THE ANALECTS (Sayings)
by Confucius
V.
1.   The Master said of Kung-ye Ch'ang that he might be wived;
although he was put in bonds, he had not been guilty of any crime.
Accordingly, he gave him his own daughter to wife.
2.   Of Nan Yung he said that if the country were well governed
he would not be out of office, and if it were in governed, he
would escape punishment and disgrace. He gave him the daughter of
his own elder brother to wife.
3.   The Master said of Tsze-chien, "Of superior virtue
indeed is such a man! If there were not virtuous men in Lu, how
could this man have acquired this character?"
4.   Tsze-kung asked, "What do you say of me, Ts'ze!"
The Master said, "You are a utensil." "What
utensil?" "A gemmed sacrificial utensil."
5.   Some one said, "Yung is truly virtuous, but he is not
ready with his tongue."
The Master said, "What is the good of being ready with
the tongue? They who encounter men with smartness of speech for
the most part procure themselves hatred. I know not whether he be
truly virtuous, but why should he show readiness of the tongue?"
6.   The Master was wishing Ch'i-tiao K'ai to enter an official
employment. He replied, "I am not yet able to rest in the
assurance of this." The Master was pleased.
7.   The Master said, "My doctrines make no way. I will get
upon a raft, and float about on the sea. He that will accompany
me will be Yu, I dare say." Tsze-lu hearing this was glad,
upon which the Master said, "Yu is fonder of daring than I
am. He does not exercise his judgment upon matters."
8.   Mang Wu asked about Tsze-lu, whether he was perfectly
virtuous. The Master said, "I do not know."
He asked again, when the Master replied, "In a kingdom of
a thousand chariots, Yu might be employed to manage the military
levies, but I do not know whether he be perfectly virtuous."
"And what do you say of Ch'iu?" The Master replied,
"In a city of a thousand families, or a clan of a hundred
chariots, Ch'iu might be employed as governor, but I do not know
whether he is perfectly virtuous."
"What do you say of Ch'ih?" The Master replied,
"With his sash girt and standing in a court, Ch'ih might be
employed to converse with the visitors and guests, but I do not
know whether he is perfectly virtuous."
9.   The Master said to Tsze-kung, "Which do you consider
superior, yourself or Hui?"
Tsze-kung replied, "How dare I compare myself with Hui?
Hui hears one point and knows all about a subject; I hear one
point, and know a second."
The Master said, "You are not equal to him. I grant you,
you are not equal to him."
10.   Tsai Yu being asleep during the daytime, the Master said,
"Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dirty earth will
not receive the trowel. This Yu,—what is the use of my reproving
him?"
The Master said, "At first, my way with men was to hear
their words, and give them credit for their conduct. Now my way
is to hear their words, and look at their conduct. It is from Yu
that I have learned to make this change."
11.   The Master said, "I have not seen a firm and
unbending man." Some one replied, "There is Shan Ch'ang."
"Ch'ang," said the Master, "is under the influence
of his passions; how can he be pronounced firm and unbending?"
12.   Tsze-kung said, "What I do not wish men to do to me,
I also wish not to do to men." The Master said, "Ts'ze,
you have not attained to that."
13.   Tsze-kung said, "The Master's personal displays of
his principles and ordinary descriptions of them may be heard.
His discourses about man's nature, and the way of Heaven, cannot
be heard."
14.   When Tsze-lu heard anything, if he had not yet succeeded
in carrying it into practice, he was only afraid lest he should
hear something else.
15.   Tsze-kung asked, saying, "On what ground did Kung-wan
get that title of Wan?"
The Master said, "He was of an active nature and yet fond
of learning, and he was not ashamed to ask and learn of his
inferiors! —On these grounds he has been styled Wan."
16.   The Master said of Tsze-ch'an that he had four of the
characteristics of a superior man—in his conduct of himself, he
was humble; in serving his superior, he was respectful; in
nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he
was just."
17.   The Master said, "Yen P'ing knew well how to maintain
friendly intercourse. The acquaintance might be long, but he
showed the same respect as at first."
18.   The Master said, "Tsang Wan kept a large tortoise in
a house, on the capitals of the pillars of which he had hills
made, and with representations of duckweed on the small pillars
above the beams supporting the rafters. —Of what sort was his
wisdom?"
19.   Tsze-chang asked, saying, "The minister Tsze-wan
thrice took office, and manifested no joy in his countenance.
Thrice he retired from office, and manifested no displeasure. He
made it a point to inform the new minister of the way in which he
had conducted the government; what do you say of him?" The
Master replied. "He was loyal." "Was he perfectly
virtuous?" "I do not know. How can he be pronounced
perfectly virtuous?"
Tsze-chang proceeded, "When the officer Ch'ui killed the
prince of Ch'i, Ch'an Wan, though he was the owner of forty
horses, abandoned them and left the country. Coming to another
state, he said, 'They are here like our great officer, Ch'ui,'
and left it. He came to a second state, and with the same
observation left it also; —what do you say of him?" The
Master replied, "He was pure." "Was he perfectly
virtuous?" "I do not know. How can he be pronounced
perfectly virtuous?"
20.   Chi Wan thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master
was informed of it, he said, "Twice may do."
21.   The Master said, "When good order prevailed in his
country, Ning Wu acted the part of a wise man. When his country
was in disorder, he acted the part of a stupid man. Others may
equal his wisdom, but they cannot equal his stupidity."
22.   When the Master was in Ch'an, he said, "Let me return!
Let me return! The little children of my school are ambitious and
too hasty. They are accomplished and complete so far, but they do
not know how to restrict and shape themselves."
23.   The Master said, "Po-i and Shu-ch'i did not keep the
former wickednesses of men in mind, and hence the resentments
directed towards them were few."
24.   The Master said, "Who says of Weishang Kao that he is
upright? One begged some vinegar of him, and he begged it of a
neighbor and gave it to the man."
25.   The Master said, "Fine words, an insinuating
appearance, and excessive respect; —Tso Ch'iu-ming was ashamed
of them. I also am ashamed of them. To conceal resentment against
a person, and appear friendly with him; —Tso Ch'iu-ming was
ashamed of such conduct. I also am ashamed of it."
26.   Yen Yuan and Chi Lu being by his side, the Master said to
them, "Come, let each of you tell his wishes."
Tsze-lu said, "I should like, having chariots and horses,
and light fur clothes, to share them with my friends, and though
they should spoil them, I would not be displeased."
Yen Yuan said, "I should like not to boast of my
excellence, nor to make a display of my meritorious deeds."
Tsze-lu then said, "I should like, sir, to hear your
wishes." The Master said, "They are, in regard to the
aged, to give them rest; in regard to friends, to show them
sincerity; in regard to the young, to treat them tenderly."
27.   The Master said, "It is all over. I have not yet seen
one who could perceive his faults, and inwardly accuse himself."
28.   The Master said, "In a hamlet of ten families, there
may be found one honorable and sincere as I am, but not so fond
of learning."