The Sayings of Confucius A New Translation of the Greater Part of the Confucian Analects · Confucius
CONFUCIUS ON HIMSELF
The Master: I will not be grieved that other men do not know me: I will be grieved that I do not know other men. At fifteen, my mind was bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I was free from delusions. At fifty, I understood the laws of Providence. At sixty, my ears were attentive to the truth. At seventy, I could follow the promptings of my heart without overstepping the mean. Tzŭ Kung was for doing away with the customary sacrifice of a sheep on the first day of the month. The Master said: Ah, Tz‘ŭ, you grudge the loss of a sheep, but I grudge the loss of a ceremony. The Master said: In any hamlet of a dozen houses you will surely find men as honest and conscientious as myself, though they may not be so devoted to ethical study. The Master having gone to visit Nan Tzŭ,[1] Tzŭ Lu was displeased. Thereupon Confucius swore a solemn oath, saying: In whatsoever I have sinned, may I be abominable in the sight of God! The Master said: My function is to indicate rather than to originate. Regarding antiquity as I do with trust and affection, I would venture to compare myself with our ancient patriarch P‘êng Tsu.[2] The unpretentious hiving of wisdom, patient self-cultivation, and untiring instruction of others--to which of these can I make any claim?
The failure to cultivate virtue, the failure to examine and analyse what I have learnt, the inability to move towards righteousness after being shown the way, the inability to correct my faults--these are the causes of my grief. Alas! what a falling-off is here! Long is it since I dreamt of Chou Kung.[3] There is no one, from the man who brings me dried meat as payment upwards, to whom I have refused my instruction. I do not expound my teaching to any who are not eager to learn; I do not help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself; if, after being shown one corner of a subject, a man cannot go on to discover the other three, I do not repeat the lesson. If the pursuit of riches were a commendable pursuit, I would join in it, even if I had to become a chariot-driver for the purpose. But seeing that it is not a commendable pursuit, I engage in those which are more to my taste.[4] The Duke of Shê questioned Tzŭ Lu about Confucius. Tzŭ Lu made no reply. The Master said to him afterwards: Why did you not say: "He is a man whose zeal for self-improvement is such that he forgets to eat; whose happiness in this pursuit is so great that he forgets his troubles and does not perceive old age stealing upon him"?
The Master said: In me, knowledge is not innate. I am but one who loves antiquity, and is earnest in the study of it. If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself. My disciples, do you think that I have any secrets? I have no secrets from you. It is my way to do nothing without communicating it to you, my disciples. There are men, I daresay, who act rightly without knowing the reason why, but I am not one of them. Having heard much, I sift out the good and practise it; having seen much, I retain it in my memory. This is the second order of wisdom.[5] In literary accomplishments I am perhaps equal to other men; but I have not yet succeeded in exhibiting the conduct of the princely man in my own person. To divine wisdom and perfect virtue I can lay no claim. All that can be said of me is that I never falter in the course which I pursue and am unwearying in my instruction of others--this and nothing more.--Kung-hsi Hua said: But those are just the qualities that we, your disciples, are unable to acquire.
The Master being grievously sick, Tzŭ Lu proposed the offering up of a prayer.--Is there a precedent for this? asked the Master.--Tzŭ Lu replied: There is. In the Eulogies[6] it is written: "We pray unto you, O spirits of Heaven and Earth."--The Master said: My prayers began long ago.[7] The Master was passing through a by-street when a man of the district shouted: Great is Confucius the philosopher! Yet for all his wide learning, he has nothing which can bring him fame.--On hearing this, the Master turned to his disciples and said: What shall I take up? Shall I take up charioteering or shall I take up archery? I will take up charioteering! The Master said: The ancient rites prescribe linen as the material for a ceremonial cap, but nowadays silk is used as being more economical. In this matter I fall in with the general custom. According to the ancient rites, the Prince is to be saluted from below the dais, but nowadays the salutation takes place above. This is presumptuous, and therefore, though infringing thereby the general custom, I adopt the humbler position.[8] A high officer asked Tzŭ Kung, saying: Surely your Master is a divine Prophet? What a variety of accomplishments he seems to possess!--Tzŭ Kung replied: Truly he must be a Prophet, so richly has he been endowed by God. And he has also perfected himself in various arts.--The Master, being told of this, said: Does His Excellency really know me now for what I am? Being of low condition as a boy, I did become skilled in various arts--but these are base accomplishments after all. If asked whether the higher type of man has many such accomplishments, I should say, Not many.[9]
The Master said: Am I possessed of true knowledge? Not so. But if an ignorant fellow from the lower class comes to me with a question, I will discuss the subject from end to end, and set it fully before him. Tzŭ Kung said to Confucius: If you had a lovely jewel, would you hide it away in a casket, or would you try to sell it for a good price?-- The Master replied: Oh, certainly I would sell it, but I would wait until a price was offered.[10] The Master said: Out of doors, to tender faithful service to prince and ministers; at home, to be duteous towards father and elder brothers; to observe the rites of mourning with the utmost care; to avoid being overcome with wine:--which of these virtues have I? In matters pertaining to ceremonies and music, the ancients were more or less uncivilised in comparison with the refinement of a later age. Nevertheless, in practice I take the earlier period as my guide.[11] As an arbiter in litigation I am no better than other men. But surely the grand object to achieve is that there shall be no litigation at all.[12] Wei-sheng Mou,[13] addressing Confucius, said: Ch‘iu, why is it you keep hopping about thus from place to place? Is it not in order to show off your fine rhetoric?--Confucius replied: I do not allow myself to indulge in fine rhetoric; no, it is because I consider obstinacy a fault.[14]
The Master said: There are none who know me for what I am.--Tzŭ Kung said: How is it, Sir, that none know you?--The Master replied: I make no complaint against Heaven, neither do I blame my fellow-men. In the study of virtue I begin at the bottom and tend upwards.[15] Surely Heaven knows me for what I am. Tz‘ŭ, do you look upon me as a man who has studied and retained a mass of various knowledge?--I do, he replied. Am I wrong?--You are wrong, said the Master. All my knowledge is strung on one connecting thread.[16] I used to spend whole days without food and whole nights without sleep, in order to meditate. But I made no progress. Study, I found, was better. Pi Hsi[17] sent an invitation to Confucius, and the Master wished to go. Tzŭ Lu, however, said: Once upon a time, Sir, I heard you say that the nobler sort of man would not enter into intimacy with one who laid himself out to do wrong. Now Pi Hsi has raised the standard of rebellion in Chung-mou. How can you think of going thither?--True, replied the Master. Those were my words. But is there not a saying: "The hard may be rubbed without losing its substance; the white may be steeped without losing its purity"? Am I then a bitter gourd--fit only to be hung up and not eaten?
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.