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diff --git a/33815-8.txt b/33815-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..798a6ae --- /dev/null +++ b/33815-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8486 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wisdom of Confucius, by Epiphanius Wilson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wisdom of Confucius + with Critical and Biographical Sketches + +Author: Epiphanius Wilson + +Release Date: September 27, 2010 [EBook #33815] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WISDOM OF CONFUCIUS *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE WISDOM + OF CONFUCIUS + + + + + The Wisdom + of Confucius + + with critical and biographical sketches by + EPIPHANIUS WILSON, A.M. + + _Art Type Edition_ + + _THE WORLD'S POPULAR CLASSICS_ + + Books, Inc. + NEW YORK + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1900 + BY THE COLONIAL PRESS + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE WISDOM OF CONFUCIUS + + PAGE + + Introduction 3 + + BOOK + I. On Learning--Miscellaneous Sayings 8 + II. Good Government--Filial Piety--The Superior Man 12 + III. Abuse of Proprieties in Ceremonial and Music 16 + IV. Social Virtue--Superior and Inferior Man 22 + V. A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous 25 + VI. More Characteristics--Wisdom--Philanthropy 31 + VII. Characteristics of Confucius--An Incident 36 + VIII. Sayings of Tsang--Sentences of the Master 42 + IX. His Favorite Disciple's Opinion of Him 46 + X. Confucius in Private and Official Life 51 + XI. Comparative Worth of His Disciples 56 + XII. The Master's Answers--Philanthropy--Friendships 62 + XIII. Answers on the Art of Governing--Consistency 68 + XIV. Good and Bad Government--Miscellaneous Sayings 75 + XV. Practical Wisdom--Reciprocity the Rule of Life 83 + XVI. Against Intestine Strife--Good and Bad Friendships 88 + XVII. The Master Induced to Take Office--Nature and Habit 93 + XVIII. Good Men in Seclusion--Duke of Chow to His Son 99 + XIX. Teachings of Various Chief Disciples 103 + XX. Extracts from the Book of History 108 + + + THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS + + Introduction 113 + + BOOK I. King Hwuy of Lëang. + Part I 115 + [_Books II, III, and IV are omitted_] + + BOOK V. Wan Chang. + Part I 128 + + + THE SHI-KING + + Introduction 143 + + _Part I. Lessons from the States._ + + BOOK I. THE ODES OF CHOW AND THE SOUTH. + Celebrating the Virtue of King Wan's Bride 145 + Celebrating the Industry of King Wan's Queen 146 + In Praise of a Bride 146 + Celebrating T[']ae-Sze's Freedom from Jealousy 147 + The Fruitfulness of the Locust 147 + Lamenting the Absence of a Cherished Friend 148 + Celebrating the Goodness of the Descendants of King Wan 149 + The Virtuous Manners of the Young Women 149 + Praise of a Rabbit-Catcher 150 + The Song of the Plantain-Gatherers 151 + The Affection of the Wives on the Joo 151 + + BOOK II. THE ODES OF SHAOU AND THE SOUTH. + The Marriage of a Princess 152 + The Industry and Reverence of a Prince's Wife 152 + The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails his Absence 153 + The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer 154 + The Love of the People for the Duke of Shaou 154 + The Easy Dignity of the Officers at Some Court 155 + Anxiety of a Young Lady to Get Married 155 + + BOOK III. THE ODES OF P[']EI. + An Officer Bewails the Neglect with which He is Treated 157 + A Wife Deplores the Absence of Her Husband 158 + The Plaint of a Rejected Wife 159 + Soldiers of Wei Bewail Separation from their Families 161 + An Officer Tells of His Mean Employment 161 + An Officer Sets Forth His Hard Lot 162 + The Complaint of a Neglected Wife 163 + In Praise of a Maiden 164 + Discontent 164 + Chwang Keang Bemoans Her Husband's Cruelty 165 + + [_Books IV, V, and VI are omitted_] + + BOOK VII. THE ODES OF CH[']ING. + The People's Admiration for Duke Woo 167 + A Wife Consoled by Her Husband's Arrival 168 + In Praise of Some Lady 168 + A Man's Praise of His Wife 169 + An Entreaty 169 + A Woman Scorning Her Lover 169 + A Lady Mourns the Absence of Her Student Lover 170 + + BOOK VIII. THE ODES OF TS[']E. + A Wife Urging Her Husband to Action 171 + The Folly of Useless Effort 172 + The Prince of Loo 172 + + BOOK IX. THE ODES OF WEI. + On the Misgovernment of the State 174 + The Mean Husband 175 + A Young Soldier on Service 175 + + BOOK X. THE ODES OF T[']ANG. + The King Goes to War 177 + Lament of a Bereaved Person 178 + The Drawbacks of Poverty 179 + A Wife Mourns for Her Husband 179 + + BOOK XI. THE ODES OF TS[']IN. + Celebrating the Opulence of the Lords of Ts[']in 181 + A Complaint 182 + A Wife's Grief Because of Her Husband's Absence 182 + Lament for Three Brothers 183 + In Praise of a Ruler of Ts[']in 184 + The Generous Nephew 185 + + BOOK XII. THE ODES OF CH[']IN. + The Contentment of a Poor Recluse 186 + The Disappointed Lover 186 + A Love-Song 187 + The Lament of a Lover 187 + + BOOK XIII. THE ODES OF KWEI. + The Wish of an Unhappy Man 189 + + BOOK XIV. THE ODES OF TS[']AOU. + Against Frivolous Pursuits 190 + + BOOK XV. THE ODES OF PIN. + The Duke of Chow Tells of His Soldiers 191 + There is a Proper Way for Doing Everything 192 + + _Part II. Minor Odes of the Kingdom._ + + BOOK I. DECADE OF LUH MING. + A Festal Ode 194 + A Festal Ode Complimenting an Officer 195 + The Value of Friendship 196 + The Response to a Festal Ode 198 + An Ode of Congratulation 199 + An Ode on the Return of the Troops 200 + + BOOK II. THE DECADE OF PIH HWA. + An Ode Appropriate to a Festivity 203 + + BOOK III. THE DECADE OF T[']UNG KUNG. + Celebrating a Hunting Expedition 204 + The King's Anxiety for His Morning Levee 205 + Moral Lessons from Natural Facts 206 + + BOOK IV. THE DECADE OF K[']E-FOO. + On the Completion of a Royal Palace 207 + The Condition of King Seuen's Flocks 208 + + BOOK V. THE DECADE OF SEAOU MIN. + A Eunuch Complains of His Fate 210 + An Officer Deplores the Misery of the Time 212 + On the Alienation of a Friend 213 + + BOOK VI. THE DECADE OF PIH SHAN. + A Picture of Husbandry 215 + The Complaint of an Officer 216 + + BOOK VII. DECADE OF SANG HOO. + The Rejoicings of a Bridegroom 219 + Against Listening to Slanderers 220 + BOOK VIII. THE DECADE OF TOO JIN SZE. + In Praise of By-gone Simplicity 221 + A Wife Bemoans Her Husband's Absence 222 + The Earl of Shaou's Work 223 + The Plaint of King Yew's Forsaken Wife 224 + Hospitality 226 + On the Misery of Soldiers 226 + + _Part III. Greater Odes of the Kingdom._ + + BOOK I. DECADE OF KING WAN. + Celebrating King Wan 228 + + [_Book II is omitted_] + + BOOK III. DECADE OF TANG. + King Seuen on the Occasion of a Great Drought 231 + + _Part IV. Odes of the Temple and Altar._ + + BOOK I. SACRIFICIAL ODES OF CHOW. + Appropriate to a Sacrifice to King Wan 235 + On Sacrificing to the Kings Woo, Ching, and K[']ang 236 + + + + + THE WISDOM + 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_. + + _úi_, as _ooi_ in _cooing_. + + _h_ at the end of a name makes the preceding vowel short. + + ['] 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. + + + + +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-hiá, 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 of 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 +T[']ai-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 times, 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[']au, 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 overawing 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 "certainly'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 ph[oe]nix 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 Hwúi,"[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-káu 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 rob 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 Pih-niu, 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'ertake 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; but give me +three years, and my work should be done." + +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 war 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 over much 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 Shing 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 market-place 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 +intelectual 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-mau 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 Sháu 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 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 ph[oe]nix! Ha, the ph[oe]nix! + 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 Liu-hiá, 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 Tah and Kwoh, the +next Tuh 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 _differentiæ_. 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[']au 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 MENCIUS + +[_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. + + + + +BOOK I + +_King Hwuy of Lëang_ + + +PART I + +Mencius went to see King Hwuy of Lëang.[35] 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 use 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[36] 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 rice 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." + +[Footnote 35: 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 36: 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.] + + + + +[_Books II, III, and IV are omitted_] + + + + +BOOK V + +_Wan Chang_[37] + + +PART I + +Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "When Shun went into the fields, he +cried out and wept towards the pitying heavens. Why did he cry out and +weep?" Mencius replied, "He was dissatisfied and full of earnest +desire." + +Wan Chang said, "When his parents love him, a son rejoices and forgets +them not; and when they hate him, though they punish him, he does not +allow himself to be dissatisfied. Was Shun then dissatisfied with his +parents?" Mencius said, "Ch[']ang Seih asked Kung-ming Kaou, saying, +'As to Shun's going into the fields, I have received your +instructions; but I do not understand about his weeping and crying out +to the pitying heavens, and to his parents.' Kung-ming Kaou answered +him, 'You do not understand that matter.' Now Kung-ming Kaou thought +that the heart of a filial son like Shun could not be so free from +sorrow as Seih seemed to imagine he might have been. Shun would be +saying, 'I exert my strength to cultivate the fields, but I am thereby +only discharging my duty as a son. What is there wrong in me that my +parents do not love me?' + +"The emperor caused his own children--nine sons and two daughters--the +various officers, oxen and sheep, store-houses and granaries, all to +be prepared for the service of Shun amid the channeled fields. Most of +the officers in the empire repaired to him. The emperor designed that +he should superintend the empire along with himself, and then to +transfer it to him. But because his parents were not in accord with +him, he felt like a poor man who has nowhere to turn to. + +"To be an object of complacency to the officers of the empire is what +men desire; but it was not sufficient to remove the sorrow of Shun. +The possession of beauty is what men desire: but though Shun had for +his wives the two daughters of the emperor, it was not sufficient to +remove his sorrow. Riches are what men desire, but though the empire +was the rich property of Shun, it was not enough to remove his sorrow. +Honors are what men desire, but though Shun had the dignity of being +the son of Heaven, it was not sufficient to remove his sorrow. The +reason why his being the object of men's complacency, the possession +of beauty, riches, and honors, could not remove his sorrow was because +it could be removed only by his being in entire accord with his parents. + +"The desire of a child is towards his father and mother. When he +becomes conscious of the attractions of beauty, his desire is towards +young and beautiful women. When he comes to have a wife and children, +his desire is towards them. When he obtains office, his desire is +towards his ruler; and if he cannot get the regard of his ruler, he +burns within. But the man of great filial piety, all his life, has his +desire towards his parents. In the great Shun I see the case of one +whose desire was towards them when he was fifty years old." + +Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "It is said in the 'Book of Poetry,' + + 'How do we proceed in taking a wife? + Announcement must first be made to our parents.' + +If the rule be indeed as thus expressed, no one ought to have +illustrated it so well as Shun--how was it that Shun's marriage took +place without his informing his parents?" Mencius replied, "If he had +informed them, he would not have been able to marry. That male and +female dwell together is the greatest of human relations. If Shun had +informed his parents, he must have made void this greatest of human +relations, and incurred thereby their resentment. It was on this +account that he did not inform them." + +Wan Chang said, "As to Shun's marrying without making announcement to +his parents, I have heard your instructions. But how was it that the +emperor gave him his daughters as wives without informing his +parents?" Mencius said, "The emperor also knew that, if he informed +his parents, he could not have given him his daughters as wives." + +Wan Chang said, "His parents set Shun to repair a granary, and then +removed the ladder by which he had ascended; after which Koo-sow set +fire to it. They sent him to dig a well, from which he managed to get +out; but they, not knowing this, proceeded to cover it up. His +brother, Sëang, said, 'Of this scheme to cover up the city-farming +gentleman the merit is all mine. Let my parents have his oxen and +sheep; let them have his granaries and store-houses. His shield and +spear shall be mine; his lute shall be mine; his carved bow shall be +mine; and I will make his two wives attend for me to my bed.' Sëang +then went away and entered Shun's house, and there was Shun upon a +couch with his lute. Sëang said, 'I am come simply because I was +thinking anxiously about you,' and at the same time he looked ashamed. +Shun said to him, 'There are all my officers; do you take the +management of them for me.' I do not know whether Shun was ignorant of +Sëang's wishing to kill him." Mencius replied, "How could he be +ignorant of it? But when Sëang was sorrowful, he was also sorrowful, +and when Sëang was joyful, he was also joyful." + +Wan Chang continued, "Then was Shun one who rejoiced hypocritically?" +"No," was the reply. "Formerly some one sent a present of a live fish +to Tsze-ch[']an of Ch[']ing. Tsze-ch[']an ordered his pond-keeper to +feed it in the pond; but the man cooked it and reported the execution +of his commission, saying, 'When I first let it go, it looked +embarrassed. In a little while it seemed to be somewhat at ease, and +then it swam away as if delighted.' 'It had got into its element!' +said Tsze-ch[']an. The pond-keeper went out and said, 'Who calls +Tsze-ch[']an wise? When I had cooked and eaten the fish, he said, "It +has got into its element! It has got into its element!"' "Thus a +superior man may be imposed on by what seems to be as it ought to be, +but it is difficult to entrap him by what is contrary to right +principle. Sëang came in the way in which the love of his elder +brother would have made him come, and therefore Shun truly believed +him, and rejoiced at it. What hypocrisy was there?" + +Wan Chang said, "Sëang made it his daily business to kill Shun; why +was it that, when the latter was raised to be the son of Heaven, he +only banished him?" Mencius replied, "He invested him with a State, +and some have said that it was banishing him." When Chang said, "Shun +banished the Superintendent of Works to Yëw-chow, sent away Hwan-tow +to Mount Ts[']ung, slew the Prince of San Mëaou in San-wei, and +imprisoned K[']wan on Mount Yu. When those four criminals were thus +dealt with, all under heaven submitted to him; it was a cutting off of +men who were destitute of benevolence. But Sëang was of all men the +most destitute of benevolence, and Shun invested him with the State of +Pe; of what crime had the people of Pe been guilty? Does a benevolent +man really act thus? In the case of other men, he cut them off; in the +case of his brother, he invested him with a State." Mencius replied, +"A benevolent man does not lay up anger, nor cherish resentment +against his brother, but only regards him with affection and love. +Regarding him with affection, he wishes him to enjoy honor; loving +him, he wishes him to be rich. The investing him with Pe was to enrich +and ennoble him. If while Shun himself was emperor, his brother had +been a common man, could he have been said to regard him with +affection and love?" + +Wan Chang said, "I venture to ask what is meant by some saying that it +was a banishing of Sëang." Mencius replied, "Sëang could do nothing of +himself in his State. The emperor appointed an officer to manage its +government, and to pay over its revenues to him; and therefore it was +said that it was a banishing of him? How indeed could he be allowed +the means of oppressing the people there? Nevertheless, Shun wished to +be continually seeing him, and therefore he came unceasingly to court, +as is signified in that expression, 'He did not wait for the rendering +of tribute, or affairs of government, to receive the prince of Pe.'" + +Hëen-k[']ëw Mung asked Mencius, saying, "There is the old saying, 'An +officer of complete virtue cannot be employed as a minister by his +ruler, nor treated as a son by his father.' Shun stood with his face +to the south, and Yaou, at the head of all the feudal princes, +appeared in his court with his face to the north. Koo-sow also +appeared at Shun's court with his face to the north; and when Shun saw +him, his countenance assumed a look of distress. Confucius said, 'At +this time the empire was in a perilous condition indeed! How unsettled +was its state!' I do not know whether what is thus said really took +place." Mencius said, "No. These are not the words of a superior man, +but the sayings of an uncultivated person of the east of Ts[']e. When +Yaou was old, Shun took the management of affairs for him. It is said +in the Canon of Yaou, 'After twenty-eight years, Fang-heun demised, +and the people mourned for him as for a parent three years. All within +the four seas, the eight instruments of music were stopped and +hushed." Confucius said, "'There are not two suns in the sky, nor two +sovereigns over the people. If Shun had already been in the position +of the son of Heaven, and had moreover led on all the feudal princes +of the empire to observe the three years' mourning for Yaou, there +must in that case have been two sons of Heaven.'" + +Hëen-k[']ëw Mung said, "On the point of Shun's not employing Yaou as a +minister, I have received your instructions. But it is said in the +'Book of Poetry,' + + 'Under the wide heaven, + All is the king's land; + Within the sea-boundaries of the land, + All are the king's servants.' + +When Shun became emperor, I venture to ask how it was that Koo-sow was +not one of his servants." Mencius replied, "That Ode is not to be +understood in that way; it speaks of being laboriously engaged in the +king's business, and not being able to nourish one's parents, as if +the subject of it said, 'This is all the king's business, but I alone +am supposed to have ability, and made to toil in it.' Therefore those +who explain the Odes must not insist on one term so as to do violence +to a sentence, nor on a sentence so as to do violence to the general +scope. They must try with their thoughts to meet that scope, and then +they will apprehend it. If we simply take single sentences, there is +that in the Ode called the 'Yun Han,' + + 'Of the remnant of Chow, among the black-haired people, + There will not be half a man left.' + +If it had really been as thus expressed, then not an individual of the +people of Chow would have been left. + +"Of all that a filial son can attain to, there is nothing greater +than his honoring his parents. Of what can be attained to in honoring +one's parents, there is nothing greater than the nourishing them with +the empire. To be the father of the son of Heaven is the height of +honor. To be nourished with the empire is the height of nourishment. +In this was verified the sentiment in the 'Book of Poetry,' + + 'Ever thinking how to be filial, + His filial mind was the model which he supplied.' + +"In the 'Book of History' it is said, 'With respectful service he +appeared before Koo-sow, looking grave and awestruck, till Koo-sow +also was transformed by his example.' This is the true case of the +scholar of complete virtue not being treated as a son by his father." + +Wan Chang said, "It is said that Yaou gave the empire to Shun; was it +so?" Mencius replied, "No; the emperor cannot give the empire to +another." "Yes; but Shun possessed the empire. Who gave it to him?" +"Heaven gave it to him," was the reply. + +"Heaven gave it to him? Did Heaven confer the appointment on him with +specific injunctions?" Mencius said, "No. Heaven does not speak. It +simply showed its will by his personal conduct, and by his conduct of +affairs." + +"'It showed its will by his personal conduct, and by his conduct of +affairs,'" returned the other; "how was this?" Mencius said, "The +emperor can present a man to Heaven, but he cannot make Heaven give +that man the empire. A feudal prince can present a man to the emperor +to take his place, but he cannot make the emperor give the princedom +to that man. A great officer can present a man to his prince, but he +cannot cause the prince to make that man a great officer in his own +room. Anciently Yaou presented Shun to Heaven, and Heaven accepted +him; he displayed him to the people, and the people accepted him. +Therefore I say, 'Heaven does not speak. It simply indicated its will +by his personal conduct, and by his conduct of affairs.'" + +Chang said, "I presume to ask how it was that Yaou presented Shun to +Heaven, and Heaven accepted him, and displayed him to the people, and +the people accepted him." The reply was, "He caused him to preside +over the sacrifices, and all the Spirits were well pleased with them; +thus it was that Heaven accepted him. He caused him to preside over +the conduct of affairs, and affairs were well administered, so that +all the people reposed under him; thus it was that the people accepted +him. Heaven gave the empire to him, and the people gave it to him. +Therefore I said, 'The emperor cannot give the empire to another.' + +"Shun assisted Yaou in the government for twenty and eight years; this +was more than man could have done, and was from Heaven. When the three +years' mourning consequent on the death of Yaou were accomplished, +Shun withdrew from the son of Yaou to the south of the southern Ho. +The princes of the empire, however, repairing to court, went not to +the son of Yaou, but to Shun. Litigants went not to the son of Yaou, +but to Shun. Singers sang not the son of Yaou, but Shun. Therefore I +said that it was Heaven that gave him the empire. It was after this +that he went to the Middle State, and occupied the seat of the son of +Heaven. If he had before these things taken up his residence in the +palace of Yaou, and applied pressure to his son, it would have been an +act of usurpation, and not the gift of Heaven. + +"This view of Shun's obtaining the empire is in accordance with what +is said in The Great Declaration--'Heaven sees as my people see, +Heaven hears as my people hear.'" + +Wan Chang said, "People say, 'When the disposal of the empire came to +Yu, his virtue was inferior to that of Yaou and Shun, and he did not +transmit it to the worthiest, but to his son.' Was it so?" Mencius +replied, "No; it was not so. When Heaven gave the empire to the +worthiest, it was given to the worthiest; when Heaven gave it to the +son of the preceding emperor, it was given to that son. Formerly Shun +presented Yu to Heaven for a period of seventeen years; and when the +three years' mourning, consequent on the death of Shun, were +accomplished, Yu withdrew from the son of Yu to Yang-shing. The people +of the empire followed him as, after the death of Yaou, they had not +followed his son, but followed Shun. Yu presented Yih to Heaven for a +period of seven years; and when the three years' mourning consequent +on the death of Yu were accomplished, Yih withdrew from the son of Yu +to the north of Mount Ke. The princes repairing to court, and +litigants, went not to Yih, but to K[']e, saying, 'He is the son of +our ruler.' Singers did not sing Yih, but they sang K[']e, saying, 'He +is the son of our ruler.' + +"That Tan-choo was not equal to his father, and Shun's son also not +equal to his; that Shun assisted Yaou, and Yu assisted Shun, for a +period of many years, conferring benefits on the people for a long +time; that K[']e was virtuous and able, and could reverently enter +into and continue the ways of Yu; that Yih assisted Yu for a period of +a few years, conferring benefits on the people not for a long time; +that the length of time that Shun, Yu, and Yih, assisted in the +government was so different; and that the sons of the emperors were +one a man of talents and virtue, and the other two inferior to their +fathers:--all these things were from Heaven, and what could not be +produced by man. That which is done without any one's seeming to do it +is from Heaven. That which comes to pass without any one's seeming to +bring it about is from Heaven. + +"In the case of a private man's obtaining the empire, there must be in +him virtue equal to that of Shun and Yu, and moreover there must be +the presenting him to Heaven by the preceding emperor. It was on this +latter account that Chung-ne did not obtain the kingdom. + +"When the throne descends by natural succession, he who is displaced +by Heaven must be like Këeh or Chow. It was on this account that Yih, +E Yin, and the duke of Chow did not obtain the kingdom. + +"E Yin assisted T[']ang so that he became sovereign of the kingdom. +After the demise of T[']ang, T[']ae-ting having died without being +appointed in his place, Wae-ping reigned two years, and Chung-jin +four. T[']ae-Këah then was turning upside down the canons and examples +of T[']ang, and E Yin placed him in T[']ung for three years. There he +repented of his errors, was contrite, and reformed himself. In T[']ung +he came to dwell in benevolence and moved towards righteousness, +during those three years listening to the lessons given to him by E +Yin, after which that minister again returned with him to Poh. + +"The duke of Chow's not getting the kingdom was like that of Yih's not +getting the throne of Hëa, or E Yin's that of Yin. + +"Confucius said, 'T[']ang and Yu resigned the throne to the worthiest; +the founders of the Hëa, Yin, and Chow dynasties transmitted it to +their sons. The principle of righteousness was the same in all the +cases.'" + +Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "People say that E Yin sought an +introduction to T[']ang by his knowledge of cookery; was it so?" Mencius +replied, "No, it was not so. E Yin was farming in the lands of the State +of Sin, delighting in the principles of Yaou and Shun. In any matter +contrary to the righteousness which they prescribed, or to the course +which they enjoined, though he had been salaried with the empire, he +would not have regarded it; though there had been yoked for him a +thousand teams, he would not have looked at them. In any matter contrary +to the righteousness which they prescribed, or to the course which they +enjoined, he would not have given nor taken even a single straw. + +"T[']ang sent persons with presents of silk to ask him to enter his +service. With an air of indifference and self-satisfaction, he said, +'What can I do with these silks with which T[']ang invites me? Is it +not best for me to abide in these channeled fields, and therein +delight myself with the principles of Yaou and Shun?' + +"T[']ang thrice sent persons thus to invite him. After this, with the +change of purpose displayed in his countenance, he spoke in a +different style, saying, 'Instead of abiding in the channeled fields, +and therein delighting myself with the principles of Yaou and Shun, +had I not better make this ruler one after the style of Yaou and Shun? +had I not better make this people like the people of Yaou and Shun? +had I not better in my own person see these things for myself? +Heaven's plan in the production of this people is this:--That they who +are first informed, should instruct those who are later in being +informed, and those who first apprehend principles should instruct +those who are slower to do so. I am the one of Heaven's people who +have first apprehended; I will take these principles and instruct this +people in them. If I do not instruct them, who will do so?' + +"He thought that among all the people of the kingdom, even the private +men and women, if there were any that did not enjoy such benefits as +Yaou and Shun conferred, it was as if he himself pushed them into a +ditch. He took upon himself the heavy charge of all under Heaven in +this way, and therefore he went to T[']ang, and pressed upon him the +duty of attacking Hëa, and saving the people. + +"I have not heard of one who bent himself and at the same time made +others straight; how much less could one disgrace himself, and thereby +rectify the whole kingdom? The actions of the sages have been +different. Some have kept far away from office, and others have drawn +near to it; some have left their offices, and others have not done so; +that in which these different courses all meet, is simply the keeping +of their persons pure. + +"I have heard that E Yin sought an introduction to T[']ang by the +principles of Yaou and Shun; I have not heard he did so by his +knowledge of cookery. + +"In the 'Instructions of E,' it is said, 'Heaven, destroying Këeh, +commenced attacking him in the palace of Muh; we commenced in Poh.'" + +Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "Some say that Confucius in Wei lived +with an ulcer-doctor, and in Ts[']e with Tseih Hwan, the chief of the +eunuchs; was it so?" Mencius said, "No, it was not so. Those are the +inventions of men fond of strange things. + +"In Wei he lived in the house of Yen Ch[']ow-yëw. The wife of the +officer Mei and the wife of Tsze-lu were sisters. Mei-tsze spoke to +Tsze-lu, saying, 'If Confucius will lodge with me, he may get to be a +high noble of Wei.' Tsze-lu reported this to Confucius, who said, +'That is as ordered by Heaven.' Confucius advanced according to +propriety, and retired according to righteousness. In regard to his +obtaining office and honor or not obtaining them, he said, 'That is as +ordered.' But if he had lodged with an ulcer-doctor and with Tseih +Hwan, the chief of the eunuchs, that would neither have been according +to righteousness nor any ordering of Heaven. + +"When Confucius, being dissatisfied in Lu and Wei, had left those +States, he met with the attempt of Hwan, the master of the Horse, in +Sung, to intercept and kill him, so that he had to pass through Sung +in the dress of a private man. At that time, though he was in +circumstances of distress, he lodged in the house of Ching-tsze, the +minister of works, who was then a minister of Chow, the marquis of +Ch[']in. + +"I have heard that ministers in the service of a court may be known +from those to whom they are hosts, and that ministers coming from a +distance may be known from those with whom they lodge. If Confucius +had lodged with an ulcer-doctor and with Tseih Hwan, the chief of the +eunuchs, how could he have been Confucius?" + +Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "Some say that Pih-le He sold himself +to a cattle-keeper of Ts[']in for five sheepskins, and fed his cattle +for him, to seek an introduction to Duke Muh of Ts[']in; is this +true?" Mencius said, "No, it was not so. This is the invention of some +one fond of strange things. + +"Pih-le He was a man of Yu. The people of Ts[']in by the inducement of +a _peih_ of Ch[']uy-Keih and a team of Këuh-ch[']an horses were asking +liberty to march through Yu to attack Kwoh. Kung Che-k[']e +remonstrated with the duke of Yu, asking him not to grant their +request, but Pih-le He did not remonstrate. + +"When he knew that the duke of Yu was not to be remonstrated with, and +went in consequence from that State to Ts[']in, he had reached the age +of seventy. If by that time he did not know that it would be a +disgraceful thing to seek for an introduction to Duke Muh of Ts[']in +by feeding cattle, could he be called wise? But not remonstrating +where it was of no use to remonstrate, could he be said not to be +wise? Knowing that the duke of Yu would be ruined, and leaving his +State before that event, he could not be said to be not wise. As soon +as he was advanced in Ts[']in, he knew that Duke Muh was one with whom +he could have a field for action, and became chief minister to him; +could he be said to be not wise? Acting as chief minister in Ts[']in, +he made his ruler distinguished throughout the kingdom, and worthy to +be handed down to future ages; if he had not been a man of talents and +virtue, could he have done this? As to selling himself in order to +bring about the destruction of his ruler, even a villager who had a +regard for himself, would not do such a thing; and shall we say that a +man of talents and virtue did it?" + +[Footnote 37: The Book is named from Wan Chang, who is almost the only +interlocutor with Mencius in it. The tradition is that it was in +company with Wan's disciples that Mencius, baffled in all his hopes of +doing public service, and having retired into privacy, composed the +Seven Books which constitute his works. The part which follows is all +occupied with discussions in vindication of Shun and other ancient +worthies.] + + + + +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. + + + + +_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. + + + + +[_Selections from Books IV, V, and VI have been omitted._] + + + + +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 Këang 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. + + + + +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 T[']ang_ + + +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. + Oh 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. + Pendant 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 try. + + + + +BOOK XIII + +_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 OF 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 T[']ung Kung_ + + +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. + Here 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, + I'd 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. + + + + +[_Selections from Book II are 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?" + + + + +_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 END + + + + +Transcriber's Note + + +* The footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective chapters. + +* Hyphenation of words left as printed. + +* Punctuation errors have been corrected. + +* ['] denotes an aspirate (h) (Ki K[']ang or Ki Khung) + +* Pg x Corrected spelling of word "Cnodition" to "Condition" located in +"The Cnodition of King ..." + +* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of words "i nthe" to "in the" located in +"... appropriated i nthe ancestral ..." + +* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "Thre" to "Three" located in +"... Hall of the Thre Families?" + +* Pg 48 Corrected spelling of word "one" to "once" located in "Tsz-kung +one said to ..." + +* Pg 194 Corrected spelling of word "FESTEL" to "FESTAL" located in "A +FESTAL ODE" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wisdom of Confucius, by Epiphanius Wilson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WISDOM OF CONFUCIUS *** + +***** This file should be named 33815-8.txt or 33815-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/8/1/33815/ + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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