1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are
essential
in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation.
Confucius - Book of Rites
Sacred-Texts Sacred-Texts: Confucianism Li Ki Index Previous Next
THE LÎ KÎ.
A COLLECTION OF TREATISES ON THE RULES OF PROPRIETY OR CEREMONIAL USAGES.
BOOK 1. KHÜ LÎ.
SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF PROPRIETY.
SECTION I. PART I.
Ch. 1. 1. The Summary of the Rules of Propriety says:-Always and in everything let there be reverence; with the deportment grave as when
[On the names of the whole work and of this book, see the Introduction, pp. 9-12 and 15-17.
Part I is occupied with general principles and statements about Propriety rather than with the detail of particular rules. It may be divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-one paragraphs,
Ch. 1. 1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are essential in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation. 2. 2, specifies habits or tendencies incompatible with Propriety. 3. 3-5, gives instances of Propriety in superior men, and directions for certain cases. 4. 6, 7, states the rules for sitting, standing, and a mission to another state. 5. 8-22, sets forth how indispensable Propriety is for the regulation of the individual and society, and that it marks in fact the distinction between men and brutes. 6. 23-26, indicates how the rules, unnecessary in the most ancient times, grew with the progress of society, and were its ornament and security. 7. 27-31, speaks of the different stages of life, as divided into decades from ten years to a hundred; and certain characteristics belonging to them. ]
one is thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and definite. This will make the people tranquil.
2. 2. Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the full; pleasure should not be carried to excess.
3. 3. Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others and yet respect them; can stand in awe of others and yet love them. They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them. They accumulate (wealth) and yet are able to part with it (to help the needy); they rest in what gives them satisfaction and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere (when it is desirable to do so). 4. When you find wealth within your reach, do not (try to) get it by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not (try to) escape from it by improper means. Do not seek for victory in small contentions; do not seek for more than your proper share. 5. Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about; and (when you have no doubts), do not let what you say appear (simply) as your own view[1].
4. 6. If a man be sitting, let him do so as a personator of the deceased[2]; if he be standing, let him do so (reverently), as in sacrificing. 7. In
[1. The text in the second part of this sentence is not easily translated and interpreted. I have followed in my version the view of Kang, Kû Hsi,. and the Khien-lung editors. Callery gives for'the whole sentence, ' Ne donnez pas comme certain ce qui est douteux, mais exposez-le clairement sans arrière-pensée. ' Zottoli's view of the meaning is probably the same as mine: 'Dubiu's rerurn noli praesumere, sed sincerus ne tibi arroges. '
2 On the personator of the deceased, see vol. iii, pp. 300, 301, According to the ritual of Kau, the representatives of the dead always sat, and bore themselves with the utmost gravity. ]
(observing) the rules of propriety, what is right (for the time and in the circumstances) should be followed. In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed.
5. 8. They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong. 9. According to those rules, one should not (seek to) please others in an improper way, nor be lavish of his words, 10. According to them, one does not go beyond the definite measure, nor encroach on or despise others, nor is fond of (presuming) familiarities. 11. To cultivate one's person and fulfil one's words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety. 12. I have heard that it is in accordance with those rules that one should be chosen by others (as their model); I have not heard of his choosing them (to take him as such). I have heard in the same way of (scholars) coming to learn; I have not heard of (the master) going to teach. 13. The course (of duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety; 14. nor are training and oral lessons for the rectification of manners complete; 15. nor can the clearing up of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; 16. nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder brother and younger, be determined; 17. nor can students for office and (other) learners, in serving their masters, have an attachment for them; 18. nor can majesty and dignity be shown in assigning the different places at court, in the government of the armies, and in discharging the duties of office so as to secure the operation of the laws; 19. nor can there be the (proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiritual Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving, and the various sacrifices[1]. 20. Therefore the superior man is respectful and reverent, assiduous in his duties and not going beyond them, retiring and yielding;-thus illustrating (the principle of) propriety. 21. The parrot can speak, and yet is nothing more than a bird; the ape can speak, and yet is nothing more than a beast 22. Here now is a man who observes no rules of propriety; is not his heart that of a beast? But if (men were as) beasts, and without (the principle of) propriety, father and son might have the same mate. 22. Therefore, when the sages arose, they framed the rules of propriety in order to teach men, and cause them, by
[1. Four religious acts are here mentioned, in connexion with which the offerings to spiritual Beings were presented. What I have called 'various sacrifices' is in Chinese Kî sze. Wû Khang says: 'Kî means sacrificial offerings to the spirit (or spirits) of Earth, and sze those to the spirits of Heaven. Offerings to the manes of men are also covered by them when they are used together. '
2 We know that the parrot and some other birds can be taught to speak; but I do not know that any animal has been taught to enunciate words even as these birds do. Williams (Dict. p. 8og) thinks that the shang shang mentioned here may be the rhinopithecus Roxellana of P. David, found in Sze-khüan; but we have no account of it in Chinese works, so far as I know, that is not evidently fabulous. ]
their possession of them, to make a distinction between themselves and brutes.
6. 23. In the highest antiquity they prized (simply conferring) good; in the time next to this, giving and repaying was the thing attended to[1]. And what the rules of propriety value is that reciprocity. If I give a gift and nothing comes in return, that is contrary to propriety; if the thing comes to me, and I give nothing in return, that also is contrary to propriety. 24. If a man observe the rules of propriety, he is in a condition of security; if he do not, he is in one of danger. Hence there is the saying, 'The rules of propriety should by no means be left unlearned. ' 25. Propriety is seen in humbling one's self and giving honour to others. Even porters and pedlers are sure to display this giving honour (in some cases); how much more should the rich and noble do so (in all)! 26. When the rich and noble know to love propriety, they do not become proud nor dissolute. When the poor and mean know to love propriety, their minds do not become cowardly.
7. 27. When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife[2]. When
[1. Compare with this paragraph the state of 'the highest antiquity' described in the Tâo Teh King, chapters 18, 19, et al.
2 When it is said that at thirty a man has a wife, the meaning must be that he ought not to reach that age without being married. Early marriages were the rule in ancient China, as they are now. Confucius was married when barely twenty. In the same way we are to understand the being in office at forty. A man might take office at thirty; if he reached forty before he did so, there was something wrong in himself or others. ]
he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old. ' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. 28. A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. 29. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife[1]; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage[2]. 30. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. 31. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions[3].
[1. Perhaps we should translate here in the plural--'his women,' which would include his wife.
2. An 'easy carriage' was small. Its occupant sat in it, and did not stand.
3. It is supposed here that the foreign envoys first question the ruler, who then calls in the help of the aged minister. ]
PART II
1. 1. In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety[1].
2. 2. For all sons it is the rule :--In winter, to warm (the bed for their parents), and to cool it in summer; in the evening, to adjust everything (for their repose), and to inquire (about their health) in the morning; and, when with their companions, not to quarrel.
3. 3. Whenever a son, having received the three (first) gifts (of the ruler), declines (to use) the carriage and horses, the people of the hamlets and smaller districts, and of the larger districts and neighbourhoods, will proclaim him filial; his brothers and relatives, both by consanguinity and affinity, will proclaim him
[Part II enters more into detail about the rules of Propriety. It has been divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-two paragraphs.
Ch. 1. 1, speaks of a junior consulting an elder. 2. 2, describes services due from all sons to their parents. 3. 3, shows a filial son when raised to higher rank than his father. 4. 4-16, contains rules for a son in various circumstances, especially with reference to his father. 5. 17-26, gives the rules for younger men in their intercourse with their teachers and elders generally, and in various cases. 6. 27, is the rule for an officer in entering the gate of his ruler or coming out by it. 7. 28-32, deals with a host and visitor, and ceremonious visiting and intercourse generally.
3. The reply of Tsang Shan to Confucius, as related in vol. iii, pp. 465, 466, is commonly introduced in illustration of this second sentence. ]
loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:--this is the conduct of a filial son, 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
[1. The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,--not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
2. Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
3. Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself. ]
middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk in the middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the doorway[1]. 10. He should not take the part of regulating the (quantity of) rice and other viands at an entertainment.
1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are essential in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation. 2. 2, specifies habits or tendencies incompatible with Propriety. 3. 3-5, gives instances of Propriety in superior men, and directions for certain cases. 4. 6, 7, states the rules for sitting, standing, and a mission to another state. 5. 8-22, sets forth how indispensable Propriety is for the regulation of the individual and society, and that it marks in fact the distinction between men and brutes. 6. 23-26, indicates how the rules, unnecessary in the most ancient times, grew with the progress of society, and were its ornament and security. 7. 27-31, speaks of the different stages of life, as divided into decades from ten years to a hundred; and certain characteristics belonging to them. ]
one is thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and definite. This will make the people tranquil.
2. 2. Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the full; pleasure should not be carried to excess.
3. 3. Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others and yet respect them; can stand in awe of others and yet love them. They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them. They accumulate (wealth) and yet are able to part with it (to help the needy); they rest in what gives them satisfaction and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere (when it is desirable to do so). 4. When you find wealth within your reach, do not (try to) get it by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not (try to) escape from it by improper means. Do not seek for victory in small contentions; do not seek for more than your proper share. 5. Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about; and (when you have no doubts), do not let what you say appear (simply) as your own view[1].
4. 6. If a man be sitting, let him do so as a personator of the deceased[2]; if he be standing, let him do so (reverently), as in sacrificing. 7. In
[1. The text in the second part of this sentence is not easily translated and interpreted. I have followed in my version the view of Kang, Kû Hsi,. and the Khien-lung editors. Callery gives for'the whole sentence, ' Ne donnez pas comme certain ce qui est douteux, mais exposez-le clairement sans arrière-pensée. ' Zottoli's view of the meaning is probably the same as mine: 'Dubiu's rerurn noli praesumere, sed sincerus ne tibi arroges. '
2 On the personator of the deceased, see vol. iii, pp. 300, 301, According to the ritual of Kau, the representatives of the dead always sat, and bore themselves with the utmost gravity. ]
(observing) the rules of propriety, what is right (for the time and in the circumstances) should be followed. In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed.
5. 8. They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong. 9. According to those rules, one should not (seek to) please others in an improper way, nor be lavish of his words, 10. According to them, one does not go beyond the definite measure, nor encroach on or despise others, nor is fond of (presuming) familiarities. 11. To cultivate one's person and fulfil one's words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety. 12. I have heard that it is in accordance with those rules that one should be chosen by others (as their model); I have not heard of his choosing them (to take him as such). I have heard in the same way of (scholars) coming to learn; I have not heard of (the master) going to teach. 13. The course (of duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety; 14. nor are training and oral lessons for the rectification of manners complete; 15. nor can the clearing up of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; 16. nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder brother and younger, be determined; 17. nor can students for office and (other) learners, in serving their masters, have an attachment for them; 18. nor can majesty and dignity be shown in assigning the different places at court, in the government of the armies, and in discharging the duties of office so as to secure the operation of the laws; 19. nor can there be the (proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiritual Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving, and the various sacrifices[1]. 20. Therefore the superior man is respectful and reverent, assiduous in his duties and not going beyond them, retiring and yielding;-thus illustrating (the principle of) propriety. 21. The parrot can speak, and yet is nothing more than a bird; the ape can speak, and yet is nothing more than a beast 22. Here now is a man who observes no rules of propriety; is not his heart that of a beast? But if (men were as) beasts, and without (the principle of) propriety, father and son might have the same mate. 22. Therefore, when the sages arose, they framed the rules of propriety in order to teach men, and cause them, by
[1. Four religious acts are here mentioned, in connexion with which the offerings to spiritual Beings were presented. What I have called 'various sacrifices' is in Chinese Kî sze. Wû Khang says: 'Kî means sacrificial offerings to the spirit (or spirits) of Earth, and sze those to the spirits of Heaven. Offerings to the manes of men are also covered by them when they are used together. '
2 We know that the parrot and some other birds can be taught to speak; but I do not know that any animal has been taught to enunciate words even as these birds do. Williams (Dict. p. 8og) thinks that the shang shang mentioned here may be the rhinopithecus Roxellana of P. David, found in Sze-khüan; but we have no account of it in Chinese works, so far as I know, that is not evidently fabulous. ]
their possession of them, to make a distinction between themselves and brutes.
6. 23. In the highest antiquity they prized (simply conferring) good; in the time next to this, giving and repaying was the thing attended to[1]. And what the rules of propriety value is that reciprocity. If I give a gift and nothing comes in return, that is contrary to propriety; if the thing comes to me, and I give nothing in return, that also is contrary to propriety. 24. If a man observe the rules of propriety, he is in a condition of security; if he do not, he is in one of danger. Hence there is the saying, 'The rules of propriety should by no means be left unlearned. ' 25. Propriety is seen in humbling one's self and giving honour to others. Even porters and pedlers are sure to display this giving honour (in some cases); how much more should the rich and noble do so (in all)! 26. When the rich and noble know to love propriety, they do not become proud nor dissolute. When the poor and mean know to love propriety, their minds do not become cowardly.
7. 27. When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife[2]. When
[1. Compare with this paragraph the state of 'the highest antiquity' described in the Tâo Teh King, chapters 18, 19, et al.
2 When it is said that at thirty a man has a wife, the meaning must be that he ought not to reach that age without being married. Early marriages were the rule in ancient China, as they are now. Confucius was married when barely twenty. In the same way we are to understand the being in office at forty. A man might take office at thirty; if he reached forty before he did so, there was something wrong in himself or others. ]
he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old. ' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. 28. A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. 29. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife[1]; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage[2]. 30. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. 31. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions[3].
[1. Perhaps we should translate here in the plural--'his women,' which would include his wife.
2. An 'easy carriage' was small. Its occupant sat in it, and did not stand.
3. It is supposed here that the foreign envoys first question the ruler, who then calls in the help of the aged minister. ]
PART II
1. 1. In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety[1].
2. 2. For all sons it is the rule :--In winter, to warm (the bed for their parents), and to cool it in summer; in the evening, to adjust everything (for their repose), and to inquire (about their health) in the morning; and, when with their companions, not to quarrel.
3. 3. Whenever a son, having received the three (first) gifts (of the ruler), declines (to use) the carriage and horses, the people of the hamlets and smaller districts, and of the larger districts and neighbourhoods, will proclaim him filial; his brothers and relatives, both by consanguinity and affinity, will proclaim him
[Part II enters more into detail about the rules of Propriety. It has been divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-two paragraphs.
Ch. 1. 1, speaks of a junior consulting an elder. 2. 2, describes services due from all sons to their parents. 3. 3, shows a filial son when raised to higher rank than his father. 4. 4-16, contains rules for a son in various circumstances, especially with reference to his father. 5. 17-26, gives the rules for younger men in their intercourse with their teachers and elders generally, and in various cases. 6. 27, is the rule for an officer in entering the gate of his ruler or coming out by it. 7. 28-32, deals with a host and visitor, and ceremonious visiting and intercourse generally.
3. The reply of Tsang Shan to Confucius, as related in vol. iii, pp. 465, 466, is commonly introduced in illustration of this second sentence. ]
loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:--this is the conduct of a filial son, 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
[1. The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,--not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
2. Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
3. Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself. ]
middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk in the middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the doorway[1]. 10. He should not take the part of regulating the (quantity of) rice and other viands at an entertainment. 11. He should not act as personator of the dead at sacrifice[2]. 12. He should be (as if he were) hearing (his parents) when there is no voice from them, and as seeing them when they are not actually there. 13. He should not ascend a height, nor approach the verge of a depth; he should not indulge in reckless reviling or derisive laughing. A filial son will not do things in the dark, nor attempt hazardous undertakings, fearing lest he disgrace his parents. 14. While his parents are alive, he will not promise a friend to die (with or for him)[3], nor will he have wealth that he calls his own. 15. A son, while his parents are alive, will not wear a cap or (other) article of dress, with a white border[4]. 16. An orphan son, taking his father's place, will not wear a cap or (other article of) dress with a variegated border[5].
5. 17. A boy should never be allowed to see an
[1.
THE LÎ KÎ.
A COLLECTION OF TREATISES ON THE RULES OF PROPRIETY OR CEREMONIAL USAGES.
BOOK 1. KHÜ LÎ.
SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF PROPRIETY.
SECTION I. PART I.
Ch. 1. 1. The Summary of the Rules of Propriety says:-Always and in everything let there be reverence; with the deportment grave as when
[On the names of the whole work and of this book, see the Introduction, pp. 9-12 and 15-17.
Part I is occupied with general principles and statements about Propriety rather than with the detail of particular rules. It may be divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-one paragraphs,
Ch. 1. 1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are essential in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation. 2. 2, specifies habits or tendencies incompatible with Propriety. 3. 3-5, gives instances of Propriety in superior men, and directions for certain cases. 4. 6, 7, states the rules for sitting, standing, and a mission to another state. 5. 8-22, sets forth how indispensable Propriety is for the regulation of the individual and society, and that it marks in fact the distinction between men and brutes. 6. 23-26, indicates how the rules, unnecessary in the most ancient times, grew with the progress of society, and were its ornament and security. 7. 27-31, speaks of the different stages of life, as divided into decades from ten years to a hundred; and certain characteristics belonging to them. ]
one is thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and definite. This will make the people tranquil.
2. 2. Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the full; pleasure should not be carried to excess.
3. 3. Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others and yet respect them; can stand in awe of others and yet love them. They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them. They accumulate (wealth) and yet are able to part with it (to help the needy); they rest in what gives them satisfaction and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere (when it is desirable to do so). 4. When you find wealth within your reach, do not (try to) get it by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not (try to) escape from it by improper means. Do not seek for victory in small contentions; do not seek for more than your proper share. 5. Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about; and (when you have no doubts), do not let what you say appear (simply) as your own view[1].
4. 6. If a man be sitting, let him do so as a personator of the deceased[2]; if he be standing, let him do so (reverently), as in sacrificing. 7. In
[1. The text in the second part of this sentence is not easily translated and interpreted. I have followed in my version the view of Kang, Kû Hsi,. and the Khien-lung editors. Callery gives for'the whole sentence, ' Ne donnez pas comme certain ce qui est douteux, mais exposez-le clairement sans arrière-pensée. ' Zottoli's view of the meaning is probably the same as mine: 'Dubiu's rerurn noli praesumere, sed sincerus ne tibi arroges. '
2 On the personator of the deceased, see vol. iii, pp. 300, 301, According to the ritual of Kau, the representatives of the dead always sat, and bore themselves with the utmost gravity. ]
(observing) the rules of propriety, what is right (for the time and in the circumstances) should be followed. In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed.
5. 8. They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong. 9. According to those rules, one should not (seek to) please others in an improper way, nor be lavish of his words, 10. According to them, one does not go beyond the definite measure, nor encroach on or despise others, nor is fond of (presuming) familiarities. 11. To cultivate one's person and fulfil one's words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety. 12. I have heard that it is in accordance with those rules that one should be chosen by others (as their model); I have not heard of his choosing them (to take him as such). I have heard in the same way of (scholars) coming to learn; I have not heard of (the master) going to teach. 13. The course (of duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety; 14. nor are training and oral lessons for the rectification of manners complete; 15. nor can the clearing up of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; 16. nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder brother and younger, be determined; 17. nor can students for office and (other) learners, in serving their masters, have an attachment for them; 18. nor can majesty and dignity be shown in assigning the different places at court, in the government of the armies, and in discharging the duties of office so as to secure the operation of the laws; 19. nor can there be the (proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiritual Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving, and the various sacrifices[1]. 20. Therefore the superior man is respectful and reverent, assiduous in his duties and not going beyond them, retiring and yielding;-thus illustrating (the principle of) propriety. 21. The parrot can speak, and yet is nothing more than a bird; the ape can speak, and yet is nothing more than a beast 22. Here now is a man who observes no rules of propriety; is not his heart that of a beast? But if (men were as) beasts, and without (the principle of) propriety, father and son might have the same mate. 22. Therefore, when the sages arose, they framed the rules of propriety in order to teach men, and cause them, by
[1. Four religious acts are here mentioned, in connexion with which the offerings to spiritual Beings were presented. What I have called 'various sacrifices' is in Chinese Kî sze. Wû Khang says: 'Kî means sacrificial offerings to the spirit (or spirits) of Earth, and sze those to the spirits of Heaven. Offerings to the manes of men are also covered by them when they are used together. '
2 We know that the parrot and some other birds can be taught to speak; but I do not know that any animal has been taught to enunciate words even as these birds do. Williams (Dict. p. 8og) thinks that the shang shang mentioned here may be the rhinopithecus Roxellana of P. David, found in Sze-khüan; but we have no account of it in Chinese works, so far as I know, that is not evidently fabulous. ]
their possession of them, to make a distinction between themselves and brutes.
6. 23. In the highest antiquity they prized (simply conferring) good; in the time next to this, giving and repaying was the thing attended to[1]. And what the rules of propriety value is that reciprocity. If I give a gift and nothing comes in return, that is contrary to propriety; if the thing comes to me, and I give nothing in return, that also is contrary to propriety. 24. If a man observe the rules of propriety, he is in a condition of security; if he do not, he is in one of danger. Hence there is the saying, 'The rules of propriety should by no means be left unlearned. ' 25. Propriety is seen in humbling one's self and giving honour to others. Even porters and pedlers are sure to display this giving honour (in some cases); how much more should the rich and noble do so (in all)! 26. When the rich and noble know to love propriety, they do not become proud nor dissolute. When the poor and mean know to love propriety, their minds do not become cowardly.
7. 27. When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife[2]. When
[1. Compare with this paragraph the state of 'the highest antiquity' described in the Tâo Teh King, chapters 18, 19, et al.
2 When it is said that at thirty a man has a wife, the meaning must be that he ought not to reach that age without being married. Early marriages were the rule in ancient China, as they are now. Confucius was married when barely twenty. In the same way we are to understand the being in office at forty. A man might take office at thirty; if he reached forty before he did so, there was something wrong in himself or others. ]
he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old. ' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. 28. A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. 29. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife[1]; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage[2]. 30. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. 31. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions[3].
[1. Perhaps we should translate here in the plural--'his women,' which would include his wife.
2. An 'easy carriage' was small. Its occupant sat in it, and did not stand.
3. It is supposed here that the foreign envoys first question the ruler, who then calls in the help of the aged minister. ]
PART II
1. 1. In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety[1].
2. 2. For all sons it is the rule :--In winter, to warm (the bed for their parents), and to cool it in summer; in the evening, to adjust everything (for their repose), and to inquire (about their health) in the morning; and, when with their companions, not to quarrel.
3. 3. Whenever a son, having received the three (first) gifts (of the ruler), declines (to use) the carriage and horses, the people of the hamlets and smaller districts, and of the larger districts and neighbourhoods, will proclaim him filial; his brothers and relatives, both by consanguinity and affinity, will proclaim him
[Part II enters more into detail about the rules of Propriety. It has been divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-two paragraphs.
Ch. 1. 1, speaks of a junior consulting an elder. 2. 2, describes services due from all sons to their parents. 3. 3, shows a filial son when raised to higher rank than his father. 4. 4-16, contains rules for a son in various circumstances, especially with reference to his father. 5. 17-26, gives the rules for younger men in their intercourse with their teachers and elders generally, and in various cases. 6. 27, is the rule for an officer in entering the gate of his ruler or coming out by it. 7. 28-32, deals with a host and visitor, and ceremonious visiting and intercourse generally.
3. The reply of Tsang Shan to Confucius, as related in vol. iii, pp. 465, 466, is commonly introduced in illustration of this second sentence. ]
loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:--this is the conduct of a filial son, 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
[1. The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,--not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
2. Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
3. Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself. ]
middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk in the middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the doorway[1]. 10. He should not take the part of regulating the (quantity of) rice and other viands at an entertainment.
1, tells how reverence and gravity, with careful speech, are essential in Propriety; and shows its importance to a community or nation. 2. 2, specifies habits or tendencies incompatible with Propriety. 3. 3-5, gives instances of Propriety in superior men, and directions for certain cases. 4. 6, 7, states the rules for sitting, standing, and a mission to another state. 5. 8-22, sets forth how indispensable Propriety is for the regulation of the individual and society, and that it marks in fact the distinction between men and brutes. 6. 23-26, indicates how the rules, unnecessary in the most ancient times, grew with the progress of society, and were its ornament and security. 7. 27-31, speaks of the different stages of life, as divided into decades from ten years to a hundred; and certain characteristics belonging to them. ]
one is thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and definite. This will make the people tranquil.
2. 2. Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the full; pleasure should not be carried to excess.
3. 3. Men of talents and virtue can be familiar with others and yet respect them; can stand in awe of others and yet love them. They love others and yet acknowledge the evil that is in them. They accumulate (wealth) and yet are able to part with it (to help the needy); they rest in what gives them satisfaction and yet can seek satisfaction elsewhere (when it is desirable to do so). 4. When you find wealth within your reach, do not (try to) get it by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not (try to) escape from it by improper means. Do not seek for victory in small contentions; do not seek for more than your proper share. 5. Do not positively affirm what you have doubts about; and (when you have no doubts), do not let what you say appear (simply) as your own view[1].
4. 6. If a man be sitting, let him do so as a personator of the deceased[2]; if he be standing, let him do so (reverently), as in sacrificing. 7. In
[1. The text in the second part of this sentence is not easily translated and interpreted. I have followed in my version the view of Kang, Kû Hsi,. and the Khien-lung editors. Callery gives for'the whole sentence, ' Ne donnez pas comme certain ce qui est douteux, mais exposez-le clairement sans arrière-pensée. ' Zottoli's view of the meaning is probably the same as mine: 'Dubiu's rerurn noli praesumere, sed sincerus ne tibi arroges. '
2 On the personator of the deceased, see vol. iii, pp. 300, 301, According to the ritual of Kau, the representatives of the dead always sat, and bore themselves with the utmost gravity. ]
(observing) the rules of propriety, what is right (for the time and in the circumstances) should be followed. In discharging a mission (to another state), its customs are to be observed.
5. 8. They are the rules of propriety, that furnish the means of determining (the observances towards) relatives, as near and remote; of settling points which may cause suspicion or doubt; of distinguishing where there should be agreement, and where difference; and of making clear what is right and what is wrong. 9. According to those rules, one should not (seek to) please others in an improper way, nor be lavish of his words, 10. According to them, one does not go beyond the definite measure, nor encroach on or despise others, nor is fond of (presuming) familiarities. 11. To cultivate one's person and fulfil one's words is called good conduct. When the conduct is (thus) ordered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course, we have the substance of the rules of propriety. 12. I have heard that it is in accordance with those rules that one should be chosen by others (as their model); I have not heard of his choosing them (to take him as such). I have heard in the same way of (scholars) coming to learn; I have not heard of (the master) going to teach. 13. The course (of duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety; 14. nor are training and oral lessons for the rectification of manners complete; 15. nor can the clearing up of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; 16. nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father and son, elder brother and younger, be determined; 17. nor can students for office and (other) learners, in serving their masters, have an attachment for them; 18. nor can majesty and dignity be shown in assigning the different places at court, in the government of the armies, and in discharging the duties of office so as to secure the operation of the laws; 19. nor can there be the (proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiritual Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving, and the various sacrifices[1]. 20. Therefore the superior man is respectful and reverent, assiduous in his duties and not going beyond them, retiring and yielding;-thus illustrating (the principle of) propriety. 21. The parrot can speak, and yet is nothing more than a bird; the ape can speak, and yet is nothing more than a beast 22. Here now is a man who observes no rules of propriety; is not his heart that of a beast? But if (men were as) beasts, and without (the principle of) propriety, father and son might have the same mate. 22. Therefore, when the sages arose, they framed the rules of propriety in order to teach men, and cause them, by
[1. Four religious acts are here mentioned, in connexion with which the offerings to spiritual Beings were presented. What I have called 'various sacrifices' is in Chinese Kî sze. Wû Khang says: 'Kî means sacrificial offerings to the spirit (or spirits) of Earth, and sze those to the spirits of Heaven. Offerings to the manes of men are also covered by them when they are used together. '
2 We know that the parrot and some other birds can be taught to speak; but I do not know that any animal has been taught to enunciate words even as these birds do. Williams (Dict. p. 8og) thinks that the shang shang mentioned here may be the rhinopithecus Roxellana of P. David, found in Sze-khüan; but we have no account of it in Chinese works, so far as I know, that is not evidently fabulous. ]
their possession of them, to make a distinction between themselves and brutes.
6. 23. In the highest antiquity they prized (simply conferring) good; in the time next to this, giving and repaying was the thing attended to[1]. And what the rules of propriety value is that reciprocity. If I give a gift and nothing comes in return, that is contrary to propriety; if the thing comes to me, and I give nothing in return, that also is contrary to propriety. 24. If a man observe the rules of propriety, he is in a condition of security; if he do not, he is in one of danger. Hence there is the saying, 'The rules of propriety should by no means be left unlearned. ' 25. Propriety is seen in humbling one's self and giving honour to others. Even porters and pedlers are sure to display this giving honour (in some cases); how much more should the rich and noble do so (in all)! 26. When the rich and noble know to love propriety, they do not become proud nor dissolute. When the poor and mean know to love propriety, their minds do not become cowardly.
7. 27. When one is ten years old, we call him a boy; he goes (out) to school. When he is twenty, we call him a youth; he is capped. When he is thirty, we say, 'He is at his maturity;' he has a wife[2]. When
[1. Compare with this paragraph the state of 'the highest antiquity' described in the Tâo Teh King, chapters 18, 19, et al.
2 When it is said that at thirty a man has a wife, the meaning must be that he ought not to reach that age without being married. Early marriages were the rule in ancient China, as they are now. Confucius was married when barely twenty. In the same way we are to understand the being in office at forty. A man might take office at thirty; if he reached forty before he did so, there was something wrong in himself or others. ]
he is forty, we say, 'He is in his vigour;' he is employed in office. When he is fifty, we say, 'He is getting grey;' he can discharge all the duties of an officer. When he is sixty, we say, 'He is getting old;' he gives directions and instructions. When he is seventy, we say, 'He is old;' he delegates his duties to others. At eighty or ninety, we say of him, 'He is very old. ' When he is seven, we say that he is an object of pitying love. Such a child and one who is very old, though they may be chargeable with crime, are not subjected to punishment. At a hundred, he is called a centenarian, and has to be fed. 28. A great officer, when he is seventy, should resign (his charge of) affairs. 29. If he be not allowed to resign, there must be given him a stool and staff. When travelling on service, he must have the attendance of his wife[1]; and when going to any other state, he will ride in an easy carriage[2]. 30. (In another state) he will, style himself 'the old man;' in his own state, he will call himself by his name. 31. When from another they ask (about his state), he must tell them of its (old) institutions[3].
[1. Perhaps we should translate here in the plural--'his women,' which would include his wife.
2. An 'easy carriage' was small. Its occupant sat in it, and did not stand.
3. It is supposed here that the foreign envoys first question the ruler, who then calls in the help of the aged minister. ]
PART II
1. 1. In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff with him (for the elder's use). When the elder asks a question, to reply without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering, is contrary to propriety[1].
2. 2. For all sons it is the rule :--In winter, to warm (the bed for their parents), and to cool it in summer; in the evening, to adjust everything (for their repose), and to inquire (about their health) in the morning; and, when with their companions, not to quarrel.
3. 3. Whenever a son, having received the three (first) gifts (of the ruler), declines (to use) the carriage and horses, the people of the hamlets and smaller districts, and of the larger districts and neighbourhoods, will proclaim him filial; his brothers and relatives, both by consanguinity and affinity, will proclaim him
[Part II enters more into detail about the rules of Propriety. It has been divided into seven chapters, containing in all thirty-two paragraphs.
Ch. 1. 1, speaks of a junior consulting an elder. 2. 2, describes services due from all sons to their parents. 3. 3, shows a filial son when raised to higher rank than his father. 4. 4-16, contains rules for a son in various circumstances, especially with reference to his father. 5. 17-26, gives the rules for younger men in their intercourse with their teachers and elders generally, and in various cases. 6. 27, is the rule for an officer in entering the gate of his ruler or coming out by it. 7. 28-32, deals with a host and visitor, and ceremonious visiting and intercourse generally.
3. The reply of Tsang Shan to Confucius, as related in vol. iii, pp. 465, 466, is commonly introduced in illustration of this second sentence. ]
loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:--this is the conduct of a filial son, 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term 'old' (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
[1. The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,--not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
2. Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
3. Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself. ]
middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk in the middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the doorway[1]. 10. He should not take the part of regulating the (quantity of) rice and other viands at an entertainment. 11. He should not act as personator of the dead at sacrifice[2]. 12. He should be (as if he were) hearing (his parents) when there is no voice from them, and as seeing them when they are not actually there. 13. He should not ascend a height, nor approach the verge of a depth; he should not indulge in reckless reviling or derisive laughing. A filial son will not do things in the dark, nor attempt hazardous undertakings, fearing lest he disgrace his parents. 14. While his parents are alive, he will not promise a friend to die (with or for him)[3], nor will he have wealth that he calls his own. 15. A son, while his parents are alive, will not wear a cap or (other) article of dress, with a white border[4]. 16. An orphan son, taking his father's place, will not wear a cap or (other article of) dress with a variegated border[5].
5. 17. A boy should never be allowed to see an
[1.
