16 the head of the chi family was going to attack chwan-yu. zan yu and chi-lu had an interview with confucius, and said, "our chief,chil is going to commence operations against chwan-yu." confucius said, "ch'iu, is it not you who are in fault here? "now, in regard to chwan-yu, long ago, a former king appointed its ruler topreside over the sacrifices to the eastern mang; moreover, it is in the midst ofthe territory of our state; and its ruler is a minister in direct connectionwith the sovereign: what has your chief to do with attacking it?" zan yu said, "our master wishes the thing; neither of us two ministerswishes it." confucius said, "ch'iu, there are the words of chau zan, -'when he can putforth his ability, he takes his place in the ranks of office; when he findshimself unable to do so, he retires from it. how can he be used as a guide to ablind man, who does not support him when tottering, nor raise him up whenfallen?' "and further, you speak wrongly. when a tiger or rhinoceros escapes from hiscage; when a tortoise or piece of jade is injured in its repository:-whose isthe fault?" zan yu said, "but at present, chwan-yu is strong and near to pi; if ourchief do not now take it, it will hereafter be a sorrow to his descendants." confucius said. "ch'iu, the superior man hates those declining to say-'iwant such and such a thing,' and framing explanations for their conduct. "i have heard that rulers of states and chiefs of families are not troubledlest their people should be few, but are troubled lest they should not keeptheir several places; that they are not troubled with fears of poverty, but aretroubled with fears of a want of contented repose among the people in theirseveral places. for when the people keep their several places, there will be nopoverty; when harmony prevails, there will be no scarcity of people; and whenthere is such a contented repose, there will be no rebellious upsettings. "so it is.-therefore, if remoter people are not submissive, all theinfluences of civil culture and virtue are to be cultivated to attract them tobe so; and when they have been so attracted, they must be made contented andtranquil. "now, here are you, yu and ch'iu, assisting your chief. remoter people arenot submissive, and, with your help, he cannot attract them to him. in his ownterritory there are divisions and downfalls, leavings and separations, and, withyour help, he cannot preserve it. "and yet he is planning these hostile movements within the state.-i amafraid that the sorrow of the chi-sun family will not be on account of chwan-yu,but will be found within the screen of their own court." confucius said, "when good government prevails in the empire, ceremonies,music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the son of heaven. whenbad government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive militaryexpeditions proceed from the princes. when these things proceed from the princes,as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in tengenerations. when they proceed from the great officers of the princes, as a rule,the case will be few in which they do not lose their power in five generations.when the subsidiary ministers of the great officers hold in their grasp theorders of the state, as a rule the cases will be few in which they do not losetheir power in three generations. "when right principles prevail in the kingdom, government will not be in thehands of the great officers. "when right principles prevail in the kingdom, there will be no discussionsamong the common people." confucius said, "the revenue of the state has left the ducal house now forfive generations. the government has been in the hands of the great officers forfour generations. on this account, the descendants of the three hwan are muchreduced." confucius said, "there are three friendships which are advantageous, andthree which are injurious. friendship with the uplight; friendship with thesincere; and friendship with the man of much observation:-these are advantageous.friendship with the man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuatingly soft;and friendship with the glib-tongued:-these are injurious." confucius said, "there are three things men find enjoyment in which areadvantageous, and three things they find enjoyment in which are injurious. tofind enjoyment in the discriminating study of ceremonies and music; to findenjoyment in speaking of the goodness of others; to find enjoyment in havingmany worthy friends:-these are advantageous. to find enjoyment in extravagantpleasures; to find enjoyment in idleness and sauntering; to find enjoyment inthe pleasures of feasting:-these are injurious." confucius said, "there are three errors to which they who stand in thepresence of a man of virtue and station are liable. they may speak when it doesnot come to them to speak;-this is called rashness. they may not speak when itcomes to them to speak;-this is called concealment. they may speak withoutlooking at the countenance of their superior;-this is called blindness." confucius said, "there are three things which the superior man guardsagainst. in youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guardsagainst lust. when he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigor, heguards against quarrelsomeness. when he is old, and the animal powers aredecayed, he guards against covetousness." confucius said, "there are three things of which the superior man stands inawe. he stands in awe of the ordinances of heaven. he stands in awe of great men.he stands in awe of the words of sages. "the mean man does not know the ordinances of heaven, and consequently doesnot stand in awe of them. he is disrespectful to great men. he makes sport ofthe words of sages." confucius said, "those who are born with the possession of knowledge are thehighest class of men. those who learn, and so readily get possession ofknowledge, are the next. those who are dull and stupid, and yet compass thelearning, are another class next to these. as to those who are dull and stupidand yet do not learn;-they are the lowest of the people." confucius said, "the superior man has nine things which are subjects withhim of thoughtful consideration. in regard to the use of his eyes, he is anxiousto see clearly. in regard to the use of his ears, he is anxious to heardistinctly. in regard to his countenance, he is anxious that it should be benign.in regard to his demeanor, he is anxious that it should be respectful. in regardto his speech, he is anxious that it should be sincere. in regard to his doingof business, he is anxious that it should be reverently careful. in regard towhat he doubts about, he is anxious to question others. when he is angry, hethinks of the difficulties his anger may involve him in. when he sees gain to begot, he thinks of righteousness." confucius said, "contemplating good, and pursuing it, as if they could notreach it; contemplating evil! and shrinking from it, as they would fromthrusting the hand into boiling water:-i have seen such men, as i have heardsuch words. "living in retirement to study their aims, and practicing righteousness tocarry out their principles:-i have heard these words, but i have not seen suchmen." the duke ching of ch'i had a thousand teams, each of four horses, but on theday of his death, the people did not praise him for a single virtue. po-i andshu-ch'i died of hunger at the foot of the shau-yang mountains, and the people,down to the present time, praise them. "is not that saying illustrated by this?" ch'an k'ang asked po-yu, saying, "have you heard any lessons from yourfather different from what we have all heard?" po-yu replied, "no. he was standing alone once, when i passed below the hallwith hasty steps, and said to me, 'have you learned the odes?' on my replying'not yet,' he added, if you do not learn the odes, you will not be fit toconverse with.' i retired and studied the odes. "another day, he was in the same way standing alone, when i passed by belowthe hall with hasty steps, and said to me, 'have you learned the rules ofpropriety?' on my replying 'not yet,' he added, 'if you do not learn the rulesof propriety, your character cannot be established.' i then retired, and learnedthe rules of propriety. "i have heard only these two things from him." ch'ang k'ang retired, and, quite delighted, said, "i asked one thing, and ihave got three things. i have heard about the odes. i have heard about the rulesof propriety. i have also heard that the superior man maintains a distantreserve towards his son." the wife of the prince of a state is called by him fu zan. she calls herselfhsiao t'ung. the people of the state call her chun fu zan, and, to the people ofother states, they call her k'wa hsiao chun. the people of other states alsocall her chun fu zan. |
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