The Sayings Of Confucius Part 9

6. Tseng-tzu said, A man to whom an orphan, a few feet high, or the fate of an hundred towns, may be entrusted, and whom no crisis can corrupt, is he not a gentleman, a gentleman indeed?

7. Tseng-tzu said, The knight had need be strong and bold; for his burden is heavy, the way is far. His burden is love, is it not a heavy one? No halt before death, is that not far?

8. The Master said, Poetry rouses us, we stand upon courtesy, music is our crown.

9. The Master said, The people may be made to follow, we cannot make them understand.

10. The Master said, Love of daring and hatred of poverty lead to crime; a man without love, if he is sorely hara.s.sed, turns to crime.

11. The Master said, All the comely gifts of the Duke of Chou,[77]

coupled with pride and meanness, would not be worth a glance.

[Footnote 75: For sacrifice.]

[Footnote 76: Probably Yen Yuan.]

[Footnote 77: See Book VII, -- 5.]

12. The Master said, A man to whom three years of learning have borne no fruit would be hard to find.

13. The Master said, A man of simple faith, who loves learning, who guards and betters his way unto death, will not enter a tottering kingdom, nor stay in a lawless land. When all below heaven follows the Way, he is seen; when it loses the Way, he is unseen. While his land keeps the Way, he is ashamed to be poor and lowly; but when his land has lost the Way, wealth and honours shame him.

14. The Master said, When out of place, discuss not policy.

15. The Master said, In the first days of the music-master Chih how the hubbub[78] of the Kuan-chu rose sea beyond sea! How it filled the ear!

16. The Master said, Of men that are zealous, but not straight; dull, but not simple; helpless, but not truthful, I will know nothing.

17. The Master said, Learn as though the time were short, like one that fears to lose.

18. The Master said, How wonderful were Shun[2] and Yu[2]! To have all below heaven was nothing to them!

19. The Master said, How great a lord was Yao[79]! Wonderful! Heaven alone is great; Yao alone was patterned on it. Vast, boundless! Men's words failed them. The wonder of the work done by him! The flame of his art and precepts!

[Footnote 78: The last part of the music, when all the instruments were played together.]

[Footnote 79: See Introduction.]

20. Shun had five ministers, and there was order below heaven.

King Wu[80] said, I have ten uncommon ministers.

Confucius said, 'The dearth of talent,' is not that the truth? When Yu[81] followed T'ang[82] the times were rich in talent; yet there were but nine men in all, and one woman. In greatness of soul we may say that Chou[83] was highest: he had two-thirds of all below heaven and bent it to the service of Yin.

21. The Master said, I see no flaw in Yu. He ate and drank little, yet he was lavish in piety to the ghosts and spirits. His clothes were bad, but in his cap and gown he was fair indeed. His palace buildings were poor, yet he gave his whole strength to d.y.k.es and ditches. No kind of flaw can I see in Yu.

[Footnote 80: See Introduction.]

[Footnote 81: Shun.]

[Footnote 82: Yao.]

[Footnote 83: King Wen, Duke of Chou.]

BOOK IX

1. The Master seldom spake of gain, or love, or the Bidding.

2. A man of the village of Ta-hsiang said, The great Confucius, with his vast learning, has made no name in anything.

When the Master heard this, he said to his disciples, What shall I take up? Shall I take up driving, or shall I take up shooting? I shall take up driving.

3. The Master said, A linen cap is good form; now silk is worn. It is cheap, so I follow the many. To bow below is good form; now it is done above. This is arrogance, so, breaking with the many, I still bow below.

4. From four things the Master was quite free: by-ends and 'must' and 'shall' and 'I.'

5. When he was afraid in K'uang,[84] the Master said, Since the death of King Wen, is not the seat of culture here? If Heaven had meant to destroy our culture, a later mortal would have had no part in it.

Until Heaven condemns our culture, what can the men of K'uang do to me?

6. A high minister said to Tzu-kung, The Master must be a holy man, he can do so many things!

[Footnote 84: During the Master's wanderings. K'uang is said to have been a small state near Lu which had been oppressed by Yang Huo.

Confucius resembled him, and the men of K'uang set upon him, mistaking him for their enemy. The commentators say that the Master was not afraid, only 'roused to a sense of danger.' I cannot find that the text says so.]

Tzu-kung said, Heaven has, indeed, given him so much that he is almost holy, and he can do many things, too.

When the Master heard this, he said, Does the minister know me?

Because I was poor when young, I can do many paltry things. But does doing many things make a gentleman? No, not doing many does.

Lao said, The Master would say, As I had no post I learned the crafts.

7. The Master said, Have I in truth wisdom? I have no wisdom. But when a common fellow emptily asks me anything, I tap it on this side and that, and sift it to the bottom.

8. The Master said, The phoenix comes not, the River gives forth no sign: all is over with me!

9. When the Master saw folk clad in mourning, or in cap and gown, or a blind man, he always rose--even for the young,--or, if he was pa.s.sing them, he quickened his step.

10. Yen Yuan heaved a sigh, and said, As I look up it grows higher, deeper as I dig! I catch sight of it ahead, and on a sudden it is behind me! The Master leads men on, deftly bit by bit. He widens me with culture, he binds me with courtesy. If I wished to stop I could not until my strength were spent. What seems the mark stands near; but though I long to reach it, I find no way.

11. When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu made the disciples act as ministers.

During a better spell the Master said, Yu has long been feigning.

This show of ministers, when I have no ministers, whom will it take in? Will Heaven be taken in? And is it not better to die in the arms of my two-three boys than to die in the arms of ministers? And, if I miss a big burial, shall I die by the roadside?