The Sayings of Confucius A New Translation of the Greater Part of the Confucian Analects · Confucius
CONFUCIUS' ESTIMATE OF OTHERS
The Master said: I may talk all day to Hui without his putting in a word of criticism or dissent--just as though he were deficient in understanding. But after he has left me, I find, on examining his private conduct, that he knows for all that how to exemplify my teaching. No! Hui is not deficient in understanding. Tzŭ Kung asked, saying: What, Sir, is your opinion of me?--I would liken you, Tz‘ŭ, replied the Master, to a vessel limited in its function.--What sort of vessel? asked Tzŭ Kung.--A richly ornamented sacrificial vessel, was the reply.[1] Some one remarked that Yung had goodness of heart but no cleverness of speech.--The Master said: Of what use is cleverness of speech? Those who are always ready to assail others with their tongue are sure to make themselves disliked. As to Yung's goodness of heart I have no certain knowledge; but how would he benefit by having cleverness of speech? The Master said: My teaching makes no head-way. How and if I were to board a raft and float away over the sea? My friend Yu would come with me, I feel sure.--Tzŭ Lu, hearing this, was glad. The Master continued: Yu surpasses me in his love of daring, but he lacks discretion and judgment.
Mêng Wu Po asked whether Tzŭ Lu had true moral virtue. The Master replied: I do not know.--- Asked a second time, the Master said: Yu might be trusted to organise the military levies of a large and powerful State, but whether he is possessed of true virtue I cannot say.--And what is your opinion with regard to Ch‘iu?--The Master said: Ch‘iu might be entrusted with the government of a district numbering a thousand households or a hundred war-chariots, but whether he has true virtue I cannot say.--And Ch‘ih, what of him?--The Master said: Ch‘ih might be employed to stand in his official dress at a royal levee and converse with the visitors and guests; whether he has true virtue I cannot say.[2] The Master addressing Tzŭ Kung said: Which of the two is the better man, you or Hui?--Tzŭ Kung replied: How can I venture to compare myself with Hui? Hui hears one point and promptly masters the whole. I hear one point and am only able to feel my way to a second.--The Master agreed: No, you are not equal to Hui; neither of us two[3] is equal to Hui. Tsai Yü used to sleep during the day. The Master said: Rotten wood cannot be carved, walls made of dirt and mud cannot be plastered: --what is the good of reprimanding Yü? At first, he continued, my way of dealing with others was to listen to their words and to take their actions upon trust. Now, my way is to listen to what they say and then to watch what they do. This change in me is owing to Yü.
The Master said: I have never yet met a really strong character.--Some one suggested Shên Ch‘êng.--The Master said: Ch‘êng is a slave to his passions. How can he possess strength of character? Tzŭ Kung said: I am anxious to avoid doing to others that which I would not have them do to me. The Master said: Tz‘ŭ, you have not got as far as that. The Master said of Tzŭ Ch‘an[4] that he had four of the qualities of the princely man:--in his personal demeanour he was grave, in serving those above him he was attentive, in his care for the people he was kind, in his ordering of the people he was just. The Master said: Yen P'ing[5] knows the art of associating with his friends: however old the acquaintance may be, he always treats them with the same respect. Ning Wu Tzŭ's[6] behaviour was wise so long as his country was well governed; when revolution came, his behaviour was stupid. His wisdom may be equalled by others, but his stupidity is beyond all imitation. Po I and Shu Ch‘i[7] never remembered old injuries, and therefore their enemies were few. Who will say that Wei-sheng Kao[8] was an upright man? When asked by somebody for some vinegar, he went and begged it of a neighbour, and gave this to the man who had asked him.
For the space of three months together Hui[9] would not deviate in spirit from the path of perfect virtue. My other disciples may attain this height once in a day or in a month, but that is all. Po Niu[10] lying sick unto death, the Master went to visit him. He clasped his hand through the window and said: He is dying. Such is fate. Alas! that such a man should have such an illness, that such a man should have such an illness! The Master said: Hui was indeed a philosopher! Other men living as he did, in a miserable alley, with a single dish of food and a single bowl of drink, could not have endured the distress. But Hui was invariably cheerful. He was a philosopher indeed! Jan Ch‘iu said: It is not that I have no joy in my Master's teaching, it is my strength that fails me.--The Master replied: Those whose strength fails them fall fainting by the way. What you do is to set up bounds which you will not attempt to pass. The Master said: Mêng Chih-fan is no braggart. Once after a defeat, when he was bringing up the rear, he whipped his horse as he was about to enter the city gate, and cried: It is not courage that makes me last, it is my horse that won't gallop fast enough.[11]
The Master addressing Yen Yüan said: It is only you and I who would be content to accept public employment when it was offered to us, and to retire into obscurity when we were dismissed.--Tzŭ Lu then said: If you, Sir, had the conduct of three legions, whom would you associate with yourself in the command?--I would not, replied the Master, choose a man who would attack a tiger unarmed, cross a river without a boat, or sacrifice his life without a moment's regret. Rather should it be one who would not embark on an enterprise without anxiety, and who was accustomed to lay his plans well before putting them into execution.[12] The Master said: T‘ai Po may be said to have reached the summit of virtue. Having resolutely renounced the Imperial throne, he put it out of the people's power to glorify his act of renunciation![13] In the Emperor Yü[14] I find no loophole for censure. His own food and drink were plain, but his offerings to the ancestral spirits showed extreme piety. His own garments were poor, but his robes and cap of state were extremely fine. His own dwelling was humble, but he spent all his strength on the construction of public canals and water-courses. I find no loophole for censure in Yü. After the word had gone forth, Hui was never backward in his deeds.
The Master speaking of Yen Yüan said: Ah, what a loss! I used to see him ever progressing and never coming to a standstill. The Master said: Yu, I fancy, is a man who would stand up, dressed in shabby garments quilted with hemp, among people attired in furs of fox and badger, and not be ashamed. "Hating none and courting none, how can he be other than good?"[15]--As Tzŭ Lu kept constantly humming over this line, the Master said: This rule of conduct is not enough by itself to constitute goodness. The Master said: None of those who accompanied me on the journey to the states of Ch‘ên and Ts‘ai come to learn from me now.[16] Distinguished for their virtuous conduct were Yen Yüan, Min Tzŭ-ch‘ien, Jan Po-niu and Chung Kung; for their skill in speaking, Tsai Wo and Tzŭ Kung; for their administrative powers, Jan Yu and Chi Lu; for their literary attainments, Tzŭ Yu and Tzŭ Hsia. Hui does not help me[17]--he takes such delight in everything I say. What noble piety[18] is that of Min Tzŭ-ch‘ien! Other men speak of him in exactly the same terms as his own parents and his own brethren. When Yen Yüan died, the Master wept with passionate grief, so that those who were with him said: Master, your sorrow is too passionate.--Is it too passionate? he replied. Whose death should be a cause for violent grief, if not this man's?
"Act at once according to the instruction that is given to you." Now I am puzzled, and beg for an explanation.--The Master replied: Ch‘iu is apt to hang back, therefore I press him on. Yu has eagerness enough for two, therefore I hold him back. Chi Tzŭ-jan[21] asked if Chung Yu and Jan Ch‘iu could be termed great ministers. The Master said: I thought you had something extraordinary to ask about, and now it turns out to be a question about Yu and Ch‘iu. What men call a great minister is one who serves his prince according to the principles of truth and virtue, and when that is impossible, resigns. Yu and Ch‘iu, however, can only be termed ordinary officials.--Which is as much as to say that they will always obediently follow their master's will?--The Master replied: They would not follow him so far as to commit parricide or regicide. The Master said: Yu is the man to settle a long litigation in a few words. Tzŭ Kung was fond of weighing other men's merits and defects. The Master said: Surely Tz‘u must be a very great sage! Personally, I have no time for this. [1] It is said elsewhere in the Analects (see p. 94) that "the higher type of man is unlike a vessel designed for some special use," which means that his moral capacity is not narrow and limited. Tzŭ Kung, then, it seems, had not fully grasped the higher principles of morality, was wanting in breadth of mind and the larger outlook on life. His aptitudes, however, were excellent so far as they went, and the Master compliments him hero on his proficiency in things relating to religious ceremonial.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.