Taibo泰伯第八

The Master said, "Respectfulness without ritual is toil. Caution without ritual is fear. Courage without ritual is disorder. Straightness without ritual is harshness. When the noble man is devoted to his kin, the people rise toward humaneness. When old friends are not cast off, the people do not turn mean."

Zengzi was ill, and he called his disciples and said, "Uncover my feet. Uncover my hands. The Book of Songs says, 'In fear and trembling, as if standing at a deep abyss, as if treading on thin ice.' From now on I know that I have come through, my children."

Zengzi was ill, and Meng Jingzi came to ask after him. Zengzi said, "When a bird is about to die, its cry is sad. When a man is about to die, his words are good. There are three things the noble man values in the Way: in his bearing, to keep far from violence and arrogance; in the set of his face, to keep close to good faith; in the words he utters, to keep far from what is coarse and wrong. As for the handling of the sacrificial vessels, there are officers in charge (有司) for that."

Zengzi said, "Able, yet asking one who is not able; knowing much, yet asking one who knows little; having, as though not having; full, as though empty; wronged, yet not arguing it out — long ago my friend lived in this way."

Zengzi said, "If a man can be trusted with a young orphaned lord six spans tall, if he can be charged with the fate of a domain of a hundred li, if at the great moment he cannot be swayed — is such a man a noble man? He is a noble man indeed."

Zengzi said, "A gentleman must be broad and firm, for the burden is heavy and the road is long. He takes humaneness as his own burden. Is it not heavy? Only in death does he stop. Is it not long?"

The Master said, "Be roused by the Songs, take your stand in ritual, and find completion in music."

The Master said, "The people can be made to follow a course, but they cannot be made to understand it."

The Master said, "To love courage and hate poverty leads to disorder. To hate a man for his want of humaneness, and hate him too bitterly, also leads to disorder."

The Master said, "Though a man had gifts as fine as those of the Duke of Zhou, if he were proud and mean, the rest would not be worth looking at."

The Master said, "A man who has studied for three years and whose mind has not turned to an official salary is not easily found."

The Master said, "Believe deeply and love learning. Hold to the good Way until death. Do not enter a state that is in danger. Do not live in a state in disorder. When the world has the Way, show yourself. When it has not, stay hidden. When the state has the Way, to be poor and lowly is a shame. When the state has not the Way, to be rich and honored is also a shame."

The Master said, "If a man does not hold the office, he does not plan its business."

The Master said, "When the music master Zhi (摯) first took office, the closing movement of the Guan ju rolled on, wave upon wave, and filled the ear!"

The Master said, "Wild in ambition and yet not straight, simple and yet not sincere, plain in ability and yet not to be trusted — such a man I cannot make out."

The Master said, "Learn as though you could not catch up, and even then be afraid of losing it."

The Master said, "How lofty they were! Shun and Yu held the world, and yet took no part in it for themselves."

The Master said, "How great was Yao as a ruler! How lofty! Heaven alone is great, and Yao alone took it as his model. How boundless! The people could find no name for it. How lofty was the work he brought to completion! How brilliant were his rites and writings!"

Shun had five worthy ministers, and the world was well governed. King Wu said, "I have ten ministers who bring order." Confucius said, "'Good men are hard to find.' Is it not so? The time of Tang and Yu is said to have been richer in them than this, and here there is a woman among them, so there are only nine men. With two thirds of the world in his hands he still served Yin. The virtue of Zhou may be called the highest virtue."

The Master said, "In Yu I find no flaw. His food and drink were meager, yet he was wholly filial toward the spirits. His clothes were poor, yet his robe and cap for sacrifice were of the finest. His palace was low, yet he spent all his strength on ditches and channels. In Yu I find no flaw."