No More Learning

E. P.
PROCEDURE
The root of Confucian teaching and its definition are given irr The Adult Study (Confucius' summary and Tseng's comment) and the Pivot (Tzse Sze's three state-
ments on Metaphysics, Politics and Ethics).
The Analects have no such coherence or orderly sequence; they ar. e the oddments which Kung's circle found indispensible, and for 2,500 years the most intelli- gent men of China have tried to add to them or to sub- tract. After a millenium they found that Mencius' work could not be subtracted. And the study of the Confucian philosophy is of greater profit than that of the Greek because no time is wasted in idle discussion of errors. Aristotle gives, may we say, 90% of his time to errors, and the Occident, even before it went off for seven or inore centuries into an otiose discussion of fads and hair- cuts (vide "The Venerable" Bede), had already started befuddling itself with the false dilemma : Aristotle OR Plato, as if there were no other roads to serenity.
Mencius never has to contradict Confucius; he carries the Confucian sanity down into particulars, never snared into rivalry by his flatterers.
Given the tradition that the Analects contain nothing superfluous, I was puzzled by the verses re length of the night-gown and the predilection for ginger. One must take them in the perspective of Voltaire's: "I admire Confucius. He was the first man who did not receive a divine inspiration. " By which I mean that these trifling details were useful at a time, and in a world, that tended to myths and to the elevation of its teachers into divinities. Those passages of the Analects are, as I see it, there to insist that Confucius was a Chinaman, not born of a dragon, not in any way supernatural, but remarkably possessed of good sense.
He liked good music, he collected The Odes to keep 7
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his fo11owers from abstract discussion. That is, The Odes give particular instances. They do not lead . to exaggerations of dogma. Likewise he collected the His- toric DocumentsJ asserting, quite truly, that he had invented nothing. Without Kung no one would discover that his teaching, or at any rate the root and the seed, are there in the " History Classic. "
The London Times has recently hit a new low in neg- lecting Kung's habit of summary. Anyone so unfortunate as to have the Times' critique of Kung's anthology thrust before them must, indeed, tingle with a slight warmth of irony. Kung said : " There are 300 Odes and their meaning c. an be gathered into one sentence : Have no twisty thoughts. "
Some translators think of everything, positively of everything, save what the original author was driving at.
BOOK ONE
I
8
EZRA POUND.
2. 'I'o have friends coming in from far quarters, not a delight?
3. Unruffled by men's ignoring him, also indicative of high breed.
II
1. Few filial and brotherly men enjoy cheeking their superiors, no one averse from cheeking his superiors stirs up public disorder.
2. 1~he real gentleman goes for the root, when the root is solid the (beneficent) process starts growing, filiality and brotherliness are the root of manhood, increasing with it.
III
1. He said : Elaborate phrasing about correct appear- ances seldom means manhood.
IV
1. Tseng-tse said : I keep an eye on myself, daily, for three matters : to get to the middle of mind when plan- ning with men; to keep faith with my friends; lest I teach and not practice.
v
1. He said : To keep things going in a state of ten thousand cars : respect what you do and keep your \Vord, keep accurate accounts and be friendly to others, employ the people in season. [Pr. obably meaning public works are not to interfere with agricultural production. ]
9
He said : Study with the seasons winging past, is
1.
not this pleasant?
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VI
1. He said : Young men should be filial in the home, and brotherly outside it; careful of what they say, but once said, stick to it; be agreeable to everyone, but develop friendship (further) with the real men; if they have any further energy left over, let them devote it to culture.
VII
1. Hsia-tze said: Gives weight to real worth and takes beauty lightly [or "amid changing appearances"], puts energy into being useful to his father and mother, and his whole personality into serving his prince; keeps his word with his friends; call him unaccomplished, I say that he is accomplished.
VIII
1. He said : A gentleman with no weight will not be revered, his style of study lacks vigour.
2. First : get to the middle of the mind ; then stick to
your \vord.
3. Friendship with equals.
4. Don't hesitate to correct errors. IX
1. Tseng-tse said: Look clearly to the end, and follow it up a long way; the people acting on conscience will get back to the solid.
BOOK ONE
XI
\. He said : During a father's lifetime, do what he wants; after his death, do as he did. If a man can go along like his father for three years, he can be said to be carrying-on filially.
XII
1. Yu-tze said : Gentleness (easiness) is to be prized
in ceremony, that was the antient kings' way, that was beautiful and the source of small actions and great.
2. But it won't always do. If one knows how to be easy and is, without following the details of ceremony, that won't do.
XIII
1. Yu-tze said: When keeping one's word comes near to justice one can keep it; when respect is almost a ceremony it will keep one far from shame and disgrace. Starting with not losing one's relatives, one can found a
x xv
1. Tze-Chin asked Tze-Kung: When the big man
gets to a country he has to hear about its government, does he ask for what's given him or is it just given?
2. Tze-Kung said : The big man is easy-going and
kindly, respectful in manner, frugal, polite, that's how
1. Tze-King said: Poor and no flatterer, rich and not high-horsey, what about him?
He said: Not like a fellow who is poor and cheerful,
or rich and in love with precise observance.
2. Tze-King said: It's in the Odes, "as you cut and then file; carve and then polish. " That's like what you mean?
11
he gets it.
men's.
His mode of going after it differs from other
10
line with honour.
perhaps too bold. ]
[This reading will be dsputed and is
XIV
1. He said : A gentleman eats without trying to stuff himself, dwells without seeking (total) quietude, attends to business, associates with decent people so as to adjust his own decencies; he can be said to love study.
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3. Ts'ze here, one can begin to discuss the Odes with him; gave him the beginning and he knew what come<l (after it).
XVI
1. He said : Not worried that men do not know me, but that I do not understand men.
BOOK TWO
I
1. Governing by the light of one's conscience is like the pole star which dwells in its place, and the other stars fulfill their functions respectfully.
II
1. He said : The anthology of 300 poems can be gathered into the one sentence : Have no twisty thoughts.
III
1. He said : If in governing you try to keep things levelled off in order by punishments, the people will, shamelessly, dodge.
2. Governing them by looking straight into one's
heart and then acting on it (on conscience) and keeping
order by the rites, their sense of shame will bring them
not only to an external conformity but to an organic order.
IV
1. He said : At fifteen I wanted to learn.
2. At thirty I had a foundation.
3. At forty, a certitude.
4. At fifty, knew the orders of heaven.
5. At sixty, was ready to listen to them.
6. At seventy, could follow n1y own heart's desire
without overstepping the T-square.
v
1. Mang-I-tze asked about filiality. He said : Don't disobey. *
*P. expands the . single word wei to mean: s'opposer a. ux principes de la raison, making the sentence equivalent to Gilson's statement of Erigena : Authority comes from right reason-anticipating the "rites" . (light and dish of fecundity) a few lines further down.
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2. Fan Ch'ih was driving him and he said : Mang-
Sun asked me about filiality, I said: it consists in not
disobeying (not opposing, not avoiding).
3. Fan Ch'ih said: How do you mean that? He said :
"While they are alive, be useful to them according to the
-proprieties; when dead, bury them according to the rites, . make the offerings according to the rites.
VI
1. Mang Wu the cider asked about filiality. He said :
. A father or inother is only worried as to whether a child is sick.
VII
1. Tze-Yu asked about filiality. He said: Present-day
-filial piety consists in feeding the parents, as one would a dog or a horse; unless there is reverence, what difference is there?
VIII
1. Tze-Hsia asked about filiality. He said: The trouble is with the facial expression. Something to be done, the junior takes trouble, offers food first to his elders, is that all there is to filiality?
IX
1. He said : I have talked a whole day with Hui and he sits quiet as if he understood nothing, then I have watched what he does. Hui is by no means stupid.
x
BOOK TWO
XI

1. If a man keep alive what is old and recognize
novelty, he can, eventually, teach.
1. He said : Watch a man's means, what and how.
2. See what starts him.
3. See what he is at ease in.
4. H o w can a man conceal his real
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bent?
1.
XII
The proper man is not a dish.
XIII
Tze-Kung said: What is a proper man? He said: He acts first and then his talk fits what he has done.
XIV
1. He said : A proper man is inclusive, not sectary; the small man is sectarian and not inclusive.
xv
1. He said : Research without thought is a mere net and entanglement; thought without gathering data, a peril.
XVI
1. He said : Attacking false systems merely harms you.
XVII
1. He said: Yu, want a definition of knowledge? To know is to act knowledge, and, when you do not knowr not to try to appear as if you did, that's knowing.
XVIII
1. Tze-Chang was studying to get a paid job.
2. He said : Listen a lot and hide your suspicions ; see that you really mean what you say about the rest, and you won't get into many scrapes. Look a lot, avoid the
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1.
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dangerous and be careful what you do with the rest, you will have few remorses. Salary is found in a middle space where there are few words blamed, and few acts
that lead to remorse.
XIX
1. Duke Ai asked how to keep the people in order.
He said : Promote the straight and throw out the twisty, and the people will keep order; promote the twisty and throw out the straight and they won't.
xx
1. Chi K'ang asked how to instil that sincere rever- ence which would make people work. He said : Approach them seriously [verso it popolo], respectful and deferent to everyone; pron1ote the just and teach those who just cannot, and they will try.
XXI
1. Someone asked Confucius why he was not in the government.
2. He said: The Historic Documents say: filiality, simply filiality and the exchange between elder and younger brother, that spreads into govern1nent; why should one go into the government?
[P. turns this admirably : Pourquoi con- siderer seulement ceux qui occupent des emplois publics, co1nme rernplissant des fonc- tions publiques. ]
XXII
l. He said : Men don't keep their word, I don't know what can be done for them : a great cart without a wagon-pole, a small cart and no place to hitch the traces.
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BOOK TWO
XXIII
1. Tze-Chang asked if there were any knowledge "good for ten generations.
2. He said : Yin, because there was wisdom in the rites of Hsia, took over some and added, and one can know this; Chou because it was in the rites of Yin took some and added; and one can know what; someone will
thread along after Chou, be it to an hundred generations one can know.
XXIV
1. He said : To sacrifice to a spirit not one's own is flattery.
2. To see justice and not act upon it is cowardice.
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? BOOK THREE
Pa Yih
The Eight Rows
I
1. Corps de ballet eight rows deep in Head of Chi's courtyard. Kung-tze said : If he can stand for that, what won't he stand for?
II
1. The Three Families used the Yung Ode while the
sacrificial vessels were cleared away. He said : "The Princes are facing the Dukes, the Son of Heaven is like a field of grain in the sunlight," does this apply to their family halls?
III
1. A man without manhood, is this like a rite? Is there any music to a man without n1anhood?
IV
1. Lin Fang asked what was the root of the rites.
2. He said : That is no small question.
3. Better to be economical rather than extravagant in
festivities and take funerals sorrowfully rather than lightly. [Poignancy rather than nuances (of ceremony). ]
BOOK THREE
VI
1. The head of the Chi sacrificing to T'ai Shan (the Sacred East Mountain), Confucius said to Zan Yu: Can't you save him? The reply was : I cannot. Kung said: Too bad, that amounts to saying that T'ai Shan is below the level of Lin Fang. [Vide supra, IV, L]
VII
1. He said : The proper man has no squabbles; if he
contends it is in an archery contest, he bows politely and
goes up the hall, he comes down and drinks (his forfeit if he loses), contending like a gentleman.
VIII
1. Tze-Hsia asked the meaning of :
" T h e dimpled smile, the eye's clear white and
black,
Clear ground whereon hues lie. "
2. He said : The broidery is done after the simple
weaving.
3. (Hsia) said: You mean the ceremonial follows . . ?
4. He said : Shang's on, I can start discussing poetry with him.
IX
1. He said : I can speak of the Hsia ceremonial but you can't prove it by Chi (data) ; I can speak of the Yin ceremonies but Sung (data) won't prove it. The inscribed offerings ar. e insufficient to argue from, were they ade- quate they could bear me out. [I should think this hsien 4. M. 2699, might refer to the inscribed sacrificial bones, which Karlgren has done so much work on. ]
vx
1. I--Ie said : Eastern and northern tribes have princes
1. He said : When the Emperor has poured the liba- tion in the Sacrifice to the Source of the dynasty, I have no wish to watch the rest of the service.
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not like this Hsia country has lost. them. ]
18
[Or: which has lost
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XI
1. Someone said : What does the sacrifice mean? He said: I do not know. If one knew enough to tell that, one could govern the empire as easily as seeing the palm of one's hand.
XII
1. He sacrificed as if he had taken root-hold in the earth, he- sacrificed to the circumvolant spirits as if they took root.
2. He said: If I do not enter into this light, it is as if I did not sacrifice. [Or, H I do not give, i. e. myself, to it. ]
XIII
1. " stove versus altar "
Wang-sun Chia asked the meaning of : It is better to pay court to the hearth [pre. rnnt lexicons: stove] than to the mysterious (the household gods).
2. He said: It simply isn't. Who sins against heaven has nothing to pray to. [No means of getting light with the seasons. ]
XIV
I. He said : Chou revised the two dynasties, how full and precise was its culture, I fo11ow Chou.
xv
1. B:ntering the Great Ten1ple, he asked about every detail. Son1eone said : Who says the Man from Tsau knows the rites? He goes into the Great Temple and asks about everything. He said : That is the etiquette.
XVI
" bullseye better than shooting thru the target "
1. He said : In archery the going clean thru the leather is not. the first requisite. Men aren't equally
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BOOK THREE
strong. That was the old way [? when they were ex- p. ected to be all of them fit for itJ.
XVII
1. Tze-Kung wanted to eliminate the sheep from the sacrifice to the new moon.
2. He said : You, Ts'ze, love the sheep, I love the rite.
XVIII
1. He said : Some people consider it sycophancy to serve one's prince with all the details of the rites.
XIX
1. The Duke of Ting asked how a prince should employ his ministers, and how ministers should serve their prince. Kung-tze answered : The prince uses his ministers according to the prescribed ceremonial, minis- ters serve the prince by their sincerity. [The prince to judge the propriety, the ministers (middle-heart) not to fake in the execution. ]
xx
I. He said : The fish-hawk song [the first of the folk- songs in the anthology] is pleasant without being licen- tious, its melancholy does no hurt (does not wound).
XXI
1. The Duke Ai asked Tsai Wo about the chthonian altars. * Tsai Wo replied: The Hsia dynasty's clans planted pines, the Yin cypress, and the men of Chou chestnut trees (Ii) in order to instil awe (Ii) in the populace.
*P. Q? Ufels ou tertres de terre; rather than P's" w11tour," I should take " amid " pines, etc.
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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).
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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?
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? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 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.