Confucius
said: Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dung won't hold plaster, what's the use of reproving him?
Ezra Pound - Confucian Analects
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
2. Kung heard this and said : Perfect acts do not use
words, prolonged customs are not sentenced, what for-
merly was is not to be blamed. XXII
1. He said : Kwan Chung is a small dish, and how I
2. Someone said : Is Kwan Chung stingy?
3. He said: Kwan Chung had the Triple-Return
(pagoda), court functionaries did not work overtime, how can he have been stingy?
4. "Did Kwan Chung, then, know the ceremonies? "
5. (He) said: Princes of States plant gate-screens; Kwan Chung also set up a gate-screen. When State Princes meet they have a small table for inverted cups; Kwan also had a small table, if Kwan knew how to
XXIII
1. Talking with the superintendent of music in Lu,
he said : On? e can understand this music; a rousing start in unison, then the parts follow pure, clear one from another, (brilliant) explicit to the conclusion.
XXIV
1. The Border Warden at I asked to see him, saying
when gentlemen come here I have always seen them.
(Kung's) escort introduced him. He came out saying: Small group of friends [lvt: you two three gentlemen] how can you regret his loss of office. The empire has long been in anarchy. Heaven will use the big man as a watchman's rattle. [L. (Legge): bell with wooden tongue. M. : with clapper. ]
xxv
I. He said : The Shao (songs) are completely beauti- ful and wholly good. The Wu are beautiful, completely, but not completely good (morally proportioned).
22
BOOK THREE
XXVI
1. He said: Dwelling on high without magnanimity,
p~rfonning the rites without reverence, corning to funerals without regrets; why should I bother about 'em?
23
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK FOUR
I
1. He said : A neighbourhood's humanity is its beauty. If a man doesn't settle among real people, how can he
know.
II
1. He said : Without n1anhood one cannot stand diffi- culties, nor live for long atnid pleasures, The real man is at rest in his inanhood, the wise man profits by it.
III
1. He said : Only the complete man can love others, or hate them.
BOOK FOUR
VI
"1. He said : I have not seen anyone who loves whole- h~manity and who hates un-whole manhood_; if he lo_ve this whole-manhood (humanity) he cannot nse above 1t; if he hate the un-whole manhood, he would go to work on his own manhood, he would not try to get incomplete men to heighten his character for him.
2. If a man can direct his energy for one day towai:d 1nanhood, ch? I have not seen anyone's energy insufficient.
1. He said : If the will is set toward manhood, there
you may. ]
is no criminality.
cf/mustard seed. ]
[The graph of kou' suggests grass-root
v
IX
1. }le said: Riches with honour are what men desire; if not obtained in the right way, they do not last. Poverty and penny-pinching are what men hate, but are only to be avoided in the right way.
2. If a gentleman give up manhood, what does his title really mean, what does the complete name gentle- man mean?
3. A proper man doesn't merely lay off his manhood after dinner. He must have it to make a sequence, he must have it in sudden disasters.
24
1. He said : A scholar with his will on learning the process, who is ashamed of poor clothes, and fusses over bad food, is not worth talking to.
x
1. I-le said: A proper 1nan is not absolutely bent on, or absolutely averse from, anything in particular, he will be just.
XI
1. The proper man is concerned with exan1ining his consciousness and acting on it, the sma11 man is concerned about land; the superior man about legality, the small man about favours.
25
3.
A case may exist, but I have not seen it.
VII
VIII
He said : A man's errors, every one of 'em, belong
? 1.
to his environment (clique, party, gang he associates with); watch his faults and you can judge his humanity.
1. He said: Hear of the process at sunrise, you can die in the evening. [Word order is: morning hear pro- IV cess, evening die can? may, you may, it is possible that
? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XII
1. He said : Always on the make : many complaints.
XIII
1. I-Ie said : Can with ceremony and politeness manage a state, what difficulty will he have; unable to govern a state with ceremonies and courtesy, what ordered en- lightenment has he?
XIV
1. He said: Not worried at being out of a job, but about being fit for one; not \Vorried about being unknown but about doing something knowable.
xv
1. He said : Shan, my process is unified, penetrating, it holds things together and sprouts. Tsang said: Only? 2. (Kung)2-tze went out. A disciple asked : what does he mean? Tsang-tze said: the big man's way con-
sists in sincerity and sympathy, and that's all.
XVI
1. He said : The proper man understands* equity, the small man, profits.
XVII
1. He said : See solid talent and think of measnring up to it; see the un-solid and examine your own insides.
*yu: mouth answering in the affirmative, parable. responds to, all out for.
26
BOOK FOUR XVIII
1. He said: In being useful to father and mother, o~e can almost reprove them; but if they won't do what one wants one must respect them and not oppose* them, work and not grumble.
XIX
1. He said: During their lifetime one must not go far abroad, or if one does, must leave an address.
xx
1. I-Ie said : To carry on in a father's way for three
years, can be called continuing as a son.
XXI
1. He said: One must recognize the age of one's father and mother both as a measure of good and of anxiety.
XXII
1. He said : The men of old held in their words for fear of not matching then1 in their character.
XXIII
1. Those who consume their own smoke seldom get lost. The concise seldom err.
XXIV
1. He said : The proper man wants to put a meaning into his words (or to be slow in speech), ready in action.
xxv
1. He said : Candidness is not fatherless, it is bound to have neighbours.
*<wei cf/II. , v. I.
27
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XXVI
1. Tze-Yu said: Harping on things with a prince brings disgrace, and between friends estrangement.
BOOK FIVE
Kung-Ye Ch'ang
I
1. He described Kung-Ye Ch'ang as a suitable hus- band: although he was fettered with the black (criminal's) rope he was not guilty; completing the idea he gave him his daughter to wife.
2. Of Nan Yung he said: if the country were well governed he would not be out of office; if the country were in chaos he would escape punishment and disgrace; he gave him his elder brother's daughter to wife.
II
1. He said of Tze-Chien : a proper man, and how ! If there weren't proper men in Lu, where did he get it from?
III
1. Tze-Kung said: What about me, Ts'ze? Con- fucius said : You're a dish. "What kind? " Confucius said : Oh, a jewelled one for the altar.
IV
1. Someone said : Y ung is a full man but not elo- quent. [Persuasive, ideogram: man tranquillizing a ivoman. ]
2. He said : How would he use verbal cleverness? Resist n1en with glibness, it will get you constant detesta- tions from them; how would he use clever talk?
v
On not wishing to be forced into insincerity.
1. He was urging Ch'i-tiao to go into government employ, who answered : I couldn't keep my word (if I did). Confucius was pleased. [Word order: I this, or
thus, is not can stand by my word. ] 29
28
---? ----?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? What about Ch'ih? " Confucius said : Ch'ih, in
-~-------------~~
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
VI
1. He said : The process is not acted upon [old style: "the way is not trodden"]. I will get onto a raft and floatatseaand. . . eh. . . Yuwillfollowme. Tsze-lu (Y u) was pleased to hear this. Confucius said: Y u likes audacity more than I do, he wouldn't bother to get the logs (to make his raft).
VII
1. Mang Wu the elder asked if Tze-Lu was a whole man. Confucius said : I don't know.
2. He (Mang) asked again, and Confucius said : In a state of a thousand cars he could manage military enrollment, but I do not know if he is a total man.
3. "What about Ch'iu? " Confucius said : He could
govern a city of a thousand families, or a clan mounting
a hundred war cars, I do not know if he is all one can
ask of a man.
11
4.
an immaculate sash, could be used to talk to visitors and court guests, I do not know if he is ail one can ask of a man.
VIII
1. He asked Tze-Kung: Who comprehends most, you
or Hui?
2. The answer : No comparison, Hui hears one point and relates it to ten (understands its bearing on ten, I on one only); I hear one point and can only get to the next.
3. He said : Not the same, I agree you are not alike. IX
1. Tsai Y u was sleeping in day-time.
Confucius said: Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dung won't hold plaster, what's the use of reproving him?
30
BOOK F IV E
2. He said : When I started, I used to hear words, and believe they would be acted on; now I listen to what men? say and watch what they do. Yu has caused that adjustment.
x
1. I-Ie said : I do not see anyone constant.
answered: Shan Ch'ang. He said : Ch'ang is moved by his passions, how can he achieve constancy?
XI
l. Tze-Kung said: What I don't waat done to me,
I don't want to do to anyone else.
Ts'ze, you haven't got that far yet.
XII
Confucius said : No,
1. Tze-Kung said: The big man's culture shows, one can manage to hear about that; the big man's words about the inborn-nature and the process of heaven, one cannot manage to hear. [They don't go in through the ear. ]
XIII
l. When Tze-Lu had heard of anything he couldn't practice he was only worried about having heard it.
[Doubtful reading. ]
XIV
1. Tze-Kung asked how . Kung-Wan got to be called
u Wan," the accomplished. Confucius said: He was active, loved study and was not ashamed to question his inferiors, therefore described as "the accomplished. "
31
Someone
? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xv
1. IIe said to Tze-Ch'an: there are four components in a proper man's doing: 1Ie is rev. erent in his personal conduct, scrupulously honourable in serving his prince, considerate in provisioning the people, and just in employing them.
XVI
I. He said : Yen P'ing understood friendship, how- ever long the intercourse his scruples remained as at first.
XVII
I. He said : Tsang Wan the elder kept a large tor- toise; his capitals showed dCpicted mountains, and the little columns were adorned as if with duckweed; just what sort of kuowl. edge had he? fLegge's punctuation. Shift the comma and it cd/mean, dwelt on Tsan (Tor- toise) mountain. ]
XVIII
1. Tze-Chang asked about Tsze-Wan made minister three times and his face showed no pleasure, retired three tim. es and his face showed no displeasure, felt constrained to tell the new minister about the old minister's (mode of) governing? Confucius said : a sincere man. (Chang) said : and as to his being the total man? Confucius said : I don't know how he ean be called fully human.
2. Ch'ui-tze killed the Ch'i prince, Ch'an Wan had forty tea1ns of horses, he abandoned them and went abroad, coming to another state he said : " ~fhey are like the great officer Ch'ui" and departed fron1 that first state, to a second, and again saying: "They are like the great officer Ch'ui," he departed. What about him? Confucius said : pure. (Chang) said : total manhood? Confucius said : I do not know how this ean amount to being total manhood.
32
BOOK SIX r/ XIX
I. , ~hi Wan ! ? ought three times before taking action. Confucms heard it and said: Twice might be enough.
xx
I. He said : Ning Wu when the country was well governed behaved as a savant; when the country was in c~aos he acted as a simple rustic; one can attain this wisdom but not this simplicity.
XXI
I. When he was in Ch'an he said : Return, let me return. My ~ssociates are little children, uppish, short- cutters, ;cersatile and accomplished up to the end of the chapter, but do not know how to moderate.
XXII
I. He said : Po-i and Shu-ch'i did not think about antient hates (birds hidden under the grass), you might say they moulted off their resentments.
XXIII
I. He said: Who calls Wei-shang Kao straight? Som. ebody begg. ed a little vinegar, and he begged it from a neighbour and gave it him.
XXIV
I. He said : Elaborate phrases and expression to fit [L. insinuating, pious appearance] self-satisfied defer- ence; Tso Ch'iuming was ashamed of; I also am asham~d of '~m. ~ro conceal resentment while shaking* hands in a friendly manner, Tso-Ch'iuming was ashamed
to; I also am ashamed to.
?
33
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xxv
BOOK
I
1. He said: Yung could be appointed to a throne [idiom: south face] .
2. Ching-kung asked about Tze-sang Po-tze. Con- fucius said : Can do. [Able, handy. ]
3. Chang-kung said: if a man's home address is
reverence he can be easy-going, and thereby come near the people, that's permissible? But if his basic address is : take it easy and he carries that into action, it will be too much of a take-it-easy.
1 Y en
Let. each of you say what he would like.
2 Tze-Lu said: I would like a car and horses, and light fur clothes that I could share with my friends. They could spoil 'em without offence. .
3. Y en Y uan said : I should like go? dness w1th? ut aggressiveness and to put energy into domg a good )Ob without making a show of 1t. .
4. Tze-Lu said: Now, boss, I should hke to h~ar your bent. Confucius said : that the aged have qmet, and friends rely on our words, and that the young be cherished.
XXVI
1. He said: Is this the end of it? I have seen no
one who can see his errors and then go ~nto. his o~ mind and demand justice on them in precise, JUSt, dis- criminating words.
XXVII
1. He said : A village with ten homes will contain
sincere men who stand by their word quite as well as I
do but no one so in love with study. '
SIX
Y uan and Tze-Lu were with him, he said :
34
-------~
? 4.
Confucius said : Yung has the word for it.
[Nate: The terminology in some of these
very short verses must be discussed between students, no one version can be just swal- lowed. ]
II
1. The Duke Ai asked which of the young fellows loved study.
2. Confucius replied: There was Yen Hui who loved to study, he didn't shift a grudge or double an error [L. repeat a fault]. Not lucky, short life, died and the pattern is lost, I don't hear of anyone who likes study.
III
1. Tze Hwa was commissioned to Ch'i, Mr. Zan asked grain for his mother. He said : give a fu. He asked for more. He said give a bushel. Zan gave five ping. [L. note figures, it may have been the whole of his own grain allowance. ]
*This is the picture, L. and P. stick to the dictionary simply,
appearing friendly.
35
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
2. Ch'ih was going to Ch'i, with a team of fat horses, and wearing light fox fur, I have heard that. gendemen aid the distressed, not that they tie up with riches.
[L. M. : add to wealth of rich. ] .
3. Yuan Sze being made governor, declmed 900
measures of grain given him. .
4. Confucius said :'Don't, they could be given to your
big and little hamlets, villages, towns.
IV
I. He said in reference to Ching-kung: if the spotted cow's calf be red with the right sort of horn, though men won't want to use it, will the mountains and rivers reject
it?
v
1. He said: Hui, now, a mind that for three months wouldn't transgress humanity; the rest of 'em, can reach this pattern for a day or a month, and that's all. [~? probably better: get to it i:' a day or a moon, and thats all, i. e. , get there but not stick. ]
VI
]. Chi K'ang asked if Chung-yu c? uld b. e appoi~ted as colleague in government. Confucius said : Yu s _a determined fellow, what would be the tr~uble about his carrying on the government work? (Kang) asked: 1f Ts'ze could be given a government appo1ntn1~nt. Sa~d . Ts'ze's intelligent (penetrating), why not? (K anl! ") said. : and Ch'iu? Said : Ch'iu's versatile, what's against h1s
doing government work?
VII
BOOK SIX
VIII
1. Po-niu was ill. Confucius went to ask after him
and took hold of his hand through the window. Said :
he's lost, it is destiny, such a man, and to have such a
(On declining to serv. e an evil overlord. ) .
T h e H e a d o f C h i a p p o i n t e d . M m Tz~-ch1en governor of Pi. Min Tze-chien said : Kindly decline for
me, and if they come back for me I shall have to (go) live up over the Wan.
36
I. He said: Hui had solid talent (merit). One bamboo dish of rice, one ladle full of drink, living in a \Vrctched lane, others couldn't have stood it. Hui con- tinued to enjoy (life) unaltered, that's how solid his talent \Vas.
x
I. Yen Ch'iu said : It's not that I don't like your system, I haven't the strength for it. He said : If a man isn't strong enough he stops half way, you shut yourself in (draw your own limit. M. 2222).
XI
1. He said to Tze-Hsia: Observe the phenomena of
nature as one in whom the ancestral voices speak, don't just watch in a mean way.
XII
1. When Tze-Yu was governor of Wu-ch'ang, he said to him : Got any men there, what about 'em? Answered : Got 1'an-t'ai Mieh-ming who never takes a short cut and never corn. es to any office except when he has government business.
XIII
I. He said : Mang Chih-fan doesn't brag.
the rear of a retreat, but when nearing the (city) gate, whipped up his horse and said : not courage keeping me back, horse wouldn't go.
37
1 .
He was in
disease.
Such a man, such a disease.
IX
? ? ? - --~"I"? --
?
2. Kung heard this and said : Perfect acts do not use
words, prolonged customs are not sentenced, what for-
merly was is not to be blamed. XXII
1. He said : Kwan Chung is a small dish, and how I
2. Someone said : Is Kwan Chung stingy?
3. He said: Kwan Chung had the Triple-Return
(pagoda), court functionaries did not work overtime, how can he have been stingy?
4. "Did Kwan Chung, then, know the ceremonies? "
5. (He) said: Princes of States plant gate-screens; Kwan Chung also set up a gate-screen. When State Princes meet they have a small table for inverted cups; Kwan also had a small table, if Kwan knew how to
XXIII
1. Talking with the superintendent of music in Lu,
he said : On? e can understand this music; a rousing start in unison, then the parts follow pure, clear one from another, (brilliant) explicit to the conclusion.
XXIV
1. The Border Warden at I asked to see him, saying
when gentlemen come here I have always seen them.
(Kung's) escort introduced him. He came out saying: Small group of friends [lvt: you two three gentlemen] how can you regret his loss of office. The empire has long been in anarchy. Heaven will use the big man as a watchman's rattle. [L. (Legge): bell with wooden tongue. M. : with clapper. ]
xxv
I. He said : The Shao (songs) are completely beauti- ful and wholly good. The Wu are beautiful, completely, but not completely good (morally proportioned).
22
BOOK THREE
XXVI
1. He said: Dwelling on high without magnanimity,
p~rfonning the rites without reverence, corning to funerals without regrets; why should I bother about 'em?
23
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK FOUR
I
1. He said : A neighbourhood's humanity is its beauty. If a man doesn't settle among real people, how can he
know.
II
1. He said : Without n1anhood one cannot stand diffi- culties, nor live for long atnid pleasures, The real man is at rest in his inanhood, the wise man profits by it.
III
1. He said : Only the complete man can love others, or hate them.
BOOK FOUR
VI
"1. He said : I have not seen anyone who loves whole- h~manity and who hates un-whole manhood_; if he lo_ve this whole-manhood (humanity) he cannot nse above 1t; if he hate the un-whole manhood, he would go to work on his own manhood, he would not try to get incomplete men to heighten his character for him.
2. If a man can direct his energy for one day towai:d 1nanhood, ch? I have not seen anyone's energy insufficient.
1. He said : If the will is set toward manhood, there
you may. ]
is no criminality.
cf/mustard seed. ]
[The graph of kou' suggests grass-root
v
IX
1. }le said: Riches with honour are what men desire; if not obtained in the right way, they do not last. Poverty and penny-pinching are what men hate, but are only to be avoided in the right way.
2. If a gentleman give up manhood, what does his title really mean, what does the complete name gentle- man mean?
3. A proper man doesn't merely lay off his manhood after dinner. He must have it to make a sequence, he must have it in sudden disasters.
24
1. He said : A scholar with his will on learning the process, who is ashamed of poor clothes, and fusses over bad food, is not worth talking to.
x
1. I-le said: A proper 1nan is not absolutely bent on, or absolutely averse from, anything in particular, he will be just.
XI
1. The proper man is concerned with exan1ining his consciousness and acting on it, the sma11 man is concerned about land; the superior man about legality, the small man about favours.
25
3.
A case may exist, but I have not seen it.
VII
VIII
He said : A man's errors, every one of 'em, belong
? 1.
to his environment (clique, party, gang he associates with); watch his faults and you can judge his humanity.
1. He said: Hear of the process at sunrise, you can die in the evening. [Word order is: morning hear pro- IV cess, evening die can? may, you may, it is possible that
? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XII
1. He said : Always on the make : many complaints.
XIII
1. I-Ie said : Can with ceremony and politeness manage a state, what difficulty will he have; unable to govern a state with ceremonies and courtesy, what ordered en- lightenment has he?
XIV
1. He said: Not worried at being out of a job, but about being fit for one; not \Vorried about being unknown but about doing something knowable.
xv
1. He said : Shan, my process is unified, penetrating, it holds things together and sprouts. Tsang said: Only? 2. (Kung)2-tze went out. A disciple asked : what does he mean? Tsang-tze said: the big man's way con-
sists in sincerity and sympathy, and that's all.
XVI
1. He said : The proper man understands* equity, the small man, profits.
XVII
1. He said : See solid talent and think of measnring up to it; see the un-solid and examine your own insides.
*yu: mouth answering in the affirmative, parable. responds to, all out for.
26
BOOK FOUR XVIII
1. He said: In being useful to father and mother, o~e can almost reprove them; but if they won't do what one wants one must respect them and not oppose* them, work and not grumble.
XIX
1. He said: During their lifetime one must not go far abroad, or if one does, must leave an address.
xx
1. I-Ie said : To carry on in a father's way for three
years, can be called continuing as a son.
XXI
1. He said: One must recognize the age of one's father and mother both as a measure of good and of anxiety.
XXII
1. He said : The men of old held in their words for fear of not matching then1 in their character.
XXIII
1. Those who consume their own smoke seldom get lost. The concise seldom err.
XXIV
1. He said : The proper man wants to put a meaning into his words (or to be slow in speech), ready in action.
xxv
1. He said : Candidness is not fatherless, it is bound to have neighbours.
*<wei cf/II. , v. I.
27
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XXVI
1. Tze-Yu said: Harping on things with a prince brings disgrace, and between friends estrangement.
BOOK FIVE
Kung-Ye Ch'ang
I
1. He described Kung-Ye Ch'ang as a suitable hus- band: although he was fettered with the black (criminal's) rope he was not guilty; completing the idea he gave him his daughter to wife.
2. Of Nan Yung he said: if the country were well governed he would not be out of office; if the country were in chaos he would escape punishment and disgrace; he gave him his elder brother's daughter to wife.
II
1. He said of Tze-Chien : a proper man, and how ! If there weren't proper men in Lu, where did he get it from?
III
1. Tze-Kung said: What about me, Ts'ze? Con- fucius said : You're a dish. "What kind? " Confucius said : Oh, a jewelled one for the altar.
IV
1. Someone said : Y ung is a full man but not elo- quent. [Persuasive, ideogram: man tranquillizing a ivoman. ]
2. He said : How would he use verbal cleverness? Resist n1en with glibness, it will get you constant detesta- tions from them; how would he use clever talk?
v
On not wishing to be forced into insincerity.
1. He was urging Ch'i-tiao to go into government employ, who answered : I couldn't keep my word (if I did). Confucius was pleased. [Word order: I this, or
thus, is not can stand by my word. ] 29
28
---? ----?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? What about Ch'ih? " Confucius said : Ch'ih, in
-~-------------~~
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
VI
1. He said : The process is not acted upon [old style: "the way is not trodden"]. I will get onto a raft and floatatseaand. . . eh. . . Yuwillfollowme. Tsze-lu (Y u) was pleased to hear this. Confucius said: Y u likes audacity more than I do, he wouldn't bother to get the logs (to make his raft).
VII
1. Mang Wu the elder asked if Tze-Lu was a whole man. Confucius said : I don't know.
2. He (Mang) asked again, and Confucius said : In a state of a thousand cars he could manage military enrollment, but I do not know if he is a total man.
3. "What about Ch'iu? " Confucius said : He could
govern a city of a thousand families, or a clan mounting
a hundred war cars, I do not know if he is all one can
ask of a man.
11
4.
an immaculate sash, could be used to talk to visitors and court guests, I do not know if he is ail one can ask of a man.
VIII
1. He asked Tze-Kung: Who comprehends most, you
or Hui?
2. The answer : No comparison, Hui hears one point and relates it to ten (understands its bearing on ten, I on one only); I hear one point and can only get to the next.
3. He said : Not the same, I agree you are not alike. IX
1. Tsai Y u was sleeping in day-time.
Confucius said: Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dung won't hold plaster, what's the use of reproving him?
30
BOOK F IV E
2. He said : When I started, I used to hear words, and believe they would be acted on; now I listen to what men? say and watch what they do. Yu has caused that adjustment.
x
1. I-Ie said : I do not see anyone constant.
answered: Shan Ch'ang. He said : Ch'ang is moved by his passions, how can he achieve constancy?
XI
l. Tze-Kung said: What I don't waat done to me,
I don't want to do to anyone else.
Ts'ze, you haven't got that far yet.
XII
Confucius said : No,
1. Tze-Kung said: The big man's culture shows, one can manage to hear about that; the big man's words about the inborn-nature and the process of heaven, one cannot manage to hear. [They don't go in through the ear. ]
XIII
l. When Tze-Lu had heard of anything he couldn't practice he was only worried about having heard it.
[Doubtful reading. ]
XIV
1. Tze-Kung asked how . Kung-Wan got to be called
u Wan," the accomplished. Confucius said: He was active, loved study and was not ashamed to question his inferiors, therefore described as "the accomplished. "
31
Someone
? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xv
1. IIe said to Tze-Ch'an: there are four components in a proper man's doing: 1Ie is rev. erent in his personal conduct, scrupulously honourable in serving his prince, considerate in provisioning the people, and just in employing them.
XVI
I. He said : Yen P'ing understood friendship, how- ever long the intercourse his scruples remained as at first.
XVII
I. He said : Tsang Wan the elder kept a large tor- toise; his capitals showed dCpicted mountains, and the little columns were adorned as if with duckweed; just what sort of kuowl. edge had he? fLegge's punctuation. Shift the comma and it cd/mean, dwelt on Tsan (Tor- toise) mountain. ]
XVIII
1. Tze-Chang asked about Tsze-Wan made minister three times and his face showed no pleasure, retired three tim. es and his face showed no displeasure, felt constrained to tell the new minister about the old minister's (mode of) governing? Confucius said : a sincere man. (Chang) said : and as to his being the total man? Confucius said : I don't know how he ean be called fully human.
2. Ch'ui-tze killed the Ch'i prince, Ch'an Wan had forty tea1ns of horses, he abandoned them and went abroad, coming to another state he said : " ~fhey are like the great officer Ch'ui" and departed fron1 that first state, to a second, and again saying: "They are like the great officer Ch'ui," he departed. What about him? Confucius said : pure. (Chang) said : total manhood? Confucius said : I do not know how this ean amount to being total manhood.
32
BOOK SIX r/ XIX
I. , ~hi Wan ! ? ought three times before taking action. Confucms heard it and said: Twice might be enough.
xx
I. He said : Ning Wu when the country was well governed behaved as a savant; when the country was in c~aos he acted as a simple rustic; one can attain this wisdom but not this simplicity.
XXI
I. When he was in Ch'an he said : Return, let me return. My ~ssociates are little children, uppish, short- cutters, ;cersatile and accomplished up to the end of the chapter, but do not know how to moderate.
XXII
I. He said : Po-i and Shu-ch'i did not think about antient hates (birds hidden under the grass), you might say they moulted off their resentments.
XXIII
I. He said: Who calls Wei-shang Kao straight? Som. ebody begg. ed a little vinegar, and he begged it from a neighbour and gave it him.
XXIV
I. He said : Elaborate phrases and expression to fit [L. insinuating, pious appearance] self-satisfied defer- ence; Tso Ch'iuming was ashamed of; I also am asham~d of '~m. ~ro conceal resentment while shaking* hands in a friendly manner, Tso-Ch'iuming was ashamed
to; I also am ashamed to.
?
33
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xxv
BOOK
I
1. He said: Yung could be appointed to a throne [idiom: south face] .
2. Ching-kung asked about Tze-sang Po-tze. Con- fucius said : Can do. [Able, handy. ]
3. Chang-kung said: if a man's home address is
reverence he can be easy-going, and thereby come near the people, that's permissible? But if his basic address is : take it easy and he carries that into action, it will be too much of a take-it-easy.
1 Y en
Let. each of you say what he would like.
2 Tze-Lu said: I would like a car and horses, and light fur clothes that I could share with my friends. They could spoil 'em without offence. .
3. Y en Y uan said : I should like go? dness w1th? ut aggressiveness and to put energy into domg a good )Ob without making a show of 1t. .
4. Tze-Lu said: Now, boss, I should hke to h~ar your bent. Confucius said : that the aged have qmet, and friends rely on our words, and that the young be cherished.
XXVI
1. He said: Is this the end of it? I have seen no
one who can see his errors and then go ~nto. his o~ mind and demand justice on them in precise, JUSt, dis- criminating words.
XXVII
1. He said : A village with ten homes will contain
sincere men who stand by their word quite as well as I
do but no one so in love with study. '
SIX
Y uan and Tze-Lu were with him, he said :
34
-------~
? 4.
Confucius said : Yung has the word for it.
[Nate: The terminology in some of these
very short verses must be discussed between students, no one version can be just swal- lowed. ]
II
1. The Duke Ai asked which of the young fellows loved study.
2. Confucius replied: There was Yen Hui who loved to study, he didn't shift a grudge or double an error [L. repeat a fault]. Not lucky, short life, died and the pattern is lost, I don't hear of anyone who likes study.
III
1. Tze Hwa was commissioned to Ch'i, Mr. Zan asked grain for his mother. He said : give a fu. He asked for more. He said give a bushel. Zan gave five ping. [L. note figures, it may have been the whole of his own grain allowance. ]
*This is the picture, L. and P. stick to the dictionary simply,
appearing friendly.
35
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
2. Ch'ih was going to Ch'i, with a team of fat horses, and wearing light fox fur, I have heard that. gendemen aid the distressed, not that they tie up with riches.
[L. M. : add to wealth of rich. ] .
3. Yuan Sze being made governor, declmed 900
measures of grain given him. .
4. Confucius said :'Don't, they could be given to your
big and little hamlets, villages, towns.
IV
I. He said in reference to Ching-kung: if the spotted cow's calf be red with the right sort of horn, though men won't want to use it, will the mountains and rivers reject
it?
v
1. He said: Hui, now, a mind that for three months wouldn't transgress humanity; the rest of 'em, can reach this pattern for a day or a month, and that's all. [~? probably better: get to it i:' a day or a moon, and thats all, i. e. , get there but not stick. ]
VI
]. Chi K'ang asked if Chung-yu c? uld b. e appoi~ted as colleague in government. Confucius said : Yu s _a determined fellow, what would be the tr~uble about his carrying on the government work? (Kang) asked: 1f Ts'ze could be given a government appo1ntn1~nt. Sa~d . Ts'ze's intelligent (penetrating), why not? (K anl! ") said. : and Ch'iu? Said : Ch'iu's versatile, what's against h1s
doing government work?
VII
BOOK SIX
VIII
1. Po-niu was ill. Confucius went to ask after him
and took hold of his hand through the window. Said :
he's lost, it is destiny, such a man, and to have such a
(On declining to serv. e an evil overlord. ) .
T h e H e a d o f C h i a p p o i n t e d . M m Tz~-ch1en governor of Pi. Min Tze-chien said : Kindly decline for
me, and if they come back for me I shall have to (go) live up over the Wan.
36
I. He said: Hui had solid talent (merit). One bamboo dish of rice, one ladle full of drink, living in a \Vrctched lane, others couldn't have stood it. Hui con- tinued to enjoy (life) unaltered, that's how solid his talent \Vas.
x
I. Yen Ch'iu said : It's not that I don't like your system, I haven't the strength for it. He said : If a man isn't strong enough he stops half way, you shut yourself in (draw your own limit. M. 2222).
XI
1. He said to Tze-Hsia: Observe the phenomena of
nature as one in whom the ancestral voices speak, don't just watch in a mean way.
XII
1. When Tze-Yu was governor of Wu-ch'ang, he said to him : Got any men there, what about 'em? Answered : Got 1'an-t'ai Mieh-ming who never takes a short cut and never corn. es to any office except when he has government business.
XIII
I. He said : Mang Chih-fan doesn't brag.
the rear of a retreat, but when nearing the (city) gate, whipped up his horse and said : not courage keeping me back, horse wouldn't go.
37
1 .
He was in
disease.
Such a man, such a disease.
IX
? ? ? - --~"I"? --
?
