No More Learning

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. n always render it by that phrase. J
XI
He was very ill, Tze-Lu wanted the students to act
that spirit, what are the people of Kwang to me? what can they do to me? ]
VI
[L. :
1. A great minister said to Tze-kung : your big man is
a sage, how versatile he is.
2. Tze-kung said: Aye, by heaven's indulgence is
almost a sage, and also very versatile.
3. Confucius heard, and said : does the great minister know me? I was poor when young and therefore can do many things, humble jobs. Need a proper man, a gentle- man, be versatile? He need not.
4. Lao says He said : I was not trained (educated to
the examinations)* and therefore learned the various arts.
VII
1. He said : How do I grasp knowledge? I am not wise, but if a plain man ask me, empty as empty [like? work in a cave? ], [L: J I set it forth from one end to the other and exhaust it.
["Kn. ock at double," or at both starts or principles, suggests the meaning: investigate the paradox, or the two principles, the conjunction, apparent contradiction, and then exhaust the question. ]
VIII
1. He said : the miracle bird has not arrived, the river
gives forth no map (of turtle-shell), I've only myself to rely on.
IX
1. Seeing anyone in mourning or in full ceremonial
dress and cap, or a blind man (one of the blind musicians)
even though they were young he would rise, or, passing,
pass quickly.
*L. : having no official job.
54
Wishing to finish, I cannot; having exhausted my
- - - - - ------------
? 3.
talent, it is as if something was built up lofty; although I wish to comply with it, there is no way (to do so com- pletely) (branch causes stop).
1.
as ministers.
2. In an interval of the fever He said: Yu (Tze-Lu) has been being too-clever for a long time, whom would I fool by pretending to have ministers when I haven't: fool heaven?
3. Wouldn't it be better to die among two or three
intimates than in ministers' hands? Might not have a big
funeral, but I wouldn't just die in a ditch [lit: going along a road].
XII
1. Tze-kung said: I have a beautiful gem here; put it in a case and hoard it, or try to get a good price and sell it? He said : sell it, sell it, I wait for its price.
XIII
1. He was wanting to live among the wild tribes.
2. Someone said : Rough, vulgar, how do you mean?
55
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
He said : if the right kind of man lived there, how would they stay so?
XIV (Arrangement of the Song book)
1. He said: From Wei I came back to Lu and the music was put in order, the Elegantiae and the Lauds were each put in its proper place.
xv
1. He said : In public to be useful to the Dukes and
Ministers, in private to be useful to one's father and elder
brothers, not daring to neglect the service of the dead; not to be obstinate with drink; how does this apply to me?
XVI
1. Standing on a river-bank he said : it is what passes
like that, indeed, not stopping day, night.
XVII
1. I do not see love of looking into the mind and acting ? on what one sees there to match love of someone having
beauty.
XVIII
I do not in the least understand the le. rt of this chapter. Only guess at it I can make is:
1. He said: As a mountain (grave-mound) is not made perfect by one basket of earth; yet has position, I take position. If you dump one basket of earth on a level plain it is a start (toward the heap? ), I make that start.
The chapter might conceivably refer ta deter-
mining the proper site for a tumulus even if one could not complete it. L. unsatisfied as ta mean- ing, and P. unsatisfactory.
56
1.
1.
BOOK NINE
XIX
He said: Never inert in conversation, that was Elui.
xx
He described Yen Yuan : Alas, I see him advance,
? --. ---------~------
? I never see him stop (take a position).
Putting the accent an the hsi (2-5), "a pity! "
as Legge does not.
There is n. o more important technical :term in
the Confucian philosophy than this chih (3) the hitching post, position, place one is in, and works from. Turn back also to the difficult chapter xviii above.
XXI
1. He said : There are sprouts that do not flower;
flowers that come not to fruit, oh yes.
XXII
1. He said: You can respect 'em soon after birth,
how can one know what will come up to present record;
at forty or fifty and not heard (or if they don't hear sense) that (maturity) just isn't enough to respect.
XXIII
1. He said : Can one help agreeing with talk of sound
doctrine? It's the altering to enact that matters; can one
fail to be pleased with south-east gentleness of discourse, it's the elucidation that matters. To be pleased and not elucidate (not understand), to assent but not act on. I just don't know how to take (that sort).
XXIV
1. He said : Put first getting to the centre of the mind,
and keeping one's word; no friends not like one; when a mistake is made, not fearing to change.
57
? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
xxv
1. He said : The commander of three army corps can b,e kidnapped, you cannot kidnap a plain man's will.
XVI
1. Standing by a man dressed in furs, unembarrassed,
Yu could do that?
2. No hates, no greeds, how can he use evil means?
3. Tze-lu kept repeating this to himself. Confucius said : How can that be enough for complete goodness?
XXVII
1. He said: When the year goes a-cold we know pine
and cypress, then you can carve them.
XXVIII
1. He said : The wise are not flustered, the humane
'are not melancholy, the bold are not anxious. *
XXIX
1. He said : There are some we can study with, but
cannot accompany in their mode of action; there are some
we can collaborate with, but cannot build sound con-
-struction with, some we can construct with but not agree
with as to the significance of what we are doing.
xxx
I. The flowers of the prunus japonica deflect and turn, do I not think of you dwelling afar?
2. He said : It is not the thought, how can there be distance in that?
*These are definitions of words.
58
BOOK TEN
Heang Tang (villeggiatura)
I
------------
? Kung-tze in his village, looking as if he were too 2. In the dynastic temple, or court, speaking with
1.
simple-hearted to utter.
easy pertinence; answering with prompt respect.
II
1. At court with the Lower-great officers straight from the shoulder; with the Upper-great officials with gentle courtesy.
2. With the sovran present, level alertness, grave readiness.
III
1.
On the Prince calling him to receive a visitor, his
face registered a change and his legs flexed.
2. He saluted (the officers whom he was standing with), left and right hand, his robe fore and aft evenly
adjusted.
3. Swiftly advanced as if winged.
4. The visitor gone, it was his duty to report saying :
the guest does not look back.
IV
1. Entering the ducal gate he hunched up like a ball
as if there wasn't room.
2. Did not stand in the middle of the gateway, nor tread on the threshold-stone door-sill in going out.
3. Passing the sovran's standing place his expression
changed and his legs seemed to flex, he spoke as if short of breath.
59
? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
4. He went up the hall, he held his breath as if not breathing.
5. Coming out, when he had descended one step, his
face relaxed to a pleasant expression, from the bottom of
the steps he moved quickly, as if winged, to his place, still cagey on his feet.
v
1. Carrying the sceptre his body was bent as if it were too heavy to lift, the upper part at the level of the salute, the lower as when handing over som,ething. His face grim, and his feet as if tethered.
BOOK TEN
VII
When fasting insisted on bright linen clothes.
For fasting had to change his diet, sit in a different
VIII
Couldn't get rice too clean or mince too fine for him.
3. Did not eat meat badly cut or with the wrong sauce.
4. When there was a lot of meat he would not take
more than what properly went with the rice, only in matter
of wine was no blue nose (set no limit) but didn't get fuddled.
5. Did not take wine or eat dried meat from the
n1arket.
6. Always had ginger at table.
7. Didn't eat a great deal [or a lot of different things
at a time? ].
8. Did not keep the meat from the ducal sacrifices
over night ; nor that of the domestic sacrifice more thara. three days. It is not eaten after three days.
9. Did not talk while eating nor in bed. ?
10. Although but coarse rice or vegetable broth he wonld offer decorously a gourd (ladle-full) in sacrifice.
2.
3.
1.
Giving the ceremonial gifts, his face placid.
In private audience, as if enjoying it.
VI
Gentlemen do not (or the gentleman did not) wear
dark purple puce ornaments.
2. Nor red purple in undress [can also niean u mourn-
ing clothes"].
3. Approximately in hot weather an unlined dress of
linen or grass cloth must show and appear [L. over his
underwear] .
4. Black silk dress, lambskin; white dress fawn-skin;
yellow dress fox fur.
5. Undress fur coat long with short sleeve [L. short
right sleeve].
6. body.
7.
8.
Had to have night gown half again as long as his
At home thick fox and badger fur.
Discarding mourning put all the gadgets on his belt.
1.
1.
IX
Not sit on a mat aske'llr.
x
With villagers drinking, when the old fellows with
9. Lower garments, except aprons, cut in (to the
waist).
10. Lamb skin and black cap not used on visits of
condolence.
11. At beginning of the month would always go to
canes went out, he followed.
2. When the villagers drive out the devils in winter,
he put on court robes _and stood on his east steps.
61
court in court dress.
60
-----------. . --
? 1.
2: place.
1.
Would not eat mouldy rice or fish or meat that had
2.
gone off, nor would he eat anything that had changed colour, stank, was ill cooked: or out of season.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
XI
1. On occasion of messengers from an. other state (or to it) he bowed twice and escorted the messenger out.
2. Chi K'ang made him a present of medicine, he bowed and accepted it, saying : I don't know how far it goes, I don't dare take it.
XII
1. The stable burned while he was away at court, he said : Any of the men hurt? not asking about the horses.
XIII
1. On the prince sending food, he would adjust his
mat and taste it before anyone else; the prince sending
raw food he would cook it and set it before the spirits
inviting them; if the prince sent him a live animal he
would put it to pasture.
2. In service of the prince at a feast, the prince sacrificed, first tasting.
Not clear, but L. evidently correct that confucius acted as taster, evther for prince, or for the spwits.
3. Being ill, the prince came to see him, he set his head to the east and had his court robes spread over him, his belt across them.
4. When summoned by sovran order, he did not wait for the team to be hitched, he went on foot.
XIV
l. Entering the great dynastic temple he asked about all details of the service.
xv
1. When a friend died with no one to return (the body to its home for burial) he said : I will see to the funeral.
62
BOOK TEN
- . . . . . . -------
? 2. If a friend sent a present, though it were a carriage
and pair, he did not bow, but only for a present of
sac:rificial 1neat.
XVI
1. In bed did not lie in the pose of a Cbrpse; at home
no formal manners.
2. Seeing anyone in mourning, although a familiar, he
would change (his expression); seeing anyone in cere-
monial cap, or blind, although he himself were in slops,
he would salute \vith ceremony.
3. To a person in mourning he would bow over the
dash-board. He would bow over the dash-board to anyone carrying the census tablets.
4. He would rise and bow with different expression at a feast with a loaded table.
S. He would change expression at sudden thunder or a keen gust of wind.
XVII
1. To get into the carriage he would stand plumb and take hold of the cord.
2. In the carriage he did not twist his head around, gabble, or point.
XVIII
1. "Beauty: That which arises, hovers, then comes to nest. "
2. He said : Mountain ridge, the hen pheasant, the
ringed pheasant the season, how! It is the season!
Tze-lu [? ? ] showed respect [3709 a? ], thrice smelled and rose. [? thrice inhaled the mountain air? ]
Ui. fficult as t<1 the number of times the hen
pheasant "hsiu" scented. Commentators in general give it up.
P. apparffltly tries to connect the verse with the yellow bird that knows where to rest. Great Learning III, 2.
63
? ? ? ? BOOK ELEVEN Hsien Tsin
The Earlier Approach
I
I. He said : Earlier approach to the rites and to the music was the countryman's, the latter the gentleman's; ] eome at 'em the earlier way.
II
1. He said: None of those who followed rrte to Ch'an and Ts'ai now come to my door.
2. Showing virtu in act: Yen Yuan, Min Tze-ch'ien, Zan Po-niu, Chung-King; valued for their conversation : Tsai Wo, Tze-Kung; for administrative services: Zan Yu, Chi Lu; for their literary studies: Tze-yu, Tze-hsia.
III
1. He said : Hui's no help, he's pleased with every- thing I say.
IV
I. He said : Min Tze-ch'ien most certainly filial, no 0ne disagrees with what his father, mother and all his brothers say (differs from what they say of him).
v
I. Nan Yung thrice came back to (quoting) " The White Sceptre"; Kung-tze gave him his elder brother's daughter to wife.
VI
I. Chi K'ang asked which of the disciples loved study. Kung-tze answered : There was Y en Hui who lovecl study, unfortunately he died young, and the model's lost.
64
BOOK ELEVEN VII
I. Yen Yuan died and (his father) Yen Lu wanted Co~fucius to sell his carriage to pay for the coffin.
2. Confucius said : Talents or no talents every man . 1calls his son, son. Li died and had a coffin but no outer shell. I did not go on foot to get him an outer shell; having ranked just below the Great Officers, it was not
fitting to go on foot.
VIII
1. Yen Yuan died, Confucius said : Heaven destroys n1e, destroys me.
IX
1. Yen Yuan died, and He mourned greatly; disciples said : rfhis is excessive.
2. H. e said : Excessive?
3. If I do not greatly lament him, whom should I?
Y uan
1. Y en
Confucius said : You may not.
wanted a big
funeral.
died, the
disciples
2. The disciples gave a great funeral.