Won't
that raise the level of your conscious acts?
that raise the level of your conscious acts?
Ezra Pound - Confucian Analects
?
?
?
?
?
?
CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
5. "Ch'iu, how about you? "
Replied: "Give me the job of a sixty, seventy or fifty
Ii square district. I could give 'em abundant crops in three years. It would need a superior man to teach 'em the rites and n1usic. " ["Abundant crops "-probably more literal: there would be enough (for the) people. ]
6. "What about you, Ch'ih? "
Replied : I don't say I could do that sort of thing, should like to study, serve in the ancestral temple, at audience of the princes, ceremonial chapter style [L. & M. dark square-made robe, black linen cap] to be lesser assistant.
7. "Chieh (clever-boy), what about you? " Struck his se (25-string lute) with curious jingling, laid down the lute and got up, answering : Differ from the three of 'em in what they grasp at.
Confucius said : What harm, let each say what he wants (directio voluntatis).
(Chieh) said: Toward the end of spring, in nice spring clothes, with five or six fellows who have been capped, and six or seven kids, go bathe in I river (Shantung) with the wind over the rain dance [probably, wind for the rain dance, could be: wind suitable for the rain dance] to chant (through the service) and go home.
The big man heaved a sigh of assent : I am with Chieh.
[L. calls this young man Tien. ]
8. The three went out, Tsang Hsi delaying, and said :
What about these three men's words? Confucius said: Each one expressed his preference, that's all.
9. (Hsi) said: Boss, why did you grin at "The
Sprout"?
10. He said: A state is managed with ceremony, his
words were not polite, so I grinned.
11. "But Ch'iu didn't ask for a state. "
"Calmly, did you ever see a district, fifty, sixty or seventy Ii square that wasn't a state? "
70
BOOK ELEVEN
12. " Only Ch'ih, was he asking for a state? "
"Together in ancestral temple, who save nobles would
be there; if Ch'ih wern a lesser acolyte, who'd be the big
ones? "
71
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK TWELVE I
1. Yen Yuan asked about full manhood. He said : Support oneself and return to the rites, that makes a man. [The "support oneself" is fairly literal. . It cannot be limited to superficial idea of making a living, but certainly need not be ta. ken ascetically. "Determine the character" mvght
render one side of the phrase. ]
If a man can be adequate to himself for one day and return to the rites, the empire would come home to its manhood. This business of manhood sprouts fro1n one- self, how can it sprout from others? .
2. Yen Yuan said : Wish I had the eye to see it, may I ask?
If something is contrary to the rites, don't look at it; don't listen to it, don't discuss it, if it is contrary to the rites don't spend energy on it. Y en Y uan said: I am not clever but I would like to act on that advice.
BOOK TWELVE
[The right-hand component of this jen' is clearly shaped as jen (4) 3110; not as in M. 's 3117, but no-tin all printed editions. ]
IV
I. Sze-ma Niu asked about (the term) gentleman. He said: The man of breed has neither melancholy nor fears.
2. (Niu) said: Being without retrospective melan- choly or fear, is that being the gentleman? [Or: How does that constitute the chun tzut]
3. He said: On introspection nothing wrong (diseased), how would he have regrets or fears?
v
1. Sze-ma Niu said in worry (or regret) : Everyone has brothers except me. I haven't (or have lost 'em).
2. Tze-Hsia said : " I've heard said :
3. " Death and life have ? their sealed orders, riches and honours are fro1n heaven. "
4. The man with the voices of his forebears within hin1 is reverent; he gives men respect, and holds to the right usage, alt men within the four seas are elder and younger brothers. liow can the proper man be dis- tressed for lack of brothers?
II
He said :
Chung-kung said: I'm not clever, but I'd like to put those words into practice.
1. Sze-ma Niu asked about manhood. He said : The full man's words have an edge of definition. [L. merely: slow of speech. ]
2. (Niu) said : [as L. ] Cautious and stow: of speech, is that a definition of manhood? He said : Difficult busi- ness to reach one's verbal manifest in one's actions unless the words are defined [L. : unless the speech be slow].
72
1. Chung-kung asked about full manhood.
Out of doors look on men as if you were receiving great guests; put n1en to work as if you vvere performing t~e Great Sacrifice, what you don't want (done to you) don t do to another, settle in a district without fault-finding, take root in the home without fault-finding.
VI
1. Tze-chang asked about light. slow soaking s1ander, and
He said : He whom'
tiger-stomach receive inform [L. "statements that startle "]
have no effect on (are no? go with) can be called enlightened [bis can be called
perspicuous, far-seeing].
73
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
VII
l. Tze-Kung asked about government. He said: Enough food, enough weapons, and that the people stand by their word [L. have confidence in their ruler].
2. Tze-Kung said : If you can't manage this, which do you omit first? He said : The armaments.
3. Tze-Kung: If you can't manage the other two, which do you omit first? He said: The food. All must die, but if the people be without faith (fail of their word) nothing stands.
VIII
l. Chi Tzc-ch'ang said : A proper man needs the solid qualities, that's enough, what's the use of higher culture?
2. Tze-kung said : Pity the great philosopher's words,
he is a superior man (but) four horses cannot overtake
the tongue.
3. The finish is as the substance, the solid, the sub-
stance like the polish it takes; tiger-skin, leopard-skin
are like dog-skin and goat-skin if you take the hair off.
IX
l. The Duke Ai said to Y u Zo : Bad year, scant har- vest, what's to be done?
BOOK TWELVE
x
1. Tze-chang asked about ra1s1ng the level of con- science and detecting illusions (delusions). He said: The first thing is: get to the centre (what it is all " about "), stand by your word, respect the meum and tuum, that will elevate your virtue (level of Conscious acts).
2. Love a man, you wish he may live; hate and you wish him to die; then you wish him to live, and turn round and want him to die, that is a muddle.
3. " Really it is not on account of the wealth, and yet you note a difference. " [This refers t. a Odes II, IV, 4, 3, the brother of the first wife, taking leave of brother-in- /aw remarried to a rich woman. ]
XI
l. Duke Ching of Ch'i asked Kung-tze abont govern- ment.
2. Kung-tze replied: Prince to be prince; minister, minister; father, father; son, son.
3. The Duke said: Good. I stand by that, if the
prince be not prince; minister not minister; father not father; son not son, although there is grain can I manage to eat it all?
[L. "Although I have my revenue, can l enjoy itf" Possibly: "Although there is grain will I have time to eat ~tr" M. gives no example of chu (1) interrogative. ]
XII
1. He said : Settle disputes with half a word, " the Sprout " could do that.
2. Tze-lu (the Sprout) never slept on a promise. XIII
1. He said: In hearing litigations I am like another, the thing is to have no litigation, n'est-ce pas?
75
2. Yu Zo : Why not tithe?
3. " T w o tenths not enough, how
with one? "
would I
manage
4. Answered: If the hundred clans have enough, who won't give enough to the prince, if the hundred clans are in want who will give enough to the prince?
[The great discussion of the tmth tithe vs/fixed charge, is given in Mencius III. I, iii, 6. ]
74
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS XIV
l. Tze-chang asked about government. He said : Not to lie down on it; to act from the middle of the heart.
xv
1. He said : Extensive study for accomplishments; restraint by the rites; by short-cuts across fields you lose the great road.
XVI
1. He said: The proper man brings men's excellence to focus, he does not focus their evil qualities; the mean man does the reverse.
XVII
1. Chi I('ang asked Confucius about government. Kung-tze replied: Government consists in correcting; if you lead by being correct, who will dare be incorrect?
XVIII
l. Chi K'ang worried about thieves, questioned Con- fucius. Kung-tze answered : If you weren't covetous, they wouldn't steal even if you paid 'em.
XIX
1. Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government : "What about killing the wayward for the benefit of the well-behaved? "
Kung-tze answered : Why kill to govern? If you want the good, the people will be good; the proper man acting according to his conscience is wind, the lesser folk acting on conscience, grass; grass with wind above it must bend.
76
BOOK TWELVE
xx
1. Tze-chang asked what an officer should be like to g~ far.
2. He said : What do you call going far?
3. Tze-chang said: To be heard of throughout the state, to be heard of in his clan.
4. I-Ie said : That's notoriety not distinction (or perspicacity, making a wide noise not getting very far). 5. The far-effective man is solid, upright, loves jus- tice; examines people's words, looks into their faces,
thinks how, in what way, he is inferior to them, roots in the. state and goes far; roots in his family and effects things at a distance.
6. The notorious bloke puts up a show of manhood, and acts counter to it, perfectly confident; is heard about to the end of the state, makes a noise throughout all his clan.
XXI
1. Fan Ch'ih walking with him below the rain altars (or to celebration of the rain sacrifice pantomime) said : Venture to ask how to lift one's conscience in action; to
correct the hidden tare, and separate one's _errors?
2. He said : An excellent question!
3. Put first the action, second the success.
Won't
that raise the level of your conscious acts? Work on one's own faults, not on someone else's hatefulness, vvon't that comb out the hidden weeds?
For one morning's temper to jeopard one's life and even that of one's relatives, isn't that hallucination?
XXII
1. Fan Ch'ih asked about humaneness. He said : Love men. Asked about knowledge. He said: To know men.
2. Fan Ch'ih didn't get as far (see through to the end of that answer).
77
? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
3. He said: Promote the straight, and grind the
crooked, that way you can straighten 'em.
4. Fan Ch'ih retired, and seeing Tze-Hsia said: Just saw the big man and asked him about knowledge. He said : Promote the straight and grind the crooked, that way you can straighten the crooks, how did he mean it?
5. Tze-Hsia said: That's a rich and ample saying.
6. Shun had the Empire, picked out Kao-Yao from
the multitude, promoted him, and wrong 'uns departed.
T'ang had the Empire, he picked out I Yin from all the hordes, promoted him, and the wrong 'uns departed.
XXIII
1. Tze-Kung asked about friendship. He said: Speak
out from the centr. e of your mind, maintain the true process, if he can't hitch to it, don't disgrace yourself.
XXIV
1. Tsang-tze said : The proper man makes friends on the basis of culture, and by his friends develops his man- hood (or develops his manhood through this fluid exchange).
BOOK THIRTEEN
Tze-Lu, the Sprout
I
1. Tze-Lu asked about government. He said: Go ahead, and work at it.
78
about government. He said : First get your assistants,
overlook small faults and promote men of solid talent. 2. Said : How shall I know men of solid talent? Said: Promote those you do know, will everybody
then neglect those whom you don't?
III
1. Tze-Lu said: The Lord of Wei is waiting for you
to form a governm. ent, what are you going to do first?
2. He said : Settle the names (determine a precise terminology).
3. Tze-Lu said: How's this, you're divagating, why fix 'em?
4. He said : You bumpkin ! Sprout ! When a proper
man don't know a thing, he shows some reserve.
5. If words (terminology) are not (is not) precise, they cannot be followed out, or completed in action according to specifications.
6. When the services (actions) are not brought to
true focus, the ceremonies and music will not prosper; where rites and music do not flourish punishments will be misapplied, not make bullseye, and the people won't know how to move hand or foot (what to lay hand on, or stand on).
7. Therefore the proper man must have terms that can be spoken, and when uttered be carried into effect;
79
2.
1.
Asked further.
Said: Don't lie down on it.
II
Chung-kung being minister of the Chi Head asked
? ? the proper man's words must cohere to things, correspond to them (exactly) and no more fuss about it.
IV
1. Fan Ch'ih asked to be taught agriculture. He said : I am not as good as an old peasant. Asked to study gardening. He said : I am not as good as an old gardener.
2. Fan Ch'ih went out. He said : What a nit-wit, that Fan.
3. If the men above love the rites no one of the people will dare be irreverent. If the men above love justice, none of the people will fail to conform, if the men above love veracity, none of the people will want to use mendacity, when the Great one is like this, the people of the Four Squares will come to him with their children on their backs, what does he need to know about farming?
v
1. Reciting the thr. ee hundred odes, given a govern- ment mission and not understanding it, sent to the Four Coigns and not being able to give the answers, even with a lot of talk won't be able to carry it through. [L. : Notwithstanding extent of his learning, what practical use is it? ]
VI
1. He said : When a prince's character is properly formed, he governs without? giving orders (without orders, things go on). If his character is twisty he can give orders, but they won't be carried out.
VII
1. He said: The governments (forms of government) of Lu and Wei : dder and younger brothers.
80
Enrich the111.
4. Said : They are rich, what next?
x
Said : Educate.
---- -------- -- - --------------------
? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
BOOK THIRTEEN
VIII
1. He described Ching, a younger member of the Ducal family in Wei, by saying : He knew how to live (r;rn a house). When he began to own something he satd: what a lot. When he had a bit more, he said : this is enough. When rich, he said : how magnificent.
IX
1. \;\/hen he went to Wei, Zan Yu drove.
2. He said : What's the population?
3. Zan Yu said: Well populated, what next? Said:
1. He said : If anybody had used me for twelve months I'd have been able to do something, and in three years to have done something perfect.
XI
1. He said : I--! onest men govern a country a hundred years, they could vanquish the malevolent and get rid of the death penalty. I mean these precise words.
[Possibly the first time anyone had thought of this. ]
XII
He said : With a real king, it would need a genera-
].
tion to produce the consequent humanisation.
XIII
1. He said : If a man correct himself what difficulty will he have in consequent government, if he cannot cor- rect himself, what's he doing in (or with) government, anyhow? [P. comment pourrait-il rectifier la conduite des l! Utres? ]
81
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
BOOK THIRTEEN
XVIII
, 1. The Duke of Sheh said to Kung-tze : There are
honest characters in my village, if a man steals a sheep his son will bear v. ritness to it.
2. Kung-tze said: There are honest men in my village with this difference; a father will conceal his son's doing, and a son his father's. There's honesty (straight seeing) in that, too.
XIX
1. Fan Ch'ih asked about full manhood. He said : When living in comfort to be modest, when taking hold of affairs to observe honest procedure.
[If one is to distinguish the kung1 fram the ching4 I think we must take it as between statsi'S and kinesis, . the ching co;ntaining the radical for beat, and gaing back, I take it, ta beating on the earth to pr. opitiate the grain spirits (grass on top left, and various meanings of the chii (1541, a, b)-both >terms given in dictionary as reverent. ]
With sincerity in what you give men, even among the
wild tribes (bowmen, and with dogs at camp-fires) east and north, these qualities cannot be shed (cannot be wasted, leaf fallen, from tree rad/).
xx
1. Tze-kung asked for the definition of an officer. He said : He has a sense of shame, if you send him to the last corner of the realm, he will carry out the prince's decrees and not disgrace himself.
2. Said: What's the next thing to that? [Or as L. : What category next? ] Said: His own temple group weigh him and find him filial, folk in his own village knowing his weight find him brotherly.
*P. A/ors uous ne les comprendr. ez bien. 83
XIV
1. To Zan-tze, coming from court, he said : Why so late?
Answered : There was official business. He said : May have been business affaires du prince, but if it were government business, even though I'm not in office, been very hard for me not to hear of it.
xv
1. Duke Ting asked if there were one sentence that could bring prosperity to a state. l(ung-tze answered : One sentence could hardly put all that in motion.
[cf/Great Learning, Mature Study IX. 3, semina motuum. ]
2. 1'here is a saying : it is difficult to be a prince, not easy to be a minister.
3. l(nowing it is difficult to be prince, this one sen- tence might nearly bring prosperity _to a state.
4. Said : Is there one sentence than can ruin a state? l(ung-tze answered : Hardly, but there's a saying: no pleasure in being prince save that no one can go counter to what I say.
5. If good and unopposed that's all right? But if evil and no one oppose, that's almost enough to ruin a state? N'est-ce pas!
XVI
1. The Duke of Sheh asked about government.
2. He said : Those near, happy; those afar, attracted
and come.
XVII
1. Tze-Hsia, being governor of Chu-fu, asked about government. He said : Not want things rushed, and not on the look-out for small profits; if you want things rushed they won't go through to the end;* looking for small profits, the big jobs won't be done right.
82
----? ? ---~--------- ----
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
3. Said : May I ask what next? Said : When he speaks he must stick to his word; acts must be conse- quent; water-on-stone, water-on-stone (persistent) little men, mebbe they constitute the next lot.
4. Said : What about the lot now in government? He said: Pint-pots and bamboo baskets (or buckets, utensils), count 'em as that, it'll do. [E poi basta. ] (Aliter: They can use an abacus, Cc'llculate their own advantage, or simply "oll told. ")
XXI
1. He said: Not being able give to (be with) men who act on "what it is all about," I must (teach) the pushing and the cautious; the forward will go ahead and take hold; the cautious will stick to not doing what's not to be done. [P. s'abstienne11,t au mains de pratiquer ce qui dipasse leur raison. ]
XXII
1. He said : The people of the South have a saying: an unconstant (inconsistent, inconsequent) man can't rise to be a wizard or doctor (better : can neither invoke nor cure), that's a good one.
2. Inconsistent (incoherent) in carrying his inwit into act, likely to meet disgrace.
3. He said: Not observing the signs, and that's all.
5. "Ch'iu, how about you? "
Replied: "Give me the job of a sixty, seventy or fifty
Ii square district. I could give 'em abundant crops in three years. It would need a superior man to teach 'em the rites and n1usic. " ["Abundant crops "-probably more literal: there would be enough (for the) people. ]
6. "What about you, Ch'ih? "
Replied : I don't say I could do that sort of thing, should like to study, serve in the ancestral temple, at audience of the princes, ceremonial chapter style [L. & M. dark square-made robe, black linen cap] to be lesser assistant.
7. "Chieh (clever-boy), what about you? " Struck his se (25-string lute) with curious jingling, laid down the lute and got up, answering : Differ from the three of 'em in what they grasp at.
Confucius said : What harm, let each say what he wants (directio voluntatis).
(Chieh) said: Toward the end of spring, in nice spring clothes, with five or six fellows who have been capped, and six or seven kids, go bathe in I river (Shantung) with the wind over the rain dance [probably, wind for the rain dance, could be: wind suitable for the rain dance] to chant (through the service) and go home.
The big man heaved a sigh of assent : I am with Chieh.
[L. calls this young man Tien. ]
8. The three went out, Tsang Hsi delaying, and said :
What about these three men's words? Confucius said: Each one expressed his preference, that's all.
9. (Hsi) said: Boss, why did you grin at "The
Sprout"?
10. He said: A state is managed with ceremony, his
words were not polite, so I grinned.
11. "But Ch'iu didn't ask for a state. "
"Calmly, did you ever see a district, fifty, sixty or seventy Ii square that wasn't a state? "
70
BOOK ELEVEN
12. " Only Ch'ih, was he asking for a state? "
"Together in ancestral temple, who save nobles would
be there; if Ch'ih wern a lesser acolyte, who'd be the big
ones? "
71
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? BOOK TWELVE I
1. Yen Yuan asked about full manhood. He said : Support oneself and return to the rites, that makes a man. [The "support oneself" is fairly literal. . It cannot be limited to superficial idea of making a living, but certainly need not be ta. ken ascetically. "Determine the character" mvght
render one side of the phrase. ]
If a man can be adequate to himself for one day and return to the rites, the empire would come home to its manhood. This business of manhood sprouts fro1n one- self, how can it sprout from others? .
2. Yen Yuan said : Wish I had the eye to see it, may I ask?
If something is contrary to the rites, don't look at it; don't listen to it, don't discuss it, if it is contrary to the rites don't spend energy on it. Y en Y uan said: I am not clever but I would like to act on that advice.
BOOK TWELVE
[The right-hand component of this jen' is clearly shaped as jen (4) 3110; not as in M. 's 3117, but no-tin all printed editions. ]
IV
I. Sze-ma Niu asked about (the term) gentleman. He said: The man of breed has neither melancholy nor fears.
2. (Niu) said: Being without retrospective melan- choly or fear, is that being the gentleman? [Or: How does that constitute the chun tzut]
3. He said: On introspection nothing wrong (diseased), how would he have regrets or fears?
v
1. Sze-ma Niu said in worry (or regret) : Everyone has brothers except me. I haven't (or have lost 'em).
2. Tze-Hsia said : " I've heard said :
3. " Death and life have ? their sealed orders, riches and honours are fro1n heaven. "
4. The man with the voices of his forebears within hin1 is reverent; he gives men respect, and holds to the right usage, alt men within the four seas are elder and younger brothers. liow can the proper man be dis- tressed for lack of brothers?
II
He said :
Chung-kung said: I'm not clever, but I'd like to put those words into practice.
1. Sze-ma Niu asked about manhood. He said : The full man's words have an edge of definition. [L. merely: slow of speech. ]
2. (Niu) said : [as L. ] Cautious and stow: of speech, is that a definition of manhood? He said : Difficult busi- ness to reach one's verbal manifest in one's actions unless the words are defined [L. : unless the speech be slow].
72
1. Chung-kung asked about full manhood.
Out of doors look on men as if you were receiving great guests; put n1en to work as if you vvere performing t~e Great Sacrifice, what you don't want (done to you) don t do to another, settle in a district without fault-finding, take root in the home without fault-finding.
VI
1. Tze-chang asked about light. slow soaking s1ander, and
He said : He whom'
tiger-stomach receive inform [L. "statements that startle "]
have no effect on (are no? go with) can be called enlightened [bis can be called
perspicuous, far-seeing].
73
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS
VII
l. Tze-Kung asked about government. He said: Enough food, enough weapons, and that the people stand by their word [L. have confidence in their ruler].
2. Tze-Kung said : If you can't manage this, which do you omit first? He said : The armaments.
3. Tze-Kung: If you can't manage the other two, which do you omit first? He said: The food. All must die, but if the people be without faith (fail of their word) nothing stands.
VIII
l. Chi Tzc-ch'ang said : A proper man needs the solid qualities, that's enough, what's the use of higher culture?
2. Tze-kung said : Pity the great philosopher's words,
he is a superior man (but) four horses cannot overtake
the tongue.
3. The finish is as the substance, the solid, the sub-
stance like the polish it takes; tiger-skin, leopard-skin
are like dog-skin and goat-skin if you take the hair off.
IX
l. The Duke Ai said to Y u Zo : Bad year, scant har- vest, what's to be done?
BOOK TWELVE
x
1. Tze-chang asked about ra1s1ng the level of con- science and detecting illusions (delusions). He said: The first thing is: get to the centre (what it is all " about "), stand by your word, respect the meum and tuum, that will elevate your virtue (level of Conscious acts).
2. Love a man, you wish he may live; hate and you wish him to die; then you wish him to live, and turn round and want him to die, that is a muddle.
3. " Really it is not on account of the wealth, and yet you note a difference. " [This refers t. a Odes II, IV, 4, 3, the brother of the first wife, taking leave of brother-in- /aw remarried to a rich woman. ]
XI
l. Duke Ching of Ch'i asked Kung-tze abont govern- ment.
2. Kung-tze replied: Prince to be prince; minister, minister; father, father; son, son.
3. The Duke said: Good. I stand by that, if the
prince be not prince; minister not minister; father not father; son not son, although there is grain can I manage to eat it all?
[L. "Although I have my revenue, can l enjoy itf" Possibly: "Although there is grain will I have time to eat ~tr" M. gives no example of chu (1) interrogative. ]
XII
1. He said : Settle disputes with half a word, " the Sprout " could do that.
2. Tze-lu (the Sprout) never slept on a promise. XIII
1. He said: In hearing litigations I am like another, the thing is to have no litigation, n'est-ce pas?
75
2. Yu Zo : Why not tithe?
3. " T w o tenths not enough, how
with one? "
would I
manage
4. Answered: If the hundred clans have enough, who won't give enough to the prince, if the hundred clans are in want who will give enough to the prince?
[The great discussion of the tmth tithe vs/fixed charge, is given in Mencius III. I, iii, 6. ]
74
? ? ? ? ? CONFUCIAN ANALECTS XIV
l. Tze-chang asked about government. He said : Not to lie down on it; to act from the middle of the heart.
xv
1. He said : Extensive study for accomplishments; restraint by the rites; by short-cuts across fields you lose the great road.
XVI
1. He said: The proper man brings men's excellence to focus, he does not focus their evil qualities; the mean man does the reverse.
XVII
1. Chi I('ang asked Confucius about government. Kung-tze replied: Government consists in correcting; if you lead by being correct, who will dare be incorrect?
XVIII
l. Chi K'ang worried about thieves, questioned Con- fucius. Kung-tze answered : If you weren't covetous, they wouldn't steal even if you paid 'em.
XIX
1. Chi K'ang asked Confucius about government : "What about killing the wayward for the benefit of the well-behaved? "
Kung-tze answered : Why kill to govern? If you want the good, the people will be good; the proper man acting according to his conscience is wind, the lesser folk acting on conscience, grass; grass with wind above it must bend.
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BOOK TWELVE
xx
1. Tze-chang asked what an officer should be like to g~ far.
2. He said : What do you call going far?
3. Tze-chang said: To be heard of throughout the state, to be heard of in his clan.
4. I-Ie said : That's notoriety not distinction (or perspicacity, making a wide noise not getting very far). 5. The far-effective man is solid, upright, loves jus- tice; examines people's words, looks into their faces,
thinks how, in what way, he is inferior to them, roots in the. state and goes far; roots in his family and effects things at a distance.
6. The notorious bloke puts up a show of manhood, and acts counter to it, perfectly confident; is heard about to the end of the state, makes a noise throughout all his clan.
XXI
1. Fan Ch'ih walking with him below the rain altars (or to celebration of the rain sacrifice pantomime) said : Venture to ask how to lift one's conscience in action; to
correct the hidden tare, and separate one's _errors?
2. He said : An excellent question!
3. Put first the action, second the success.
Won't
that raise the level of your conscious acts? Work on one's own faults, not on someone else's hatefulness, vvon't that comb out the hidden weeds?
For one morning's temper to jeopard one's life and even that of one's relatives, isn't that hallucination?
XXII
1. Fan Ch'ih asked about humaneness. He said : Love men. Asked about knowledge. He said: To know men.
2. Fan Ch'ih didn't get as far (see through to the end of that answer).
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3. He said: Promote the straight, and grind the
crooked, that way you can straighten 'em.
4. Fan Ch'ih retired, and seeing Tze-Hsia said: Just saw the big man and asked him about knowledge. He said : Promote the straight and grind the crooked, that way you can straighten the crooks, how did he mean it?
5. Tze-Hsia said: That's a rich and ample saying.
6. Shun had the Empire, picked out Kao-Yao from
the multitude, promoted him, and wrong 'uns departed.
T'ang had the Empire, he picked out I Yin from all the hordes, promoted him, and the wrong 'uns departed.
XXIII
1. Tze-Kung asked about friendship. He said: Speak
out from the centr. e of your mind, maintain the true process, if he can't hitch to it, don't disgrace yourself.
XXIV
1. Tsang-tze said : The proper man makes friends on the basis of culture, and by his friends develops his man- hood (or develops his manhood through this fluid exchange).
BOOK THIRTEEN
Tze-Lu, the Sprout
I
1. Tze-Lu asked about government. He said: Go ahead, and work at it.
78
about government. He said : First get your assistants,
overlook small faults and promote men of solid talent. 2. Said : How shall I know men of solid talent? Said: Promote those you do know, will everybody
then neglect those whom you don't?
III
1. Tze-Lu said: The Lord of Wei is waiting for you
to form a governm. ent, what are you going to do first?
2. He said : Settle the names (determine a precise terminology).
3. Tze-Lu said: How's this, you're divagating, why fix 'em?
4. He said : You bumpkin ! Sprout ! When a proper
man don't know a thing, he shows some reserve.
5. If words (terminology) are not (is not) precise, they cannot be followed out, or completed in action according to specifications.
6. When the services (actions) are not brought to
true focus, the ceremonies and music will not prosper; where rites and music do not flourish punishments will be misapplied, not make bullseye, and the people won't know how to move hand or foot (what to lay hand on, or stand on).
7. Therefore the proper man must have terms that can be spoken, and when uttered be carried into effect;
79
2.
1.
Asked further.
Said: Don't lie down on it.
II
Chung-kung being minister of the Chi Head asked
? ? the proper man's words must cohere to things, correspond to them (exactly) and no more fuss about it.
IV
1. Fan Ch'ih asked to be taught agriculture. He said : I am not as good as an old peasant. Asked to study gardening. He said : I am not as good as an old gardener.
2. Fan Ch'ih went out. He said : What a nit-wit, that Fan.
3. If the men above love the rites no one of the people will dare be irreverent. If the men above love justice, none of the people will fail to conform, if the men above love veracity, none of the people will want to use mendacity, when the Great one is like this, the people of the Four Squares will come to him with their children on their backs, what does he need to know about farming?
v
1. Reciting the thr. ee hundred odes, given a govern- ment mission and not understanding it, sent to the Four Coigns and not being able to give the answers, even with a lot of talk won't be able to carry it through. [L. : Notwithstanding extent of his learning, what practical use is it? ]
VI
1. He said : When a prince's character is properly formed, he governs without? giving orders (without orders, things go on). If his character is twisty he can give orders, but they won't be carried out.
VII
1. He said: The governments (forms of government) of Lu and Wei : dder and younger brothers.
80
Enrich the111.
4. Said : They are rich, what next?
x
Said : Educate.
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BOOK THIRTEEN
VIII
1. He described Ching, a younger member of the Ducal family in Wei, by saying : He knew how to live (r;rn a house). When he began to own something he satd: what a lot. When he had a bit more, he said : this is enough. When rich, he said : how magnificent.
IX
1. \;\/hen he went to Wei, Zan Yu drove.
2. He said : What's the population?
3. Zan Yu said: Well populated, what next? Said:
1. He said : If anybody had used me for twelve months I'd have been able to do something, and in three years to have done something perfect.
XI
1. He said : I--! onest men govern a country a hundred years, they could vanquish the malevolent and get rid of the death penalty. I mean these precise words.
[Possibly the first time anyone had thought of this. ]
XII
He said : With a real king, it would need a genera-
].
tion to produce the consequent humanisation.
XIII
1. He said : If a man correct himself what difficulty will he have in consequent government, if he cannot cor- rect himself, what's he doing in (or with) government, anyhow? [P. comment pourrait-il rectifier la conduite des l! Utres? ]
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BOOK THIRTEEN
XVIII
, 1. The Duke of Sheh said to Kung-tze : There are
honest characters in my village, if a man steals a sheep his son will bear v. ritness to it.
2. Kung-tze said: There are honest men in my village with this difference; a father will conceal his son's doing, and a son his father's. There's honesty (straight seeing) in that, too.
XIX
1. Fan Ch'ih asked about full manhood. He said : When living in comfort to be modest, when taking hold of affairs to observe honest procedure.
[If one is to distinguish the kung1 fram the ching4 I think we must take it as between statsi'S and kinesis, . the ching co;ntaining the radical for beat, and gaing back, I take it, ta beating on the earth to pr. opitiate the grain spirits (grass on top left, and various meanings of the chii (1541, a, b)-both >terms given in dictionary as reverent. ]
With sincerity in what you give men, even among the
wild tribes (bowmen, and with dogs at camp-fires) east and north, these qualities cannot be shed (cannot be wasted, leaf fallen, from tree rad/).
xx
1. Tze-kung asked for the definition of an officer. He said : He has a sense of shame, if you send him to the last corner of the realm, he will carry out the prince's decrees and not disgrace himself.
2. Said: What's the next thing to that? [Or as L. : What category next? ] Said: His own temple group weigh him and find him filial, folk in his own village knowing his weight find him brotherly.
*P. A/ors uous ne les comprendr. ez bien. 83
XIV
1. To Zan-tze, coming from court, he said : Why so late?
Answered : There was official business. He said : May have been business affaires du prince, but if it were government business, even though I'm not in office, been very hard for me not to hear of it.
xv
1. Duke Ting asked if there were one sentence that could bring prosperity to a state. l(ung-tze answered : One sentence could hardly put all that in motion.
[cf/Great Learning, Mature Study IX. 3, semina motuum. ]
2. 1'here is a saying : it is difficult to be a prince, not easy to be a minister.
3. l(nowing it is difficult to be prince, this one sen- tence might nearly bring prosperity _to a state.
4. Said : Is there one sentence than can ruin a state? l(ung-tze answered : Hardly, but there's a saying: no pleasure in being prince save that no one can go counter to what I say.
5. If good and unopposed that's all right? But if evil and no one oppose, that's almost enough to ruin a state? N'est-ce pas!
XVI
1. The Duke of Sheh asked about government.
2. He said : Those near, happy; those afar, attracted
and come.
XVII
1. Tze-Hsia, being governor of Chu-fu, asked about government. He said : Not want things rushed, and not on the look-out for small profits; if you want things rushed they won't go through to the end;* looking for small profits, the big jobs won't be done right.
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3. Said : May I ask what next? Said : When he speaks he must stick to his word; acts must be conse- quent; water-on-stone, water-on-stone (persistent) little men, mebbe they constitute the next lot.
4. Said : What about the lot now in government? He said: Pint-pots and bamboo baskets (or buckets, utensils), count 'em as that, it'll do. [E poi basta. ] (Aliter: They can use an abacus, Cc'llculate their own advantage, or simply "oll told. ")
XXI
1. He said: Not being able give to (be with) men who act on "what it is all about," I must (teach) the pushing and the cautious; the forward will go ahead and take hold; the cautious will stick to not doing what's not to be done. [P. s'abstienne11,t au mains de pratiquer ce qui dipasse leur raison. ]
XXII
1. He said : The people of the South have a saying: an unconstant (inconsistent, inconsequent) man can't rise to be a wizard or doctor (better : can neither invoke nor cure), that's a good one.
2. Inconsistent (incoherent) in carrying his inwit into act, likely to meet disgrace.
3. He said: Not observing the signs, and that's all.
