382

K'UNG-FU-TSZE

K'UNG-FU-TSZE (CONFUCIUS) was born in Lu, one of the feudal states of China, in 551 B. C. His father died when K'ung-fu-tsze was three years old. He married at nineteen and at twenty-two began to give that instruction in conduct which was his main life work. Disciples and honor soon came to him. His advice was greatly sought and sometimes followed by the princes of his own and the neighboring provinces. When he was fifty-one he was chief magistrate of the town of Chung-tu, and later assistant general of public works, and minister of crime. Soon afterward he withdrew and spent several years in travel, finding honor everywhere he went, but no princes willing to give full operation to his ideas. He went back to his native province in 483 B. C., and died there in 478 B. C.

His rules of life, as embodied in the sayings reverently collected by his disciples have full force in China to-day.

SAYINGS

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I. 1. The Master said, "Is it not pleasant to learn with

a constant perseverance and application?

ters.

2. "Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quar

3. "Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"

III. The Master said, "Fine words and insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue."

IV. Tsang the philosopher said, "I daily examine myself on three points:—whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher."

VIII. I. The Master said, "If the scholar be not grave, he will not call forth any veneration, and his learning will not be solid. 2. "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

3. "Have no friends not equal to yourself.

4. "When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them."

XI. The Master said, "I will not be afflicted at men's not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men."

BOOK II.

CHAPTER I. The Master said, "He who exercises government by means of his virtue, may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."

II. The Master said, "In the Book of Poetry are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be embraced in that one sentence -Have no depraved thoughts.'

III. 1. The Master said, "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame.

2. "If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good."

IV. 1. The Master said, "At fifteen I had my mind bent on learning.

2. "At thirty, I stood firm.

3. "At forty, I had no doubts.

4. "At fifty, I knew the decrees of heaven.

5. "At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth.

6. "At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."

XI. The Master said, "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others."

XIII. Tsze-kung asked what constituted the superior man. The Master said, "He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions."

XV. The Master said, "Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous."

XVII. The Master said, "Yew, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it;—and when you do not know a thing, to allow you do not know it;—this is knowledge."

XVIII. 1. Tsze-chang was learning with a view to official emolument.

2. The Master said, "Hear much and put aside the points of which you stand in doubt, while you speak cautiously at the same time of the others:-then you will afford few occasions for blame. See much and put aside the things which seem perilous, while you are cautious at the same time in carrying others into practice :-then you will have few occasions for repentance. When one gives few occasions for blame in his words, and few occasions for repentance in his conduct, he is in the way to get emolument."

XIX. The Duke Gae asked, saying, “What should be done in order to secure the submission of the people?" Confucius replied, "Advance the upright and set aside the crooked, then the people will submit. Advance the crooked and set aside the upright, then the people will not submit."

BOOK III.

CHAPTER IV. 1. Lin Fang asked what was the first thing to be attentive to in ceremonies.

2.

The Master said, "A great question indeed!"

3. "In festive ceremonies it is better to be sparing than extravagant. In the ceremonies of mourning it is better that there be deep sorrow than a minute attention to observances."

XII. 1. He sacrificed to the dead, as if they were present. He sacrificed to the spirits, as if the spirits were present.

2. The Master said, "I consider my not being present at the sacrifice, as if I did not sacrifice."

XVI. The Master said, "In archery it is not going through the

leather which is the principal thing;-because people's strength is not equal. This is the old way."

XVIII. 1. Tze-kung wished to do away with the offering of a sheep connected with the inauguration of the first day of each month. 2. The Master said, "Tsze, you love the sheep; I love the ceremony."

XVIII. The Master said, "The full observance of the rules of propriety in serving one's prince is accounted by people to be flattery."

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I. The Master said, "It is virtuous manners which constitute the excellence of a neighbourhood. If a man is selecting a residence do not fix on one where such prevail, how can he be wise?"

II. The Master said, "Those who are without virtue cannot abide long either in a condition of poverty and hardship, or in a condition of enjoyment. The virtuous rest in virtue; the wise desire virtue."

III. The Master said, "It is only the truly virtuous man who can love, or who can hate, others."

IV. The Master said, "If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness."

V. I. The Master said, "Riches and honours are what men desire. If it cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held. Poverty and meanness are what men dislike. If it cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be avoided.

2. "If the superior man abandon virtue, how can he fulfill the requirements of that name?

3. "The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it."

VI. 1. The Master said, "I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who hated what is not virtuous, would practice virtue in such a way that he would not allow anything that is not virtuous to approach his person.

2. "Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which his strength would be insufficient.

3. "Should there possibly be any such case, I have not seen it." VII. The Master said, "The faults of men are characteristic of the class to which they belong. By observing a man's faults, it may be known that he is virtuous."

VIII. The Master said, "If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret."

IX. The Master said, "A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with."

X. The Master said, "The superior man, in the world, does not set his mind for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow."

XI. The Master said, "The superior ma. thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man thinks of favours which he may receive."

XII. The Master said, "He who acts with a constant view to his own advantage will be much murmured against."

XII. The Master said, "Is a prince able to govern his kingdom with the complaisance proper to the rules of propriety, what difficulty will he have? If he cannot govern it with that complaisance, what has he to do with the rules of propriety?"

XIV. The Master said, "A man should say, I am not concerned that I have no place,-I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am not concerned that I am not known,-I seek to be worthy to be known."

XV. 1. The Master said, "Sin, my doctrine is that of an allpervading unity." Tsang the philosopher replied, “Yes.”

2. The Master went out and the other disciples asked, saying, "What do his wards mean?" Tsang said, "The doctrine of our Master is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others,-this and nothing more."

XVI. The Master said, "The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man is conversant with gain."

XVII. The Master said, "When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves."

XVIII. The Master said, "In serving his parents, a son may remonstrate with them, but gently; when he sees that they do not incline to follow his advice, he shows an increased degree of reverence, but does not abandon his purpose; and should they punish him, he does not allow himself to murmur."

XIX. The Master said, "While his parents are alive, the son may not go abroad to a distance. If he does go abroad, he must have a fixed place to which he goes."

XX. The Master said, "If the son for three years does not alter