Part 8
[7] _Li_ here is obviously the name of a book, and not "the rules of propriety" or even "the arts," as Legge and Mr. Ku Hung-ming respectively take it. At the same time, we must be careful not to identify it with the now existing _Li Chi_ or Book of Rites, which did not take shape until a much later period.
[8] Because etiquette would require an acknowledgment of the gift at the donor's house.
[9] This episode is probably to be referred to the year 502 B.C., when Yang Huo, the nominal subordinate of Chi Huan Tzu (himself of usurping tendencies, see Introduction, p. 15), was in open rebellion and seemed likely to become master of the whole state of Lu. He was anxious to enlist the prestige of a man like Confucius on his side, but the latter steadily refused to countenance his schemes. In the following year, Yang Huo was ejected from the state, and gratitude impelled the Duke to offer a governorship to Confucius.
[10] Apparently a Taoist, who pinned his faith to Lao Tzŭ's newly enunciated doctrine of inaction.
[11] Also Taoist recluses.
[12] This is said to be a sneer at the restlessness which kept Confucius wandering all over the country, so that no place could be unfamiliar to him.
[13] The idea is, "Every man to his own trade. Why should I not then busy myself with government--the subject to which I have devoted my life?" I do not agree with Legge that the compiler of this chapter could not have been a disciple of the sage. Confucius successfully refutes the _laisser-faire_ argument of the hermit, who would dissuade him from reform on the strange and unsatisfactory ground that the world's affairs were in a thoroughly bad state. To any one but a Taoist it would be evident that this was the very time for reform.
[14] A leading member of one of the three great families in the Lu State.
[15] A high official.
SAYINGS OF THE DISCIPLES
Yu Tzŭ said: It is seldom that good sons and brothers are given to insubordinate conduct. That those who dislike insubordinate conduct should be ready to foment sedition, is something absolutely unknown. The wise man attends to the root; for if this be properly set, virtue will spring from it. And what is the root of all goodness but filial piety and fraternal love?
Tsêng Tzŭ said: There are three points on which I daily examine myself:--Have I been conscientious in working for others? Have I been truthful in my intercourse with my friends? Have I practised what I preach?
Tzŭ Hsia said: The man who can appreciate moral worth and disengage his mind from sensual passion; who can put forth his utmost strength to serve his parents, and lay down his life to serve his prince; who speaks sincerely in his intercourse with friends:--such a man, though the world may call him untaught, has in my opinion received the best and highest education.
Tzŭ Kung said: What do you say of the poor man who refuses to flatter, and of the rich man who is free from pride?--They are well enough, replied the Master; but better still is the poor man who is cheerful, and the rich man who cherishes the inner principle of harmony and self-control.--Tzŭ Kung said: One must "cut and then carve, chisel and then polish," as the Odes have it. Does not this passage illustrate what you say?--The Master exclaimed: Here is somebody at last with whom I can really discuss the Odes. Refer him to any old verse, and he will see its application.[1]
Tzŭ Hsia asked, saying: What is the meaning of the passage:
"What dimples in her witching smile! What lovely eyes, clear white and black! Simplicity sets off her ornaments"?
The Master replied: You must have a plain background before you can lay on the colours.--Rules of ceremony then require a background?--Ah! exclaimed the Master, Shang always seizes my drift. Here at any rate is some one with whom I can discuss the Odes.[2]
Tzŭ Yu said: Too much fault-finding with princes entails disgrace; with friends, it brings estrangement.
The Master wanted to employ Ch'i-tiao K'ai in the business of government, but the latter said: No, I cannot yet sufficiently trust myself.--The Master was pleased with the reply.
Once when Yen Yüan and Chi Lu were standing by, the Master said: Come, tell me, each of you, the wish of your hearts.--Tzŭ Lu said: I should like to have carriages and horses and fine fur garments, and share them with my friends; nor would I mind if they were worn out in this way.-- Yen Yüan said: My wish is to make no parade of goodness and no display of toilsome service rendered.[3]--Tzŭ Lu then said: I should like, Sir, to hear your own wishes. The Master said: To comfort the aged, to win the confidence of my friends, to love and cherish the young.
The Master said: Yung might well be made a prince.[4] Chung Kung asked a question about Tzŭ-sang Po-tzŭ. The Master replied: He is a good man on the whole, though easy-going.--Chung Kung rejoined: Is it not excusable for a man who is strict in his own habits to be easy-going in dealing with the people under him? But if he becomes easy-going in his own habits as well as in his practice abroad, this is surely too much of a good thing.--The Master said: Yung's words are true.
Jan Yu asked: Is our Master for or against the Prince of Wei?[5]--Oh, said Tzŭ Kung, I will ask him that.--He went in and said: What sort of men were Po I and Shu Ch'i?[6]--They were two ancient worthies, was the reply.--Did they ever repine? he asked.--They made perfect virtue their aim, and they attained it. Why then should they repine?--Tzŭ Kung went out again and said: Our Master is not for the Prince.
Tsêng Tzŭ said: Ability asking instruction of incompetence, abundance sitting at the feet of insufficiency, a man of every virtue who thought he had none, solid in character yet making himself out a cypher, trespassed against but never retaliating--such was the humble state of mind in which my late friend[7] spent his life.
Tsêng Tzŭ said: If a man can safely be entrusted with the care of a young orphan prince, or with the government of a large province, and if the approach of a great emergency cannot shake his resolution, is he not a man of the princely type? Of the princely type he is indeed!
The authorities of Lu were proposing to reconstruct the Long Treasury. Min Tzŭ-ch‘ien said: Why not restore it, rather, in the ancient style? Why is it necessary to renovate it altogether?--The Master said: This man is no talker, but when he does speak, he speaks to the purpose.
Ssŭ-ma Niu lamenting said: All other men have brothers; I alone have none.--Tzŭ Hsia said to him: I have heard it said that life and death are divine dispensations, that wealth and rank depend on the will of God. The higher type of man is unfailingly attentive to his own conduct, and shows respect and true courtesy to others. Thus all within the four seas[8] are his brethren. How then should he grieve at having no brothers?
Chi Tzŭ-ch‘êng[9] said: The higher type of man is possessed of solid qualities, and that is all. What has he to do with the ornamental?--Tzŭ Kung replied: I am sorry, Sir, to hear you say such a thing about the higher type of man; for a four-horse chariot cannot overtake the spoken word.[10] The value of the ornament and the value of the substance are closely connected. Stripped of hair, the hide of a tiger or a leopard is very like the hide of a dog or a sheep.
Duke Ai asked Yu Jo, saying: It has been a year of famine. My exchequer is Low. What am I to do?--Yu Jo replied: Why not collect tithes?--Why, said the Duke, with a tax of two-tenths I still have not enough. How am I to make one-tenth do?--If the people have plenty, was the reply, how can the Prince alone be in want? But if the people are in want, how can the Prince alone have plenty?[11]
Tsêng Tzŭ said of the higher type of man that his culture tended to bring him into communion with friends, and his friendships tended to heighten his altruism.
The disciples of Tzŭ Hsia asked Tzŭ Chang about the principles which should govern friendship. Tzŭ Chang said: What is Tzŭ Hsia's opinion?--They replied: Tzŭ Hsia says, Associate with those who come up to your standard; reject all those who do not.--This, said Tzŭ Chang, is different from what I have been taught. The nobler sort of man honours the virtuous and wise, but he admits to his society all men without distinction. He admires the good, but he also pities the weaker brethren. Am I a man of great wisdom and goodness?--then who is there among my fellow-men that I will not bear with? Or am I neither wise nor good?--then other men will reject me. How can one justify this rejection of others?[12]
Tzŭ Hsia said: The inferior type of man always tries to gloss over his faults.
Tzŭ Hsia said: The wise man will gain the confidence of the people before laying burdens upon them; otherwise, they will consider it oppression. He will gain the confidence of his sovereign before censuring his actions; otherwise, the latter will consider it mere libel and abuse.
Tzŭ Hsia said: He who does not transgress the larger principles of virtuous conduct may be excused for disregarding the boundary line in matters of smaller import.
Tzŭ Yu said: The followers and disciples of Tzŭ Hsia are trained well enough in sprinkling and sweeping the floor, in responding and answering questions, in entering and leaving a room. But these are mere accessories. Of fundamentals they are totally ignorant. How can this be considered enough?--Tzŭ Hsia, hearing of these remarks, said: Ah! Yen Yu is mistaken. It is not the way of the wise teacher to distinguish between subjects of first-class importance, which must be taught, and subjects of secondary importance, which may be neglected. He cultivates minds just as he would cultivate plants, each species requiring separate treatment. It cannot be the wise man's way to produce confusion and error. He only is inspired who teaches methodically, having a beginning and an end.
Tzŭ Hsia said: Let the official who has time to spare devote it to study; let the student who has time to spare devote it to public affairs.
Tzŭ Yu said: The rites of mourning should not extend beyond the expression of heartfelt grief.
The chief of the Mêng family having appointed Yang Fu to be Criminal Judge, the latter went to Tsêng Tzŭ for advice. Tsêng Tzŭ said: Our rulers have lost their way, and the people have long been scattered and distracted. When you discover the facts of a crime, be not moved with joy but rather with pity and grief.
Tzŭ Kung said: The mistakes of a great and good man are like eclipses of the sun and moon: his failing is seen by all, and when he repairs it, all look up to him with awe.
[1] Tzŭ Kung, who had passed from poverty to affluence, wished to draw attention to his own freedom from the vices characteristic of each state, but his Master recommends the pursuit of virtue in a more positive form. The quotation from the Odes merely enforces the necessity of unceasing labour in the matter of self-improvement. Confucius was always delighted with an apt illustration from his favourite book.
[2] The Chinese of the above is as usual extremely concise. For several turns of phrase I am indebted to Mr. Jennings's translation.
[3] Literally, "display toil." The meaning seems to be that of the Tacitean phrase "exprobrare beneficia."
[4] Literally, "one who faces south"--the customary position for royalty enthroned.
[5] The reigning duke, who had succeeded his grandfather and was now opposing his father's attempts to return from exile and secure the throne. See p. 43.
[6] See note on p. 74.
[7] The disciple Yen Hui.
[8] Believed to constitute the boundaries of the habitable earth, like Homer's Ocean-river. Hence the phrase is used as a synonym for the Chinese Empire.
[9] A minister in the Wei State.
[10] A proverb.
[11] A rebuke to the Prince for his greed in a time of distress.
[12] Each pedagogue has seized only one side of the truth. We need not reject any of our fellow-men, and yet show discrimination in the choice of our associates. See the first saying on p. 53, where Confucius, clearer-headed than his disciples, puts the matter in a nutshell.