Confucian Canon, 539>

539
The Master said, "Good government obtains when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are
attracted."
540
Tsze-hsia! being governor of Chu-fu, asked about government. The Master said, "Do not be desirous to have things
done quickly; do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done
thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."
541
The Duke of Sheh informed Confucius, saying, "Among us here there are those who may be styled upright in their
conduct. If their father have stolen a sheep, they will bear witness to the fact."
542
Confucius said, "Among us, in our part of the country, those who are upright are different from this. The father
conceals the misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the father. Uprightness is to be found in
this."
543
Fan Ch'ih asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of
business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude,
uncultivated tribes, these qualities may not be neglected."
544
Tsze-kung asked, saying, "What qualities must a man possess to entitle him to be called an officer? The Master said,
"He who in his conduct of himself maintains a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his
prince's commission, deserves to be called an officer."
545
Tsze-kung pursued, "I venture to ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?" And he was told, "He whom the
circle of his relatives pronounce to be filial, whom his fellow villagers and neighbors pronounce to be fraternal."
546
Again the disciple asked, "I venture to ask about the class still next in order." The Master said, "They are determined
to be sincere in what they say, and to carry out what they do. They are obstinate little men. Yet perhaps they may
make the next class."
547
Tsze-kung finally inquired, "Of what sort are those of the present day, who engage in government?" The Master said
"Pooh! they are so many pecks and hampers, not worth being taken into account."
548
The Master said, "Since I cannot get men pursuing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I
must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided
will keep themselves from what is wrong."
549
The Master said, "The people of the south have a saying -'A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a
doctor.' Good!
550
"Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace."
551
The Master said, "This arises simply from not attending to the prognostication."
552
The Master said, "The superior man is affable, but not adulatory; the mean man is adulatory, but not affable."
553
Tsze-kung asked, saying, "What do you say of a man who is loved by all the people of his neighborhood?" The Master
replied, "We may not for that accord our approval of him." "And what do you say of him who is hated by all the
people of his neighborhood?" The Master said, "We may not for that conclude that he is bad. It is better than either of
these cases that the good in the neighborhood love him, and the bad hate him."
554
The Master said, "The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is
not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their
capacity. The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is
not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equal to everything."
555
The Master said, "The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified
ease."
556
The Master said, "The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue."
557
Tsze-lu asked, saying, "What qualities must a man possess to entitle him to be called a scholar?" The Master said, "He
must be thus,-earnest, urgent, and bland:-among his friends, earnest and urgent; among his brethren, bland."
558
The Master said, "Let a good man teach the people seven years, and they may then likewise be employed in war."
559
The Master said, "To lead an uninstructed people to war, is to throw them away."
560
Hsien asked what was shameful. The Master said, "When good government prevails in a state, to be thinking only of
salary; and, when bad government prevails, to be thinking, in the same way, only of salary;-this is shameful."
561
"When the love of superiority, boasting, resentments, and covetousness are repressed, this may be deemed perfect
virtue."
562
The Master said, "This may be regarded as the achievement of what is difficult. But I do not know that it is to be
deemed perfect virtue."
563
The Master said, "The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar."
564
The Master said, "When good government prevails in a state, language may be lofty and bold, and actions the same.
When bad government prevails, the actions may be lofty and bold, but the language may be with some reserve."
565
The Master said, "The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be
virtuous. Men of principle are sure to be bold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle."
566
Nan-kung Kwo, submitting an inquiry to Confucius, said, "I was skillful at archery, and Ao could move a boat along
upon the land, but neither of them died a natural death. Yu and Chi personally wrought at the toils of husbandry, and
they became possessors of the kingdom." The Master made no reply; but when Nan-kung Kwo went out, he said, "A
superior man indeed is this! An esteemer of virtue indeed is this!"
567
The Master said, "Superior men, and yet not always virtuous, there have been, alas! But there never has been a mean
man, and, at the same time, virtuous."
568
The Master said, "Can there be love which does not lead to strictness with its object? Can there be loyalty which does
not lead to the instruction of its object?"
569
The Master said, "In preparing the governmental notifications, P'i Shan first made the rough draft; Shi-shu examined
and discussed its contents; Tsze-yu, the manager of foreign intercourse, then polished the style; and, finally, Tsze-ch'an
of Tung-li gave it the proper elegance and finish."
570
Some one asked about Tsze-ch'an. The Master said, "He was a kind man."
571
He asked about Tsze-hsi. The Master said, "That man! That man!"
572
He asked about Kwan Chung. "For him," said the Master, "the city of Pien, with three hundred families, was taken
from the chief of the Po family, who did not utter a murmuring word, though, to the end of his life, he had only coarse
rice to eat."
573
The Master said, "To be poor without murmuring is difficult. To be rich without being proud is easy."
574
The Master said, "Mang Kung-ch'o is more than fit to be chief officer in the families of Chao and Wei, but he is not fit
to be great officer to either of the states Tang or Hsieh."
Confucian Analects : texts 534 - 574
Confucian Analects : texts 575 - 615
575
Tsze-lu asked what constituted a COMPLETE man. The Master said, "Suppose a man with the knowledge of Tsang
Wu-chung, the freedom from covetousness of Kung-ch'o, the bravery of Chwang of Pien, and the varied talents of
Zan Ch'iu; add to these the accomplishments of the rules of propriety and music;-such a one might be reckoned a
COMPLETE man."
576
He then added, "But what is the necessity for a complete man of the present day to have all these things? The man,
who in the view of gain, thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who
does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends:-such a man may be reckoned a COMPLETE man."
577
The Master asked Kung-ming Chia about Kung-shu Wan, saying, "Is it true that your master speaks not, laughs not,
and takes not?"
578
Kung-ming Chia replied, "This has arisen from the reporters going beyond the truth.-My master speaks when it is the
time to speak, and so men do not get tired of his speaking. He laughs when there is occasion to be joyful, and so men
do not get tired of his laughing. He takes when it is consistent with righteousness to do so, and so men do not get tired
of his taking." The Master said, "So! But is it so with him?"
579
The Master said, "Tsang Wu-chung, keeping possession of Fang, asked of the duke of Lu to appoint a successor to
him in his family. Although it may be said that he was not using force with his sovereign, I believe he was."
580
The Master said, "The duke Wan of Tsin was crafty and not upright. The duke Hwan of Ch'i was upright and not
crafty."
581
Tsze-lu said, "The Duke Hwan caused his brother Chiu to be killed, when Shao Hu died, with his master, but Kwan
Chung did not die. May not I say that he was wanting in virtue?"
582
The Master said, "The Duke Hwan assembled all the princes together, and that not with weapons of war and
chariots:-it was all through the influence of Kwan Chung. Whose beneficence was like his? Whose beneficence was
like his?"
583
Tsze-kung said, "Kwan Chung, I apprehend was wanting in virtue. When the Duke Hwan caused his brother Chiu to
be killed, Kwan Chung was not able to die with him. Moreover, he became prime minister to Hwan."
584
The Master said, "Kwan Chung acted as prime minister to the Duke Hwan made him leader of all the princes, and
united and rectified the whole kingdom. Down to the present day, the people enjoy the gifts which he conferred. But
for Kwan Chung, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coats buttoning on the left side.
585
"Will you require from him the small fidelity of common men and common women, who would commit suicide in a
stream or ditch, no one knowing anything about them?"
586
The great officer, Hsien, who had been family minister to Kung-shu Wan, ascended to the prince's court in company
with Wan.
587
The Master, having heard of it, said, "He deserved to be considered WAN (the accomplished)."
588
The Master was speaking about the unprincipled course of the duke Ling of Weil when Ch'i K'ang said, "Since he is of
such a character, how is it he does not lose his state?"
589
Confucius said, "The Chung-shu Yu has the superintendence of his guests and of strangers; the litanist, T'o, has the
management of his ancestral temple; and Wang-sun Chia has the direction of the army and forces:-with such officers as
these, how should he lose his state?"
590
The Master said, "He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."
591
Chan Ch'ang murdered the Duke Chien of Ch'i.
592
Confucius bathed, went to court and informed the Duke Ai, saying, "Chan Hang has slain his sovereign. I beg that you
will undertake to punish him."
593