The Sayings of Confucius

BOOK XVI

1. The Chi was about to make war on Chuan-yü.[141]

When Confucius saw Jan Yu and Chi-lu,[142] they said to him, The Chi is going to deal with Chuan-yü.

Confucius said, After all, Ch'iu,[143] art thou not in the wrong? The kings of old made Chuan-yü lord of Tung Meng.[144] Moreover, as Chuan-yü is inside our borders it is the liege of the spirits of earth and corn of our land; so how can ye make war upon it?

Jan Yu said, Our master wishes it. Tzu-lu and I, his two ministers, do not, either of us, wish it.

Confucius said, Ch'iu, Chou Jen used to say, 'He that can put forth his strength takes his place in the line; he that cannot stands back.' Who would take to help him a man that is no stay in danger and no support in falling? Moreover, what thou sayest is wrong. If a tiger or a buffalo escapes from his pen, if tortoiseshell or jade is broken in its case, who is to blame?

Jan Yu said, But Chuan-yü is now strong, and it is near to Pi[145]; if it is not taken now, in days to come it will bring sorrow on our sons and grandsons.

Ch'iu, said Confucius, instead of saying 'I want it,' a gentleman hates to plead that he needs must. I have heard that fewness of men does not vex a king or a chief, but unlikeness of lot vexes him. Poverty does not vex him, but want of peace vexes him. For if wealth were even, no one would be poor. In harmony is number; peace prevents a fall. Thus, if far off tribes will not submit, bring them in by encouraging mind and art, and when they come in give them peace. But now, when far off tribes will not submit, ye two, helpers of your lord, cannot bring them in. The kingdom is split and falling, and ye cannot save it. Yet inside our land ye plot to move spear and shield! The sorrows of Chi's grandsons will not rise in Chuan-yü, I fear: they will rise within the palace wall.

2. Confucius said, When the Way is kept below heaven, courtesy, music and punitive wars flow from the Son of heaven. When the Way is lost below heaven, courtesy, music and punitive wars flow from the great vassals. When they flow from the great vassals they will rarely last for ten generations. When they flow from the great ministers they will rarely last for five generations. When underlings sway the country's fate they will rarely last for three generations. When the Way is kept below heaven power does not lie with the great ministers. When the Way is kept below heaven common folk do not argue.

3. Confucius said, For five generations its income has passed from the ducal house;[146] for four generations power has lain with the great ministers: and humbled, therefore, are the sons and grandsons of the three Huan.

4. Confucius said, There are three friends that help us, and three that do us harm. The friends that help us are a straight friend, an outspoken friend, and a friend that has heard much. The friends that harm us are plausible friends, friends that like to flatter, and friends with a glib tongue.

5. Confucius said, There are three delights that do good, and three that do us harm. Those that do good are delight in dissecting good form and music, delight in speaking of the good in men, and delight in having many worthy friends. Those that do harm are proud delights, delight in idle roving, and delight in the joys of the feast.

6. Confucius said. Men that wait upon lords fall into three mistakes. To speak before the time has come is rashness. Not to speak when the time has come is secrecy. To speak heedless of looks is blindness.

7. Confucius said, A gentleman has three things to guard against.

In the days of thy youth, ere thy strength is steady, beware of lust. When manhood is reached, in the fulness of strength, beware of strife. In old age, when thy strength is broken, beware of greed.

8. Confucius said, A gentleman holds three things in awe. He is in awe of the Bidding of Heaven; he is in awe of great men; and he is awed by the words of the holy.

The small man knows not the Bidding of Heaven, and holds it not in awe. He is saucy towards the great; he makes game of holy men's words.

9. Confucius said, The best men are born wise. Next come those that grow wise by learning; then those that learn from toil. Those that do not learn from toil are the lowest of the people.

10. Confucius said, A gentleman has nine aims. To see clearly; to understand what he hears; to be warm in manner, dignified in bearing, faithful of speech, keen at work; to ask when in doubt; in anger to think of difficulties; and in sight of gain to think of right.

11. Confucius said, In sight of good to be filled with longing; to look on evil as scalding to the touch: I have seen such men, I have heard such words.

To live apart and search thy will; to achieve thy Way, by doing right: I have heard these words, but I have seen no such men.

12. Ching, Duke of Ch'i, had a thousand teams of horses; but the people, on his death day, found no good in him to praise. Po-yi[147] and Shu-ch'i[148] starved at the foot of Shou-yang, and to this day the people still praise them.

Is not this the clue to that?

13. Ch'en K'ang[149] asked Po-yü,[150] Apart from us, have ye heard anything, Sir?

He answered, No: once as my father stood alone and I sped across the hall, he said to me, Art thou learning poetry? I answered, No. He that does not learn poetry, he said, has no hold on words. I withdrew and learned poetry.

Another day, when he again stood alone and I sped across the hall, he said to me, Art thou learning courtesy? I answered, No. He that does not learn courtesy, he said, has no foothold. I withdrew and learned courtesy. These two things I have heard.

Ch'en K'ang withdrew, and cried gladly, I asked one thing, and I get three! I hear of poetry; I hear of courtesy; and I hear too that a gentleman stands aloof from his son.

14. A king speaks of his wife as 'my wife.' She calls herself 'handmaid.' Her subjects speak of her as 'our lord's wife,' but when they speak to foreigners, they say 'our little queen.' Foreigners speak of her, too, as 'the lord's wife.'

BOOK XVII

1. Yang Huo[151] wished to see Confucius. Confucius did not go to see him. He sent Confucius a sucking pig. Confucius chose a time when he was out, and went to thank him. They met on the road.

He said to Confucius, Come, let us speak together. To cherish a gem, and undo the kingdom, can that be called love?

It cannot, said Confucius.

To love office, and miss the hour again and again, can that be called wisdom?

It cannot, said Confucius.

The days and months go by; the years do not wait for us.

True, said Confucius; I must take office.

2. The Master said, Men are near to each other by nature; the lives they lead sunder them.

3. The Master said, Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.

4. As the Master came to Wu-ch'eng[152] he heard sounds of lute and song.

Why use an ox-knife to kill a fowl? said the Master, with a pleased smile.

Tzu-yu answered, Master, once I heard you say, A gentleman that has learnt the Way loves men; small folk that have learnt the Way are easy to rule.

My two-three boys, said the Master, what Yen[153] says is true. I spake before in play.

5. Kung-shan Fu-jao[154] held Pi in rebellion. He called the Master, who wished to go.

Tzu-lu said in displeasure. This cannot be! why must ye go to Kung-shan?

The Master said, He calls me, and would that be all? Could I not make an Eastern Chou[155] of him that uses me?

6. Tzu-chang asked Confucius what is love.

Confucius said, Love is to mete out five things to all below heaven.

May I ask what they are?

Modesty and bounty, said Confucius, truth, earnestness and kindness. Modesty escapes insult: bounty wins the many; truth gains men's trust; earnestness brings success; and kindness is enough to make men work.

7. Pi Hsi called the Master, who wished to go.

Tzu-lu said, Master, I heard you say once, To men whose own life is evil, no gentleman will go. Pi Hsi holds Chung-mou in rebellion; how could ye go to him, Sir?

Yes, I said so, answered the Master. But is not a thing called hard that cannot be ground thin; white, if steeping will not turn it black? And am I a gourd? Can I hang without eating?

8. The Master said, Hast thou heard the six words, Yu,[156] and the six they sink into?

He answered. No.

Sit down, and I shall tell thee. The thirst for love, without love of learning, sinks into simpleness. Love of knowledge, without love of learning, sinks into vanity. Love of truth, without love of learning, sinks into cruelty. Love of straightness, without love of learning, sinks into rudeness. Love of daring, without love of learning, sinks into turbulence. Love of strength, without love of learning, sinks into oddity.

9. The Master said, My little children, why do ye not learn poetry? Poetry would ripen you; teach you insight, friendliness and forbearance; show you how to serve your father at home; and teach your lord abroad; and it would teach you the names of many birds and beasts, plants and trees.

10. The Master said to Po-yü,[157] Hast thou done the Chou-nan and Shao-nan?[158] He that has not done the Chou-nan and Shao-nan is like a man standing with his face to the wall.

11. The Master said, 'Courtesy, courtesy,' is the cry; but are jade and silk the whole of courtesy? 'Music, music,' is the cry; but are bells and drums the whole of music?

12. The Master said, Fierce looks and weakness within are like the small man, like the thief that breaks through or clambers over a wall.

13. The Master said, The plain townsman is the bane of mind.

14. The Master said, To tell unto the dust all that we hear upon the way is to lay waste the mind.

15. The Master said, How can we serve the king with a low fellow, who is itching to get what he wants and trembling to lose what he has? This trembling to lose what he has may lead him anywhere.

16. The Master said, Men of old had three failings, which have, perhaps, died out to-day. Ambitious men of old were not nice; now they are unprincipled. Stern men of old were hard; now they are quarrelsome. Ignorant men of old were straight; now they are false. That is all.

17. The Master said, Smooth words and fawning looks are seldom found with love.

18. The Master said, I hate the ousting of scarlet by purple. I hate the strains of Cheng, confounders of sweet music. I hate a sharp tongue, the ruin of kingdom and home.

19. The Master said, I wish no word were spoken!

Tzu-kung said, Sir, if ye said no word, what could your little children write?

The Master said, What are the words of Heaven? The four seasons pass, the hundred things bear life. What are the words of Heaven?

20. Ju Pei wished to see Confucius. Confucius pleaded sickness; but, as the messenger left his door, he took a lute and sang, so the messenger should hear.

21. Tsai Wo[159] asked about mourning for three years. He thought that one was enough.

If for three years gentlemen forsake courtesy, courtesy must suffer. If for three years they forsake music, music must decay. The old grain passes, the new grain sprouts, the round of woods for the fire-drill is ended in one year.

The Master said, Feeding on rice, clad in brocade, couldst thou be at rest?

I could, he answered.

Then do what gives thee rest. But a gentleman, when he is mourning, has no taste for sweets and no ear for music; he cannot rest in his home. So he gives these up. Now, they give thee rest; then keep them.

After Tsai Wo had gone, the Master said, Yü's[160] want of love! At the age of three a child first leaves the arms of his father and mother, and mourning lasts for three years everywhere below heaven. But did Yü have for three years the love of his father and mother?

22. The Master said, It is hard indeed when a man eats his fill all day, and has nothing to task the mind! Could he not play at chequers? Even that were better.

23. Tzu-lu said, Do gentlemen honour daring?

They put right higher, said the Master. With daring and no sense of right gentlemen turn rebels and small men turn robbers.

24. Tzu-kung said, Do gentlemen hate too?

They do, said the Master. They hate the sounding of evil deeds; they hate men of low estate that slander those over them; they hate daring without courtesy; they hate men that are stout and fearless, but blind.

And Tz'u,[161] he said, dost thou hate too?

I hate those that take spying for wisdom, who take want of manners for courage, and take tale-telling for honesty.

25. The Master said, Only maids and serving-lads are hard to train. If we draw near to them, they get unruly; if we hold them off, they grow spiteful.

26. The Master said, When a man of forty is hated, he will be so to the end.

BOOK XVIII

1. The lord of Wei[162] left, the lord of Chi[163] was made a slave, Pi-kan[164] spake out, and died.

Confucius said, Three of the Yin had love.

2. Whilst Liu-hsia Hui[165] was Chief Knight[166] he was dismissed thrice.

Men said. Is it not yet time to leave. Sir?

He answered, If I serve men the straight way, where can I go without being dismissed thrice? If I am to serve men the crooked way, why should I leave the land of my father and mother?

3. Speaking of how to treat Confucius, Ching, Duke of Ch'i, said, I cannot treat him as I do the Chi. I put him between Chi and Meng.

I am old, he said; I cannot use him.

Confucius left.

4. The men of Ch'i[167] sent a gift of music girls. Chi Huan accepted them, and for three days no court was held.

Confucius left.

5. Chieh-yü, the mad-head of Ch'u, as he passed Confucius, sang,

Confucius alighted, for he wished to speak with him: but he hurried away, and he could not speak with him.

6. Ch'ang-chü and Chieh-ni were working in the fields. As Confucius passed them, he sent Tzu-lu to ask for the ford.

Ch'ang-chü said, Who is that holding the reins?

He is K'ung Ch'iu, said Tzu-lu.

Is he K'ung Ch'iu of Lu?

Yes, said Tzu-lu.

He knows the ford, said Ch'ang-chü.

Tzu-lu asked Chieh-ni.

Who are ye, Sir? he answered.

I am Chung Yu.

The disciple of K'ung Ch'iu of Lu?

Yes, he answered.

All below heaven is seething and boiling, said Chieh-ni, who can change it? How much better would it be to follow a knight that flees the world than to follow a knight that flees persons!

And he went on hoeing without stop.

Tzu-lu went and told the Master, whose face fell.

Can I herd with birds and beasts? he said. Whom but these men can I take as fellows? And if the Way were kept by all below heaven, I should not need to change them.

7. Tzu-lu, who was following behind, met an old man carrying a basket on his staff.

Tzu-lu asked him, Have ye seen the Master, Sir?

The old man answered, Thy four limbs are idle, thou canst not sort the five seeds: who is thy Master?

And he planted his staff, and weeded.

Tzu-lu stood and bowed.

He kept Tzu-lu for the night, killed a fowl, made millet, gave them him to eat, and presented his two sons.

Tzu-lu left the next day, and told the Master.

The Master said, He is in hiding.

He sent Tzu-lu back to see him; but when he arrived he had gone.

Tzu-lu said, Not to take office is not right. If the ties of old and young cannot be thrown off, how can he throw off the liege's duty to his lord? He wishes to keep his life clean, but he is unsettling the bonds between men. To discharge that duty a gentleman takes office, though he knows beforehand that the Way will not be kept.

8. Po-yi, Shu-ch'i, Yü-chung, Yi-yi, Chu-chang, Liu-hsia Hui and Shao-lien were men that hid from the world.

The Master said, Po-yi[168] and Shu-ch'i[169] did not bend the will or shame the body.

We must say that Liu-hsia Hui[170] and Shao-lien bent the will and shamed the body. Their words hit man's duty, their deeds hit our hopes. This we can say and no more.

We may say that Yü-chung and Yi-yi lived hidden, but were free of speech. Their lives were clean, their retreat was well weighed.

But I am unlike all of them: there is nothing I must, or must not, do.

9. Chih, the Great Music-master, went to Ch'i; Kan, the conductor at the second meal, went to Ch'u; Liao, the conductor at the third meal, went to Ts'ai; Chüeh, the conductor at the fourth meal, went to Ch'in. The drum master Fang-shu crossed the River; the tambourine master Wu crossed the Han; Yang the second bandmaster and Hsiang, who played the sounding stones, crossed the sea.

10. The Duke of Chou[171] said to the Duke of Lu,[172] A gentleman does not forsake kinsmen, nor offend his great lieges by not using them. He will not cast off an old friend unless he have big cause; he does not ask everything of anyone.

11. Chou had eight knights: Po-ta and Po-kuo, Chung-tu and Chung-hu, Shu-yeh and Shu-hsia, Chi-sui and Chi-kua.

BOOK XIX

5. Tzu-hsia said, He that each day remembers his failings and each month forgets nothing won may be said to love learning indeed!

6. Tzu-hsia said, By wide learning and singleness of will, by keen questions and home thinking we reach love.

7. Tzu-hsia said, To master the hundred trades, apprentices work in a shop; by learning, a gentleman finds his way.

8. Tzu-hsia said, The small man must always gloss his faults.

9. Tzu-hsia said, A gentleman changes thrice. Looking up to him he seems stern; as we draw near, he warms; but his speech, when we hear it, is sharp.

10. Tzu-hsia said, Until they trust him, a gentleman lays no burdens on his people. If they do not trust him, they will think it cruel. Until they trust him, he does not chide them. Unless they trust him, it will seem fault-finding.

11. Tzu-hsia said, If we keep within the bounds of honour, we can step to and fro through propriety.

12. Tzu-yu said, The disciples, the little sons of Tzu-hsia, can sprinkle and sweep, attend and answer, come in and go out; but what can come of twigs without roots?

When Tzu-hsia heard this, he said, Yen Yu[173] is wrong. If we teach one thing in the way of a gentleman first, shall we tire before reaching the next? Thus plants and trees differ in size. Should the way of a gentleman bewilder him? To learn it, first and last, none but the holy are fit.

13. Tzu-hsia said, A servant of the crown should give his spare strength to learning. With his spare strength a scholar should serve the crown.

14. Tzu-yu said, Mourning should stretch to grief, and stop there.

15. Tzu-yu said, Our friend Chang[174] can do hard things, but love is not yet his.

16. Tseng-tzu said, Chang is so spacious, so lordly, that at his side it is hard to do what love bids.

17. Tseng-tzu said, I have heard the Master say, Man never shows what is in him unless it be in mourning those dear to him.

18. Tseng-tzu said, I have heard the Master say, In all else we may be as good a son as Meng Chuang, but in not changing his father's ministers, or his father's rule, he is hard to match.

19. The Meng[175] made Yang Fu[176] Chief Knight,[177] who spake to Tseng-tzu about it.

Tseng-tzu said, Those above have lost their way, the people have long been astray. When thou dost get at the truth, be moved to pity, not puffed with joy.

20. Tzu-kung said, Chou[178] was not so very wicked! Thus a gentleman hates to live in a hollow, down into which runs all that is foul below heaven.

21. Tzu-kung said, A gentleman's faults are like the eating of sun or moon.[179] All men see them, and when he mends all men look up to him.

22. Kung-sun Ch'ao of Wei asked Tzu-kung, From whom did Chung-ni[180] learn?

Tzu-kung said, The Way of Wen and Wu[181] has not fallen into ruin. It lives in men: the big in big men, the small in small men. In none of them is the Way of Wen and Wu missing. How should the Master not learn it? What need had he for a set teacher?

23. In talk with the great men of the court Shu-sun Wu-shu[182] said, Tzu-kung is worthier than Chung-ni.

Tzu-fu Ching-po told this to Tzu-kung.

Tzu-kung said, This is like the palace wall. My wall reaches to the shoulder: peeping over you see the good home within. The Master's wall is several fathoms high: no one can see the beauty of the Ancestral Temple and the wealth of its hundred officers, unless he gets in by the gate. And if only a few men find the gate, may not my lord have spoken the truth?

24. Shu-sun Wu-shu cried down Chung-ni.

Tzu-kung said, It is labour lost. Chung-ni cannot be cried down. The greatness of other men is a hummock, over which we can still leap. Chung-ni is the sun or moon, which no one can overleap. Though the man were willing to kill himself, how could he hurt the sun or moon? That he does not know his own measure would only be seen the better!

25. Ch'en Tzu-ch'in[183] said to Tzu-kung, Ye humble yourself, Sir. In what is Chung-ni your better?

Tzu-kung said, By one word a gentleman shows wisdom, by one word want of wisdom. Words must not be lightly spoken. No one can come up to the Master, as heaven is not to be climbed by steps. If the Master had power in a kingdom, or a clan, the saying would come true, 'What he sets up stands; he shows the way and men go it, he brings peace and they come, he stirs them and they are at one. Honoured in life, he is mourned when dead!' Who can come up to him?

BOOK XX[184]

1. Yao said, Hail to thee, Shun! The count that Heaven is telling falls on thee. Keep true hold of the centre. If there be stress or want within the four seas, the gift of Heaven will pass for ever.

Shun laid the same commands on Yü.

T'ang said, I, Thy little child Li, dare to offer this black steer, and dare to proclaim before Thee, Almighty Lord, that I dare not forgive sin, nor keep down Thy ministers. Search them, O Lord, in Thine heart. If Our life be sinful, visit it not upon the ten thousand homesteads. If the ten thousand homesteads sin, the sin is on Our head.

Chou bestowed great gifts, and good men grew rich.

'Loving hearts are better than near kinsmen. All the people blame no one but me.'[185]

He saw to weights and measures, revised the laws, and brought back broken officers. Order reigned everywhere. He revived ruined kingdoms and restored fiefs that had fallen in. All hearts below heaven turned to him. The people's food, burials and worship weighed most with him. His bounty gained the many, his truth won the people's trust, his earnestness brought success, his justice made men glad.

2. Tzu-chang asked Confucius, How should men be governed?

The Master said, To govern men we must honour five fair things and spurn four evil things.

Tzu-chang said, What are the five fair things?

The Master said, A gentleman is kind, but not wasteful; he burdens, but he does not embitter; he is covetous, but not greedy; high-minded, but not proud; stern, but not fierce.

Tzu-chang said, What is meant by kindness without waste?

The Master said, To further what furthers the people, is not that kindness without waste? If burdens be sorted to strength, who will grumble? To covet love and get love, is that greed? Few or many, small or great, all is one to a gentleman: he dares not slight any man. Is not this to be high-minded, but not proud? A gentleman straightens his robe and cap, and settles his look. He is severe, and men look up to him with awe. Is not this to be stern, but not fierce?

Tzu-chang said, What are the four evil things?

The Master said, To leave untaught and then kill is cruelty; not to give warning and to expect things to be done is tyranny; to give careless orders and be strict when the day comes is robbery; to be stingy in rewarding men is littleness.

3. The Master said, He that does not know the Bidding cannot be a gentleman. Not to know good form is to have no foothold. Not to know words is to know nothing of men.