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Ubc TOfebom of tbe East Series
Edited by
L. CRANMER-BYNG
Dr. S. A. KAPADIA.
THE SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS
.





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HARVARD COLLEGE LIBPARY
FPOM Tilt ESTATE OF
CHARLIE ROCKWELL LANMAM
MARCH 15, 1941


CONTENTS
Introduction ....
List of the Principal Disciples
Government and Public Affairs
Individual Virtue
Confucius, Estimate of Others
Confucius on Himself
Miscellaneous Sayings
Personalia ....
Confucius as seen by Others
Sayings of the Disciples .
PiOK
7
37
39
52
71
83
93
109
117
125


EDITORIAL NOTE
^"^HE object of the Editors of this series is a
very definite one. They desire above all
things that, in their humble way, these books
shall be the ambassadors of goodwill and
understanding between East and West—the old
world of Thought and the new of Action. In
this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they
are but followers of the highest example in the
land. They are confident that a deeper know-
ledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy
of Oriental thought may help to a revival of
that true spirit of Charity which neither despises
nor fears the nations of another creed and colour.
Finally, in thanking press and public for the
very cordial reception given to the "Wisdom
of the East" Series, they wish to state that
no pains have been spared to secure the best
specialists for the treatment of the various
subjects at hand.
L. CRANMER-BYNG.
S. A. KAPADIA.
NORTHBROOK SOCIETY,
185, Piccadilly, W.


8 INTRODUCTION
itself beneath the accidents of custom and en-
vironment. But the process will always be slow.
The name of Confucius may be deemed sufficiently
familiar in the West to render unnecessary any
revision of the popular verdict which has already
been passed on-him. But are his judges equally
familiar with the teaching which his name re-
presents? The name of Shakespeare was well
enough known to Frenchmen in the time of
Voltaire. Yet how many generations had to
pass ere they began to recognise his true great-
ness? The parallel between dramatist and social
reformer may seem strained, but it is not drawn
at random. In both cases, wide differences of
language and the inadequacy of translations to
bridge the gap, lie at the root of the trouble.
No great man has suffered more than Confucius
from the stupidity, the misstatements and the
misrepresentations, from the lack of sympathy
and generosity, and, in some points, from the
pure ignorance of his critics. Early travellers
arriving from the West, amongst a people utterly
alien to themselves in almost every detail—
language, dress, habits, modes of thought, ethical
ideals and general view of life—would have done
well to walk very warily and, in the Confucian
phrase, "to reserve their judgment" on what
they saw and heard around them. But patience
and discrimination were the very last virtues
which these inquisitive newcomers had a mind


INTRODUCTION 9
to practise; and, unluckily, the extraordinary
fame of the national sage marked him out as one
of the earliest victims to their thirst for the
marvellous. On the strength of Chinese evidence,
readily forthcoming and eagerly swallowed, the
most exaggerated accounts of this new luminary
were poured into the ears of Europe, and it may
well be imagined that these enthusiastic reports
suffered no diminution in the telling. Confucius
was the prince of philosophers, the wisest and
most consummate of sages, the loftiest moralist,
the most subtle and penetrating intellect that
the world had ever seen. He was a statesman,
a bard, an historian and an antiquary rolled
into one. His sagacity put the most illustrious
of ancient and modern philosophers to shame.
He was the greatest and noblest representative
of the greatest, happiest, and most highly
civilised people on the face of the earth. Such
extravagant eulogy could only pave the way for
disillusionment. When, after the lapse of a
hundred years or so, foreigners had painfully
acquired sufficient knowledge of the language to
enable them to begin translating, after a fashion,
parts of the Classics said to have been composed
by this glorious sage, or at least containing the
choicest pearls of his wisdom still extant, it is
not altogether surprising that the results did
not come up to the general expectation. Reac-
tion set in, and it soon became the fashion to


10 INTRODUCTION
decry the once much-lauded philosopher. His
sayings, which had been extolled as the very
epitome of wisdom, were now voted jejune and
commonplace. His teaching was found to be
shallow, disjointed, unsatisfying. He was blamed
for his materialistic bias, for his rigid formalism,
for his poverty of ideas, for his lack of spiritual
elevation. Comparisons, much in his disfavour,
were drawn between him and the founders of
other world-systems of religion and ethics. All
this before the circumstances of Lis career had
been studied, before the surface of contemporary
Chinese history had been so much as scratched,
before the host of native commentators and
critics had been consulted, or their existence
even become known; above all, before the very
book which contained his authentic sayings had
been translated with anything approaching to
exactness or understanding, or with a faint
realisation of its numerous difficulties and pit-
falls.
Such was still the deplorable state of things
when Legge set to work on his translation of the
Confucian Canon, which when completed many
years later, with its exhaustive prolegomena,
notes and appendices, formed a truly wonderful
monument of research and erudition. With its
publication, Chinese scholarship was carried at
once to a higher plane, and foreign study of
Confucian doctrine began in earnest. The heavy


INTRODUCTION 11
accumulations of ignorance and error were in
large part removed, and the figure of the great
Teacher began at last to emerge from the "ob-
literating sands of time." His sayings were no
longer read as interesting but desultory fragments
of conversation, but studied in relation to the
events of his life. From various Chinese sources,
the chief of which were the Analects themselves
and Ssii-ma Ch'ien's biography, Legge managed
to compile a good and coherent account of the
sage's life, work and wanderings, which was an
enormous advance on anything that had been
done before, and is not likely, even in the future,
to undergo any considerable addition or amend-
ment. There are many minor points which may
be disputed, and many long blanks which may
never be filled up, but taken as a whole, the
chronology and the leading events of the life of
Confucius must now be considered as finally
settled.
If Legge is on firm ground where hard facts
are concerned, it is far otherwise when he comes
to draw inferences from these facts, to sum up
the salient principles of Confucian ethics, and to
pass judgment on the character of Confucius
himself. His pronouncements on these points,
too hastily accepted as final, need to be carefully
re-examined and, as I shall hope to show, largely
modified if not totally reversed. His opinion,
of course, was based chiefly on his own inter-


12 INTRODUCTION
pretation of the more important sayings in
the Analects, in translating which he had the
oral help of native scholars, besides the benefit
of voluminous standard commentaries. Thus
equipped for his task, it cannot but appear strange
that he, admittedly a great sinologue, should
have gone so far astray as to miss the very core
and essence of the doctrines to the elucidation
of which he devoted most of his life. The ex-
planation may lie in the fact that he was a Chris-
tian missionary in the first place, and only
secondly a scientific student; he had come to
teach and convert the heathen, not to be taught
or converted by them. This preconceived idea
acted as a drag on the free use of his under-
standing, and prevented him from entering
whole-heartedly into his subject. We are told
that the Master himself had "no foregone con-
clusions," but Legge's whole attitude to Con-
fucianism bespoke one comprehensive and fatal
foregone conclusion—the conviction that it must
at every point prove inferior to Christianity. A
certain inelasticity of mind showed itself also
in the way in which he approached the work of
translation. He was too apt to look upon a
Chinese word as something rigid and unchanging
in its content, which might be uniformly rendered
by a single English equivalent. Delicate shades
of meaning he too often ruthlessly ignored. Now
there is a certain number of Chinese terms which


INTRODUCTION 13
mirror Chinese ideas, but have really no absolute
equivalent in English at all, and must therefore
be translated with the aid of circumlocution, and
in such a way as to suit the context and the general
spirit of the passage. It is in such terms, unfor-
tunately, that the very essence and inner sig-
nificance of the Confucian teaching are contained.
Obviously, if proper equivalents are not given,
the whole sense of the passages in which they
occur will be lost or violently distorted. Worse
still, the judgments laboriously built up on such
rotten foundations will be hopelessly vitiated.
Here, indeed, we have an object-lesson of the
importance, clearly recognised by Confucius
himself, of " defining terms " and making " words
harmonise with things." Indispensable as such
a process is for any investigation in which lan-
guage plays a part, it is doubly so when words
have to be transplanted, as it were, from their
native soil to one differing from it in almost
every conceivable quality. Such an operation
can only be successful if carried out with the
utmost delicacy and care, and no amount of
erudition can supply the want of that instinctive
feeling for the right word which is the translator's
choicest gift. The scope of the present work
forbids my entering into details, but some broad
examples of failure in this respect will be noted
later on.
Of the life of Confucius only the barest sketch


14 INTRODUCTION
can be given here, but stress may be laid on one
or two points which it is important to bear in
mind. Confucius was born at a time when the
feudal system, established several centuries earlier
by the founder of the Chou dynasty, was showing
unmistakable signs of disruption and decay. It
is almost certain that China had been feudally
governed from the very earliest times, but Wu
Wang placed the whole system on a seemingly
firmer basis than ever. He divided his realm into
a large number of vassal states, which he bestowed
upon his own kith and kin who had helped him
to the throne. Thus the Empire really came to
resemble the huge united family which Chinese
political theorists declare it to be, and for a short
time all seems to have worked smoothly. But
as the bonds of kinship grew looser, the central
government gradually lost all effective control
over its unruly children, and the various states
were soon embroiled in perpetual feuds and
struggles among themselves, besides being usually
at loggerheads with the parent dynasty. The
state of things that ensued may be likened
(though on a far larger scale) to several Wars of
the Roses going on at the same time, or better
still, to the turbulence of the later days of the
Holy Roman Empire, when the fealty of its mem-
bers had become merely nominal. Matters were
further complicated in many of the states by the
upgrowth of large and powerful families which


INTRODUCTION 15
often attempted either by insidious methods or
by open violence to wrest the supreme authority
into their own hands. Thus in Lu, the com-
paratively small state to which Confucius belonged,
there were three such families, the Chi, the
Meng, and the Shu; the heads of these clans,
of whom we hear a good deal in the Analects,
had already, by the time of Confucius, reduced
their lawful prince (or duke, as he is generally
called) to a condition of virtual dependency.
On the other hand, they themselves were some-
times threatened by the lawless behaviour of
their own officers, such as the ambitious chariot-
driver, Yang Huo,1 who thought nothing of
seizing towns or even the person of his own chief,
in order to hold him to ransom. Thus, though
the period of the " Warring States " is not usually
reckoned as beginning until after the death of
Confucius, the date is a purely arbitrary one,
inasmuch as his whole life long disturbances were
rife and military operations well-nigh incessant
throughout the length and breadth of China.
In the midst of the prevailing disorder, Confucius
comported himself with an admirable mixture
of dignity, tact and outspoken courage. Wisely
opposing the dangerous tendency to decentralisa-
tion, and upholding the supreme authority of
the Emperor as against his too powerful vassals,
he heartily disapproved of the illegal usurpations
1 See p. 121.


16 INTRODUCTION
of the dukes, the great families and the soldiers
of fortune that preyed one upon the other, and
did not shrink on occasion from expressing his
disgust in unequivocal terms. But knowing the
futility of protests unbacked by force, he kept
himself aloof for the most part, and devoted
himself to a long course of study and teaching,
gathering, it is said, as many as three thousand
disciples around him. This is a palpable ex-
aggeration, but there can be no doubt that he
had become a marked man and gained great
fame as a moralist and teacher many years
before he actually took office. In 501 B.C., at
the age of fifty, he at last made his entry on the
political stage by accepting the governorship of
a small town in Lu. Here he is said to have been
eminently successful in the work of reform, and
he rapidly rose to be the most trusted adviser
of Duke Ting, who on one occasion at least
owed his life to the courage and address of his
minister. But it was not long ere the weak and
fickle character of the ruler, carefully manipu-
lated by rivals to Confucius, brought about a
catastrophe. The neighbouring state of Ch'i,
jealous of the new prosperity of Lu under the
regime of the sage, cunningly sent as a gift to the
prince a band of beautiful women, trained in song
and dance, and a number of magnificent horses^
in order to distract his mind from the serious
cares of state. The plotters had evidently taken


INTRODUCTION 17
the measure of their victim, for the artifice
succeeded, and Confucius felt compelled to resign.
Then began the weary years of wandering from
state to state, in which we cannot follow him
here, except to note a sagacious prophecy uttered
by a friendly official on the frontier of Wei.
Coming out from an interview with Confucius,
he comforted the woebegone disciples by telling
them that their Master's divine mission was now
only just beginning.1 It may, indeed, be that
the ensuing period of homeless exile, hardships
and danger, did more to spread the fame of the
great reformer than either the few brilliant years
of office or those spent as a teacher in the com-
parative seclusion of Lu. For one thing, it could
not but inspire and fortify his followers to ob-
serve that the lofty principles which a sudden
accession to power had failed to corrupt, were
equally capable of standing the test of adversity.
His serene and courageous bearing in many a
strange and perilous situation proved that the
conception of a "higher type of man" was for
him no empty ideal, but the worthy object of
practical endeavour. It is sad, however, to reflect
that the best years of his life had passed before
the call came which resulted in his return. Had
it not been so long delayed, he would doubtless
have thrown himself once more into the arena
of public affairs, and begun rebuilding the fabric
1 Seep. 118.


18 INTRODUCTION
of good government which had been so rudely
shattered thirteen years before. His patience
would have been equal to the task; but he was
now an old man, worn out by years of travel,
privation and anxiety, at a time of life when the
physical frame begins to demand a certain
measure of quiet and repose. Hence, though he
may be said to have returned to his native state
with flying colours, he took no further active part
in its administration, but devoted the rest of his
life to literary labours which have added materi-
ally to his fame. Such were the collecting and
editing of certain old national ballads known to
us as the Odes, and the penning of the Spring
and Autumn Annals of Lu, which may be regarded
as the first real record of authentic facts, as
opposed to the mere string of speeches and
eulogies which we find in the miscalled Book of
History.
To this closing period, too, are to be referred
most of the sayings given in the present volume.
These, together with the invaluable biography
by Ssu-ma Ch'ien, which is largely built upon
them, form the only really reliable source of
information about Confucius and his doctrines.
The Chinese title Lun Yil may be rendered
"Conversations" or "Discussions," but neither
is a very apt description of the work, which
contains very little discussion in the ordinary
sense. It consists in fact almost wholly of


INTRODUCTION 19
detached obiter dicta, or replies to questions put
by various disciples on subjects chiefly moral or
personal. These sayings were once supposed to
have been collected and committed to writing
by the immediate disciples of Confucius, but
Legge has shown sufficient reason to believe that
they were transmitted orally at first, and did not
take the form in which we have them until at
least two generations after the Master's death.
Nor must it be imagined that they represent the
ipsissima verba of Confucius. No man could
have made offhand remarks in such a crisp,
concise and epigrammatic style. A translation,
in which brevity has again and again to be
sacrificed to smoothness and lucidity, hardly
allows the European reader to form any idea of
the glittering compactness of these sayings in the
original. So far from having been uttered im-
promptu, they appear to have been repeatedly
ground and polished, and shorn of every redun-
dancy, until they shone like diamonds fresh from
the hands of the cutter. At the same time, as
expressing the essence of what the Master thought
and the substance of what he said, it is with good
reason that they are to be found inscribed on
hundreds of thousands of scrolls and tablets in
every corner of the Empire. These gems, how-
ever, are unsorted. As in most Chinese philo-
sophical works, there is very little attempt at
orderly arrangement; even such a rough classi-


INTRODUCTION 23
read there, was uniformly cheerful in demeanour,
and he evidently unbent to quite an unusual
extent with his disciples, considering the respect
and deference universally shown to age and
learning in China. Is it at all conceivable that
a man of cold and unlovable temper should have
attracted round him hundreds of disciples, with
many of whom he was on terms of most intimate
intercourse, meeting them not only in the lecture-
room, as modern professors meet their classes,
but living with them, eating, drinking, sleeping
and conversing with them, until all their idiosyn-
crasies, good or bad, were better known to him
than to their own parents? Is it explicable,
except on the ground of deep personal affection,
that he should have been followed into exile by
a faithful band of disciples, not one of whom is
known ever to have deserted or turned against
him? Is coldness to be predicated of the man
who in his old age, for once losing something of
his habitual self-control, wept passionately for
the death of his dearly loved disciple Yen Hui,
and would not be comforted?
But it has been reserved for the latest English
translator of the Analects, the Rev. Mr. Jennings,
to level some of the worst charges at his head.
To begin with, he approvingly quotes, as Legge's
final opinion on Confucius, words occurring in
the earliest edition of the Chinese Classics to the
effect that he is " unable to regard him as a great


-; INTRODUCTION 25
great and important matters, while professing
to teach men, he is perhaps most to blame,
and in his holding back what was best in the
religion of the ancients." What these great
and important matters were, is not made very
clear, but if, as seems probable, the phrase is
simply another way of referring to " the religion
of the ancients," it can only be repeated that
religion was a subject which he disliked to discuss
and certainly did not profess to teach, as is
plainly indicated in the Analects. And the reason
why he refrained from descanting on such matters
was that, knowing nothing of them himself,
he felt that he would have been guilty of hypocrisy
and fraud had he made a show of instructing
others therein. Would that a like candour dis-
tinguished some of our own professed teachers
of religion!
t - The last accusation against Confucius is the
most reckless of all. "There is," according
to Mr. Jennings, "a certain selfishness in his
teaching, which had the effect of making those
who came under his influence soon feel them-
selves great and self-satisfied." As only the
feeblest of evidence is produced to support this
wild statement, it will not be necessary to con-
sider it at any length, though we may ask in
passing whether Yen Hui, the disciple who
profited most from his Master's teaching and
best exemplified it, is depicted as exhibiting
1


INTRODUCTION 27
a standing miracle that Confucianism, which
makes no promise of blessings to be enjoyed in
this life or the next, should have succeeded without
the adjunct of other supernatural elements than
that of ancestor-worship. Even this was ac-
cepted by Confucius as a harmless prevailing
custom rather than enjoined by him as an essential
part of his doctrine. Unlike Christianity and Ma-
nometanism, the Way preached by the Chinese
sage knows neither the sanction of punishment
nor the stimulus of reward in an after-life. Even
Buddhism holds out the hope of Nirvana to the
pure of heart, and preaches the long torment
of successive rebirths to those who fall short
of perfect goodness. No great religion is devoid
of elevated precepts, or has ever failed to mould
numbers of beautiful characters to attest the
presence of something good and great within
it. But in every case the element of supernatural-
ism, which is of course inseparable from a religion
properly so called, introduces a new motive for
men's actions and makes it no longer possible
for virtue to be followed purely for its own sake,
without thought of a hereafter. Thus, if we
assent to Comte's famous law of the Three
States, Confucianism really represents a more
advanced stage of civilisation than biblical
Christianity. Indeed, as Mr. Carey Hall has
recently pointed out in an article on the subject,
Confucius may be regarded as the true fore-


28 INTRODUCTION
runner of Comte in his positivist mode of
thought.
His whole system is based on nothing more
nor less than the knowledge of human nature.
The instincts of man are social and therefore
fundamentally good, while egoism is at bottom
an artificial product and evil. Hence the insist-
ence on altruism which we find in the sayings
of Confucius, the injunction to "act socially,"
to live for others in living for oneself. The
most important word in the Confucian vocabulary
is jen, which in the following extracts is trans-
lated "virtue" only for want of a better term.
Our English word " virtue " has so many different
shades of meaning and is withal so vague, that in
using it, the idea of altruism is often hardly
present to our mind. But in jen the implication
of " social good " emerges much more distinctly.
Its connotation has no doubt extended gradually
until it seems often to be rather a compendium
of all goodness than any one virtue in particular.
But this development only means that tne word
is following in the track of the thing itself. For
let a man be but thoroughly imbued with the
altruistic spirit, and he may be termed " good"
without qualification, since all other virtues
tend to flow from unselfishness.
The Confucian theory of man,s social obliga-
tions rests first and foremost on the fact that he
forms part of a great social machine—an_aggre-


INTRODUCTION 29
gation of units, each of which is called a family.
The family, in Chinese eyes, is a microcosm of
the Empire, or rather, since the family is chrono-
logically prior to the State, it is the pattern on
which the greater organism has moulded itself.
The feudal system under which Confucius lived
naturally accentuated the likeness. The Emperor
had, in theory at least, paternal authority over
his feudal princes, who in turn, standing to one
another in the relation of elder and younger
brothers, were regarded as the fathers of their
respective peoples. Now, the way to ensure that
a machine as a whole may run smoothly and well,
is to see that each part shall fulfil its own function
in proper subordination to the rest. How is
this result achieved in the family? Obviously
through the controlling will of the father, who
has supreme authority over all the other members.
But this authority is not by any means the mere
brute force of a tyrant. It is based firstly on
the natural order of things, whereby the father
is clearly intended to be the protector of his
children; and secondly, as a consequence of
this, on the love and respect which will normally
spring up in the minds of the children for their
protector. Such is the genesis of filial piety,
which plays so large a part in Chinese ethics.
It is quite untrue, however, to say with Mr.
Jennings, that no corresponding parental duties
are recognised by Confucius, as the following


30 INTRODUCTION
anecdote may serve to show. During the sage's
short period of office as Minister of Crime, a
father came to him bringing some serious charge
against his son. Confucius kept them both in
prison for three months, without making any
difference in favour of the father, and then let
them go. The Minister Chi Huan remonstrated
with him for this, and reminded him of his saying,
that filial duty was the first thing to be insisted
on. "What hinders you now from putting
this unfilial son to death as an example to all
the people?" Confucius' reply was, that the
father had never taught his son to be filial, and
that therefore the guilt really rested with him.
For the harmonious working of a family,
then, we need respect for authority on one side,
and self-sacrifice on the other. The father,s
object must be entirely altruistic—the good of his
family. Then only will he be doing his duty
as a father, just as a son is not doing his duty
unless he shows honour and obedience to his
parents. The all-important element which makes
possible the working of the family machine, the
lubricating oil that eases the bearings, is not
merely filial piety without any corresponding
feeling on the part of the parent, but rather a
certain subtle principle of harmony and self-
control permeating every member of the family
group, which restrains egoistic propensities and
promotes the common good. This is the Chinese


INTRODUCTION 31
term li, which in this sense of a quality of the soul
is hardly translatable by any single word or
combination of words, but is certainly not to
be rendered by any such atrocious phrase as
"the rules of propriety."'
Now Confucius saw that the same general
principles which govern the family are applicable
also to that greatest of families, the State. Here
we have the Emperor, in whose hands the supreme
authority must lie, exercising functions exactly
analogous to those of the father of a family.
But if his is the supreme authority, his must
also be the supreme responsibility. Veneration
and respect are his due, but only because he
identifies himself with the good of the people.
In public affairs, just as in the home, there must
be that same principle of harmony to regulate
the relations of governor and governed, otherwise
the machine will not work. There must be li
here as well, but as it is not possible for the
sovereign to maintain with his subjects the per-
sonal intimacy which unites a father and his
sons, it is necessary to fall back upon symbols, and
to give outward and visible expression to the
inward sentiments of loyalty and respect which
should animate the breast of each member of
the nation. These symbols are the rites and
ceremonies of which Confucius was considered
such a past-master. He saw indeed their full
1 See note on p. 00.


32 INTRODUCTION
importance as symbols, but he also knew that,
divorced from the inward feeling, they were mean-
ingless and without value. In this way it is
easy to see how the word ft, as a human attribute,
acquired its various shades of meaning, from
the harmony in the soul which prompts action in
accordance with true natural instincts, down to
ordinary politeness and good manners—also
an indispensable lubricant in the lesser dealings
of life between man and man.
It was in the family again that Confucius
found a natural force at work which he thought
might be utilised as an immense incentive to
virtue. This was the universal human proneness
to imitation. Knowing that personal example
is the most effective way in which a father can
teach his sons what is right, he unhesitatingly
attributed the same powerful influence to the
personal conduct of the sovereign, and went so
far as to declare that if the ruler was personally
upright, his subjects would do their duty un-
bidden; if he was not upright, they would not
obey, whatever his bidding. "The virtue of
the prince," he said, "is like unto wind; that
of the people, like unto grass. For it is the
nature of grass to bend when the wind blows
upon it." It must be admitted that Confucius
has in this particular somewhat overshot the
mark and formed too sanguine an estimate of the
force of example. It would be unfair, however,


INTRODUCTION 33
to base our argument on the analogy of modern
democratic states, where the controlling power
is split up into several branches, and the con-
spicuousness of the monarch is much diminished.
Not that even the constitutional sovereign of
to-day may not wield a very decided influence
in morals. But this influence was much greater
while the king retained full despotic power,
and greatest of all in feudal times, when the
successive gradations of rank and the nice ar-
rangement of a hierarchy of officials, each ac-
countable to the one above him, were specially
designed to convey and filter it among all classes
of the community. Had Confucius been able to
find a prince who would have acted consistently
on Confucian principles, the results might have
been almost as grand as he anticipated. The
experiment was tried, we must remember, on a
small scale, when Confucius himself became
governor of a town in the State of Lu. And
although one must be chary of accepting all the
extravagant tales- which gathered round his
brief official career, it seems indisputable that
this political theory, unlike many others, proved
reasonably successful in actual practice.
Of course the weak point is that every king
cannot be a Confucius, and unless some practical
method can be devised of electing rulers on the
ground of merit alone, it is impossible to ensure
that their conduct shall serve as a pattern to their


34 INTRODUCTION
people. "Rotten wood cannot be carved," the
Master himself once remarked, and he found
bitter confirmation of his saying in Duke Ting of
Lu. Nothing could ever have been made out of
such utterly weak and worthless material. And
he afterwards spent thirteen years of his life in
the fruitless search for a sovereign who would
correspond even faintly to his ideal. Such un-
swerving devotion to the abstract cause of right
and justice and good government cannot but
puzzle those who have been taught to regard
Confucius as the very type and embodiment of
materialistic wisdom and practical utilitarianism.
But in truth, strange though it may sound, he
was a great idealist who gained his hold on his
countrymen by virtue rather of his noble
imaginings and lofty aspirations than of any
immediate results or tangible achievements.
By the men of his own day he was more often
than not considered a charlatan and an impostor.
It is remarkable that even the two Taoist
recluses and the eccentric Chieh Yii (p. 122)
should have condemned him as a visionary and
a " crank." Similar was the impression he made
on the gate-keeper who asked a disciple if his
Master was the man " who was always trying to
do what he knew to be impossible." This playful
sarcasm is really the best commentary on bis
career, and one that pays him unintentionally
the greatest honour. Though often disheartened


36 INTRODUCTION
he had striven so earnestly to remove. And so
it came about that his belief in the political value
of personal goodness was in some sort justified
after all; for the great and inspiriting pattern
which he sought in vain among the princes of his
time was to be afforded in the end by no other
than himself—the "throneless king," who is for
ever enshrined in the hearts of his countrymen.
It is absurd, then, to speak of his life as a failure.
Measured by results—the almost incalculably
great and far-reaching consequences which fol-
lowed tardily but irresistibly after he was gone—
his life was one of the most successful ever lived
by man. Three others, and only three, are com-
parable to it in world-wide influence: Gautama's
self-sacrificing sojourn among men, the stormy
career of the Arab Prophet, and the "sinless
years " which found their close on Golgotha.


LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL DISCIPLES
The proper names occurring in the Analects
present some difficulty to the European reader,
as one and the same person is often referred to
in several different ways—by his surname and
personal name, by his "style," or by a com-
bination of the two, while among intimates the
personal name only is employed. Mr. Ku has
on this account eliminated almost all proper
names from his translation, using a periphrasis
instead. But by this method one misses much
of the characterisation which is such an attrac-
tive feature of the Analects. I have judged it
better to give the names of the principal disciples
exactly as they appear in the Chinese, and to
provide a table of their various appellations for
easy reference. An asterisk denotes the name
most frequently used.
Surname and
Personal Name.
Style.
Mixed
Appellation.
YenHui
Tzii Yuan
Tzil Ch'ien
Yen Yuan.*
MinTzu-ch'ien,*
MinSun )
(Min Tzu)j
37


38 LIST OF PRINCIPAL DISCIPLES
Surname and
Mixed
Personal Name.
Style.
Appellation.
Jan Keng
Po Niu*
Jan Po-niu.
Jan Yung
Chung Kung*
Jan Ch'iu
Tzu Yu
Jan Yu.*
Cliung Yu
Tzu Lu*)
Chi Lu /
Tsai Yii
Tzil Wo
Tsai Wo*
Tuan-mu Tz'a
Tzu Kung*
Yen Yen
Tzu Yu*
Yen Yu.
Pu Shang
Tzu Hsia*
Chuan-sun Shih
Tzu Chang*
Tseng Shen |
(Tseng Tzu*)J
Tzu Yii
Fan Hsu
Tztt Ch'ih
Fan Ch'ih*
Ssti-ma Keng
Tzfl Niu
Ssu-ma Niu.*
Kung-hsi Ch'ih
Tzii Hua
Kung-hsi Hua.*
Yu Jo )
(Yu Tzu*) 1
Tzu Jo


40 GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
mote the evil-doers and dismiss the upright, and
the people will be discontented.
Chi K'ang Tzu ' asked by what means he might
cause his people to be respectful and loyal, and
encourage them in the path of virtue. The
Master replied: Conduct yourself towards them
with dignity, and you will earn their respect; be
a good son and a kind prince, and you will find
them loyal; promote the deserving and instruct
those who fall short, and they will be encouraged
to follow the path of virtue.
Some one, addressing Confucius, said: Why,
Sir, do you take no part in the government ?—The
Master replied: What does the Book of History
say about filial piety ?—Do your duty as a son
and as a brother, and these qualities will make
themselves felt in the government. This, then,
really amounts to taking part in the government.
Holding office need not be considered essential.
The people can be made to follow a certain
path, but they cannot be made to know the
reason why.
Tzu Kung asked for a definition of good govern-
ment. The Master replied: It consists in pro-
viding enough food to eat, in keeping enough
1 Chi K'ang Tzil succeeded to the headship of the great
Chi family in 491, when Chi Huan died, by whom he was
advised to recall Confucius from his long wanderings. The
sage, however, did not return until eight years later.


GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 41
soldiers to guard the State, and in winning the
confidence of the people.—And if one of these
three things had to be sacrificed, which should
go first ?—The Master replied: Sacrifice the
soldiers.—And if of the two remaining things one
had to be sacrificed, which should it be ?—The
Master said: Let it be the food. From the
beginning, men have always had to die. But
without the confidence of the people no govern-
ment can stand at all.
Ching, Duke of the Ch'i State, questioned
Confucius on the art of government. Confucius
replied: Let the sovereign do his duty as a
sovereign, the subject his duty as a subject, the
father his duty as a father, and the son his duty
as a son.—A good answer! said the Duke; for
unless sovereign and subject, father and son do
their respective duties, however much grain there
may be in the land, I could obtain none to eat.
Tzu Chang put a question about the art of
governing. The Master said: Devote yourself
patiently to the theory, and conscientiously to the
practice, of government.
Chi K'ang Tzu asked Confucius for advice on
the subject of government. Confucius replied:
To govern is to keep straight.1 If you, Sir, lead
1 The point of the original lies partly in the fact that the
Chinese words for "govern" and "straight" are similar
in form and identical in sound-


42 GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
the people straight, which of your subjects will
venture to fall out of line?
Chi K'ang Tzu, being vexed by robbers, asked
Confucius for his advice. Confucius replied,
saying: If you, sir, can check your own cupidity,
there will be no stealing, even though rewards
should be offered for theft.
Chi K'ang Tzu questioned Confucius on a
point of government, saying: Ought not I to
cut off the lawless in order to establish law and
order? What do you think ?—Confucius re-
plied: Sir, what need is there of the death
penalty in your system of government? If you
showed a sincere desire to be good, your people
would likewise be good. The virtue of the prince
is like unto wind; that of the people, like unto
grass. For it is the nature of grass to bend when
the wind blows upon it.
Tzii Lu asked for a hint on the art of governing.
The Master replied: Take the lead and set the
example of diligent toil.—Asked for a further
hint, he said: Be patient and untiring.
Chung Kung, being Prime Minister to the head
of the Chi clan, asked for advice on governing.
The Master said: Make a point of employing
your subordinates, overlook trifling mistakes,
raise to office worthy and able men.—But,
said Chung Kung, how am I to discover these


GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 43
worthy men and single them out for promotion ?—
Promote those that you know, was the reply.
As for those that you do not know, will not their
claims be brought before you by others?
Tzu Lu said: The Prince of Wei is waiting,
Sir, for you to take up the reins of government.
Pray what is the first reform you would intro-
duce ?—The Master replied: I would begin by
defining terms and making them exact.1—Oh,
indeed! exclaimed Tzu Lu. But how can you
possibly put things straight by such a circuitous
route ?—The Master said: How unmannerly
you are, Yu! In matters which he does not
understand, the wise man will always reserve
his judgment. If terms are not correctly defined,
words will not harmonise with things. If words
1 The hidden meaning of this saying is made clear by the
context to be found in Ssu-ma Ch'ien,s biography of Con-
fucius. The Prince of Wei at this time was the young man
mentioned on p. 128 as holding the throne against his own
father. By so doing ho had in some sort inverted the relation-
ship which should have subsisted between them, and each
was in a false position, the father being deprived of his proper
parental dignity, and the son no longer 'doing his duty as
a son" (see p. 41). Confucius then is administering a veiled
rebuke to the young ruler, for in saying that the first reform
necessary is the correct definition of names, he implies in
effect that the terms "father" and "son," among others,
should be made to resume their proper significance. An
alternative rendering of cheng ming as "rectification of the
written character," though backed by the great authority
of M. Chavannes, can only be described as feeble and far-
fetched, and has been ably confuted by Herr Franke in the
f'oung Pao for July, 1906,


44 GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
do not harmonise with things, public business
will remain undone. If public business remains
undone, order and harmony will not flourish.
If order and harmony do not nourish, law and
justice will not attain their ends. If law and
justice do not attain their ends, the people will
be unable to move hand or foot. The wise man,
therefore, frames his definitions to regulate his
speech, and his speech to regulate his actions.
He is never reckless in his choice of words.
Fan Ch'ih asked to be taught the art of
husbandry. The Master said: Any farmer can
teach you that better than I can. He then
asked to be taught gardening. The Master said:
Any gardener will teach you that better than I
can. Fan Ch'ih having gone out, the Master
said: What a small-minded man is Fan Hsu!
If the ruler is addicted to modesty and self-
control, his people will not permit themselves
to be irreverent. If the ruler loves justice and
duty, his people will not venture to be unruly.
If the ruler loves sincerity and good faith, the
people will not be slow to respond. Such being
his qualities, the people will flock to him from all
quarters, with their babes strapped to their
backs. What need for him to know the art
of husbandry?'
1 Confucius is of course merely insisting on the principle
of division of labour, and not by any means depreciating the
value of husbandry or other useful arts.. It is not the ruler,s


GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 45
The Master said: If the ruler is personally
upright, his subjects will do their duty unbidden;
if he is not personally upright, they will not obey,
whatever his bidding.
When the Master went to Wei, Jan Yu drove
his carriage. The Master said: What an abundant
population !—Jan Yu said: Now that the people
are so abundant, what is the next thing to be
done ?—Enrich them, said Confucius.—And
having enriched them, what then ?—Teach them,
was the reply.
The Master said: If a country had none but
good rulers for a hundred years, crime might be
stamped out and the death-penalty abolished.
How true this saying is!
If a kingly sovereign were to appear, by the end
of one generation natural goodness would prevail.
If a man can reform his own heart, what should
hinder him from taking part in government?
But if he cannot reform his own heart, what has
he to do with reforming others?
Duke Ting a asked if there was a single sentence
business to make himself proficient in these, because the task
of governing and setting an example to the governed will
claim all his attention. Compare Plato,s disapproval of
iroXwirpaynoaivr), and Confucius, remarks on his own skill
in various arts (p. 88).
1 The weak ruler of the Lu State (510-494 B.C.), who lost
the services of Confucius by his infatuation in accepting the


48 GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
In serving your prince, make the actual servic e
your first care, and only put the emolument second.
The head of the Chi clan was on the point oc
attacking the small principality of Chuan-yii.
Jan Yu and Chi Lu came to see Confucius, and
said: Our lord is going to have trouble with
Chuan-yii.—Confucius said: Is it not you, Ch'iu,
who are to blame in this? The ancient kings
long ago made Chuan-yii the centre of the worship
of the Eastern Meng mountain, and moreover
it is situated within the territory of Lu. Its
ruler has independent priestly functions.1 What
right have you to attack it ?—Jan Yu replied:
It is the will of our master; we, his ministers,
have neither of us any wish to act thus.—Ch'iu,
said Confucius, Chou Jen 8 had a saying: "If
you are capable of displaying energy, hold
office; if not, resign." Of what use is that
minister likely to be, who does not sustain his
master in the presence of danger, or support him
when about to fall? Besides, what you say is
wrong. If a tiger or a wild buffalo escapes
from its cage, if a tortoise-shell or jade ornament
is smashed in its casket, whose fault is it, pray ?—
Jan Yu replied: But Chuan-yii is strongly
fortified, and close to our own town of Pi. If^we
1 Literally, "a minister of the altars to the spirits of the
land and grain"; i.e. a direct vassal of the Emperor, and
responsible only to him.
* An ancient historiographer, of whom very little is known.


GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 49
do not take it now, it will cause trouble to our
descendants in a later generation.—Confucius
rejoined: Ch'iu, an honest man hates your
hypocrite who will not openly avow his greed, but
tries instead to excuse it. I have heard that the
ruler of a state or of a clan is troubled not by the
smallness of its numbers but by the absence of
even-handed justice; not by poverty but by
the presence of discontent; for where there is
justice there will be no poverty; where there is
harmony there will be no lack in numbers;
where there is content there will be no revolution.
This being the case then, if outlying communities
resist your authority, cultivate the arts of refine-
ment and goodness in order to attract them;
and when you have attracted them, make them
happy and contented. Now you two, Yu and
Ch'iu, are aiding and abetting your master;
here is an outlying community which resists your
authority, and you are unable to attract it.
Partition and collapse are imminent in your own
State, and you are unable to preserve it intact.
And yet you are planning military aggression
within the borders of your country! Verily I
fear that Chi-sun's ' troubles will come, not from
Chuan-yii, but from the interior of his own palace.
When the Master came to Wu-ch'eng, he
heard the sound of singing and stringed instru-
1 The head of the Chi clan mentioned above.
4


50 GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ments. He was pleased, but said with a smile:
Is it necessary to take a pole-axe to kill a fowl ?—
Tzu Yu replied: Some time ago, Sir, I heard
you say that the study of true principles made
the ruler beneficent and men of the lower class
easy to govern.—My children, said the Master,
Yen is right. What I said was only in jest.1
Tzu Chang asked Confucius, saying: What are
the essentials of good government ?—The Master
said: Esteem the five excellent, and banish the
four evil things; then you will become fit to
govern.—Tzu Chang asked: What are the five
excellent things ?—The Master replied: The
wise and good ruler is benevolent without ex-
pending treasure; he lays burdens on the people
without causing them to grumble; he has
desires without being covetous; he is serene
without being proud; he is awe-inspiring without
being ferocious.—He is benevolent without ex-
pending treasure: what does that mean ?—The
Master replied: He simply follows the course
which naturally brings benefit to the people.8 Is
1 Wu-ch,eng means " Martial city," so called from its impreg-
nable position. Tzfi Yu, when appointed governor, had suc-
ceeded in weaning the people from their warlike propensities,
and in introducing the milder arts of peace. This is what made
the Master glad, though he could not help being amused at
the application of the loftiest principles to such a tiny com-
munity. About ancient Chinese music we know unfortunately
next to nothing, but it seems to have played as important a
part under the Chou dynasty as in Plato,s ideal State.
1 That is to say, the ruler will always keep the welfare


GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 51
he not thus benevolent without expending
treasure? In imposing burdens, he chooses the
right time and the right means, and nobody can
grumble. His desire is for goodness, and he
achieves it; how should he be covetous? The
wise and good ruler never allows himself to be
negligent, whether he is dealing with many men
or with few, with small matters or with great.
Is this not serenity without pride? He has his
cap and robe properly adjusted, and throws a
noble dignity into his looks, so that his gravity
inspires onlookers with respect. Is he not thus
awe-inspiring without being ferocious ?—Tzu
Chang then asked: What are the four evil
things ?—The Master said: Cruelty :—leaving
the people in their native ignorance, yet punishing
their wrong-doing with death. Oppression :—
requiring the immediate completion of tasks
imposed without previous warning. Ruthless-
ness :—giving vague orders, and then insisting
on punctual fulfilment. Peddling husbandry :—
stinginess in conferring the proper rewards on
deserving men.1
of his people in view, but without indulging in indiscriminate
largess. The ever-increasing doles of money and corn with
which the Roman Emperors were obliged to buy the favour of
the populace would thus have fallen under the condemnation
of Confucius.
1 The "four evil things" really turn out to be reducible
to two, namely (1) Cruelty—covering the first three; and
(2) Meanness.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 53
At home, a young man should show the qualities
of a son; abroad, those of a younger brother. He
should be circumspect but truthful. He should
have charity in his heart for all men, but associate
only with the virtuous. After thus regulating
his conduct, his surplus energy should be de-
voted to literary culture.
In the matter of food and lodging, the nobler
type of man does not seek mere repletion and
comfort. He is earnest in his affairs and cautious
in his speech, and frequents virtuous company
for his own improvement. He may be called
one truly bent on the study of virtue.1
Meng I Tzu2 asked for a definition of filial piety.
The Master said: It consists in there being no
falling off.'—Fan Ch'ih was driving the Master's
carriage some time after, when the latter told
him, saying: Meng I Tzu asked me about filial
1 Literally, "he may be called a lover of learning." But
"learning" in the mouth of Confucius is generally to be
understood as study of the rules of right conduct with a
view to their practical application. The object of all learning
was to enable a man to develop the natural goodness within
him, so as to lead a life of virtuous culture. It was not
pursued solely for its own sake, nor had it become, as with us,
divorced from all ethical significance.
2 The chief of the house of Meng, one of the three great
families of Lu, and (according to Ssti-ma Ch'ien) a disciple
of Confucius.
3 The reply is enigmatical, but it is clear from what follows
that this, and not, as Legge translates, "disobedience," is
the true meaning.


54 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
piety, and I answered that it consisted in there
being no falling off.—Fan Ch'ih said: What did
you mean ?—The Master replied: That parents
should be served in the proper spirit while living,
buried with the proper rites after death, and
worshipped thereafter with the proper sacrifices.
Meng Wu Po ' asked for a definition of filial
piety. The Master said: There is filial piety
when parents are spared all anxiety about their
children except when they happen to fall
sick.8
Tzii Yu put a question on the subject of filial
piety. The Master said: The filial piety of
to-day reduces itself to the mere question of
maintenance. Yet this is something in which
even our dogs and horses have a share.3 Without
the feeling of reverence, what is there to distin-
guish the two cases'?
1 The eldest son of Meng I Tzfi.
a It is astonishing that Chu Hsi should have tried to
improve on the old commentators here, and almost equally
astonishing that Legge should have followed him, with this
result: "The Master said, Parents are anxious lest their
children should be sick" (and therefore children should
take care of their persons)!
3 Here again it is almost incredible that Legge should
have adopted such a ridiculous interpretation as the follow-
ing—without the authority, this time, of Chu Hsi: "The
filial piety of nowadays means the support of one's parents.
But dogs and horses likewise are able to do something in the
way of support." The image conjured up by this sentence
is grotesque, to say the least.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 55
Tzu Hsia also asked about filial piety. The
Master said: It can hardly be gauged from mere
outward acts.1 When there is work to be done,
to relieve one's elders of the toil; or when there
is wine and food, to cause them to partake
thereof—is this to be reckoned filial piety ? 8
Tzu Kung inquired about the higher type of
man. The Master replied: The higher type of
man is one who acts before he speaks, and pro-
fesses only what he practises.
The Master said: The higher type of man is
catholic in his sympathy and free from party
bias; the lower type of man is biassed and un-
sympathetic.
A man without charity in his heart—what has
1 Literally, "colour difficult." This famous sentence, a
stumbling-block to native and foreigner alike, surely marks
the extreme limit to which conciseness can be carried in
Chinese. "The difficulty is with the countenance" is the
lame translation offered by Legge, and later scholars have
mostly followed in his footsteps, even Mr. Ku Hung-ming fail-
ing badly for once. Where all have gone astray is in taking
the " difficulty" to exist in the mind of the would-be filial
son, instead of being that felt by the onlooker who wishes to
gauge the genuineness of the quality in others. Only a few
months ago, a new and ingenious interpretation was suggested
by my father, Professor H. A. Giles, namely: "To define it is
difficult"; but after much consideration I am led to prefer
the rendering in the text, inasmuch as the word ae is quite
commonly used to denote the external as opposed to the
internal, form as opposed to essence.
2 The answer of course is—No; outward acts do not
constitute filial piety, unless prompted by a genuine duteous
feeling in the heart.


56 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
he to do with ceremonies? A man without chanty
in his heart—what has he to do with music?'
Lin Fang inquired as to the prime essential in
ceremonial observances. The Master said: Ah,
that is a great question indeed! In all rites,
simplicity is better than extravagance; in
mourning for the dead, heartfelt sorrow is better
than punctiliousness.
The Master said: The true gentleman is never
contentious. If a spirit of rivalry is anywhere
unavoidable, it is at a shooting-match. Yet
even here he courteously salutes his opponents
before taking up his position, and again when,
having lost, he retires to drink the forfeit-cup.
So that even when competing he remains a true
gentleman.
It is the spirit of charity which makes a locality
good to dwell in. He who selects a neighbour-
hood without regard to this quality cannot be
considered wise.
Only he who has the spirit of goodness within
him is really able either to love or to hate.
The princely man never for a single instant
quits the path of virtue; in times of storm and
stress he remains in it as fast as ever.
1 A notable utterance, which may be commended to those
who have been taught to regard Confucius as a man of
ceremonies and outward show.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 57
The nobler sort of man in his progress through
the world has neither narrow predilections nor
obstinate antipathies. What he follows is the
line of duty.
The nobler sort of man is proficient in the know-
ledge of his duty; the inferior man is proficient
only in money-making.
In serving his father and mother, a son may
use gentle remonstrance; if he sees that they
pay no heed, he should not desist, but merely
increase in deference; if his pains are thrown
away, he must show no resentment
While one's parents are alive, one should not
travel to a distance; if one must travel, it should
be in a fixed direction.1
The age of one's parents should always be kept
in mind—on the one hand, as a subject for re-
joicing; on the other, as a cause for alarm.
The wise man will be slow to speak but quick
to act.
Tzu Chang asked, saying: The Prime Minister
Tzii Wen J held office three times, but showed
no joy; he lost it three times, but testified no
concern. When he ceased to be Prime Minister,
he was careful to explain the political situation to
his successor.^, What is your opinion of him ?—
1 In order that the parents may know where their son is.
» Of the Ch'u State.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 59
All men are born good. He who loses his good-
ness and yet lives is lucky to escape.
Better than one who knows what is right is one
who is fond of what is right; and better than
one who is fond of what is right is one who
delights in what is right.
Fan Ch'ih asked in what wisdom consisted.
The Master said: Make righteousness in human
affairs your aim, treat all supernatural beings with
respect, but keep aloof from them—then you may
be called wise. Asked about moral virtue, he
replied: The virtuous man thinks of the difficult
thing' first, and makes material advantage only
a secondary consideration. This may be said to
constitute moral virtue.
The Master said: The man of knowledge finds
pleasure in the sea, the man of virtue finds
pleasure in the mountains.8 For the man of
knowledge is restless and the man of virtue is
calm. The man of knowledge is happy, and the
man of virtue is long-lived.
The higher type of man, having gathered wide
objective knowledge from the branches of polite
learning, will regulate the whole by the inner
1 That is to say, the virtuous act, which ho will perform for
its own sake, regardless of consequences.
a Each finds pleasure in that part of Nature which~re-
sembles himself.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 61
himself to be illuminated, he will illuminate
others. To be able to do to others as we would be
done by '—this is the true domain of moral virtue.
It has not been my lot to see a divine man;
could I see a princely man, that would satisfy
me. It has not been my lot to see a thoroughly
virtuous man; could I see a man possessing
honesty of soul, that would satisfy me. Is it
possible there should be honesty of soul in one who
pretends to have what he has not; who, when
empty, pretends to be overflowing; who, when
in want, pretends to be in affluence?
The higher type of man is calm and serene ; the
inferior man is constantly agitated and worried.
With sincerity and truth unite a desire for self-
culture. Lay down your life rather than quit
the path of virtue. Enter not the state which is
tottering to its fall. Abide not in the state where
sedition is rampant. When law obtains in the
Empire, let yourself be seen; when lawlessness
reigns, retire into obscurity. In a state governed
on right principles, poverty and low station are
things to be ashamed of; in an ill-governed state,
riches and rank are things to be ashamed of.
The man of wisdom does not vacillate; the
1 It is only fair to mention that the above is not an exact
translation of the words in the Chinese text, though I believe
their import to be what I have set down. The point is too
technical and abstruse to be discussed here.


62 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
man of natural goodness does not fret; the man
of valour does not fear.
Yen Yuan inquired as to the meaning of true
goodness. The Master said: The subdual of
self, and reversion to the natural laws governing
conduct—this is true goodness. If a man can
for the space of one day subdue his selfishness and
revert to natural laws, the whole world will call
him good. True goodness springs from a man,s
own heart. How can it depend on other men ?—
Yen Yuan said: Kindly tell me the practical rule
to be deduced from this.—The Master replied:
Do not use your eyes, your ears, your power of
speech or your faculty of movement without
obeying the inner law of self-control.1—Yen Yuan
said: Though I am not quick in thought or act, I
will make it my business to carry out this precept.
Chung Kung inquired as to the meaning of true
goodness. The Master said: When out of doors,
behave as though you were entertaining a dis-
tinguished guest; in ruling the people, behave
as though you were officiating at a solemn sacri-
fice; what you would not wish done to yourself,
do not unto others.8 Then in public as in
1 See note on p. 60. This is the solemn nonsense dished
up by Legge: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety;
listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is
contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary
to propriety."
a Confucius here, as in general, suits his reply to the


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 63
private life you will excite no ill-will. Chung Kung
said: Though I am not quick in thought or act, I
will make it my business to carry out this precept.
Ssii-ma Niu inquired as to the meaning of true
goodness. The Master said: The truly good man
is slow of speech.1—Slowness of speech! Is this
what goodness consists in ?—The Master said:
Does not the difficulty of deciding what it is right
to do necessarily imply slowness to speak?
Ssii-ma Niu asked for a definition of the
princely man. The Master said: The princely
man is one who knows neither grief nor fear.—
Absence of grief and fear! Is this the mark of
a princely man ?—The Master said: If on
searching his heart he finds no guilt, why should
he grieve? of what should he be afraid?
Tzu Chang asked how to attain exalted virtue.
. . . The Master said: Make conscientiousness
and truth your guiding principles, and thus pass
on to the cultivation of duty to your neighbour.
This is exalted virtue.
questioner. In answering Yen Yuan, the model disciple,
he had gone to the very root of the matter, making it clear
that the essence of true goodness has little or nothing to do
with externals. To Chung Kung, who was less advanced
and doubtless somewhat lacking in grace or dignity of de-
meanour, he gives more superficial advice, but winds up by
enunciating the Golden Rule, which is the best practical
manner of manifesting inward goodness of heart.
1 There seems to be a play on this word which cannot be
brought out in translation.
s


64 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
The Master said: The nobler sort of man
emphasises the good qualities in others, and does
not accentuate the bad. The inferior sort does
the reverse.
Tzu Chang asked: What must a man do
in order to be considered distinguished ?—The
Master said: What do you mean by the term
"distinguished " ?—Tzu Chang replied: I mean
one whose fame fills both his own private circle
and the State at large.—The Master said: That
is notoriety, not distinction. The man of true
distinction is simple, honest, and a lover of justice
and duty. He weighs men's words, and observes
the expression of their faces.1 He is anxious to
put himself below others. Such a one is truly
distinguished in his private and his public life.
As to the man who is merely much talked about,
he puts on an appearance of charity and bene-
volence, but his actions belie it. He is self-
satisfied and has no misgivings. Neither in
private nor in public life does he achieve more
than notoriety.
Tzu Kung asked a question about friendship.
The Master said: Be conscientious in speaking
to your friend, but tactful in your efforts to guide
him aright. If these fail, stop. Do not court a
personal rebuff.
1 This probably means that he will not rely on words alone
in judging of character.


INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE 65
The Duke of She addressed Confucius, saying:
We have an upright man in our country. His
father stole a sheep, and the son bore witness
against him.—In our country, Confucius replied,
uprightness is something different from this. A
father hides the guilt of his son, and a son hides
the guilt of his father. It is in such conduct that
true uprightness is to be found.
Fan Ch'ih asked a question about moral virtue.
The Master said : In private life, show self-respect;
in the management of affairs, be attentive and
thorough; in your dealings with others, be honest
and conscientious. Never abandon these prin-
ciples, even among savages.
The Master said: The nobler sort of man is
accommodating but not obsequious; the inferior
sort is obsequious but not accommodating.
The nobler sort of man is easy to serve yet
difficult to please. Who seeks to please him in
wrongful ways will not succeed. In exacting
service from others, he takes account of aptitudes
and limitations. The baser sort of man is difficult
to serve yet easy to please. Who seeks to please
him in any wrongful way will assuredly succeed.
And he requires absolute perfection in those
from whom he exacts service.
The nobler sort of man is dignified but not
proud; the inferior man is proud but not dignified.
5


66 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
Hsien said: To refrain from self-glorification,
to subdue feelings of resentment, to control selfish
desire—may this be held to constitute perfect
virtue ?—The Master said: These things may
certainly be considered hard to achieve, but I
am not so sure that they constitute perfect
virtue.1
The Master said: A man of inward virtue'
will have virtuous words on his lips, but a man of
virtuous words is not always a virtuous man.
The man of perfect goodness 8 is sure to possess
courage, but the courageous man is not necessarily
good.
Can true love be anything but exacting?
How can our sense of duty allow us to abstain
from admonition?
The nobler sort of man tends upwards; the
baser sort tends downwards.
The princely type of man is modest in his
speech, but liberal in his performance.
The princely man has three great virtues,
1 Being too purely negative.
2 It is almost impossible, hero and in other passages, to
make any real distinction of meaning between te, the mani-
festation of eternal principles in the soul of man, and jen,
natural goodness of heart, though the former, being more
universal and abstract, may be said to include Oie latter,
which generally implies a certain relation to one,s fellow-
men.


70 INDIVIDUAL VIRTUE
spect you;' be magnanimous, and you will
win all hearts; be sincere, and men will trust
you; be earnest, and you will achieve great
things; be benevolent, and you will be fit to
impose your will on others.
Tzii Lu asked: Does not the princely man 8
value courage ?—The Master said: He puts
righteousness first. The man of high station 8
who has courage without righteousness is a menace
to the State; the common man who has courage
without righteousness is nothing more than a
brigand.
Tzii Kung asked: Has the nobler sort of man
any hatreds ?—The Master replied: He has.
He hates those who publish the faults of others;
he hates men of low condition who vilify those
above them; he hates those whose courage is
unaccompanied by self-restraint; he hates those
who are audacious but narrow-minded. And
you, Tz'u, he added, have you also your hatreds?
—I hate, replied the disciple, those who think
that wisdom consists in prying and meddling;
courage, in showing no compliance ; and honesty,
in denouncing other men.
1 The Chinese have a proverb: "A man must insult
himself before others will."
2 A good example of the fluctuating content of the term
chiln tzii, which in the disciple's question implies morality
without reference to rank, and in the Master's reply rank and
authority without definite moral qualities.


CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS
The Master said: I may talk all day to Hui
without his putting in a word of criticism or
dissent—just as though he were deficient in
understanding. But after he has left me, I find,
on examining his private conduct, that he knows
for all that how to exemplify my teaching. No!
Hui is not deficient in understanding.
Tzu Kung asked, saying: What, Sir, is your
opinion of me ?—I would liken you, Tz'u, replied
the Master, to a vessel limited in its function.—
What sort of vessel? asked Tzu Kung.—A richly
ornamented sacrificial vessel, was the reply.1
Some one remarked that Yung had goodness of
heart but no cleverness of speech.—The Master
said: Of what use is cleverness of speech? Those
1 It is said elsewhere in the Analects (see p. 94) that " the
higher type of man is unlike a vessel designed for some
special use," which means that his moral capacity is not
narrow and limited. Tzu Kung, then, it seems, had not fully
grasped the higher principles of morality, was wanting in
breadth of mind and the larger outlook on life. His aptitudes,
however, were excellent so far as they went, and the Master
compliments him here on his proficiency in things relating
to religious ceremonial.
71


72 CONFUCIUS, ESTIMATE OP OTHERS
who are always ready to assail others with their
tongue are sure to make themselves disliked.
As to Yung,s goodness of heart I have no certain
knowledge; but how would he benefit by having
cleverness of speech?
The Master said: My teaching makes no head-
way. How and if I were to board a raft and float
away over the sea? My friend Yu would come
with me, I feel sure.—Tzii Lu, hearing this, was
glad. The Master continued: Yu surpasses me
in his love of daring, but he lacks discretion and
judgment.
Meng Wu Po asked whether Tzii Lu had true
moral virtue. The Master replied: I do not
know.—Asked a second time, the Master said:
Yu might be trusted to organise the military
levies of a large and powerful State, but whether
he is possessed of true virtue I cannot say.—And
what is your opinion with regard to Ch'iu ?—The
Master said: Ch'iu might be entrusted with the
government of a district numbering a thousand
households or a hundred war-chariots, but
whether he has true virtue I cannot say.—And
Ch'ih, what of him ?—The Master said: Ch'ih
might be employed to stand in his official dress at
a royal levee and converse with the visitors and
guests; whether he has true virtue I cannot say.1
1 Confucius probably wished to impress upon his questioner
that true moral virtue (jen) was deeply implanted in the soul,


CONFUCIUS, ESTIMATE OF OTHERS 73
The Master addressing Tzu Kung said: Which
of the two is the better man, you or Hui ?—Tzu
Kung replied: How can I venture to compare
myself with Hui? Hui hears one point and
promptly masters the whole. I hear one point
and am only able to feel my way to a second.—
The Master agreed: No, you are not equal to
Hui; neither of us two ' is equal to Hui.
Tsai Yii used to sleep during the day. The
Master said: Rotten wood cannot be carved,
walls made of dirt and mud cannot be plastered:
—what is the good of reprimanding Yii? At
first, he continued, my way of dealing with others
was to listen to their words and to take their
actions upon trust. Now, my way is to listen to
what they say and then to watch what they do.
This change in me is owing to Yii.
The Master said: I have never yet met a really
strong character.—Some one suggested Shen
Ch'eng.—The Master said: Ch'eng is a slave to
his passions. How can he possess strength of
character?
Tzu Kung said: I am anxious to avoid doing
and not to be gauged offhand from the presence or absence
of certain superficial signs.
1 It is passing strange that the clumsy "I grant you"
for wu yii ju (I and you) should have found favour with
translators. Wade even goes one better, by translating:
"I award you this praise, Hui does not equal you "!


74 CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS
to others that which I would not have them do to
me. The Master said: Tz'u, you have not got
as far as that.
The Master said of Tzii Ch'an ' that he had four
of the qualities of the princely man :—in his
personal demeanour he was grave, in serving those
above him he was attentive, in his care for the
people he was kind, in his ordering of the people
he was just.
The Master said: Yen P'ing8 knows the art of
associating with his friends: however old the
acquaintance may be, he always treats them with
the same respect.
Ning Wu Tzii,s s behaviour was wise so long
as his country was well governed; when revo-
lution came, his behaviour was stupid. His
wisdom may be equalled by others, but his
stupidity is beyond all imitation.
Po I and Shu Ch'i4 never remembered old
1 Prime Minister of the ChSng State in the sixth century
B.C. When he had ruled for three years, so great was the
change effected that "doors were not locked at night, and
lost articles were not picked up on the highway." Confucius
wept when he heard of his death.
a Minister in the neighbouring state of Ch'i.
3 A minister of the Wei State in the seventh century B.C.
In the revolution referred to the prince was driven from his
throne, but afterwards reinstated through the "stupidity,"
that is to say, the unwavering loyalty and devotion of Ning.
4 These were brothers, celebrated for their protest against


CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS 75
injuries, and therefore their enemies were
few.
Who will say that Wei-sheng Kao' was an
upright man? When asked by somebody for some
vinegar, he went and begged it of a neighbour,
and gave this to the man who had asked him.
For the space of three months together Hui8
would not deviate in spirit from the path of perfect
virtue. My other disciples may attain this height
once in a day or in a month, but that is all.
Po Niu ' lying sick unto death, the Master went
to visit him. He clasped his hand through the
window and said: He is dying. Such is fate.
Alas! that such a man should have such an
illness, that such a man should have such an ill-
ness!
the overthrow of the Yin dynasty. Rather than live under
the rule of the new sovereign, the great and virtuous Wu
Wang, they wandered away inU the mountains to perish
of cold and hunger. This fidelity to tho cause of Chou Hsin,
one of the bloodiest and most infamous tyrants in history,
seems a shade more quixotic than the conduct of those who
espoused for so long the fallen fortunes of the house of Stuart.
1 This was a young man who, if legend may be trusted,
died more heroically than he lived. He agreed to meet a
girl under a bridge, but, woman-like, she failed to keep her
appointment. Though the water was rising rapidly, her
lover waited on, unwilling to quit his post, and finally clung
to a pillar until he was drowned.
3 This is the man whom Confucius, according to Wade
(see p. 73), ranked below Tzil Kung!
3 Po Niu is said to have been suffering from leprosy, and
therefore he would not allow visitors to enter his room.


76 CONFUCIUS, ESTIMATE OF OTHERS
The Master said: Hui was indeed a philo-
sopher! Other men living as he did, in a miser-
able alley, with a single dish of food and a single
bowl of drink, could not have endured the distress.
But Hui was invariably cheerful. He was a
philosopher indeed!
Jan Ch'iu said: It is not that I have no joy in
my Master,s teaching, it is my strength that fails
me.—The Master replied: Those whose strength
fails them fall fainting by the way. What you
do is to set up bounds which you will not attempt
to pass.
The Master said: Meng Chih-fan is no braggart.
Once after a defeat, when he was bringing up the
rear, he whipped his horse as he was about to
enter the city gate, and cried: It is not courage
that makes me last, it is my horse that won't
gallop fast enough.1
The Master addressing Yen Yuan said: It is
only you and I who would be content to accept
1 Few will see anything harmful in this anecdote as told
by Confucius. Yet it is actually made to figure in the general
charge of insincerity and untruthfulness brought against him
by Legge. "The action was gallant," he says, "but the
apology for it was weak and unnecessary. And yet Confucius
saw nothing in the whole but matter for praise." In the first
place, Legge entirely ignores the possibility that Meng Chih-
fan was really speaking the truth. But even if it were other-
wise, Confucius, only comment is that he was " no braggart."
Surely it is an overstrained morality that could be offended
by this.


CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS 77
public employment when it was offered to us,
and to retire into obscurity when we were dis-
missed.—Tzu Lu then said: If you, Sir, had the
conduct of three legions, whom would you
associate with yourself in the command ?—I would
not, replied the Master, choose a man who would
attack a tiger unarmed, cross a river without a
boat, or sacrifice his fife without a moment's
regret. Rather should it be one who would not
embark on an enterprise without anxiety, and
who was accustomed to lay his plans well before
putting them into execution.1
The Master said: T'ai Po may be said to have
reached the summit of virtue. Having reso-
lutely renounced the Imperial throne, he put it
out of the people's power to glorify his act of
renunciation ! 8
1 Compare Moltke's motto: "Erst wagen, dann wagen."
Tzu Lu was noted for his reckless bravery. Evidently
jealous of the praise bestowed on Yen Yuan, he makes a
delightfully artless attempt to secure some recognition for
himself, but only draws down a reproof. The Master's
relations with this vain, impulsive, good-hearted disciple
often remind one of thoso subsisting between Dr. Johnson
and Ooldsmith.
3 T'ai Po was tho direct heir to his father's throne, but
knowing that tho latter wishod to bo succeeded by his youngest
son (the father of the future Wen Wang, the virtual founder
of the Chou dynasty), he went into voluntary exile among
the barbarous tribes of the south, but kept the motives of his
conduct to himself, and thus obtained no credit for his self-
sacrifice.


CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS 79
The Master said: None of those who accom-
panied me on the journey to the states of Ch'en
and Ts'ai come to learn from me now.' Dis-
tinguished for their virtuous conduct were Yen
Yuan, Min Tzii-ch'ien, Jan Po-niu and Chung
Kung; for their skill in speaking, Tsai Wo and
Tzu Kung; for their administrative powers,
Jan Yu and Chi Lu; for their literary attain-
ments, Tzu Yu and Tzu Hsia.
Hui does not help me8—he takes such delight
in everything I say.
What noble piety' is that of Min Tzu-ch'ien!
Other men speak of him in exactly the same
terms as his own parents and his own brethren.
When Yen Yuan died, the Master wept with
1 This must have been said by Confucius after his return
from exile, when many of his followers were dead or in other
parts of the Empire. Ch'en and Ts'ai are particularly men-
tioned because it was on the road between these two small
states that he met with the most perilous adventure of his
life, being surrounded by hostile troops and cut off from all
supplies for the space of seven days (see p. 115). It is not
quite clear whether the next sentence should not be taken as
a note added by the compiler, giving tho names of those who
were with the Master on this journey.
a By criticism or questioning. Cf. p. 71.
3 On hsiao, occurring in another treatise, Mr. Ku Hung-
ming has the following note: "The word in the text does not
mean merely a filial son, but has the meaning of the Latin
'pius'—pious in its full sense, reverential to God, dutiful
to parents, good, faithful and orderly in all the relations of
life."


CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS 81
The head of the Chi clan was already richer
than Chou Kung, yet Ch'iu kept levying taxes
for him and adding to his wealth.—He is no
disciple of mine, said the Master. My children,
you may beat the drum and attack him.'
The Master said: Hui reaches the verge of
perfection, yet he is often in great want. Tz'u
does not resign himself to the will of Heaven, yet
his worldly goods continue to increase. His
judgments, however, frequently hit the mark.
Tzu Lu asked if he should at once put the pre-
cepts which he heard into practice.—The Master
said: There are your father and elder brothers
to consult first; why should you be so impatient
to act on what you hear ?—Jan Yu asked the
same question, and the Master said: Yes, act
at once according to the instruction that is given
to you.—Kung-hsi Hua then said: When Yu
asked if he should put the precepts which he
heard into practice, you replied, Sir, that he had
his father and elder brothers to consult first.
When Ch'iu asked the same question, you said:
1 This was the disciple by whose agency Confucius was
finally restored to Lu. But Confucius was the last man to
lot private considerations stand in the way when public
interests were involved and a crying evil had to be redressed.
"Beating the drum" has no reference, as Legge thinks, to
"the practice of executing criminals in the market-place."
It was simply the recognised signal in warfare for advancing
to the attack, gongs being used to sound the retreat.
6


82 CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS
"Act at once according to the instruction that
is given to you." Now I am puzzled, and beg
for an explanation.—The Master replied: Ch'iu is
apt to hang back, therefore I press him on. Yu has
eagerness enoughfor two, therefore I hold him back.
Chi Tzii-jan' asked if Chung Yu and Jan
Ch'iu could be termed great ministers. The
Master said: I thought you had something
extraordinary to ask about, and now it turns
out to be a question about Yu and Ch'iu. What
men call a great minister is one who serves his
prince according to the principles of truth and
virtue, and when that is impossible, resigns.
Yu and Ch'iu, however, can only be termed
ordinary officials.—Which is as much as to say that
they will always obediently follow their master's
will ?—The Master replied : They would not follow
him so far as to commit parricide or regicide.
The Master said: Yu is the man to settle a long
litigation in a few words.
Tzu Kung was fond of weighing other men's
merits and defects. The Master said: Surely
Tz'u must be a very great sage! Personally, I
have no time for this.
1 A member of the ambitious family which was schoming
to get the whole power of the dukedom into its own hands.
The two disciples here mentioned had recently been enlisted
in its service, and Chi Tzii-jan is anxious to find out how far
they can be relied upon in caso of need. Confucius sees
through his nefarious designs.


CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
The Master: I will not be grieved that other
men do not know me: I will be grieved that I do
not know other men.
At fifteen, my mind was bent on learning. At
thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I was free from
delusions. At fifty, I understood the laws of
Providence. At sixty, my ears were attentive to
the truth. At seventy, I could follow the prompt-
ings of my heart without overstepping the mean.
Tzii Kung was for doing away with the cus-
tomary sacrifice of a sheep on the first day of the
month. The Master said : Ah, Tz'u, you grudge the
loss of a sheep, but I grudge the loss of a ceremony.
The Master said: In any hamlet of a dozen
houses you will surely find men as honest and
conscientious as myself, though they may not be
so devoted to ethical study.
The Master having gone to visit Nan Tzii,1
1 Tho wife of the Duke of Wei, notorious for her intrigues,
and even accused of incest. Needless to say, Chinese com-
mentators are at great pains to explain away this incident in
the life of the sage.
S3


84 CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
Tzu Lu was displeased. Thereupon Confucius
swore a solemn oath, saying: In whatsoever I
have sinned, may I be abominable in the sight
of God!
The Master said: My function is to indicate
rather than to originate. Regarding antiquity
as I do with trust and affection, I would venture
to compare myself with our ancient patriarch
P'eng Tsu.1
The unpretentious hiving of wisdom, patient
self-cultivation, and untiring instruction of others
—to which of these can I make any claim?
The failure to cultivate virtue, the failure to
examine and analyse what I have learnt, the
inability to move towards righteousness after
being shown the way, the inability to correct my
faults—these are the causes of my grief.
Alas! what a falling-off is here! Long is it
since I dreamt of Chou Kung.8
1 A grandson of the legondary Emperor Chunn Hsu. He
is said to have been over 800 years old when ho disappeared
into the west in the eleventh century n.c. The last words
in the text are taken by some to mean " our patriarchs Lao
Tzu and P'cng Tsu "—Lao Tzu being the founder of Taoism,
who is also, by the way, alleged to have disappeared at an
advanced age into the west.
2 One of the most revered names in Chinese history. The
younger brother of Wu Wang, he helped materially by his
wise counsels to establish the dynasty of Chou. He drew
up a legal code, purifiod the morals of the people, and devoted


86 CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
/
is such that he forgets to eat; whose happiness
in this pursuit is so great that he forgets his
troubles and does not perceive old age stealing
upon him "?
The Master said: In me, knowledge is not
innate. I am but one who loves antiquity and
is earnest in the study of it.
If I am walking with two other men, each of
them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out
the good points of the one and imitate them, and
the bad points of the other and correct them
in myself.
My disciples, do you think that I have any
secrets? I have no secrets from you. It is my
way to do nothing without communicating it
to you, my disciples.
There are men, I daresay, who act rightly
without knowing the reason why, but I am not
one of them. Having heard much, I sift out the
good and practise it; having seen much, I retain
it in my memory. This is the second order of
wisdom.'
1 That is to say, the wisest men are those who act
intuitively, without having to find their way by any con-
scious mental process. Confucius disclaims any such in-
tuitive perception of right and wrong in his own case, and
confesses that he is obliged to rely largely on objective
experience, as acted upon by the critical and receptive powers
of his mind. The saying has a distinctly Taoist flavour.


88 CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
learning, he has nothing which can bring him
fame.—On hearing this, the Master turned to his
disciples and said: What shall I take up?
Shall I take up charioteering or shall I take up
archery? I will take up charioteering!
The Master said: The ancient rites prescribe
linen as the material for a ceremonial cap, but
nowadays silk is used as being more economical.
In this matter I fall in with the general custom.
According to the ancient rites, the Prince is to
be saluted from below the dais, but nowadays
the salutation takes place above. This is pre-
sumptuous, and therefore, though infringing
thereby the general custom, I adopt the humbler
position.1
A high officer asked Tzii Kung, saying: Surely
your Master is a divine Prophet? What a
variety of accomplishments he seems to possess !—
Tzii Kung replied: Truly he must be a Prophet,
so richly has he been endowed by God. And he
has also perfected himself in various arts.—The
Master, being told of this, said: Does His Ex-
1 This saying well illustrates the Master,s attitude in
regard to ceremonies. He was no stickler for mere outward
conformity to rule, so long as the inner meaning of the
ceremony was not affected. Now the salutation of the
Prince was simply intended to be a way of expressing heart-
felt loyalty and respect, and it was only because the new
position seemed less respectful that Confucius opposed the
change.


CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF 89
cellency really know me now for what I am?
Being of low condition as a boy, I did become
skilled in various arts—but these are base accom-
plishments after all. If asked whether the
higher type of man has many such accomplish-
ments, I should say, Not many.1
The Master said: Am I possessed of true
knowledge? Not so. But if an ignorant fellow
from the lower class comes to me with a question,
I will discuss the subject from end to end, and set
it fully before him.
Tzii Kung said to Confucius: If you had a
lovely jewel, would you hide it away in a casket,
or would you try to sell it for a good price ?—
The Master replied: Oh, certainly I would sell it,
but I would wait until a price was offered.8
The Master said: Out of doors, to tender
faithful service to prince and ministers; at
home, to be duteous towards father and elder
brothers; to observe the rites of mourning with
1 See note on p. 44.
2 Question and answer are of course parabolical. The
enthusiastic young disciple thinks that his Master, in taking
no steps to obtain official employment, is guilty of "hiding
his jewel in a casket," or, as we should say, " his light under
a bushel." Confucius, however, had a great sense of the
responsibility of office, and was loth to thrust himself forward
uninvited. His chance came at last after fifteen years of
waiting, when Duke Ting appointed him governor of the
town of Chung-tu.


CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF 91
me for what I am.—Tzu Kung said: How is it,
Sir, that none know you ?—The Master replied:
I make no complaint against Heaven, neither do
I blame my fellow-men. In the study of virtue
I begin at the bottom and tend upwards.1
Surely Heaven knows mo for what I am.
Tz'u, do you look upon me as a man who has
studied and retained a mass of various knowledge?
—I do, he replied. Am I wrong ?—You are
wrong, said the Master. All my knowledge is
strung on one connecting thread.8
I used to spend whole days without food and
whole nights without sleep, in order to meditate.
1 This accounts for men taking no notice of him. Most
so-called sagos start with grandiose ideals and high-flown
utterances, in order to attract attention.
2 This is rightly considered to be one of the most important
of the Master,s sayings, because it gives the clue to his whole
philosophy and view of life. The "connecting thread,"
as we learn from another passage (see p. 118), is simply the
moral life, which consists in being true to oneself and good to
one,s neighbour. Confucius wished to impress upon his
disciple that he was no mere amasser of knowledge nor lover
of learning for learning,s sake. The one thing necessary,
in his eyes, was to be able to lead, in the highest sense of the
word, a moral life, and this was the real object of all learning,
the end and aim of all knowledge. Throughout the Analects,
as we have already seen, the usual word for " learning " always
means or implies the study of virtue, the striving after self-
improvement. Like Socrates, Confucius was purely a moral
philosopher, and would certainly have rejected the sharp
distinction we draw nowadays between mental and moral
science.


92 CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
But I made no progress. Study, I found, was
better.
Pi Hsi1 sent an invitation to Confucius, and
the Master wished to go. Tzii Lu, however, said:
Once upon a time, Sir, I heard you say that the
nobler sort of man would not enter into intimacy
with one who laid himself out to do wrong. Now
Pi Hsi has raised the standard of rebellion in
Chung-mou. How can you think of going
thither ?—True, replied the Master. Those were
my words. But is there not a saying: "The
hard may be rubbed without losing its substance;
the white may be steeped without losing its
purity "? Am I then a bitter gourd—fit only
to be hung up and not eaten?
1 A rebellious official in the Chin State. On more than one
occasion in his career, Confucius made it plain that he de-
clined to be bound by narrow convention or hampered by the
fear of what poople might say of him. To keep clear of bad
associates was no doubt an excellent principle, but Confucius
may have seen some justification for Pi Hsi,s course of action,
and in any case he was no longer of an age to be easily cor-
rupted by evil communications. Knowing that rules were
never meant to be so rigid as to admit of no exceptions, he
felt it his primary duty to go where he could do good. Cf.
the visit to Nan Tzii (p. 83), the more idea of which would
have horrified an ordinary teacher of morality.


94 MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS
Observe a man's actions; scrutinise his
motives; take note of the things that give him
pleasure. How then can he hide from you what
he really is?
Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over
the old, and you may become a teacher of others.
The higher type of man is not like a vessel which
is designed for some special use.1
Study without thought is vain; thought with-
out study is perilous.
Absorption in the study of the supernatural
is most harmful.
Yu, shall I tell you what true knowledge is?
When you know, to know that you know, and
when you do not know, to know that you do
not know—that is true knowledge.
Tzii Chang was studying with a view to official
preferment. The Master said to him: Among
the various things you hear said, reserve your
judgment on those which seem doubtful, and
give cautious utterance to the rest: then you will
seldom fall into error. Among the various
things you see done, set aside those which seem
dangerous, and cautiously put the others into
1 That is to say, he is not limited in his functions like a
vessel or implement, not "borne" or a man of one idoa.
Cf. note on p. 71.


98 MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS
Give her then a bushel.—But Jan Ch'iu eventually
gave her as much as five hundredweight of grain.
Then the Master rebuked him, saying: When
Ch'ih went to the Ch'i State, he was conveyed
by a team of sleek horses and was wearing costly
fur garments. Now I have heard that the
princely man succours the distressed, but will not
add to the opulence of the wealthy.
Yuan Ssu, having been made governor of a
district, was presented with nine hundred
measures of grain.1 He declined them. The
Master said: Do not decline them. May they
not be distributed among the villages and town-
ships of your neighbourhood?
The Master said: Who can go out of a house
except by the door? In life, why not pass
likewise through the door of virtue?'
You may speak of higher subjects to those
who rise above the average level of mankind, but
not to those who fall below it.
With coarse food to eat, water to drink, and
the bended arm as a pillow, happiness may still
exist. Wealth and rank unrighteously obtained
seem to me as insubstantial as floating clouds.
The inhabitants of Hu-hsiang were uncon-
1 The proper allowance for an officer in his station.
3 As being, in the end, the most natural and least trouble-
some route to take.


100 MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS
sedition. The man without natural virtue, if
pursued by the hatred of society, will become
a desperado.
If a man is proud and avaricious, though his
other qualities may embrace all that was fine in
the character of Chou Kung, they are not worth
taking into account.
It is not easy to find a man who after three years
of self-cultivation' has not reached happiness.
He who is out of office should not meddle in
the government.
Hot-headedness without honesty; ignorance
without ingenuousness; simplicity without sin-
cerity :—such characters I do not understand.2
Pursue the study of virtue as though you
could never reach your goal, and were afraid of
losing the ground already gained.
The Master said: I have not met one whose love
of virtue was equal to his love of sensual beauty.
Though in making a mound I should stop when
but one more basketful of earth would complete
it, the fact remains that I have stopped. On
the other hand, if in levelling it to the ground I
1 Literally, "learning." See notos on pp. 53 and 91.
2 The commentators soem right in their explanation, that
a man's defects are usually redeemed by certain corresponding
qualities; when even these are absent, the case is hopeless.


104 MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS
act boldly. In a country where lawlessness
prevails, let your actions be bold but your speech
tactful.
It is harder to be poor without murmuring,
than to be rich without arrogance.
The men of olden times who studied virtue
had only their own improvement in view; those
who study it now have an eye to the applause of
others.
Refusal to instruct one who is competent to
learn entails the waste of a man. Instruction of
one who is incompetent to learn entails waste
of words. The wise man is he who wastes neither
men nor words.
Those whose care extends not far ahead will
find their troubles near at hand.
He who requires much from himself and little
from others will be secure from hatred.
If a man is not in the habit of asking, "What
do you make of this? what do you make of
that?" I can make nothing of him.
Hopeless indeed is the case of those who can
herd together all day long without once letting
their conversation reach a higher plane,1 but
are content to bandy smart and shallow wit.
1 Literally, "reach righteousness."


PERSONALIA
In his moments of leisure, the Master,s manner
was uniformly cheerful and smiling.
If the Master happened to be dining beside
one who was in mourning for his parents, he never
ate a full meal. He never sang on any day in
the course of which he had been bewailing a death.
The Master would never talk about prodigies,
feats of strength, crime, or supernatural beings.1
The Master made four things the subject of his
teaching: a knowledge of literature and the arts,
conduct, conscientiousness and truthfulness.8
The Master fished with a line but not with a
net. When he went out with bow and arrow, he
only shot at birds on the wing.
If the Master happened to be with singers,
and they sang a piece well, he would get them to
1 Under those circumstances, it is easy to imagine how
edified he would be by the modern daily press, which subsists
almost entirely on these very topics.
2 I am unable to improve on this rendering, which is
borrowed from Mr. Ku Hung-ming.
109


112 PERSONALIA
change, and his legs seemed to bend under him.
Standing in the presence of the visitors, he saluted
them with clasped hands, turning about from
right to left, and keeping the skirt of his robe
properly adjusted, back and front. He then
hastened forward with arms extended like the
wings of a bird. When a visitor departed, he
would report in that sense to the Prince, saying:
"The visitor is not looking back."'
When he entered the gate of the palace, he
seemed to bend his body as though the gate were
not large enough to let him pass. He did not
stand in the middle of the doorway, nor in passing
through did he set foot on the threshold. When
he passed the Prince's throne, his expression
seemed to change, his legs seemed to bend under
him, and words seemed to fail him. Holding up
his robe with both hands, he ascended the dais,
his body slightly bent, and holding his breath as
though he dared not breathe. When he came
out from his audience and had descended tho
first step, his countenance lost its anxious expres-
sion, and he looked serene and happy. When he
reached the bottom of the steps, he hastened away
with his arms outstretched like wings ; but when
he got back to his place, he still seemed full of awe.
1 "The ways of China, it appears, were much the same
anciently as now. A guest turns round and bows repeatedly
in leaving, and the host cannot return to his place till these
salutations are ended."—Legge.


PERSONALIA 113
He carried the Prince's regalia with body
slightly bent, as though he could hardly support
its weight; he raised it to the height of his
head, and lowered it again to the height of his
chest. His countenance indicated nervousness,
and he dragged his feet as though something
held them to the ground.
In offering presents as an ambassador, his
appearance was sedate.
At a private audience, he wore a pleased look.
He would not eat meat that was clumsily cut,
or served without its proper sauce. Although
there might be an abundance of meat, he never
let it exceed in quantity the vegetable food. In
wine alone he laid down for himself no particular
limit, but he never reached the stage of intoxica-
tion. He took ginger at every meal. He did not
eat much. When eating, he did not converse;
when in bed, he did not speak. Even though
he had nothing but coarse rice and vegetable soup,
he would always reverently offer some to the
ancestral spirits.
He would not sit on a mat' that was placed
awry.
On one occasion, Chi K'ang Tzu having sent
him some medicine, he bowed as he received it,
1 The Chinese of that date dispensed with chairs, as the
Japanese have done up to the present time.
8


114 PERSONALIA
saying: Not being familiar with this drug, I
would not venture to try it.
His stables having been burnt down, the Master
on his return from the Court said: Has any one
been hurt ?—He did not ask about the horses.1
If the Prince sent him a present of cooked meat,
he would sit down to taste it on a properly placed
mat. If the Prince sent him a present of raw
meat, he would have it cooked and offer it in
sacrifice. If the Prince sent him a live animal,
he would keep it alive.
When the Prince summoned him to his presence,
he would go on foot without waiting for his
carriage.
If any of his friends died who was without a
home or relations, he would say: I will see to the
funeral.
In bed, he did not lie like a corpse. In his
home life, his manner was not too formal.
At the sight of a person in mourning, though
it might be an intimate acquaintance, he would
always look grave. On meeting an official in
uniform, or a blind man, however ragged, he
would always show him some mark of respect.
1 The point is, that in his solicitude for others Confucius
never thought of his own loss, not that he was indifferent
to the suffering of animals.


118 CONFUCIUS AS SEEN BY OTHERS
have never failed to obtain an audience of any
sage who has visited these parts.—He was
thereupon introduced by the Master's followers,
and on coming out he said: My sons, why grieve
at your Master's fall from power? The Empire has
long been lying in evil ways, but now God is going
to make Confucius his herald to rouse the land.1
The Master said: Shen, a single principle runs
through all my teaching.8—Tseng Tzu answered,
Yes.—When the Master had gone out, the dis-
ciples asked, saying: What principle does he
mean ?—Tseng Tzu said: Our Master's teaching
simply amounts to this: loyalty to oneself and
charity to one's neighbour.'
1 Literally, "is going to use him as a bell with a wooden
clapper''—this being the instrument used in making announce-
ments or to call the people together. The friendly prefect's
prophecy was to be fulfilled more wonderfully than ever he
could have imagined. Never, perhaps, in the history of the
human race has one man exerted such an enormous influence
for good on after generations.
2 Legge's rendering, "My doctrine is that of an all-per-
vading unity," is quite untenable, and no other translator has
followed him here. The logic of the passage obviously re-
quires the meaning given above.
3 This saying should be compared with those on pp. 91
and 69. It is generally acclaimed as the best epitome of
Confucian teaching, yet it was reserved for Mr. Ku Hung-ming,
a Chinaman,to give the first correct translation of it in English.
The two important words are chung and ehu, "conscientious-
ness " and " charity," for which see notes on pp. 58 and 09.
Legge's version, " To be true to the principles of our nature and
the benevolent exercise of them to others," though ponderous,
would seem to have hit the true meaning, had he not spoilt


CONFUCIUS AS SEEN BY OTHERS 119
Yen Yuan heaved a deep sigh and said: The
more I look at our Master's teaching, the higher
it seems. The more I test it, the more reliable
it appears. I am gazing at it in front of me,
when lo! it is suddenly behind me. Our Master
knows how to draw men after him by regular
steps. He broadens our outlook by means of
polite learning, and restrains our impulses by
means of inward self-control. Even if I wished
to stop, I could not do so; yet after I have
exhausted all my efforts in pursuit of the goal,
there still remains something inaccessible rising
up beyond; and though I would fain make
towards it, I cannot find the way.
Tzu Lu once passed the night in Shih-men,
where the gate-keeper said to him: Where do
you come from ?—Tzu Lu replied: From the
school of Confucius.—Oh, is he not the man,
said the other, who is trying to do what he knows
to be impossible ? 1
it by a note to the effect that shu is "duty-doing on the
principle of reciprocity." It has nothing on earth to do with
reciprocity, being in fact that disinterested love of one,s
neighbour which was preached five hundred years later in
Palestine. The other precept, embodied in the word chung,
is exactly Shakespeare,s "To thine own self be true "—a
noble moral conception for which, obscured as it has been by
bungling translators, Confucius has never yet received full
credit.
1 The age in which Confucius lived was so given over to
the forces of disorder, militarism and intrigue, and the chances
of a moral reformer were regarded as so hopeless, that it was


120 CONFUCIUS AS SEEN BY OTHERS
Ch'en K'ang asked Po Yii,1 saying: Have
you ever received any secret teaching from your
father ?—He replied: No. But once, when I
was passing hurriedly through our hall, I met my
father standing alone, and he said: Have you
studied the Odes ?—I replied, Not yet.—He
said: If you do not study the Odes, you will
have no conversation.—Thereupon I withdrew
and studied the Odes. Another day I met him
again standing alone as I hastened through the
hall, and he said: Have you studied the Book of
Rites ? 8—I replied: Not yet.—He said: If
you do not study the Book of Rites, you will
have no stability of character.—I withdrew and
studied the Book of Rites. These are the two
pieces of instruction I have received.—Ch'en
K'ang went away rejoicing and said: I asked
about one thing and have learned three—some-
a common thing for men of principle to retire from public
affairs altogether, and either lead the sequestered life of a
hermit or take to some mean employment for a living. The
gate-keeper here is said to have been one of this class. Con-
fucius, however, was made of sterner stuff, and it may be
claimed that he did ultimately, through sheer force of char-
acter, succeed in achieving the "impossible."
1 The " style " or familiar name of K'ung Li, the only son
of Confucius.
a Li here is obviously the name of a book, and not " the
rules of propriety" or even "the arts," as Legge and Mr.
Ku Hung-ming respectively take it. At the same time, we
must be careful not to identify it with the now existing Li
Chi or Book of Rites, which did not take shape until a much
later period.


CONFUCIUS AS SEEN BY OTHERS 123
man who withdraws from prince after prince in
succession, would it not be better to follow a
man who has withdrawn from the world alto-
gether ?—And he went on hoeing without a
pause. Tzu Lu went back and reported these
remarks, whereupon the Master looked surprised
and said: We cannot join the company of birds
and beasts. If I am not to associate with these
men of the ruling class, with whom am I to
associate?' If right principles prevailed in the
Empire, then indeed there would be no need
for me to reform it.
Shu-sun Wu-shu,2 speaking to the ministers
at Court, said: Tzu Kung is a greater sage than
Confucius.—Tzu-fu Ching-po' repeated this to
Tzii Kung, who said: Let me use the simile of
a house surrounded by a wall. My wall rises
only to the height of a man's shoulders, so that
any one can look over and see the excellence of
1 The idea is, " Every man to his own trade. Why should
I not then busy myself with government—the subject to
which I have devoted my life?" I do not agree with Legge
that the compiler of this chapter could not have been a
disciple of the sage. Confucius successfully refutes the laisser-
faire argument of the hermit, who would dissuade him from
reform on the strange and unsatisfactory ground that the
world's affairs were in a thoroughly bad state. To any one
but a Taoist it would be evident that this was the very time
for reform.
2 A leading member of one of the three great families in
the Lu State.
s A high official.


SAYINGS OP THE DISCIPLES 129
princely type? Of the princely type he is
indeed!
The authorities of Lu were proposing to re- \y
construct the Long Treasury. Min Tzu-ch'ien
said : Why not restore it, rather, in the ancient
style? Why is it necessary to renovate it al-
together ?—The Master said: This man is no
talker, but when he does speak, he speaks to the
purpose.
Ssu-ma Niu lamenting said: All other men
have brothers; I alone have none.—Tzu Hsia
said to him: I have heard it said that life and
death are divine dispensations, that wealth and
rank depend on the will of God. The higher
type of man is unfailingly attentive to his own
conduct, and shows respect and true courtesy to
others. Thus all within the four seas' are his
brethren. How then should he grieve at having
no brothers?
Chi Tzu-ch'eng 2 said: The higher type of man
is possessed of solid qualities, and that is all.
What has he to do with the ornamental ?—Tzu
Kung replied: I am sorry, Sir, to hear you say
such a thing about the higher type of man; for
a four-horse chariot cannot overtake the spoken
word.3 The value of the ornament and the value
1 Believed to constitute the boundaries of the habitable
earth, like Homer's Ocean-river. Hence the phrase is used
as a synonym for the Chinese Empire.
a A minister in the Wei State. 3 A proverb.
0