CHAP. VIII. Po-niû being ill, the Master went to ask for him. He took hold of his hand through the window, and said, 'It is killing him. It is the appointment of Heaven, alas! That such a man should have such a sickness! That such a man should have such a sickness!’

CHAP. IX. The Master said, 'Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui! With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd dish of drink, and living in his mean narrow lane, while others could not have endured the distress, he did not allow his joy to be affected by it. Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!'

CHAP. X. Yen Ch'iû said, 'It is not that I do not delight in your doctrines, but my strength is insufficient." The Master said, Those whose strength is insufficient give over in the middle of the way, but now you limit yourself.'

8. LAMENT OF CONFUCIUS OVER THE MORTAL fashion, which he avoided by not entering the

SICKNESS OF Po-NIC. Po-niû,‘elder or uncle house. 亡之 = It is killing him.’夫, Niû,' was the denomination of 冉耕,

one the 2nd tone, generally an initial particle = 'now.' It is here final, and = 'alas!"

of the disciples of the sage.
In the old inter-
pretation, his sickness is said to have been

疾,‘an evil disease,' by which name leprosy,

called, is intended, though that character is now employed for ‘itch.’ Suffering from and Confucius took his hand through the window. A different explanation is given by Chû Hsi. He says that sick persons were usually placed on the north side of the apartment; but when the prince visited them, in order that he might appear to them with his face to the south (see chap. i), they were moved to the south. On this occasion, Po-niû's friends wanted to receive Confucius after this royal

such a disease, Po-niû would not see people,

9. THE HAPPINESS OF HUI INDEPENDENT OF HIS POVERTY. The. was simply a piece of the

10簞

stem of a bamboo, and the 瓢 half of a gourd cutintotwo. 食 , see II.viii. The eulogy turns much on 其 in其樂, as opposed to 其憂,

his joy,' the delight which he had in the doctrines of his master, contrasted with the grief others would have felt under such poverty.

10. A HIGH AIM AND PERSEVERANCE PROPER TO A STUDENT. Confucius would not admit Ch'iû's apology for not attempting more than he did. 'Give over in the middle of the way,' i. e. they go as long and as far as they can, and are pur. suing when they stop.

不門孟偃 不耳 為小

夏

進策之之由平武 人
反室徑日城儒 儒。日

tsing

也。其

日

不也非有

非奔 事臺日

敢而

未滅

足者中道而廢今書

子謂子夏日女爲君子

畫。

CHAP. XI. The Master said to Tsze-hsiâ, Do you be a scholar after the style of the superior man, and not after that of the mean man.' CHAP. XII. Tsze-yù being governor of Wu-ch'ăng, the Master said to him, 'Have you got good men there?' He answered, 'There is Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming, who never in walking takes a short cut, and never comes to my office, excepting on public business.'

CHAP. XIII. The Master said, ' Măng Chih-fan does not boast of his merit. Being in the rear on an occasion of flight, when they were about to enter the gate, he whipped up his horse, saying, "It is not that I dare to be last. My horse would not advance.

southwards with not a few followers, and places

11. How LEARNING SHOULD BE PURSUED. 君 | Mieh-ming's becoming eminent. He travelled 子 and 小人 here = adjectives, qualifying near Sù-chau and elsewhere retain names in儒:The 君子, it is said, learns 為已 dicative of his presence. 焉爾乎, three to

for his own real improvement and from duty; particles coming together, are said to indicate the slow and deliberate manner

the 小人,為人,‘for men,' with a view

their opinion, and for his own material benefit.

We should hardly have judged such a counsel necessary for Tsze-hsia.

12. THE CHARACTER OF TAN-T'ÂI MIEH-MING.

in which the

sage spoke. 滅明者, compare 顔囘

者in chap. ii. 室 is said to = 公堂.

13. THE VIRTUE OF MĂNG CHIH-FAN IN CON

The chapter shows, according to Chinese com- CEALING HIS MERIT. But where was his virtue mentators, the advantage to people in authority in deviating from the truth? And how could of their having good men about them. In this Confucius commend him for doing so? These way after their usual fashion, they seek for a questions have never troubled the commentaprofound meaning in the remark of Confucius. tors, nor is it wise to bring a railing accusation

Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming, who was styled 子羽, against the sage for his words here. Máng Chihhas his tablet the 2nd, east, outside the hall. fan, named 側, was an officer of Lû. The

The accounts of him are conflicting. Accord- defeat referred to was in the eleventh year of ing to one, he was very good-looking, while duke Âi. To lead the van of an army is called another says he was so bad-looking that Con

fucius at first formed an unfavourable opinion of, to bring up the rear is. In retreat, him, an error which he afterwards confessed on the rear is of course the place of honour.

彬文戸乎佞

之子然勝子何子 子免 質 日莫 日於

罔之生也幸而免

人君則質

免。也

後君子

文文道出

之祝

由 難之

質則也不矣。美

CHAP. XIV. The Master said, 'Without the specious speech of the litanist T'o, and the beauty of the prince Châo of Sung, it is

difficult to escape in the present age.'

CHAP. XV. The Master said, 'Who can go out but by the door?

How is it that men will not walk according to these ways?'

CHAP. XVI. The Master said, 'Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue.'

CHAP. XVII. The Master said, Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness, and yet live, his escape from death is the effect of mere good fortune.'

14. THE DEGENERACY OF THE AGE ESTEEMING

GLIBNESS OF TONGUE AND BEAUTY OF PERSON.

祝 ‘to pray,'' prayers; here, in the concrete, the

officer charged with the prayers in the ancestral importance in China. The term, however, is temple. I have coined the word litanist to come to be understood here of 'a clerk,' one that is as near to the meaning as possible. This T'o was of a class sharp and well informed, but in

an officer of the State of Wei, styled 子魚 sincere.

17. LIFE WITHOUT UPRIGHTNESS IS NOT TRUE 'No more

Prince Châo had been guilty of incest with his half-sister Nan-tsze (see chap. xxvi), and after. LIFE, AND CANNOT BE CALCULATED ON. wards, when she was married to the duke Ling serious warning than this,' says one commenof Wei, he served as an officer there, carrying | tator, was ever addressed to men by Confucius.’ on his wickedness. He was celebrated for his A distinction is made by Chû Hsi and others

beauty of person. 而 is a simple connective, between the two 生;-the Ist is 始生,

and the

= fil, clauses. The old commentators construe dif. 生存, ‘preservation in life'人之生 though he may have the beauty of Chao, &c.,', 'The being born of man is upright,’

is made to belong to both 'birth,' or 'the beginning of life,' and the 2nd is

ferently:-'If a man have not the speech of T'o,

making the degeneracy of the age all turn on its which may mean either that man at his birth

fondness for specious talk. This cannot be right. is upright, or that he is born for uprightness. I

15. A LAMENT OVER THE WAYWARDNESS OF MEN'S

斯道, these ways,' in a moral prefer the latter view. 周之生也,The

CONDUCT.

sense ; -not deep doctrines, but rules of life.

living without it,' if we take 罔=無

, or ‘to

CHAP. XVIII. The Master said, 'They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.'

CHAP. XIX. The Master said, 'To those whose talents are above mediocrity, the highest subjects may be announced. To those who are below mediocrity, the highest subjects may not be announced. CHAP. XX. Fan Ch'ih asked what constituted wisdom. The Master said, 'To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.' He asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 'The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration; this may be called perfect virtue.'

defame it,' if罔=誣. We long here as else- 民 here as = 人, and民之義 as = 人 where for more perspicuity and fuller develop ZI, 'what is right according to the

ment of view. Without uprightness the end

of man's existence is not fulfilled, but his pre- principles of humanity. With some hesita.

servation in such case is not merely a fortunate

tion I have assented to this view, though R

accident. 18. DIFFERENT STAGES OF ATTAINMENT. The properly means 'the multitude,' 'the people,' four have all one reference, which must

be道or理, the subject spoken of.

19. TEACHERS MUST BE GUIDED IN COMMUNI

CATING KNOWLEDGE BY THE SUSCEPTIVITY OF
THE LEARNERS.

In 以上,上 is read and

tone, a verbal word, and not the prep. ‘upon,'

so the 下in以下 is also verbal as in III.

vii. The中人

6

and the old interpreters explain-Strive to perfect the righteousness of the people.' We may suppose from the second clause that Fan Ch'ih was striving after what was uncommon and superhuman. For a full exhibition of the

phrase 鬼神, see 中庸,XVI. Here it ‘spiritual beings,' manes and others 遠, the 4th tone;遠之, keep at a distance

=

from them,' not ‘keep them at a distance.' or mediocre people,' may The sage's advice therefore is-attend to what have all classes of subjects announced to them, are plainly human duties, and do not be super

I

suppose. 語 is in the 4th tone, 'to tell to.’| stitious.’ 先 and 後 are, as frequently,

20. CHIEF ELEMENTS IN WISDOM AND VIRTUE. verbs, 'put first,''put last.' The old interFan Ch'ih, II. v. The modern comm. take|preters take them differently, but not so well.

之曰井有仁焉其從之

哉。

子

魯

者樂

仁知

墨子日齊一

者樂仁者壽

一變至於道

日觚不觚觚觚

}宰我問日仁者

告

觚道R變

於

魯

者

動

仁

者水

知者

you

CHAP. XXI. The Master said, 'The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous

are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.'

CHAP. XXII. The Master said, 'Ch'î, by one change, would come to the State of Lû. Lû, by one change, would come to a State where true principles predominated.'

CHAP. XXIII. The Master said, 'A cornered vessel without corners. A strange cornered vessel! A strange cornered vessel!'

CHAP. XXIV. Tsâi Wo asked, saying, 'A benevolent man, though it be told him," There is a man in the well," will go in after him, I suppose.' Confucius said, 'Why should he do so?' A superior

21. CONTRASTS OF THE WISE AND THE VIR- in his family. This successor, king Chăng, constituted the son of his uncle, the famous are read do, 4th tone, duke of Chau, prince of Lû. In Confucius's

TUOUS.

The two first 樂 =喜好, to find pleasure in. The wise time, Ch'i had degenerated more than La. or knowing are active and restless, like the 道。先王 先王盡善盡美之道

former kings..
'the entirely good and admirable ways of the

23. THE NAME WITHOUT THE REALITY IS FOLLY.

This was spoken (see the

with refer

waters of a stream, ceaselessly flowing and advancing. The virtuous are tranquil and firm, like the stable mountains. The pursuit of knowledge brings joy. The life of the virtuous may be expected to glide calmly on and long. After all, the saying is not very comprehensible. ence to the governments of the time, retain22. THE CONDITION OF THE STATES CH'Î AND ing ancient names without ancient principles. Lo. Ch'i and Lû were both within the pre- The was a drinking-vessel; others say a sent Shan-tung. Ch'i lay along the coast on the north, embracing the present department wooden tablet. The latter was a later use of

of 青州 and other territory. Lù was on the south, the larger portion of it being formed by the present department of 兖州

the term. It was made with corners as appears

from the composition of the character, which is formed from, 'a horn,' 'a sharp corner.' At the In Confucius's time the form was changed, while the name was kept.-See the translation in Williams's Syllabic Dictionary, under syllable kû.

rise of the Châu dynasty, king Wû invested Lü-shang, a counsellor of king Wu and the commander of his army, with the principality of Ch'i. King Wû at his first interview with Lü-shang addressed him as Thai-kung Wang, 'grandfather Hope,' the man long looked for

24. THE BENEVOLENT EXERCISE THEIR BENEVO

LENCE WITH PRUDENCE. Tsai Wo could see no limitation to acting on the impulses of bene