The Sayings Of Confucius
The Sayings Of Confucius-2
But was it love?
I do not know, said the Master: how should this amount to love?
19. Chi Wen thought thrice before acting.
On hearing this the Master said, Twice is enough.
20. The Master said, Whilst the land kept the Way Ning Wu showed
wisdom; when his land lost the Way he grew simple. His wisdom we may
come up to; such simplicity is beyond us.[45]
[20]
21. When he was in Ch'en the Master said, Home, I must go home!
Zealous, or rash, or finished scholars, my young sons at home do not
know what pruning they still need!
22. The Master said, Because Po-yi and Shu-ch'i never remembered old
wickedness they made few enemies.[46]
23. The Master said, Who can call Wei-sheng Kao straight? A man begged
him for vinegar: he begged it of a neighbour, and gave it.
24. The Master said, Smooth words, fawning looks, and overdone
humility, Tso Ch'iu-ming thought shameful, and so do I. He thought it
shameful to hide ill-will and ape friendship, and so do I.
25. As Yen Yüan and Chi-lu[47] were sitting with him, the Master said,
Why not each of you tell me thy wishes?
Tzu-lu said, I should like carriages and horses, [21]and clothes of light
fur to share with my friends, and, if they spoiled them, not to get
angry.
Yen Yüan said, I should like to make no boast of talent or show or
merit.
Tzu-lu said, We should like to hear your wishes, Sir.
The Master said, To give the old folk peace, to be true to friends,
and to have a heart for the young.
26. The Master said, It is finished! I have met no one that can see
his own faults and arraign himself within.
27. The Master said, In a hamlet of ten houses there must be men that
are as faithful and true men as I, but they do not love learning as I
do.
FOOTNOTES:
AdiscipleborninLu.
ThediscipleChung-kung.
Tzu-lu.
ThediscipleJanYu.
ThediscipleKung-hsiHua.
ThediscipleYenYüan.
ThediscipleTsaiWo.
NingWuwasministeroftheDukeofWeiinthemiddleof
the seventh century b.c. The duke was driven from his throne and
deserted by the wise and prudent; but Ning Wu, in his simplicity,
stuck to his master and finally effected his restoration.
Po-yiandShu-ch'iweresonsoftheKingofKu-chu.
Their father left the throne to the younger of the two; but he would
not supplant the elder, nor would the elder go against his father's
wishes. So they both retired into obscurity. When King Wu overthrew
the tyrant Chou (1122 b.c.), they starved to death, rather than live
under a new dynasty. Of Po-yi Mencius tells us (Book X, chapter 1):
'His eyes would not look on an evil face, his ears would not listen to
an evil sound. He served none but his own lord, he ruled none but his
own people. He came in when there was order, and withdrew when tumults
came. Where lawless rule showed, or lawless people stayed, he could
not bear to dwell. To be together with country folk he thought like
sitting in court dress and court cap on dust and ashes. In Chou's time
he dwelt by the North Sea shore, waiting for all below heaven to grow
clean. So, hearing the ways of Po-yi, the fool grows honest, and the
weakling's purpose stands.'
Tzu-lu.
[22]
BOOK VI
1. The Master said, Yung[48] might fill the seat of a prince.
And might Tzu-sang Po-tzu? asked Chung-kung.
Yes, said the Master; but he is slack.
To be stern to himself, said Chung-kung, and slack in his claims on
the people, might do; but to be slack himself and slack with others
must surely be too slack.
The Master said, What Yung says is true.
2. Duke Ai asked which disciples loved learning.
Confucius answered, Yen Hui[49] loved learning. He did not carry over
anger; he made no mistake twice. Alas! his mission was short, he died.
Now that he is gone, I hear of no one that loves learning.
3. When Tzu-hua[50] was sent to Ch'i, the disciple Jan asked for grain
for his mother.
The Master said, Give her six pecks.
He asked for more.
The Master said, Give her sixteen.
Jan gave her eight hundred.
The Master said, On his way to Ch'i, Ch'ih[51] was drawn by sleek
horses and clad in light furs. I have heard that gentlemen help the
needy, not that they swell riches.
[23]
When Yüan Ssu was made governor he was given nine hundred measures of
grain, which he refused.
Not so, said the Master: why not take it and give it to thy neighbours
and countryfolk?
4. The Master said of Chung-kung, If the calf of a brindled cow be red
and horned, though men be shy to offer him, will the hills and streams
reject him?
5. The Master said, For three months together Hui's[52] heart never
sinned against love. The others may hold out for a day, or a month,
but no more.
6. Chi K'ang[53] asked whether Chung-yu[54] was fit to govern.
The Master said, Yu[54] is firm; what would governing be to him?
And is Tz'u[55] fit to govern?
Tz'u is thorough; what would governing be to him?
And is Ch'iu[56] fit to govern?
Ch'in is clever; what would governing be to him?
7. The Chi sent to make Min Tzu-ch'ien[57] governor of Pi.
Min Tzu-ch'ien said, Make some good excuse for me. If he sends again I
must be across the Wen.
8. When Po-niu[57] was ill the Master asked after him. Grasping his
hand through the window, he said, He is going. It is the Bidding; but
why this [24]man of such an illness? Why this man of such an illness?
9. The Master said. What a man was Hui![58] A bowl of rice, a gourd of
water, in a low alley; man cannot bear such misery! Yet Hui never fell
from mirth. What a man he was!
10. Jan Ch'iu[59] said, It is not that I take no pleasure in the
Master's Way: I want strength.
The Master said, He that wants strength faints midway; but thou
drawest a line.
11. The Master said to Tzu-hsia, Study to be a gentleman, not as the
small man studies.
12. When Tzu-yu was governor of Wu-ch'eng, the Master said, Hast thou
gotten any men?
He answered, I have Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming. He will not take a short cut
when walking, and he has never come to my house except on business.
13. The Master said, Meng Chih-fan never brags. He was covering the
rear in a rout; but on coming to the gate he whipped his horse and
cried, Not courage kept me behind; my horse won't go!
14. The Master said, Unless we are glib as the reader T'o and fair as
Chao of Sung, escape is hard in the times that be!
15. The Master said, Who can go out except by the door? Why is it no
one keeps to the Way?
16. The Master said, Matter outweighing art begets roughness; art
outweighing matter begets pedantry. Matter and art well blent make a
gentleman.
17. The Master said, Man is born straight. If [25]he grows crooked and
yet lives, he is lucky to escape.
18. The Master said, He that knows is below him that loves, and he
that loves below him that delights therein.
19. The Master said, To men above the common we can talk of higher
things; to men below the common we must not talk of higher things.
20. Fan Ch'ih[60] asked, What is wisdom?
The Master said, To foster right among the people; to honour ghosts
and spirits, and yet keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.
He asked, What is love?
The Master said, To rank the effort above the prize may be called
love.
21. The Master said, Wisdom delights in water; love delights in hills.
Wisdom is stirring; love is quiet. Wisdom is merry; love grows old.
22. The Master said, By one revolution Ch'i might grow to be Lu; by
one revolution Lu might reach the Way.
23. The Master said, A drinking horn that is no horn! What a horn!
What a drinking horn!
24. Tsai Wo[61] said, If a man of love were told that a man is in a
well, would he go in after him?
The Master said, Why should he? A gentleman might be got to the well,
but not trapped into it, He may be cheated, but not fooled.
25. The Master said, By breadth of reading and [26]the ties of courtesy,
a gentleman is kept, too, from false paths.
26. The Master saw Nan-tzu.[62] Tzu-lu was displeased.
The Master took an oath, saying, If I have done wrong, may Heaven
forsake me, may Heaven forsake me!
27. The Master said, The highest minds cleave to the Centre, the
Common. They have long been rare among the people.
28. Tzu-kung said, To treat the people with bounty and help the many,
how were that? Could it be called love?
The Master said, What has this to do with love? Must it not be
holiness? Yao and Shun[63] still yearned for this. Seeking a foothold
for self, love finds a foothold for others; seeking light for itself,
it enlightens others too. To learn from the near at hand may be called
the clue to love.
FOOTNOTES:
ThediscipleChung-kung.
ThediscipleYenYüan.
ThediscipleKung-hsiHua,orKung-hsiCh'ih.
Kung-heiCh'ih.
YenYüan.
TheheadoftheChiclanafterChiHuan.
ThediscipleTzu-lu.
ThediscipleTzu-kung.
ThediscipleJanYu.
Adisciple.
YenYüan.
JanYu.
Adisciple.
Adisciple.
ThedissolutewifeofDukeLingofWei.
Twoemperorsofthegoldenage.
[27]
BOOK VII
1. The Master said, A teller and not a maker, one that trusts and
loves the past; I might liken myself to our old P'eng.[64]
2. The Master said, To think things over in silence, to learn and be
always hungry, to teach and never weary; is any of these mine?
3. The Master said, Not making the most of my mind, want of
thoroughness in learning, failure to do the right when told it, lack
of strength to overcome faults; these are my sorrows.
4. In his free moments the Master was easy and cheerful.
5. The Master said, How deep is my decay! It is long since I saw the
Duke of Chou[65] in a dream.
6. The Master said, Keep thy will on the Way, lean on mind, rest in
love, move in art.
7. The Master said, From the man that paid in dried meat upwards, I
have withheld teaching from no one.
8. The Master said, Only to those fumbling do I open, only for those
stammering do I find the word.
[28]
If I lift one corner and the other three are left unturned, I say no
more.
9. When eating beside a mourner the Master never ate his fill. On days
when he had been wailing, he did not sing.
10. The Master said to Yen Yüan, To go forward when in office and lie
quiet when not; only I and thou can do that.
Tzu-lu said, If ye had to lead three armies, Sir, whom would ye have
with you?
No man, said the Master, that would face a tiger bare-fisted, or
plunge into a river and die without a qualm; but one, indeed, who,
fearing what may come, lays his plans well and carries them through.
11. The Master said, If shouldering a whip were a sure road to riches
I should turn carter; but since there is no sure road, I tread the
path I love.
12. The Master gave heed to abstinence, war and sickness.
13. When he was in Ch'i, for three months after hearing the Shao
played, the Master knew not the taste of flesh.
I did not suppose, he said, that music could reach such heights.
14. Jan Yu said, Is the Master for the lord of Wei?[66]
I shall ask him, said Tzu-kung.
[29]
He went in, and said, What kind of men were Po-yi[67] and Shu-ch'i?
Worthy men of yore, said the Master.
Did they rue the past?
They sought love and found it; what had they to rue?
Tzu-kung went out, and said, The Master is not for him.
15. The Master said, Eating coarse rice and drinking water, with bent
arm for pillow, we may be merry; but ill-gotten wealth and honours are
to me a wandering cloud.
16. The Master said, Given a few more years, making fifty for learning
the Yi,[68] I might be freed from gross faults.
17. The Master liked to talk of poetry, history, and the upkeep of
courtesy. Of all these he liked to talk.
18. The Duke of She asked Tzu-lu about Confucius.
Tzu-lu did not answer.
The Master said, Why didst thou not say, He is a man that forgets to
eat in his eagerness, whose sorrows are forgotten in gladness, who
knows not that age draws near?
19. The Master said, I was not born to wisdom: I loved the past, and
sought it earnestly there.
20. The Master never talked of goblins, strength, disorder, or
spirits.
21. The Master said, Walking three together I am [30]sure of teachers. I
pick out the good and follow it; I see the bad and shun it.
22. The Master said, Heaven begat the mind in me; what can Huan
T'ui[69] do to me?
23. The Master said, My two-three boys, do ye think I hide things? I
hide nothing from you. I am a man that keeps none of his doings from
his two-three boys.
24. The Master taught four things: art, conduct, faithfulness and
truth.
25. The Master said, A holy man I shall not live to see; enough could
I find a gentleman! A good man I shall not live to see; enough could I
find a steadfast one! But when nothing poses as something, cloud as
substance and want as riches, it is hard indeed to be steadfast!
26. The Master angled, but he did not fish with a net; he shot, but
not at birds sitting.
27. The Master said, There may be men that do things without knowing
why. I do not. To hear much, pick out the good and follow it; to see
much and think it over; this comes next to wisdom.
28. To talk to the Hu village was hard. When a lad was seen by the
Master, the disciples doubted.
The Master said, I allow his coming, not what he does later. Why be so
harsh? If a man cleans himself to come in, I admit his cleanness, but
do not warrant his past.
[31]
29. The Master said, Is love so far a thing? I long for love, and lo!
love is come.
30. A judge of Ch'en asked whether Duke Chao[70] knew good form.
Confucius answered, He knew good form.
After Confucius had left, the judge beckoned Wu-ma Ch'i[71] to him,
and said, I had heard that gentlemen are of no party, but do they,
too, take sides? This lord married a Wu, whose name was the same as
his, and called her Miss Tzu of Wu: if he knew good form, who does not
know good form?
When Wu-ma Ch'i told the Master this he said, How lucky I am! If I go
wrong, men are sure to know it!
31. When anyone sang to the Master, and sang well, he made him sing it
again and joined in.
32. The Master said, I have no more reading than others; to live as a
gentleman is not yet mine.
33. The Master said, How dare I lay claim to holiness or love? A man
of endless craving, who never tires of teaching, I might be called,
but that is all.
That is just what we disciples cannot learn, said Kung-hsi Hua.
34. When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu asked leave to pray.
Is it done? said the Master.
[32]
It is, answered Tzu-lu. The Memorials say, Pray to the spirits above
and to the Earth below.
The Master said, Long-lasting has my prayer been.
35. The Master said, Waste makes men unruly, thrift makes them mean;
but they are better mean than unruly.
36. The Master said, A gentleman is calm and spacious; the small man
is always fretting.
37. The Master's manner was warm yet dignified. He was stern, but not
fierce; humble, yet easy.
FOOTNOTES:
WeshouldbegladtoknowmoreofoldP'eng,butnothing
is known of him.
Died1105b.c.HewastheyoungerbrotherofKingWu,
the founder of the Chou dynasty, as great in peace as the King in war.
He was so bent on carrying out the old principles of government that
'if anything did not tally with them, he looked up and thought, till
day passed into night, and if by luck he found the answer he sat and
waited for the dawn' (Mencius, Book VIII, chapter 20).
ThegrandsonofDukeLing,thehusbandofNan-tzu.His
father had been driven from the country for plotting to kill Nan-tzu.
When Duke Ling died, he was succeeded by his grandson, who opposed by
force his father's attempts to seize the throne.
SeeBookV,§22.
Anabstruse,ancientclassic,usuallycalledtheBookof
Changes.
In495b.c.,duringConfucius'swanderings,HuanT'ui
sent a band of men to kill him; but why he did so is not known.
DukeChaoofLu(+510b.c.)wasthedukethatfirst
employed Confucius. It is against Chinese custom for a man to marry a
girl whose surname is the same as his.
AdiscipleofConfucius.
[33]
BOOK VIII
1. The Master said, T'ai-po[72] may be said to have carried nobility
furthest. Thrice he refused all below heaven. Men were at a loss how
to praise him.
2. The Master said, Without good form attentions grow into fussiness,
heed becomes fearfulness, daring becomes unruliness, frankness becomes
rudeness. When gentlemen are true to kinsfolk, love will thrive among
the people; if they do not forsake old friends, the people will not
steal.
3. When Tseng-tzu lay sick he called his disciples and said, Uncover
my feet, uncover my arms. The poem says,
As if a deep gulf
Were yawning below,
As crossing thin ice,
Take heed how ye go.
My little children, I have known how to keep myself unhurt until now
and hereafter.[73]
4. When Tseng-tzu was sick Meng Ching[74] came to ask after him.
Tseng-tzu said, When a bird is dying his notes are [34]sad; when man is
dying his words are good. Three branches of the Way are dear to a
gentleman: To banish from his bearing violence and disdain; to sort
his face to the truth, and to banish from his speech what is low or
unseemly. The ritual of chalice and platter[75] has servitors to see
to it.
5. Tseng-tzu said, When we can, to ask those that cannot; when we are
more, to ask those that are less; having, to seem wanting; real, to
seem shadow; when gainsaid, never answering back; I had a friend[76]
once that could do thus.
6. Tseng-tzu said, A man to whom an orphan, a few feet high, or the
fate of an hundred towns, may be entrusted, and whom no crisis can
corrupt, is he not a gentleman, a gentleman indeed?
7. Tseng-tzu said, The knight had need be strong and bold; for his
burden is heavy, the way is far. His burden is love, is it not a heavy
one? No halt before death, is that not far?
8. The Master said, Poetry rouses us, we stand upon courtesy, music is
our crown.
9. The Master said, The people may be made to follow, we cannot make
them understand.
10. The Master said, Love of daring and hatred of poverty lead to
crime; a man without love, if he is sorely harassed, turns to crime.
11. The Master said, All the comely gifts of the Duke of Chou,[77]
coupled with pride and meanness, would not be worth a glance.
[35]
12. The Master said, A man to whom three years of learning have borne
no fruit would be hard to find.
13. The Master said, A man of simple faith, who loves learning, who
guards and betters his way unto death, will not enter a tottering
kingdom, nor stay in a lawless land. When all below heaven follows the
Way, he is seen; when it loses the Way, he is unseen. While his land
keeps the Way, he is ashamed to be poor and lowly; but when his land
has lost the Way, wealth and honours shame him.
14. The Master said, When out of place, discuss not policy.
15. The Master said, In the first days of the music-master Chih how
the hubbub[78] of the Kuan-chü rose sea beyond sea! How it filled the
ear!
16. The Master said, Of men that are zealous, but not straight; dull,
but not simple; helpless, but not truthful, I will know nothing.
17. The Master said, Learn as though the time were short, like one
that fears to lose.
18. The Master said, How wonderful were Shun[79] and Yü[79]! To have all
below heaven was nothing to them!
19. The Master said, How great a lord was Yao[79]! Wonderful! Heaven
alone is great; Yao alone was patterned on it. Vast, boundless! Men's
words failed them. The wonder of the work done by him! The flame of
his art and precepts!
[36]
20. Shun had five ministers, and there was order below heaven.
King Wu[80] said, I have ten uncommon ministers.
Confucius said, 'The dearth of talent,' is not that the truth? When
Yü[81] followed T'ang[82] the times were rich in talent; yet there
were but nine men in all, and one woman. In greatness of soul we may
say that Chou[83] was highest: he had two-thirds of all below heaven
and bent it to the service of Yin.
21. The Master said, I see no flaw in Yü. He ate and drank little, yet
he was lavish in piety to the ghosts and spirits. His clothes were
bad, but in his cap and gown he was fair indeed. His palace buildings
were poor, yet he gave his whole strength to dykes and ditches. No
kind of flaw can I see in Yü.
FOOTNOTES:
T'ai-powastheeldestsonoftheKingofChou.The
father wished his third son to succeed him, so that the throne might
pass later to his grandson, afterwards known as King Wen. To enable
this plan to be carried out T'ai-po and his second brother went into
exile.
TheChinesesay:'Thebodyisbornwholebythemother;
it should be returned whole by the son.'
ChiefoftheMengclan,ministerofLu.
Forsacrifice.
ProbablyYenYüan.
SeeBookVII,§5.
Thelastpartofthemusic,whenalltheinstruments
were played together.
SeeIntroduction.
SeeIntroduction.
Shun.
Yao.
KingWen,DukeofChou.
[37]
BOOK IX
1. The Master seldom spake of gain, or love, or the Bidding.
2. A man of the village of Ta-hsiang said, The great Confucius, with
his vast learning, has made no name in anything.
When the Master heard this, he said to his disciples, What shall I
take up? Shall I take up driving, or shall I take up shooting? I shall
take up driving.
3. The Master said, A linen cap is good form; now silk is worn. It is
cheap, so I follow the many. To bow below is good form; now it is done
above. This is arrogance, so, breaking with the many, I still bow
below.
4. From four things the Master was quite free: by-ends and 'must' and
'shall' and 'I.'
5. When he was afraid in K'uang,[84] the Master said, Since the death
of King Wen, is not the seat of culture here? If Heaven had meant to
destroy our culture, a later mortal would have had no part in it.
Until Heaven condemns our culture, what can the men of K'uang do to
me?
6. A high minister said to Tzu-kung, The Master must be a holy man, he
can do so many things!
[38]
Tzu-kung said, Heaven has, indeed, given him so much that he is almost
holy, and he can do many things, too.
When the Master heard this, he said, Does the minister know me?
Because I was poor when young, I can do many paltry things. But does
doing many things make a gentleman? No, not doing many does.
Lao said, The Master would say, As I had no post I learned the crafts.
7. The Master said, Have I in truth wisdom? I have no wisdom. But when
a common fellow emptily asks me anything, I tap it on this side and
that, and sift it to the bottom.
8. The Master said, The phœnix comes not, the River gives forth no
sign: all is over with me!
9. When the Master saw folk clad in mourning, or in cap and gown, or a
blind man, he always rose—even for the young,—or, if he was passing
them, he quickened his step.
10. Yen Yüan heaved a sigh, and said, As I look up it grows higher,
deeper as I dig! I catch sight of it ahead, and on a sudden it is
behind me! The Master leads men on, deftly bit by bit. He widens me
with culture, he binds me with courtesy. If I wished to stop I could
not until my strength were spent. What seems the mark stands near; but
though I long to reach it, I find no way.
11. When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu made the disciples act as
ministers.
During a better spell the Master said, Yu has long[39] been feigning.
This show of ministers, when I have no ministers, whom will it take
in? Will Heaven be taken in? And is it not better to die in the arms
of my two-three boys than to die in the arms of ministers? And, if I
miss a big burial, shall I die by the roadside?
12. Tzu-kung said, If I had here a fair piece of jade, should I hide
it away in a case, or seek a good price and sell it?
Sell it, sell it! said the Master. I tarry for my price.
13. The Master wished to dwell among the nine tribes.[85]
One said, They are low; how could ye?
The Master said, Wherever a gentleman lives, will there be anything
low?
14. The Master said. After I came back from Wei to Lu the music was
set straight and each song found its place.
15. The Master said, To serve dukes and ministers abroad and father
and brothers at home; in matters of mourning not to dare to be slack;
and to be no thrall to wine: to which of these have I won?
16. As he stood by a stream, the Master said, Hasting away like this,
day and night, without stop!
17. The Master said, I have seen no one that loves mind as he loves
looks.
18. The Master said, In making a mound, if I stop when one more basket
would finish it, I stop. When [40]flattening ground, if, after
overturning one basket, I go on, I go ahead.
19. The Master said, Never listless when spoken to, such was Hui.[86]
20. Speaking of Yen Yüan, the Master said, The pity of it! I saw him
go on, but I never saw him stop!
21. The Master said, Some sprouts do not blossom, some blossoms bear
no fruit!
22. The Master said, Awe is due to youth. May not to-morrow be bright
as to-day? To men of forty or fifty, who are still unknown, no awe is
due.
23. The Master said, Who would not give ear to a downright word? But
to mend is better. Who would not be pleased by a guiding word? But to
think it out is better. With such as are pleased but do not think out,
or who listen but do not mend, I can do nothing.
24. The Master said, Put faithfulness and truth first; have no friends
unlike thyself; be not ashamed to mend thy faults.
25. The Master said, Three armies may be robbed of their leader, no
wretch can be robbed of his will.
26. The Master said, Yu[87] is the man to stand, clad in a worn-out
quilted gown, unashamed, amid robes of fox and badger!
Without hatred or greed,
What but good does he do?
But when Tzu-lu was everlastingly humming these words, the Master
said, This is the way towards it, but how much short of goodness
itself!
[41]
27. The Master said, Erst the cold days show how fir and cypress are
last to fade.
28. The Master said, Wisdom has no doubts; love does not fret; the
bold have no fears.
29. The Master said, With some we can learn together, but we cannot go
their way; we can go the same way with others, though our standpoint
is not the same; and with some, though our standpoint is the same our
weights and scales are not.
30.
The blossoms of the plum tree
Are dancing in play;
My thoughts are with thee,
In thy home far away.
The Master said, Her thoughts were not with him, or how could he be
far away?
FOOTNOTES:
DuringtheMaster'swanderings.K'uangissaidtohave
been a small state near Lu which had been oppressed by Yang Huo.
Confucius resembled him, and the men of K'uang set upon him, mistaking
him for their enemy. The commentators say that the Master was not
afraid, only 'roused to a sense of danger.' I cannot find that the
text says so.
IntheeastofShantung.
YenYüan.
Tzu-lu.
[42]
BOOK X
1. Among his own country folk Confucius wore a homely look, like one
that has no word to say.
In the ancestral temple and at court his speech was full, but
cautious.
2. At court he talked frankly to men of low rank, winningly to men of
high rank. When the king was there, he looked intent and solemn.
3. When the king bade him receive guests, his face seemed to change
and his legs to bend. He bowed left and right to those beside him,
straightened his robes in front and behind, and swept forward, with
arms spread like wings. When the guest had left, he brought back word,
saying, The guest is no longer looking.
4. As he went in at the palace gate he stooped, as though it were too
low for him. He did not stand in the middle of the gate, or step on
the threshold.
When he passed the throne, his face seemed to change and his legs to
bend: he spake with bated breath. As he went up the hall to audience,
he lifted his robes, bowed his back, and masked his breathing till it
seemed to stop. As he came down, he relaxed his face below the first
step and looked pleased. From the foot of the steps he swept forward
with arms spread like wings; and when he was back in his seat, he
looked intent as before.
5. When he carried the sceptre, his back bent, as[43] under too heavy a
burden; he lifted it no higher than in bowing and no lower than in
making a gift. His face changed, as it will with fear, and he dragged
his feet, as though they were fettered.
When he offered his present his manner was formal; but at the private
audience he was cheerful.
6. The gentleman was never decked in violet or mauve; even at home he
would not wear red or purple.
In hot weather he wore an unlined linen gown, but always over other
clothes.
With lamb-skin he wore black, with fawn, white, and with fox-skin,
yellow. At home he wore a long fur gown, with the right sleeve short.
His nightgown was always half as long again as his body.
In the house he wore thick fur, of fox or badger.
When he was not in mourning there was nothing missing from his girdle.
Except for sacrificial dress, he was sparing of stuff.
He did not wear lamb's fur, or a black cap, on a mourning visit.
At the new moon he always put on court dress and went to court.
7. On his days of abstinence he always wore linen clothes of a pale
colour; and he changed his food and moved from his wonted seat.
8. He did not dislike well-cleaned rice or hash chopped small. He did
not eat sour or mouldy rice, bad fish, or tainted flesh. He did not
eat anything that had a bad colour or that smelt bad, or food that[44]
was badly cooked or out of season. Food that was badly cut or served
with the wrong sauce he did not eat. However much flesh there might
be, it could not conquer his taste for rice. To wine alone he set no
limit, but he did not drink enough to muddle him. He did not drink
bought wine, or eat ready-dried market meat. He never went without
ginger at a meal. He did not eat much.
After a sacrifice at the palace he did not keep the flesh over-night.
He never kept sacrificial flesh more than three days. If it had been
kept longer it was not eaten.
He did not talk at meals, nor speak when he was in bed.
Even at a meal of coarse rice, or herb broth, or gourds, he made his
offering with all reverence.
9. If his mat was not straight, he would not sit down.
10. When the villagers were drinking wine, as those that walked with a
staff left, he left too.
At the village exorcisms he put on court dress and stood on the east
steps.
11. When sending a man with enquiries to another land, he bowed twice
to him and saw him out.
When K'ang gave him some drugs, he bowed, accepted them, and said, I
have never taken them; I dare not taste them.
12. On coming back from court after his stables had been burnt, the
Master said, Is anyone hurt? He did not ask about the horses.
13. When the king sent him cooked meat, he put[45] his mat straight, and
tasted it first; when he sent him raw flesh, he had it cooked, and
offered it to the spirits; when he sent him a live beast, he kept it
alive.
When he ate in attendance on the king, the king made the offering, he
tasted things first.
When he was sick and the king came to see him, he lay with his head to
the east, with his court dress over him and his girdle across it.
When he was called by the king's bidding, he walked, without waiting
for his carriage.
