14 hsien asked what was shameful. the master said, "when good governmentprevails in a state, to be thinking only of salary; and, when bad governmentprevails, to be thinking, in the same way, only of salary;-this is shameful." "when the love of superiority, boasting, resentments, and covetousness arerepressed, this may be deemed perfect virtue." the master said, "this may be regarded as the achievement of what isdifficult. but i do not know that it is to be deemed perfect virtue." the master said, "the scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fitto be deemed a scholar." the master said, "when good government prevails in a state, language may belofty and bold, and actions the same. when bad government prevails, the actionsmay be lofty and bold, but the language may be with some reserve." the master said, "the virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but thosewhose speech is good may not always be virtuous. men of principle are sure to bebold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle." nan-kung kwo, submitting an inquiry to confucius, said, "i was skillful atarchery, and ao could move a boat along upon the land, but neither of them dieda natural death. yu and chi personally wrought at the toils of husbandry, andthey became possessors of the kingdom." the master made no reply; but when nan-kung kwo went out, he said, "a superior man indeed is this! an esteemer ofvirtue indeed is this!" the master said, "superior men, and yet not always virtuous, there have been,alas! but there never has been a mean man, and, at the same time, virtuous." the master said, "can there be love which does not lead to strictness withits object? can there be loyalty which does not lead to the instruction of itsobject?" the master said, "in preparing the governmental notifications, p'i shanfirst made the rough draft; shi-shu examined and discussed its contents; tsze-yu,the manager of foreign intercourse, then polished the style; and, finally, tsze-ch'an of tung-li gave it the proper elegance and finish." some one asked about tsze-ch'an. the master said, "he was a kind man." he asked about tsze-hsi. the master said, "that man! that man!" he asked about kwan chung. "for him," said the master, "the city of pien,with three hundred families, was taken from the chief of the po family, who didnot utter a murmuring word, though, to the end of his life, he had only coarserice to eat." the master said, "to be poor without murmuring is difficult. to be richwithout being proud is easy." the master said, "mang kung-ch'o is more than fit to be chief officer in thefamilies of chao and wei, but he is not fit to be great officer to either of thestates tang or hsieh." tsze-lu asked what constituted a complete man. the master said, "suppose aman with the knowledge of tsang wu-chung, the freedom from covetousness of kung-ch'o, the bravery of chwang of pien, and the varied talents of zan ch'iu; add tothese the accomplishments of the rules of propriety and music;-such a one mightbe reckoned a complete man." he then added, "but what is the necessity for a complete man of the presentday to have all these things? the man, who in the view of gain, thinks ofrighteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; andwho does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends:-such a man maybe reckoned a complete man." the master asked kung-ming chia about kung-shu wan, saying, "is it true thatyour master speaks not, laughs not, and takes not?" kung-ming chia replied, "this has arisen from the reporters going beyond thetruth.-my master speaks when it is the time to speak, and so men do not gettired of his speaking. he laughs when there is occasion to be joyful, and so mendo not get tired of his laughing. he takes when it is consistent withrighteousness to do so, and so men do not get tired of his taking." the mastersaid, "so! but is it so with him?" the master said, "tsang wu-chung, keeping possession of fang, asked of theduke of lu to appoint a successor to him in his family. although it may be saidthat he was not using force with his sovereign, i believe he was." the master said, "the duke wan of tsin was crafty and not upright. the dukehwan of ch'i was upright and not crafty." tsze-lu said, "the duke hwan caused his brother chiu to be killed, when shaohu died, with his master, but kwan chung did not die. may not i say that he waswanting in virtue?" the master said, "the duke hwan assembled all the princes together, and thatnot with weapons of war and chariots:-it was all through the influence of kwanchung. whose beneficence was like his? whose beneficence was like his?" tsze-kung said, "kwan chung, i apprehend was wanting in virtue. when theduke hwan caused his brother chiu to be killed, kwan chung was not able to diewith him. moreover, he became prime minister to hwan." the master said, "kwan chung acted as prime minister to the duke hwan madehim leader of all the princes, and united and rectified the whole kingdom. downto the present day, the people enjoy the gifts which he conferred. but for kwanchung, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coatsbuttoning on the left side. "will you require from him the small fidelity of common men and common women,who would commit suicide in a stream or ditch, no one knowing anything aboutthem?" the great officer, hsien, who had been family minister to kung-shu wan,ascended to the prince's court in company with wan. the master, having heard of it, said, "he deserved to be considered wan (theaccomplished)." the master was speaking about the unprincipled course of the duke ling ofweil when ch'i k'ang said, "since he is of such a character, how is it he doesnot lose his state?" confucius said, "the chung-shu yu has the superintendence of his guests andof strangers; the litanist, t'o, has the management of his ancestral temple; andwang-sun chia has the direction of the army and forces:-with such officers asthese, how should he lose his state?" the master said, "he who speaks without modesty will find it difficult tomake his words good." chan ch'ang murdered the duke chien of ch'i. confucius bathed, went to court and informed the duke ai, saying, "chan hanghas slain his sovereign. i beg that you will undertake to punish him." the duke said, "inform the chiefs of the three families of it." confucius retired, and said, "following in the rear of the great officers, idid not dare not to represent such a matter, and my prince says, "inform thechiefs of the three families of it." he went to the chiefs, and informed them, but they would not act. confuciusthen said, "following in the rear of the great officers, i did not dare not torepresent such a matter." tsze-lu asked how a ruler should be served. the master said, "do not imposeon him, and, moreover, withstand him to his face." the master said, "the progress of the superior man is upwards; the progressof the mean man is downwards." the master said, "in ancient times, men learned with a view to their ownimprovement. nowadays, men learn with a view to the approbation of others." chu po-yu sent a messenger with friendly inquiries to confucius. confucius sat with him, and questioned him. "what," said he! "is your masterengaged in?" the messenger replied, "my master is anxious to make his faults few,but he has not yet succeeded." he then went out, and the master said, "amessenger indeed! a messenger indeed!" the master said, "he who is not in any particular office has nothing to dowith plans for the administration of its duties." the philosopher tsang said, "the superior man, in his thoughts, does not goout of his place." the master said, "the superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds inhis actions." the master said, "the way of the superior man is threefold, but i am notequal to it. virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free fromperplexities; bold, he is free from fear. tsze-kung said, "master, that is what you yourself say." tsze-kung was in the habit of comparing men together. the master said, "tszemust have reached a high pitch of excellence! now, i have not leisure for this." the master said, "i will not be concerned at men's not knowing me; i will beconcerned at my own want of ability." the master said, "he who does not anticipate attempts to deceive him, northink beforehand of his not being believed, and yet apprehends these thingsreadily when they occur;-is he not a man of superior worth?" wei-shang mau said to confucius, "ch'iu, how is it that you keep roostingabout? is it not that you are an insinuating talker? confucius said, "i do not dare to play the part of such a talker, but i hateobstinacy." the master said, "a horse is called a ch'i, not because of its strength, butbecause of its other good qualities." some one said, "what do you say concerning the principle that injury shouldbe recompensed with kindness?" the master said, "with what then will you recompense kindness?" "recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness." the master said, "alas! there is no one that knows me." tsze-kung said, "what do you mean by thus saying-that no one knows you?" themaster replied, "i do not murmur against heaven. i do not grumble against men.my studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. but there is heaven;-thatknows me!" the kung-po liao, having slandered tsze-lu to chi-sun, tsze-fu ching-poinformed confucius of it, saying, "our master is certainly being led astray bythe kung-po liao, but i have still power enough left to cut liao off, and exposehis corpse in the market and in the court." the master said, "if my principles are to advance, it is so ordered. if theyare to fall to the ground, it is so ordered. what can the kung-po liao do wheresuch ordering is concerned?" the master said, "some men of worth retire from the world. some retire fromparticular states. some retire because of disrespectful looks. some retirebecause of contradictory language." the master said, "those who have done this are seven men." tsze-lu happening to pass the night in shih-man, the gatekeeper said to him,"whom do you come from?" tsze-lu said, "from mr. k'ung." "it is he,-is it not?"-said the other, "who knows the impracticable nature of the times and yet will bedoing in them." the master was playing, one day, on a musical stone in weil when a mancarrying a straw basket passed door of the house where confucius was, and said,"his heart is full who so beats the musical stone." a little while after, he added, "how contemptible is the one-ideaedobstinacy those sounds display! when one is taken no notice of, he has simply atonce to give over his wish for public employment. 'deep water must be crossedwith the clothes on; shallow water may be crossed with the clothes held up.'" the master said, "how determined is he in his purpose! but this is notdifficult!" tsze-chang said, "what is meant when the shu says that kao-tsung, whileobserving the usual imperial mourning, was for three years without speaking?" the master said, "why must kao-tsung be referred to as an example of this?the ancients all did so. when the sovereign died, the officers all attended totheir several duties, taking instructions from the prime minister for threeyears." the master said, "when rulers love to observe the rules of propriety, thepeople respond readily to the calls on them for service." tsze-lu asked what constituted the superior man. the master said, "thecultivation of himself in reverential carefulness." "and is this all?" saidtsze-lu. "he cultivates himself so as to give rest to others," was the reply."and is this all?" again asked tsze-lu. the master said, "he cultivates himselfso as to give rest to all the people. he cultivates himself so as to give restto all the people:-even yao and shun were still solicitous about this." yuan zang was squatting on his heels, and so waited the approach of themaster, who said to him, "in youth not humble as befits a junior; in manhood,doing nothing worthy of being handed down; and living on to old age:-this is tobe a pest." with this he hit him on the shank with his staff. a youth of the village of ch'ueh was employed by confucius to carry themessages between him and his visitors. some one asked about him, saying, "isuppose he has made great progress." the master said, "i observe that he is fond of occupying the seat of a full-grown man; i observe that he walks shoulder to shoulder with his elders. he isnot one who is seeking to make progress in learning. he wishes quickly to becomea man." |
Powered by Discuz! X3.4
Copyright © 2001-2021, Tencent Cloud.
