had not; full, and yet counting himself as empty;
offended against, and yet entering into no altercation; formerly I
had a friend who pursued this style of conduct.'
CHAP. VI. The philosopher Tsang said, 'Suppose that there is
an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young
orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a state
of a hundred li, and whom no emergency however great can drive
from his principles:-- is such a man a superior man? He is a
superior man indeed.'
CHAP. VII. 1. The philosopher Tsang said, 'The officer may not
be without breadth of mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is
heavy and his course is long.
2. 'Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to
sustain;-- is it not heavy? Only with death does his course stop;-- is
it not long?
CHAP. VIII. 1. The Master said, 'It is by the Odes that the
mind is aroused.
2. 'It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is
established.
3. 'It is from Music that the finish is received.'
CHAP. IX. The Master said, 'The people may be made to follow
a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.'
CHAP. X. The Master said, 'The man who is fond of daring and
is dissatisfied with poverty, will proceed to insubordination. So will
the man who is not virtuous, when you carry your dislike of him to
an extreme.'
CHAP. XI. The Master said, 'Though a man have abilities as
admirable as those of the Duke of Chau, yet if he be proud and
niggardly, those other things are really not worth being looked at.'
CHAP. XII. The Master said, 'It is not easy to find a man who
has learned for three years without coming to be good.'
CHAP. XIII. 1. The Master said, 'With sincere faith he unites
the love of learning; holding firm to death, he is perfecting the
excellence of his course.
2. 'Such an one will not enter a tottering State, nor dwell in a
disorganized one. When right principles of government prevail in
the kingdom, he will show himself; when they are prostrated, he
will keep concealed.
3. 'When a country is well-governed, poverty and a mean
condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill-
governed, riches and honour are things to be ashamed of.'
CHAP. XIV. The Master said, 'He who is not in any particular
office, has nothing to do with plans for the administration of its
duties.'
CHAP. XV. The Master said, 'When the music master Chih first
entered on his office, the finish of the Kwan Tsu was magnificent;--
how it filled the ears!'
CHAP. XVI. The Master said, 'Ardent and yet not upright;
stupid and yet not attentive; simple and yet not sincere:-- such
persons I do not understand.'
CHAP. XVII. The Master said, 'Learn as if you could not reach
your object, and were always fearing also lest you should lose it.'
CHAP. XVIII. The Master said, 'How majestic was the manner
in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were
nothing to them!'
CHAP. XIX. 1. The Master said, 'Great indeed was Yao as a
sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand,
and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The
people could find no name for it.
2. 'How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished!
How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!'
CHAP. XX. 1. Shun had five ministers, and the empire was
well-governed.
2. King Wu said, 'I have ten able ministers.'
3. Confucius said, 'Is not the saying that talents are difficult to
find, true? Only when the dynasties of T'ang and Yu met, were they
more abundant than in this of Chau, yet there was a woman among
them. The able ministers were no more than nine men.
4. 'King Wan possessed two of the three parts of the empire,
and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of the
house of Chau may be said to have reached the highest point
indeed.'
CHAP. XXI. The Master said, 'I can find no flaw in the
character of Yu. He used himself coarse food and drink, but
displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary
garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his
sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low mean house, but
expended all his strength on the ditches and water-channels. I can
find nothing like a flaw in Yu.'