12 yen yuan asked about perfect virtue. the master said, "to subdue one's selfand return to propriety, is perfect virtue. if a man can for one day subduehimself and return to propriety, an under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue tohim. is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it fromothers?" yen yuan said, "i beg to ask the steps of that process." the master replied,"look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary topropriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which iscontrary to propriety." yen yuan then said, "though i am deficient inintelligence and vigor, i will make it my business to practice this lesson." chung-kung asked about perfect virtue. the master said, "it is, when you goabroad, to behave to every one as if you were receiving a great guest; to employthe people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others asyou would not wish done to yourself; to have no murmuring against you in thecountry, and none in the family." chung-kung said, "though i am deficient inintelligence and vigor, i will make it my business to practice this lesson." sze-ma niu asked about perfect virtue. the master said, "the man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in hisspeech." "cautious and slow in his speech!" said niu;-"is this what is meant byperfect virtue?" the master said, "when a man feels the difficulty of doing, canhe be other than cautious and slow in speaking?" sze-ma niu asked about the superior man. the master said, "the superior manhas neither anxiety nor fear." "being without anxiety or fear!" said nui;"does this constitute what we callthe superior man?" the master said, "when internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what isthere to be anxious about, what is there to fear?" sze-ma niu, full of anxiety, said, "other men all have their brothers, ionly have not." tsze-hsia said to him, "there is the following saying which i have heard-'death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honors depend uponheaven.' "let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, andlet him be respectful to others and observant of propriety:-then all within thefour seas will be his brothers. what has the superior man to do with beingdistressed because he has no brothers?" tsze-chang asked what constituted intelligence. the master said, "he withwhom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements thatstartle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligentindeed. yea, he with whom neither soaking slander, nor startling statements, aresuccessful, may be called farseeing." tsze-kung asked about government. the master said, "the requisites ofgovernment are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of militaryequipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler." tsze-kung said, "if it cannot be helped, and one of these must be dispensedwith, which of the three should be foregone first?" "the military equipment,"said the master. tsze-kung again asked, "if it cannot be helped, and one of the remaining twomust be dispensed with, which of them should be foregone?" the master answered,"part with the food. from of old, death has been the lot of an men; but if thepeople have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state." chi tsze-ch'ang said, "in a superior man it is only the substantialqualities which are wanted;-why should we seek for ornamental accomplishments?" tsze-kung said, "alas! your words, sir, show you to be a superior man, butfour horses cannot overtake the tongue. ornament is as substance; substance isas ornament. the hide of a tiger or a leopard stripped of its hair, is like thehide of a dog or a goat stripped of its hair." the duke ai inquired of yu zo, saying, "the year is one of scarcity, and thereturns for expenditure are not sufficient;-what is to be done?" yu zo replied to him, "why not simply tithe the people?" "with two tenths, said the duke, "i find it not enough;-how could i do withthat system of one tenth?" yu zo answered, "if the people have plenty, their prince will not be left towant alone. if the people are in want, their prince cannot enjoy plenty alone." tsze-chang having asked how virtue was to be exalted, and delusions to bediscovered, the master said, "hold faithfulness and sincerity as firstprinciples, and be moving continually to what is right,-this is the way to exaltone's virtue. "you love a man and wish him to live; you hate him and wish him to die.having wished him to live, you also wish him to die. this is a case of delusion.'it may not be on account of her being rich, yet you come to make adifference.'" the duke ching, of ch'i, asked confucius about government. confucius replied,"there is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister;when the father is father, and the son is son." "good!" said the duke; "if, indeed, the prince be not prince, the notminister, the father not father, and the son not son, although i have my revenue,can i enjoy it?" the master said, "ah! it is yu, who could with half a word settlelitigations!" tsze-lu never slept over a promise. the master said, "in hearing litigations, i am like any other body. what isnecessary, however, is to cause the people to have no litigations." tsze-chang asked about government. the master said, "the art of governing isto keep its affairs before the mind without weariness, and to practice them withundeviating consistency." the master said, "by extensively studying all learning, and keeping himselfunder the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may thus likewise not errfrom what is right." the master said, "the superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualitiesof men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. the mean man does theopposite of this." chi k'ang asked confucius about government. confucius replied, "to governmeans to rectify. if you lead on the people with correctness, who will dare notto be correct?" chi k'ang, distressed about the number of thieves in the state, inquired ofconfucius how to do away with them. confucius said, "if you, sir, were notcovetous, although you should reward them to do it, they would not steal." chi k'ang asked confucius about government, saying, "what do you say tokilling the unprincipled for the good of the principled?" confucius replied,"sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? letyour evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. therelation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and thegrass. the grass must bend, when the wind blows across it." tsze-chang asked, "what must the officer be, who may be said to bedistinguished?" the master said, "what is it you call being distinguished?" tsze-chang replied, "it is to be heard of through the state, to be heard ofthroughout his clan." the master said, "that is notoriety, not distinction. "now the man of distinction is solid and straightforward, and lovesrighteousness. he examines people's words, and looks at their countenances. heis anxious to humble himself to others. such a man will be distinguished in thecountry; he will be distinguished in his clan. "as to the man of notoriety, he assumes the appearance of virtue, but hisactions are opposed to it, and he rests in this character without any doubtsabout himself. such a man will be heard of in the country; he will be heard ofin the clan." fan ch'ih rambling with the master under the trees about the rain altars,said, "i venture to ask how to exalt virtue, to correct cherished evil, and todiscover delusions." the master said, "truly a good question! "if doing what is to be done be made the first business, and success asecondary consideration:-is not this the way to exalt virtue? to assail one'sown wickedness and not assail that of others;-is not this the way to correctcherished evil? for a morning's anger to disregard one's own life, and involvethat of his parents;-is not this a case of delusion?" fan ch'ih asked about benevolence. the master said, "it is to love all men."he asked about knowledge. the master said, "it is to know all men." fan ch'ih did not immediately understand these answers. the master said, "employ the upright and put aside all the crooked; in thisway the crooked can be made to be upright." fan ch'ih retired, and, seeing tsze-hsia, he said to him, "a little whileago, i had an interview with our master, and asked him about knowledge. he said,'employ the upright, and put aside all the crooked;-in this way, the crookedwill be made to be upright.' what did he mean?" tsze-hsia said, "truly rich is his saying! "shun, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all thepeople, and employed kai-yao-on which all who were devoid of virtue disappeared.t'ang, being in possession of the kingdom, selected from among all the people,and employed i yin-and an who were devoid of virtue disappeared." tsze-kung asked about friendship. the master said, "faithfully admonish yourfriend, and skillfully lead him on. if you find him impracticable, stop. do notdisgrace yourself." the philosopher tsang said, "the superior man on grounds of culture meetswith his friends, and by friendship helps his virtue." |
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