No More Learning

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"? --
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XIV
1. He said: if you haven't the smooth tongue of T'o the prayer-master, or Sung Chao's beauty, it's hard to get away with it in this generation.
xv
1. He said: The way out is via the door, how is it that no one will use this method.
XVI
1. He said : More solidity than finish, you have the
rustic; more finish than solid worth, the clerk; accom-
plishment and solidity as two trees growing side by side and together with leafage and the consequence is the proper man.
XVII
1. He said : men are born upright, if they tangle this inborn nature, they are lucky to escape.
XVIII
1. He said : Those who know aren't up to those who love; nor those who love, to those who delight in.
XIX
1. He said : One can talk of high things (or, of the better things) with those who are above mediocrity, with those below mediocrity one cannot.
xx
1. Fan Ch'ih asked about knowing. He said : put
your energy into human equities, respect the spirits and
powers of the air and keep your distance, that can be called knowing. He asked about humanitas. (Con- fucius) said: the real man goes first for the difficulty, success being secondary. That you can call manhood.
38
BOOK SIX
XXI
. 1. He said : the wise delight in water, the humane delight in the hills. The knowing are active ? the humane
tranquil; . the lmowing get the pleasure, and the human~ get long hfe.
XXII
1. He said : If Ch'i could make one change it would con;e up to Lu_; if Lu could achieve one change it would arrive at the right way to do things.
XXIII
1. He said : a cornered dish without corners; what
sort of a cornered dish is that? XXIV
1. Tsai Wo said : If you yell : "well-hole" [Both L. and M. say: meaning, "a man down it"], wiH the proper m~n go down after him? He said: why? a proper n;an would come to the edge, he can't (be expected to) smk; he can be cheated, but not entrapped.
[Itisnotuptohimtogodownit. Whynot the literal: If they tell him manhood is at the bottom of the well, will he go down after it? a simple pun on the spoken word jen' without the graph. ]
xxv
1. f'. e said : A p~oper man extends his study of accomplishment, he brings it into close definition for the rites, and that may enable him to keep from divagations
(from overstepping the edge of the field).
XXVI
1. _He went to see (the duchess) Nan-tze. Tse-Lu was displeased. The big man said: Well I'll be damned if there's anything wrong about this, heaven chuck me:
39
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XXVII
He said: the pivot that does not wobble (what it's all about, always); looking into the mind and then doing; attain this? Few men have for long.
XXVIII
1. Tze-Kung said : if a man extend wide benefits to the people and aid them all [pictorially: sees that they all get an even or constant water supply] would you call that manhood? He said: why attribute that to manhood, he would have to be a sage, Yao and Shun were still worried about such things. [Or: at fault, unable to accomplish all that. ]
2. The complete man wants to build up himself in order to build up others ; to be intelligent (see through things) in order to make others intelligent.
3. To be able to take the near for analogy, that may be called the square of humanitas, and that's that.
BOOK SEVEN
Shu Erh
I
1. He said : Transmitting not composing, standing by the word and loving the antient [L. antients]. I might get by in old P'ang's class.
II
1. He said : Like a dog by a spent camp-fire (i. e. , si1ent or ? dark) remembering, studying and not satiate [pictogranimically same dog under shelter. The" remem- bering" is specifically keeping ? the right tone of the word. Various signs containing dog cover the various emotions of dog in given conditions, and are oriented by context], teaching others without being weary, how can these things apply to me?
III
1. lie said : To see into one's mind and not measure
acts to it; to study and not analyse [rt/hand component also in verb "to plough"], to hear equity and not have the gumption to adjust (oneself to it), to be wrong and unable to change, that's what worries me.
IV
1. When dining at home, he was unbent, easy-like,. \Vith a smile-smile. [P. charmingly; ses maniCres etaient douces et persuasives ! que son air etait affable et pre- venant ! ]
v
1. He said : Deep my decadence, I haven't for a long time got back to seeing the Duke of Chou in my dreams.
41
-40
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
VI
1. He said : Keep your mind (will, directio voluntatis) on the process (the way things function).
2. Grab at clarity in acting on inwit as a tiger lays
hold of a pig.
3. That outward acts comply with manhood. 4. Relax in the cultural arts.
VII
1. He said : From the fellow bringing his flitch of dried meat upward, I have never refused to teach (any- one).
VIII
1. He said: Not zeal not explain [slightly more inclusive than L. 's I do not explain to anyone who is not eagerJ, not wishing to speak, not manifesting. [L. M. slant vt to equivalents of: I don't show it to anyone who won't put his own cards on the table. ] I hold up one corner (of a subject) if he cannot turn the other three, I do not repeat (come back to the matter).
IX
1. When eating beside someone in mourning he did not stuff himself.
2. He did not sing on the same day he had mourned.
x
1. He said to Yen Yuan: When in office keep to the edge of its duties; when out, don't meddle (keep under the grass), only I and you have this sense.
2. Tze-Lu said : If you were in charge of the three army corps whom would you take for associate?
3. He said: Not someone who would tackle a tiger
barehanded or cross a stream without boats and die with-
out regret. Not on the staff; but a man who keeps both
eyes open when approaching an action, who likes to plan and bring to precision.
42
BOOK SEVEN
XI
1. He said : If I could get rich by being a postillion I'd do it; as one cannot, I do what I like.
XII
1. The things he looked very straight at, were the
arrangement of altar dishes, war and disease.
XIII
1. In Ch'i he heard the " Shao " sung, and for three months did not know the taste of his meat; said : didn't figure the performance of music had attained to that summit.
XIV
1. Yen Yu said: Is the big man for the Lord of Wei? Tze-Kung said : I'll ask him.
2. Went in and said: What sort of chaps were Po-i and Chu Ch'i? Confucius said : Antients of solid merit.
" (Did they) regret it? "
(Confucius) said : They sought manhood, and reached manhood, how could they regret after that?
(Tze-Kung) came out and said: He's not for him. (No go. Not business, won't work. )
xv
1. He said: A meal of rough rice to eat water to drink, bent arm for a pillow, I can be hap~y in sucht condition, riches and honours got by injustice seem to' me drifting clouds.
XVI
1. He said : If many years were added to me, I would' give fifty to the study of The Book of the Changes, andi might thereby manage to avoid great mistakes.
/(' .
l1
43
/I' 'J
. /. . 1'.
J
,! ,,'
,_. ,;
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS XVII
1. [L. : What he constantly talked of, hut ya? means also elegant. ] He frequently spoke of (and kept refining his expression about) the Odes, the Historic Documents,
the observance of rites (ceremonial, correct procedure) all frequently (or polished) in his talk.
XVIII
1. The Duke of Sheh asked Tze-Lu about Confucius; Tze-J_,u did not answer.
2. He said : Couldn't you have said: He's so keen and eager he forgets to eat, so happy he forgets his troubles and doesn't know age is coming upon him?
XIX
1. He said: I wasn't born knowing; Jove antiquity (the antients), actively investigating.
xx
1. He did not expatiate on marvels, feats of strength, disorder or the spirits of the air.
XXI
1. He said : three of us walking along, perforce one to teach me, if he gets it right, I follow, if he errs, I do different.
XXII
1. He said: Heaven gave me my conscience, what can Hwan T'ui do to me.
XXIII
1. He said : You two or three, do I hide anything from you? I do not hide anything from you, I don't go
IlOOK SEVEN
XXIV
1. He taught by four things : literature, procedure, sincerity (middle-heart) and standing by his word. [P. rather better: employait quatrc sortes d'enseignements. Taught by means of four things. ]
xxv
1. He said : I have not managed to see a sage man.
If I could manage to see a proper man (one in whom
the ancestral voices function) that would do.
2. He said: A totally good man, I have not managed to see. If I could see a constant man (consistent, a
" regular fellow ") that would do.
3. To lack and pretend to have, to be empty and
pretend to be full, to be tight and pretend to be liberal : hard to attain consistency (in that case).
XXVI
1. He fished but not with a net; shot but not at sit- ting birds.
XXVII
1. If there are men who start off without knowledge, I don't. I listen a lot and pick out what is balanced, see a lot and keep the tone of the word, and so manage to
know.
XXVIII
l. It was bothersome to talk with Hu-hsiang folk, the disciples were worried when Kung received a boy. 2. He said: I give to those who approach, not to those who go away; who is so deep; if a man wash and approach, I give to the clean (or, to his cleanliness) I
don't uphold his past (or his future).
XXIX
1. He said: Manhood, how is it something afar off; I want to be human, and that humanity I get to.
45
along and not give it you, that's me. the real Ch'iu, Confucius-Hillock. )
44
(You are getting
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xxx
1. The Minister of Crimes in Ch'an asked Confucius if the Duke Chao knew the correct procedure. Con- fucius said : he knew the procedure.
2. Confucius went out, and (the Minister) beckoned to Wu-ma Ch'i saying: I hear the gentleman is not pre- judiced (partisan) yet he is partisan. The prince m:irried a Wu, of the same surname as (himself) and called her Wu-elder. If that's knowing proper procedure, who don't know procedure?
3. Wu-ma Ch'i reported this. Confucius said: Ch'iu's lucky (i. e. , I am lucky). If I make a mistake it's bound to be known.
XXXI
1. If he was with a man who sang true, he would
make him repeat and sing in harmony with him.
XXXII
1. He said : I am about up to anyone else in education,
it's the personal conduct of a proper man, that's what I don't come up to.
XXXIII
1. He said : As sage, as full man, can I set myself up as a model? I try and don't slack when tired, I teach men without weariness, that's the limit of what you can say of me. Kung-hsi Hwa said: Exactly what we younger chaps can't get by study.
XXXIV
1. He was very ill. Tze-Lu asked to pray. He said: Does one? Tze-Lu answered : one does. The Eulogies say: We have prayed for you to the upper and lower spirits venerable. He said: I, Ch'iu, have been praying for a long time.
46
BOOK SEVEN
xxxv
1. He said : extravagance is not a pattern for grand- sons; parsimony is pattern of obstinacy; better be obstinate than break the line to posterity.
XXXVI
1. He said: the proper man: sun-rise over the land, level, grass, sun, shade, flowing out; the mean man adds distress to distress.
XXXVII
1. He was both mild and precise; grave and not
aggressive, reverent and tranquil.
47
? BOOK EIGHT
Tai Po
I
1. He said of T'ai Po: It can be said that he com- pletely brought his acts up to the level of his inwit; three times refusing the empire, the people could not arrive at weighing the act.
[Note: T a i Po abdicated in favour o f his younger brothlf'I', Wan's father, in order that Wan might inherit. This because he con- sidered Wan the member of the family capable of delivering the state from the Yirt dynasty. ]
[Syntactical trouble re/" three times. " Wan's father
iuas the third S? On. The three might mean "in lhree ways"; for hiniself, his second brother, ood their heirs? )
II
1. He said : respect without rules of procedure be-
comes laborious fuss; scrupulosity without rules of
procedure, timidity (fear to show the thought) ; boldness
without such rules breeds confusion ; directness without rules of procedure becomes rude.
2. Gentlemen "bamboo-horse" to their relatives [the bamboo is both hard on the sttrface and pliant] and the people will rise to manhood; likewise be auld (acquaint- ance) not neglected, the people will not turn mean (pilfer).
III
1. Tsang-tze was ill ; called his disciples saying : uncover my feet, my hands, the Odes say : cautious, tread light as on the edge of a deep gulph, or on thin ice. And now and for the future I know what I am escaping, my children.
48
" 1. 2.
BOOK EIGHT
IV
Tsang-tze was ill, Mang Chang-tze went to enquire.
Tsang said : When a bird is about to die its note
is mournful, when a man is about to die, his ~ords are balanced.
3. There are three things a gentleman honours in his way of life : that in taking energetic action he maintain a calm exterior at far remove fron1 over-bearing and sloth, that his facial expression come near to correspond- ing with what he says, that the spirit of his talk be not me~n nor of double-talk. The sacrificial covered splint frmt baskets and altar platters have assistants to look after them.
1.
v
Tsang-tze said : Able yet willing to ask those who
:were not talented, possessed of many things, but enquir-
mg of those who had few, having as though he had not, full and acting as if empty, not squabbling when offended, I once had a friend who followed that service.
VI
1. Tsang-tze said : Fit to be guardian of a six cubits orphan (a prince under 15) in governing a state of an hundred ii who cannot be grabbed by the approach of great-tallies [ta chieh 795 (e) 6433. 30 must mean some- thing more than L's "any emergency," i. e. , must indicate no-t getting rattled either at nearing the annual report ta the overlord, or by the coming near it, i. e. , to the chance of appropriating to himself the symbol of power] a proper man? aye, a man of right breed.
VII
1. Tsang-tze: An officer cannot Jack magnanimous
courage (boldness of bow-arm) he carries weight on a Jong journey.
49
? ? ? -----------? ? -- - -
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
2. Full manhood in fulfilling his personal duties, is that not weighty, death and then it ends, is not that long?
VIII
1. He said : Aroused by the Odes.
2. Stablished by the rites.
3. Brought into perfect focus by music.
IX
1. He said : People can be made to sprout (produce, act, follow), they cannot be commissioned to know.
x
1. He said: In love with audacity and loathing (sickened at) poverty: (leads to) confusion; when a man's lack of manly qualities is excessively deep that also
means disorder.
XI
1. He said : Though a man have the Duke of Chou's brilliant ability, if he be high-horsey and stingy, the rest is not worth looking at.
XII
1. He said: It is not easy to study for three years without some good grain from it.
[Ideogram ku; interesting as meaning both corn and g. aod, or good luck. ]
XIII
1. He said: strong and faithfully loving study [strong, again the "bamboo-horse": hard and supple]
maintaining till death the balanced, radiant process.
2. As for looking for troubled waters to fish in. Not
enter a province on the brink, nor live in a disorganized
so
BOOK EIGHT
province; when the empire has the process (is function- ing) will be looked at; when it is without organization, will be out of sight.
3. When a state is functioning, poverty and meanness
are shameful; when a state is in chaos (ill governed)
riches and honours are shameful.
corrupt government. ]
[Let us say: under a
XIV
1. He said : not being in (an) office; not plan its
functioning.
xv
1. He said: when Music Master Chih began [L. entered office] the ensemble finale of the fish-hawk song, came wave over wave an ear-full and how!
XVI
1. He said : Uppish and not straight, ignorant and dishonest [let us say: not spontaneous]. quite simple and still not keeping their word; I don't make 'em out. [Empty-headed, and not keeping their word. ]
XVII
1. He said: study as if unattainable, as if fearing to lose (grip on lt).
XVIII
1. He said : lofty as the spirits of the hills and the
grain-mother, Shun and Yu held the empire, as if not
in a mortar with it.
[M. 7615, e: as if unconcerned. ] XIX
1. He said: How great was Yao's activity as ruler
lofty as the spirits of the hills; only the heavens' working 51
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
is great, and Yao alone on that pattern, spreading as
grass, sunlight and shadow, the people could not find if a name.
2. How marvellous the way he brought his energies
to a focus. Brilliant-gleaming? the perfect expression
of his statutes.
xx
l. Shun had five men [emphasis on "men," I thinle] for ministers and the en1pire was governed.
2. King Wu said : I have ten able ministers [vide L. and M. 4220. a 3. ] [Unorthodox reading: King Wu said : I have ten men to serve me in this chaos. M. 4220. 27. I have ten obstreperous, wrong-headed ministers. ]
3. Kung-tze said : Talents are really hard to find. The houses of T'ang (Yao) and Yu (in the person of Shun). At the time of (Yao of the house of) T'ang and (Shun of) Yu in their plenitude, there were a woman and nine men only.
4. Having two thirds of the empire, by keeping them
in service, (in the uniform) of Yin, the conscientiousness of Chou can be said to have attained its maximum in action.
XXI
l. He said: I find Yu without. flaw, frugal in drink- ing and eating, showing the utmost filial continuity vvith the spirits and powers of air, badly dressed ordinarily, but absolutely elegant in sacrificial black and blue robes and sovran-cap (mortar board), an inferior palace for a house, he put all his energy into the irrigation and drain- age (aqueducts and ditches), I find him utterly flawless.
52
BOOK NINE
Tze Han
I
l. He seldom spoke of profits, destiny, and total
manhood.
II
l. A villager from Ta-Hsiang said: Great man, Kung- tze extends his studies but does nothing to bring his reputation to a point.
2. Confucius heard this and asked his young students : what should I do, take up charioteering or take up archery? I'll take up charioteering.
III
l. He said : The ceremonial hemp eap is now silk; that's an econon1y, I conform.
2. Bowing as you enter the hall is according to the rites, they now bow when they have come up the hall, cheeky; although against the common usage, I conform
[or continue (to bow)] at the lower end of the hall. IV
l. He was cut off from four things; he had no pre- judices, no categoric imperatives, no obstinacy or no obstinate residues, no time-lags, no egotism.
1~
2.
v
He was alarmed in Kwang.
Said: King Wan has passed on, the wan (the pre-
cise knowledge) is rooted here?
3. If heaven were about to destroy that spirit of precision, after Wan's death, it would not have lasted on
53
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
and been given to me. If heaven is not about to destroy
BOOK NINE
x
,l, Yen Yuan sighed heavily and said : I looked up, they filled the aloft; I bored in to them and they were totally solid; respectfully standing before them, they sud- denly took root-hold in consequence.
2. The big man, orderly, one point tied to another, with perfect balance induces men (words that grow as easily as weed, but are good, grain-words), he enlarges us with literature, and keeps us in bound by the rites.
[ u Rites": This word li3 contains something of the idea in the French" ii sait vivre," though it would be an exaggeration to say that one ca.