3. "When his knowledge is sufficient to attain, and he has virtue enough to hold fast; when he governs also with dignity, yet if he try to move the people contrary to the rules of propriety :-full excellence is not reached."

XXXIII. The Master said, "The superior man cannot be known in little matters; but he may be intrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be intrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters."

XXXIV. The Master said, "Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue."

XXXV. The Master said, "Let every man consider virtue as what devolves on himself. He may not yield the performance of it even to his teacher."

XXXVI. The Master said, "The superior man is correctly firm, and not firm merely."

XXXVII. The Master said, "A minister, in serving his prince, reverently discharges his duties, and makes his emolument a secondary consideration."

33. How TO KNOW THE SUPERIOR MAN AND THE MEAN MAN; AND

THEIR CAPACITIES. Choo He says, "The knowing here is our knowing the individuals." The "little matters" are ingenious but trifling arts and accomplishments, in which a really great man may sometimes be deficient while a small man will be familiar with them. The "knowing" is not, that the parties are keun-tsze and small men, but what attainments they have, and for what they are fit. The difficulty, on this view, is with the conclusion. Ho An gives the view of Wang Shuh:-" The way of the keun-tsze is profound and far-reaching. He may not let his knowledge be small, and he may receive what is great. The way of the seaou-jin is shallow and near. He may let his knowledge be small, and he may not receive what is great."

34. VIRTUE MORE TO MAN THAN WATER OR FIRE, AND NEVER HURTFUL TO HIM. "The people's relation to, or dependence on, virtue." The case is easily conceivable of men's suffering death on account of their virtue. There have been martyrs for their loyalty and other virtues, as well as for their religious faith. Choo He provides for this difference in his remarks:-"The want of fire and water is hurtful only to man's body, but to be without virtue is to lose one's mind (the higher nature), and so it is more to him than water or fire." See on IV. viii. 35. VIRTUE PERSONAL AND OBLIGATORY ON EVERY MAN. 36. THE SUPERIOR MAN'S FIRMNESS IS BASED ON RIGHT. 37. THE FAITHFUL MINISTER.

XXXVIII. The Master said, "There being instruction, there will be no distinction of classes."

XXXIX. The Master said, "Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another."

XL. The Master said, "In language it is simply required that it convey the meaning.

وو

XLI. 1. The Music-master, Meën, having called upon him, when they came to the steps, the Master said, "Here are the steps.' When they came to the mat for the guest to sit upon, he said, "Here is the mat." When all were

seated, the Master informed him, saying, “So and so is here; so and so is here.”

2. The Music-master, Meën, having gone out, Tszechang asked, saying, "Is it the rule to tell those things to the Music-masters?"

3. The Master said, "Yes. This is certainly the rule for those who lead the blind."

BOOK XVI.

CHAPTER I. 1. The head of the Ke family was going to attack Chuen-vu.

38, THE EFFECT OF TEACHING. Choo He says on this:-" The nature of all men is good, but we find among them the different classes of good and bad. This is the effect of physical constitution and of practice. The superior man, in consequence, employs his teaching, and all may be brought back to the state of good, and there is no necessity of speaking any more of the badness of some. This is very extravagant. Teaching is not so omnipotent.-The old interpretation is simply that in teaching there should be no distinction of classes.

39. AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE NECESSARY TO CONCORD IN PLANS. 40. PERSPICUITY THE CHIEF VIRTUE OF LANGUAGE. 41. CONSIDERATION OF CONFUCIUS FOR THE BLIND. Anciently, the blind were employed in the offices of music, partly because their sense of hearing was more than ordinarily acute, and partly that they might be made of some use in the world. Meën had come to Confucius' house, under the care of a guide, but the sage met him, and undertook the care of him himself.

HEADING AND SUBJECTS OF THIS BOOK. "The chief of the Ke." Throughout this book, Confucius is spoken of as K'ung, the philosopher,” and never by the designation, "The Master." Then, the style of several of the chapters (IV.-XI.) is not like the utterances of Confucius to which we have been accustomed. From these circumstances, one commentator, Hung Kwŏh, supposed that it belonged to the Ts'e recensus of

2. Yen Yew and Ke Loo had an interview with Confucius, and said, "Our chief, Ke, is going to commence. operations against Chuen-yu."

3. Confucius said, "K'ew, is it not you who are in fault here?

4. "Now, in regard to Chuen-yu, long ago, a former king appointed it to preside over the sacrifices to the eastern Mung; moreover, it is in the midst of the territory of our State; and its ruler is a minister in direct connection with the emperor :-What has your chief to do with attacking it?"

5. Yen Yew said, "Our master wishes the thing; neither of us two ministers wishes it."

6. Confucius said, "K'ew, there are the words of Chow Jin,—'When he can put forth his ability, he takes his place in the ranks of office; when he finds himself unable to do so, he retires from it. How can he be used as a guide to a blind man, who does not support him when tottering, nor raise him up when fallen ?

these analects; the other books belonging to the Loo recensus. position, however, is not otherwise supported.

This sup

1. CONFUCIUS EXPOSES THE PRESUMPTUOUS AND IMPOLITIC CONDUCT OF THE CHIEF OF THE KE FAMILY IN PROPOSING TO ATTACK A MINOR STATE, AND REBUKES YEN YEW AND TSZE-LOO FOR ABETTING THE DESIGN. 1. Chuen-yu was a small territory in Loo, whose ruler was of the fourth order of nobility. It was one of the States called “attached,' whose chiefs could not appear in the presence of the emperor, excepting in the train of the prince within whose jurisdiction they were embraced. Their existence was not from a practice like the sub-infeudation, which belonged to the feudal system of Europe. They held of the lord paramount or emperor, but with the restriction which has been mentioned, and with a certain subservience also to their immediate superior. Its particular position is fixed by its proximity to Pe, and to the Mung hill. The word "to attack" is not merely "to attack," but "to attack and punish," - an exercise of judicial authority, which could emanate only from the emperor. The term is used here, to show the nefarious and presumptuous character of the contemplated operations. 2. There is some difficulty here, as, according to the "Historical Records," the two disciples were not in the service of the Ke family at the same time. We may suppose, however, that Tsze-loo, returning with the sage from Wei on the invitation of Duke Gae, took service a second time, and for a short period, with the Ke family, of which the chief was then Ke K'ang. This brings the time of the transaction to B.C. 483, or 482. 3. Confucius addresses himself only to K'ew, as he had been a considerable time, and very active, in the Ke service. 4. It was the prerogative of the princes to sacrifice to the hills and rivers within their jurisdictions;-here was the chief of Chuen

7. "And further, you speak wrongly. When a tiger or wild bull escapes from his cage; when a tortoise or gem is injured in its repository:-whose is the fault?"

8. Yen Yew said, "But at present, Chuen-yu is strong and near to Pe; if our chief do not now take it, it will hereafter be a sorrow to his descendants."

9. Confucius said, "K'ew, the superior man hates that declining to say-I want such and such a thing,' and framing explanations for the conduct.

10. "I have heard that rulers of states and chiefs of families are not troubled lest their people should be few, but are troubled lest they should not keep their several places; that they are not troubled with fears of poverty, but are troubled with fears of a want of contented repose among the people in their several places. For when the people keep their several places, there will be no poverty; when harmony prevails, there will be no scarcity of people; and when there is such a contented repose, there will be no rebellious upsettings.

11. "So it is. Therefore, if remoter people are not submissive, all the influences of civil culture and virtue are to be cultivated to attract them to be so; and when they have been so attracted, they must be made contented and tranquil.

It was

yu, imperially appointed (the "former king " is probably Ch'ing, the second emperor of the Chow dynasty) to be the lord of the Mung mountain, that is, to preside over the sacrifices offered to it. This raised him high above any mere ministers or officers of Loo. The mountain Mung is in the present district of Pe, in the department of E-chow, called eastern, to distinguish it from another of the same name in Shen-se, which was the western Mung. "It is in the midst of the territory of our State," "--this is mentioned, to show that Chuen-yu was so situated as to give Loo no occasion for apprehension. Its ruler is a minister in direct connection with the emperor" is, literally, "a minister of the altars to the spirits of the land and grain." To those spirits only, the prince had the prerogative of sacrificing. The chief of Chuen-yu having this, how dared an officer of Loo to think of attacking him? The term "minister" is used of his relation to the emperor. Choo He makes the phrase a minister of the ducal house," saying that the three families had usurped all the dominions proper of Loo, leaving only the chiefs of the "attached" States to appear in the ducal court. I prefer the former interpretation. 6, Chow Jin is by Choo He simply called--" a good historiographer of ancient times.” Some trace him back to the Shang dynasty, and others only to the early times of the Chow. There are other weighty utterances of his in vogue, besides that in the text. From this point, Confucius

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12. "Now, here are you, Yew and K'ew, assisting your chief. Remoter people are not submissive, and, even with your help, he cannot attract them to him. In his own territory there are divisions and downfalls, leavings and separations, and, with your help, he cannot preserve it.

13. "And yet he is planning these hostile movements within our State.-I am afraid that the sorrow of the Ke-sun family will not be on account of Chuen-yu, but will be found within the screen of their own court."

II. 1. Confucius said, "When good government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions, proceed from the emperor. When bad government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the princes. When these things proceed from the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in ten generations. When they proceed from the great officers of the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in five generations. When the subsidiary ministers of the great officers hold in their grasp the orders of the kingdom, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in three generations.

2. "When right principles prevail in the empire, government will not be in the hands of the great officers.

3. "When right principles prevail in the empire, there will be no discussions among the common people."

speaks of the general disorganization of Loo under the management of the three families, and especially of the Ke. 12. All this is to be understood of the head of the Ke family, as controlling the government of Loo, and as being assisted by the two disciples, so that the reproof falls heavily on them. 13. "Within the screen of their own court" is, literally, "in the inside of the wall of reverence." Officers, on reaching the screen, which they had only to pass, to find themselves in the presence of their head, were supposed to become more reverential;" and hence the expression in the text-" among his own immediate officers."

2. THE SUPREME AUTHORITY OUGHT EVER TO MAINTAIN ITS POWER. THE VIOLATION OF THIS RULE ALWAYS LEADS TO RUIN, WHICH IS SPEEDIER AS THE RANK OF THE VIOLATOR IS LOWER. In these utterances, Confucius had reference to the disorganized state of the empire, when "the son of Heaven was fast becoming an empty name, the princes of States were in bondage to their great officers, and those again at the mercy of their family ministers.