The four seasons go on,
everything
gets born.
Ezra Pound - Confucian Analects
appre- hend [the component mind in lower nt/ of ideogram, get the meanVng], that his appearance be serene, his beari~g respectful, and that his speech come from the plumb centre of his mind (not slanty), that his affairs maintain
reverence [I do not think 1this ideogram, can be too far separated from the original s. ource, it has to do with vege- tative order] ; when in doubt, that he ask questions, and when enraged that he think of troublesome consequence; when he sees the chance of gain, that he think of equity.
Up to now we have IU1ll1 many definitions of words, several chapters define or dissociate categories, ref/ Ta S'eu, testament, verses 3, 4.
111
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
BOOK SIXTEEN
l heard of the Book of Rites, I heard that a proper man don't nag his son.
XIV
l. The wife of the prince of a state is styled by the prince : The distinguished person; she calls herself : Small child; the people of the state call her: The Prince's dis? tinguished person; those of other states style her : Little small sovran, and of (still) other states style her Prince's distinguished person.
XI.
l. Kung? tze said: Seeing the good as if unreachable; seeing evil as if it were boiling to the touch; I have seen such men, and heard such talk.
2. Living in retirement to find out what they really
want, practising equity to carry into conduct. I have heard conversation about this, but have not seen such men.
XII
l. Duke Ching of Ch'i had a thousand quadriga, on the day of his death (even at his funeral) the people did not praise his honesty [L. not praise for single virtue]. Po-i and Shu? ch'i died of hunger 'neath Southslope Head and the folk praise them down to this day.
2. That illustrates what I was saying.
Kung? fu-tzu's son
XIII
l. Ch'an K'ang asked Po-yu if he had heard anything "different" [i. e. from what K. told the rest of them].
2. He replied: No, he was standing alone (one day) as I was passing the hall in a hurry (or going by the court? yard), he said : Studied the odes? (Or are you studying the odes? )
I replied : No.
"Not study the odes, won't be able to use words. "
I went out and studied the Odes.
3. Another day he was again standing alone, I went
by the court in a hurry. Said : Studying the rites? Replied: No.
" If you don't study the rites you won't be able to
stand up" (build up a character).
I went out and studied the Rites.
4. Those are the two things I've heard (from him).
5. Ch'an K'ang retired saying delightedly: Asked one
question and got to three things. I heard of the Odes,
112
113
------------. . -------~
? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK SEVENTEEN
Yang H. o
(a minister who had usurped power)
I
l. Yang Ho wanted to see Confucius (Kung-tze), Kung-tze did not see him. He sent Kung-tze a pig. Kung- tze, timing to miss him, went out to pay his duty call, but met Yang on the road.
2. He said : I want to talk to you : keeping treasure inside you, country in chaos, call that manly?
Said: No.
"In love with work (in love with following the service) continually missing the time, call that intelligent? "
Said: No.
~' Sun and moon move, the year don't wait for you. " Said : 0 . K. . I'll take office.
II
He said : Men are born pretty much alike, it's practis- ing something that puts distance between them.
III
He said: Only those of highest intelligence, and lowest simplicity do not shift. [L cannot be changed, le. rt probably. includes b. oth meaning$. ]
IV
(On cultural persuasfon)
l. At Battle-Wall he heard the sound of strmged instrtunents and singing.
2. The big man smiled with pleasure saying : Why use an ox knife to kill a fowl?
114
BOOK SEVENTEEN
3. Tze-yu replied, I'm the man, sir, who once heard
you say : If the gentleman studies the process and loves men, the lower people will study the process and be easy to rule. [I suppose Yen Tze-yu was in charge of tlv>s frontier town on a crag. ]
4. He said: You fellows, Yen's words are on the_ line,
I was just joking round it.
v
l. Kung-shan Fu-zao givmg trouble in the passes [field paths, 4896, short-cuts, hence vb/ rebel] of Pi,
invited him and he (Confucius) wanted to go.
2. Tze-Iu was "not amused," said: Not to be done,
that's that. Why must you poke into that Kung-shan gang?
3. He said : The man's invited me, suppose I go with
him [aliter: is that empty, an empty gesture. Depends on which sense one gives to 6536 (or c) t'uJ. suppose he should make use of me, couldn't I create a Chou in the East?
VI
Tze-chang asked Kung-tze about manhood. Kung-tze said: To be able [neng', power in union, as differing from k'e, power to support, hold up, carry] to practise five things (all together) wonld humanize the whole empire.
(Chang) asked clarification.
Said: Sobriety (? serenvtas), magnanimity, sticking by
one's word, promptitude (in attention to detail), kindli- ness (caritas).
Serenity will shape things so that you will not be insnlted.
With magnanimity you will reach the mass.
Keep your word and others will confide [aim: trust you enough to employ you].
115
- ------- ------
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? pertinence.
116
-----------
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
By promptitude you will get through your jobs, (meritorious work).
Kindliness is enough to get results from those you employ.
VII
1. Pi Hsi invited him and he wanted to go.
Tze-Lu said : I, Sprout, am the chap who heard you
say, sir, "When a man personally does evil, a proper man
won't enter [won't go into (it with him)].
Pi-Hsi is in rebellion in Chung-rnau. If you go, what's
that like?
2. He said : I said it. But isn't it said : You can grind
a hard thing without making it thin.
Isn't it said : Some white things can be dipped and not
blackened. [Cf. G. Guinvcetli].
3. Am I like a bitter melon, to be hung up and not
eaten?
VIII
1. He said : Sprout, have you heard the six terms (technical terms) and the six befuddlements (over- growings)?
Replied : No.
2. " Sit down, I'll explain 'em to you. "
3. Love of manhood minus love of study: befuddle-
ment into naivete.
Love of knowledge without love of study: runs wild
into waste incorrelation.
Love of keeping one's word, without study runs amok
into doing harm.
Love of going straight without studying where to,
degenerates into bad manners.
Love of boldness without love of study, leads to chaos.
Love of hard edge (hardness, stiffness) leads to im-
BOOK SEVENTEEN
IX
1. He said :, Mes enfants, why does no one study the great Odes? [Or more probably: these Odes. ]
2. The Odes can exhilarate (lift the will).
3. Can give awareness (sharpen the vision, help yOu
spot the bird).
4. Can teach dissociation. [L. takes it as: exchange,
sociability. ]
5. Can cause resentment (against evil).
L. regulate feelings? ? katharsis? ? means o f dealing with resentment. I mistrust a soft interpretation.
6. Bring you near to being useful to your father and
mother, and go on to serving your sovran.
7. Remen1ber the names of many birds, animals, plants
and trees.
x
He said to (his son) Po-Yu: You go to work on the Chao-South and Shao-South poems. A man who hasn't worked on the Chao-nan and Shao-nan is like one who stands with his face to a wall.
XI
He said : Rites, they say, Rites! How do we place the
jewels and the silk robes? Music, they say, Music! Where do the gongs and drums stand? [Mind on in- struments not on shape of the musvc. ]
XII
He said : Hard as a whetstone outside and wobbly as grass (or squashy) inside is rather like a picayune fellow who bores a hole in a wall to steal.
XIII 2556 He said : These (? lenient) village prototypes are pur-
loiners (con men) acting on a conscience not their own
117
? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
[L. takes yuan' (7725) as equiv. ; 7727. Rousseauesques] good careful, thieves of virtue. [P: cherchent /es suffrages des mllageois. Note 7725 a. J
XIV
He said : To pass on wayside gossip and smear with
BOOK SEVENTEEN
statements unl<ss they are taken as fixing the
meaning and usage of the words. ]
the old punctilio [attention, ed. almost be point of honour] was modest (implying consideration of values)' the present is mere peevishness ; the old simplicity was direct, the present consists in thinking you can fool others by simple wheezes, [or simply: is faked] and that's that.
XVII
He said: Elaborate phrases and a pious expression (L. M. insinuating) seldom indicate manliness.
XVIII
He said : I hate the way purple spoils vermilion, I hate the way the Chang sonority confuses the music of the Elegantiae, I hate sharp mouths (the clever yawp, mouths set on profits) that overturn states and families.
XIX
l. He said : I'd like to do without words.
2. Tze-kung said : But, boss, if you don't say it, how can we little guys pass it on?
3. He said: Sky, how does that talk?
The four seasons go on, everything gets born. Sky, what words does the sky use?
xx
Zu Pei wanted to see Kung-tze. Kung-tze declined on
account of illness. As the messenger was going out the
front door, he took his lute and sang so that the latter
could hear.
L. notes indicate that Zu had probably asked advice before and not taken it, and that the call was fake, try on.
119
scolding is to defoliate one's candour. 2
'I'u is primarily smear, secondarily road, with binome L. and M. tell what one has heard on the road.
General sense perfectly clear, the verse is against careless gossip and ill-natured slander, "smear-scold" is there in the pictogram if one wants it.
(To waste acts proceeding from clear conscience) is to
stop acting on one's own inner perceptions.
xv
1. He said: How can one serve a prince along with these village-sized (kinky) minds?
2. Until they get on they worry about nothing else, and, when they have, they worry about losing the advantages.
3. When they are afraid of losing (advantages, privileges) there is nothing, absolutely nothing they will not do to retain (them) (no length they won't go to).
XVI
l. He said : iMen of old had three troubles which no longer exist.
2. The old uppishness was reckless (ostentatious), the
present uppishness, mere dissipation;
[Mvght say, old was hearty, present dissolute. Excess vs. pettiness, petty leaks. Exuberance vs. license. There is no~hing in such brief
118
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS XXI
1. Tsai Wo asked about three years' mourning, wasn't one foll year enough?
2. He said : If gentlemen do not observe the rites, the rites will go to ruin; if music is not played for three years the music will slip down.
3. The old (good) grain is exhausted, the new grain has risen; fire you kindle by twirling wood is a different fire, you can stop at tht end of a year.
L. put. in idea that " kindling by friction we go thru all the changes of wood" on the belief that they used different kinds of wood drills at dirfjerent seas. ans, elm, willow, in spring, dat~, almond in summer. I should be more inclined to think that Kwng indicates a break in con- tinuity, but ends on the note: but do it if you
like. Cf. verse 6 below.
4. He said : You'd feel at ease eating your rice and
wearing embroidered clothes?
Said : Quite.
5. He said : If you can feel easy, go ahead, but the
proper man during the period of mourning, does not savour sweet food, does not delight in hearing n1usic, does not feel easy in cushy surroundings, and therefore does not indulge, but if you now feel easy about it, go ahead.
6. Tsai Wo went out.
He said : He is not fully humane, a child does not leave its parental arms till it is three; three years' mourning is observ<;d everywhere under heaven, did (Tsai Wo) Yu have three years' parental affection?
I suggest that the medimval debate betwem active and contemplative life is moderated Ui the old Chinese disposition, the need of con- templaitive period being answered by the years of mourning.
120
BOOK SEVENTEEN
XXII
, He said: Stuffing in food all day, nothing that he puts his mind on, a hard case ! Don't chess players at least do something and have solid merit by comparison? ?
XXIII
Tze-lu said : Does the proper man honour bravery?
He said : The proper man puts equity at the top, if a gentleman have courage without equity it will make a mess; if a mean man have courage without equity he will steal.
XXIV
1. Tze-kung said : Does the proper man have his hatreds also?
Said : He has hates, he hates those who proclaim the ill doing of others; he hates those who live below the current and s? lander those above; he hates those who are bold without observing the rites (don't use their courage rightly, audacious in outraging the proper procedures), he hates those who obstinately presume and obstruct* [or, 'vho are satisfied to presume and obstruct. ]
2. Said : Granty, have you any hates?
"Hate those who snoop and pretend they have found out by intelligence; hate those who think brashness is courage; hate blabbers who pr. etend they do it from honesty. "
xxv
He said : Young women and small men [L. in sense' of: flappers and hoitse boysJ are hard to rear, familiarity loses respect, and aloofness rouses resentment.
*P. v. interesting and probably right "q111i s'arretent," plus the explanation (au milie? u de leurs entreprises sa-ns woir le cw. ur de /es achever), i. e. stop half way because they haven't the guts to finish.
121
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XXVI
He said : If a man is hateful at forty he'll be so to the end.
BOOK EIGHTEEN
Wei Tze
The Viscount of Wei
I
(Decline of the Yin Dynasty)
1. The Viscount of Wei retired. The Viscount of Chi became a slave. Pi-kan protested and died.
2. Kung-tze said : Y in had three men (with a capital M).
II
1. Hui of Liu-Hsia, chief criminal judge, was dis-
missed three times. Someone said : Isn't it about time for you to clear out?
Said : Going straight and being useful to others, where would I go and not be fired three times? If I want to go crooked, what need of leaving my parental country?
III
1. Duke Ching of Ch'i awaiting Kung-tze said : I can't treat him a Chi chief, but something between that and a Mang chief.
Said : I am an old man, I can'_t make use of his theories (can't use the Confucian procedure). [Thus L. but hard to get from text strictly more tlwm cannot use. Employ him, give him office]. Kung-tze proceeded, travelled [L.
took departure].
IV
1. Ch'i folk (? the man of Ch'i) sent a present of female musicians (corps de ballet), Chi Hwan accepted them and did not hold court for three days. Confucius travelled.
123
122
------------- - - - - -
? ? ? ? ? ? -------~ ----
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
v
1. The madman of Ch'u, Chieh-yu, passed Kung-tze, singing out : " Phoenix, oh Phoenix, how is your clarity fallen, no use blaming what's past, you might look out for what's to come. There's danger to anyone who goes into this present government. "
2. Confucius got down (from his carriage) and wanted to talk with him but (Chieh) hurried away, so he could not.
VJ
1. Ch'ang-tsu and Chieh-ni were teamed plowing [Plowmen worked in pairs/ vide Odes etc. ]. Kung-tze
going by, sent Tze-lu to ask about the ford. 2. Ch'ang-tsu said: Who's that driving? Tze-lu said : Kung Hillock.
Said : Kung Hillock of Lu?
Said: Yes.
Said : He knows the ford.
3. (Tze-lu then) asked Chieh-ni.
Chieh-ni said : What are you, sir?
Said : I'm Sprout, secundus.
Said: A pupil of Kung Hillock of Lu?
Replied : Yes . . .
Said : " Disorder overfloods all the empire, who has
the means to change it? Moreover, rather than follow a man who leaves one chief after another, better follow a scholar who has given up the world (this generation) altogether. " He did not stop covering up the seed in his furrow.
4. Tze-lu went and reported, the big man sighed : One cannot collaborate with birds and beasts. If I don't work with these people whom can I work with? If the empire were on the right track, it would not need me, Hillock, to change it. [Or I would not give (myself, or effort) to change it. ]
124
BOOK EIGHTEEN
VII
1. Tze-lu was lagging behind and met an old man
ccirrying a basket of weeds, on a staff over his shoulder. Tze-lu asked: Have you seen my big man?
The old man said : See by your arms and legs you
haven't done any work; don't know the five grains one from another, who is your big man? He put down his stave and started weeding.
2. Tze-lu bowed and stood before him.
3. He kept Tze-lu for the night, killed a chicken, fixed the millet and fed him, introduced his two sons.
4. At sun-up Tze-lu went on and told of this.
He said : A recluse; sent Tze-lu back to see him again. When he arrived, the old man was gone.
5. 1"'ze-lu said : It's not right not to take office.
You can't neglect the relations between old and young, ho'v can he neglect the right relation between prince and minister, wishing to conserve his personal purity, he lets lbose chaos in the great order. A proper man takes a government job, goes straight. He knows perfectly well perfect principles are not followed [or he knows in the end that they aren't (universally) followed].
VIII
1. The men who have retired: Po-i, Shu-ch'i, Yu-
chung, 1-yi, Chu-chang, Hui of Liu-hsia, Shao-lien.
2. He said : Not lowering their aims, not disgracing themselves, Po-i, Shu-ch'i. I'd say.
3. Can say Hui of Liu-hsia, and Shao-lien did lower
their aims, did undergo personal shame, but their words were centred in reason and their acts worth consideration. That's all.
4. Can say of Yu-chung and I-yi, they went to live in retirement and talked. They kept themselves pure [M :], in their retirement they hit the mean of opportunism (wasted in mid-balance).
125
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
5. I differ from these models, I have no categoric c~n and cannot.
IX
(Dispersion of the musicians of Lu)
1. The grand music master Chih went to Ch'i.
2. Kan, conductor for second meal, went to Ch'u.
Liao, "third meal," went to Ts'ai.
Chueh, H fourth meal," went to Ch'in.
3. The drummer Fang Shu went into the Honan [L.
north of the river].
4. Wu, the hand drum, went to Han.
5. Yang the assistant conductor, and Hsiang the
musical stone went to the sea. x
1. The Duke of Chau said to the Duke of Lu, a
proper man does not negleat his relatives; he does not grieve his great ministers by keeping them useless; he does
BOOK NINETEEN
Tze-Chang
I
1. Tze-Chang said: The scholar-gentleman* sees danger and goes through to his fate [L. sacrifice life] ; when he sees a chance of getting on he thinks of equity, at sacrifices his thoughts are full of reverence for the powers of vegetation; in mourning, of grief; that is perhaps a complete definition.
II
1. Tze-Chang said : To comprehend acting straight
from the conscience, and not put energy into doing it,
to stick to the letter of the right process and not be
strong in it, can you be doing with that sort?
reverence [I do not think 1this ideogram, can be too far separated from the original s. ource, it has to do with vege- tative order] ; when in doubt, that he ask questions, and when enraged that he think of troublesome consequence; when he sees the chance of gain, that he think of equity.
Up to now we have IU1ll1 many definitions of words, several chapters define or dissociate categories, ref/ Ta S'eu, testament, verses 3, 4.
111
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
BOOK SIXTEEN
l heard of the Book of Rites, I heard that a proper man don't nag his son.
XIV
l. The wife of the prince of a state is styled by the prince : The distinguished person; she calls herself : Small child; the people of the state call her: The Prince's dis? tinguished person; those of other states style her : Little small sovran, and of (still) other states style her Prince's distinguished person.
XI.
l. Kung? tze said: Seeing the good as if unreachable; seeing evil as if it were boiling to the touch; I have seen such men, and heard such talk.
2. Living in retirement to find out what they really
want, practising equity to carry into conduct. I have heard conversation about this, but have not seen such men.
XII
l. Duke Ching of Ch'i had a thousand quadriga, on the day of his death (even at his funeral) the people did not praise his honesty [L. not praise for single virtue]. Po-i and Shu? ch'i died of hunger 'neath Southslope Head and the folk praise them down to this day.
2. That illustrates what I was saying.
Kung? fu-tzu's son
XIII
l. Ch'an K'ang asked Po-yu if he had heard anything "different" [i. e. from what K. told the rest of them].
2. He replied: No, he was standing alone (one day) as I was passing the hall in a hurry (or going by the court? yard), he said : Studied the odes? (Or are you studying the odes? )
I replied : No.
"Not study the odes, won't be able to use words. "
I went out and studied the Odes.
3. Another day he was again standing alone, I went
by the court in a hurry. Said : Studying the rites? Replied: No.
" If you don't study the rites you won't be able to
stand up" (build up a character).
I went out and studied the Rites.
4. Those are the two things I've heard (from him).
5. Ch'an K'ang retired saying delightedly: Asked one
question and got to three things. I heard of the Odes,
112
113
------------. . -------~
? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK SEVENTEEN
Yang H. o
(a minister who had usurped power)
I
l. Yang Ho wanted to see Confucius (Kung-tze), Kung-tze did not see him. He sent Kung-tze a pig. Kung- tze, timing to miss him, went out to pay his duty call, but met Yang on the road.
2. He said : I want to talk to you : keeping treasure inside you, country in chaos, call that manly?
Said: No.
"In love with work (in love with following the service) continually missing the time, call that intelligent? "
Said: No.
~' Sun and moon move, the year don't wait for you. " Said : 0 . K. . I'll take office.
II
He said : Men are born pretty much alike, it's practis- ing something that puts distance between them.
III
He said: Only those of highest intelligence, and lowest simplicity do not shift. [L cannot be changed, le. rt probably. includes b. oth meaning$. ]
IV
(On cultural persuasfon)
l. At Battle-Wall he heard the sound of strmged instrtunents and singing.
2. The big man smiled with pleasure saying : Why use an ox knife to kill a fowl?
114
BOOK SEVENTEEN
3. Tze-yu replied, I'm the man, sir, who once heard
you say : If the gentleman studies the process and loves men, the lower people will study the process and be easy to rule. [I suppose Yen Tze-yu was in charge of tlv>s frontier town on a crag. ]
4. He said: You fellows, Yen's words are on the_ line,
I was just joking round it.
v
l. Kung-shan Fu-zao givmg trouble in the passes [field paths, 4896, short-cuts, hence vb/ rebel] of Pi,
invited him and he (Confucius) wanted to go.
2. Tze-Iu was "not amused," said: Not to be done,
that's that. Why must you poke into that Kung-shan gang?
3. He said : The man's invited me, suppose I go with
him [aliter: is that empty, an empty gesture. Depends on which sense one gives to 6536 (or c) t'uJ. suppose he should make use of me, couldn't I create a Chou in the East?
VI
Tze-chang asked Kung-tze about manhood. Kung-tze said: To be able [neng', power in union, as differing from k'e, power to support, hold up, carry] to practise five things (all together) wonld humanize the whole empire.
(Chang) asked clarification.
Said: Sobriety (? serenvtas), magnanimity, sticking by
one's word, promptitude (in attention to detail), kindli- ness (caritas).
Serenity will shape things so that you will not be insnlted.
With magnanimity you will reach the mass.
Keep your word and others will confide [aim: trust you enough to employ you].
115
- ------- ------
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? pertinence.
116
-----------
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
By promptitude you will get through your jobs, (meritorious work).
Kindliness is enough to get results from those you employ.
VII
1. Pi Hsi invited him and he wanted to go.
Tze-Lu said : I, Sprout, am the chap who heard you
say, sir, "When a man personally does evil, a proper man
won't enter [won't go into (it with him)].
Pi-Hsi is in rebellion in Chung-rnau. If you go, what's
that like?
2. He said : I said it. But isn't it said : You can grind
a hard thing without making it thin.
Isn't it said : Some white things can be dipped and not
blackened. [Cf. G. Guinvcetli].
3. Am I like a bitter melon, to be hung up and not
eaten?
VIII
1. He said : Sprout, have you heard the six terms (technical terms) and the six befuddlements (over- growings)?
Replied : No.
2. " Sit down, I'll explain 'em to you. "
3. Love of manhood minus love of study: befuddle-
ment into naivete.
Love of knowledge without love of study: runs wild
into waste incorrelation.
Love of keeping one's word, without study runs amok
into doing harm.
Love of going straight without studying where to,
degenerates into bad manners.
Love of boldness without love of study, leads to chaos.
Love of hard edge (hardness, stiffness) leads to im-
BOOK SEVENTEEN
IX
1. He said :, Mes enfants, why does no one study the great Odes? [Or more probably: these Odes. ]
2. The Odes can exhilarate (lift the will).
3. Can give awareness (sharpen the vision, help yOu
spot the bird).
4. Can teach dissociation. [L. takes it as: exchange,
sociability. ]
5. Can cause resentment (against evil).
L. regulate feelings? ? katharsis? ? means o f dealing with resentment. I mistrust a soft interpretation.
6. Bring you near to being useful to your father and
mother, and go on to serving your sovran.
7. Remen1ber the names of many birds, animals, plants
and trees.
x
He said to (his son) Po-Yu: You go to work on the Chao-South and Shao-South poems. A man who hasn't worked on the Chao-nan and Shao-nan is like one who stands with his face to a wall.
XI
He said : Rites, they say, Rites! How do we place the
jewels and the silk robes? Music, they say, Music! Where do the gongs and drums stand? [Mind on in- struments not on shape of the musvc. ]
XII
He said : Hard as a whetstone outside and wobbly as grass (or squashy) inside is rather like a picayune fellow who bores a hole in a wall to steal.
XIII 2556 He said : These (? lenient) village prototypes are pur-
loiners (con men) acting on a conscience not their own
117
? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
[L. takes yuan' (7725) as equiv. ; 7727. Rousseauesques] good careful, thieves of virtue. [P: cherchent /es suffrages des mllageois. Note 7725 a. J
XIV
He said : To pass on wayside gossip and smear with
BOOK SEVENTEEN
statements unl<ss they are taken as fixing the
meaning and usage of the words. ]
the old punctilio [attention, ed. almost be point of honour] was modest (implying consideration of values)' the present is mere peevishness ; the old simplicity was direct, the present consists in thinking you can fool others by simple wheezes, [or simply: is faked] and that's that.
XVII
He said: Elaborate phrases and a pious expression (L. M. insinuating) seldom indicate manliness.
XVIII
He said : I hate the way purple spoils vermilion, I hate the way the Chang sonority confuses the music of the Elegantiae, I hate sharp mouths (the clever yawp, mouths set on profits) that overturn states and families.
XIX
l. He said : I'd like to do without words.
2. Tze-kung said : But, boss, if you don't say it, how can we little guys pass it on?
3. He said: Sky, how does that talk?
The four seasons go on, everything gets born. Sky, what words does the sky use?
xx
Zu Pei wanted to see Kung-tze. Kung-tze declined on
account of illness. As the messenger was going out the
front door, he took his lute and sang so that the latter
could hear.
L. notes indicate that Zu had probably asked advice before and not taken it, and that the call was fake, try on.
119
scolding is to defoliate one's candour. 2
'I'u is primarily smear, secondarily road, with binome L. and M. tell what one has heard on the road.
General sense perfectly clear, the verse is against careless gossip and ill-natured slander, "smear-scold" is there in the pictogram if one wants it.
(To waste acts proceeding from clear conscience) is to
stop acting on one's own inner perceptions.
xv
1. He said: How can one serve a prince along with these village-sized (kinky) minds?
2. Until they get on they worry about nothing else, and, when they have, they worry about losing the advantages.
3. When they are afraid of losing (advantages, privileges) there is nothing, absolutely nothing they will not do to retain (them) (no length they won't go to).
XVI
l. He said : iMen of old had three troubles which no longer exist.
2. The old uppishness was reckless (ostentatious), the
present uppishness, mere dissipation;
[Mvght say, old was hearty, present dissolute. Excess vs. pettiness, petty leaks. Exuberance vs. license. There is no~hing in such brief
118
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS XXI
1. Tsai Wo asked about three years' mourning, wasn't one foll year enough?
2. He said : If gentlemen do not observe the rites, the rites will go to ruin; if music is not played for three years the music will slip down.
3. The old (good) grain is exhausted, the new grain has risen; fire you kindle by twirling wood is a different fire, you can stop at tht end of a year.
L. put. in idea that " kindling by friction we go thru all the changes of wood" on the belief that they used different kinds of wood drills at dirfjerent seas. ans, elm, willow, in spring, dat~, almond in summer. I should be more inclined to think that Kwng indicates a break in con- tinuity, but ends on the note: but do it if you
like. Cf. verse 6 below.
4. He said : You'd feel at ease eating your rice and
wearing embroidered clothes?
Said : Quite.
5. He said : If you can feel easy, go ahead, but the
proper man during the period of mourning, does not savour sweet food, does not delight in hearing n1usic, does not feel easy in cushy surroundings, and therefore does not indulge, but if you now feel easy about it, go ahead.
6. Tsai Wo went out.
He said : He is not fully humane, a child does not leave its parental arms till it is three; three years' mourning is observ<;d everywhere under heaven, did (Tsai Wo) Yu have three years' parental affection?
I suggest that the medimval debate betwem active and contemplative life is moderated Ui the old Chinese disposition, the need of con- templaitive period being answered by the years of mourning.
120
BOOK SEVENTEEN
XXII
, He said: Stuffing in food all day, nothing that he puts his mind on, a hard case ! Don't chess players at least do something and have solid merit by comparison? ?
XXIII
Tze-lu said : Does the proper man honour bravery?
He said : The proper man puts equity at the top, if a gentleman have courage without equity it will make a mess; if a mean man have courage without equity he will steal.
XXIV
1. Tze-kung said : Does the proper man have his hatreds also?
Said : He has hates, he hates those who proclaim the ill doing of others; he hates those who live below the current and s? lander those above; he hates those who are bold without observing the rites (don't use their courage rightly, audacious in outraging the proper procedures), he hates those who obstinately presume and obstruct* [or, 'vho are satisfied to presume and obstruct. ]
2. Said : Granty, have you any hates?
"Hate those who snoop and pretend they have found out by intelligence; hate those who think brashness is courage; hate blabbers who pr. etend they do it from honesty. "
xxv
He said : Young women and small men [L. in sense' of: flappers and hoitse boysJ are hard to rear, familiarity loses respect, and aloofness rouses resentment.
*P. v. interesting and probably right "q111i s'arretent," plus the explanation (au milie? u de leurs entreprises sa-ns woir le cw. ur de /es achever), i. e. stop half way because they haven't the guts to finish.
121
? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XXVI
He said : If a man is hateful at forty he'll be so to the end.
BOOK EIGHTEEN
Wei Tze
The Viscount of Wei
I
(Decline of the Yin Dynasty)
1. The Viscount of Wei retired. The Viscount of Chi became a slave. Pi-kan protested and died.
2. Kung-tze said : Y in had three men (with a capital M).
II
1. Hui of Liu-Hsia, chief criminal judge, was dis-
missed three times. Someone said : Isn't it about time for you to clear out?
Said : Going straight and being useful to others, where would I go and not be fired three times? If I want to go crooked, what need of leaving my parental country?
III
1. Duke Ching of Ch'i awaiting Kung-tze said : I can't treat him a Chi chief, but something between that and a Mang chief.
Said : I am an old man, I can'_t make use of his theories (can't use the Confucian procedure). [Thus L. but hard to get from text strictly more tlwm cannot use. Employ him, give him office]. Kung-tze proceeded, travelled [L.
took departure].
IV
1. Ch'i folk (? the man of Ch'i) sent a present of female musicians (corps de ballet), Chi Hwan accepted them and did not hold court for three days. Confucius travelled.
123
122
------------- - - - - -
? ? ? ? ? ? -------~ ----
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
v
1. The madman of Ch'u, Chieh-yu, passed Kung-tze, singing out : " Phoenix, oh Phoenix, how is your clarity fallen, no use blaming what's past, you might look out for what's to come. There's danger to anyone who goes into this present government. "
2. Confucius got down (from his carriage) and wanted to talk with him but (Chieh) hurried away, so he could not.
VJ
1. Ch'ang-tsu and Chieh-ni were teamed plowing [Plowmen worked in pairs/ vide Odes etc. ]. Kung-tze
going by, sent Tze-lu to ask about the ford. 2. Ch'ang-tsu said: Who's that driving? Tze-lu said : Kung Hillock.
Said : Kung Hillock of Lu?
Said: Yes.
Said : He knows the ford.
3. (Tze-lu then) asked Chieh-ni.
Chieh-ni said : What are you, sir?
Said : I'm Sprout, secundus.
Said: A pupil of Kung Hillock of Lu?
Replied : Yes . . .
Said : " Disorder overfloods all the empire, who has
the means to change it? Moreover, rather than follow a man who leaves one chief after another, better follow a scholar who has given up the world (this generation) altogether. " He did not stop covering up the seed in his furrow.
4. Tze-lu went and reported, the big man sighed : One cannot collaborate with birds and beasts. If I don't work with these people whom can I work with? If the empire were on the right track, it would not need me, Hillock, to change it. [Or I would not give (myself, or effort) to change it. ]
124
BOOK EIGHTEEN
VII
1. Tze-lu was lagging behind and met an old man
ccirrying a basket of weeds, on a staff over his shoulder. Tze-lu asked: Have you seen my big man?
The old man said : See by your arms and legs you
haven't done any work; don't know the five grains one from another, who is your big man? He put down his stave and started weeding.
2. Tze-lu bowed and stood before him.
3. He kept Tze-lu for the night, killed a chicken, fixed the millet and fed him, introduced his two sons.
4. At sun-up Tze-lu went on and told of this.
He said : A recluse; sent Tze-lu back to see him again. When he arrived, the old man was gone.
5. 1"'ze-lu said : It's not right not to take office.
You can't neglect the relations between old and young, ho'v can he neglect the right relation between prince and minister, wishing to conserve his personal purity, he lets lbose chaos in the great order. A proper man takes a government job, goes straight. He knows perfectly well perfect principles are not followed [or he knows in the end that they aren't (universally) followed].
VIII
1. The men who have retired: Po-i, Shu-ch'i, Yu-
chung, 1-yi, Chu-chang, Hui of Liu-hsia, Shao-lien.
2. He said : Not lowering their aims, not disgracing themselves, Po-i, Shu-ch'i. I'd say.
3. Can say Hui of Liu-hsia, and Shao-lien did lower
their aims, did undergo personal shame, but their words were centred in reason and their acts worth consideration. That's all.
4. Can say of Yu-chung and I-yi, they went to live in retirement and talked. They kept themselves pure [M :], in their retirement they hit the mean of opportunism (wasted in mid-balance).
125
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
5. I differ from these models, I have no categoric c~n and cannot.
IX
(Dispersion of the musicians of Lu)
1. The grand music master Chih went to Ch'i.
2. Kan, conductor for second meal, went to Ch'u.
Liao, "third meal," went to Ts'ai.
Chueh, H fourth meal," went to Ch'in.
3. The drummer Fang Shu went into the Honan [L.
north of the river].
4. Wu, the hand drum, went to Han.
5. Yang the assistant conductor, and Hsiang the
musical stone went to the sea. x
1. The Duke of Chau said to the Duke of Lu, a
proper man does not negleat his relatives; he does not grieve his great ministers by keeping them useless; he does
BOOK NINETEEN
Tze-Chang
I
1. Tze-Chang said: The scholar-gentleman* sees danger and goes through to his fate [L. sacrifice life] ; when he sees a chance of getting on he thinks of equity, at sacrifices his thoughts are full of reverence for the powers of vegetation; in mourning, of grief; that is perhaps a complete definition.
II
1. Tze-Chang said : To comprehend acting straight
from the conscience, and not put energy into doing it,
to stick to the letter of the right process and not be
strong in it, can you be doing with that sort?
