Yuan Xian Asked憲問第十四

Yuan Xian asked about shame. The Master said, "When the Way prevails in the state, take your pay. When the Way is gone from the state, to take your pay is shameful."

"If a man never gives way to rivalry, boasting, resentment or greed, may he be called humane?" The Master said, "It may be called hard. Whether it is humaneness, I do not know."

The Master said, "A gentleman who longs for a comfortable home is not fit to be called a gentleman."

The Master said, "When the Way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the Way is gone from the state, act boldly but speak with care."

The Master said, "A man of virtue always has something to say, but a man with something to say is not always a man of virtue. The humane man always has courage, but a man of courage is not always humane."

Nangong Kuo asked Confucius, "Yi was a fine archer and Ao could push a boat along by his strength, yet neither died a natural death. Yu and Ji worked the fields with their own hands, and they came to hold all under Heaven." The Master did not answer. When Nangong Kuo had gone out, the Master said, "What a noble man he is! How he honors virtue!"

The Master said, "There have been noble men who fell short of humaneness, but there has never yet been a small man who was humane."

The Master said, "If you love him, can you spare him toil? If you are loyal to him, can you leave him untaught?"

The Master said, "In Zheng, when a dispatch was drawn up, Bi Chen made the draft, Shishu went over it, Ziyu the envoy trimmed it, and Zichan of Dongli gave it its polish."

Someone asked about Zichan. The Master said, "A man of kindness." He asked about Zixi. The Master said, "That one! That one!" He asked about Guan Zhong. The Master said, "There was a man. He took three hundred households of Pian from the Bo family, and though the head of that family ate coarse food until his teeth were gone, he spoke no word of resentment."

The Master said, "To be poor without resentment is hard. To be rich without pride is easy."

The Master said, "Meng Gongchuo has more than enough to be house elder to the Zhao or the Wei, but he could not be a great officer of Teng or Xue."

Zilu asked about the complete man. The Master said, "Take the wisdom of Zang Wuzhong, the freedom from greed of Gongchuo, the courage of Bian Zhuangzi and the skill of Ran Qiu, and adorn them with ritual and music. Such a man may be called complete." He said, "The complete man of today need not be all that. He sees gain and thinks of what is right. He sees danger and gives up his life. He does not forget, through long years, the words he once gave. Such a man too may be called complete."

The Master asked Gongming Jia about Gongshu Wenzi. "Is it true? Does your master never speak, never laugh, never take anything?" Gongming Jia answered, "Whoever told you that went too far. My master speaks when the time is right, and men do not tire of his speech. He laughs when there is joy, and men do not tire of his laughter. He takes when it is right to take, and men do not tire of his taking." The Master said, "Is that so? How can it be so?"

The Master said, "Zang Wuzhong used his hold on Fang to demand that Lu set up an heir for his house. They say he did not force his ruler's hand, but I do not believe it."

The Master said, "Duke Wen of Jin used tricks and was not straight. Duke Huan of Qi was straight and used no tricks."

Zilu said, "When Duke Huan killed Prince Jiu, Shao Hu died with him, but Guan Zhong did not die. Was he not lacking in humaneness?" The Master said, "Duke Huan brought the lords together nine times without chariots of war, and that was the work of Guan Zhong. Such was his humaneness! Such was his humaneness!"

Zigong said, "Guan Zhong was not a humane man, was he? When Duke Huan killed Prince Jiu, he could not die with him, and then he served the Duke as chief minister." The Master said, "Guan Zhong served Duke Huan as chief minister, made him leader of the lords, and set all under Heaven right at a stroke, and the people receive his gifts to this day. But for Guan Zhong, we would be wearing our hair loose and folding our robes to the left. Was he to be like a common man or woman keeping some small pledge, hanging himself in a ditch with no one any the wiser?"

Zhuan (僎), a great officer who had been a retainer of Gongshu Wenzi, rose to the ducal court together with Wenzi. When the Master heard of it, he said, "He deserves the name Wen (文)."

The Master spoke of how Duke Ling of Wei had lost the Way. Kangzi said, "If that is so, why does he not fall?" Confucius said, "Zhongshu Yu handles his guests, Zhu Tuo handles the ancestral temple, and Wangsun Jia handles the army. With things as they are, how should he fall?"

The Master said, "If a man feels no shame at his own big words, he will find them hard to make good."

Chen Chengzi killed Duke Jian. Confucius bathed, went to court, and told Duke Ai, "Chen Heng has killed his ruler. I ask that he be punished." The Duke said, "Tell the three lords." Confucius said, "Since I follow behind the great officers, I did not dare keep silent, and my lord says, 'Tell the three lords.'" He went to the three lords and told them, and they said no. Confucius said, "Since I follow behind the great officers, I did not dare keep silent."

Zilu asked about serving a ruler. The Master said, "Do not deceive him, and speak against him to his face."

The Master said, "The noble man gets through upward. The small man gets through downward."

The Master said, "The learners of old studied for themselves. The learners of today study to be seen by others."

Qu Boyu sent a man to Confucius, and Confucius sat with him and asked, "What is your master doing?" He answered, "My master wishes to make his faults few, but he has not yet managed it." When the messenger had gone out, the Master said, "What a messenger! What a messenger!"

The Master said, "When a man does not hold the post, he does not plan its affairs."

Zengzi said, "The thoughts of the noble man do not stray beyond his place."

The Master said, "The noble man is ashamed when his words outrun his deeds."

The Master said, "There are three things in the way of the noble man, and I can do none of them. The humane do not grieve, the wise are not led astray, the brave do not fear." Zigong said, "The Master is speaking of himself."

Zigong was weighing other men against one another. The Master said, "So Ci is a man of parts. I have no time for that."

The Master said, "Do not worry that others do not know you. Worry about what you cannot do."

The Master said, "He does not guess beforehand that he will be cheated, and he does not suppose that he will not be trusted, yet he is the first to see. Is such a man not worthy?"

Weisheng Mu said to Confucius, "Qiu (丘), why do you go about so restlessly? Is it not to show off your tongue?" Confucius said, "I would not dare to show off my tongue. It is stubbornness that I hate."

The Master said, "A fine horse is praised not for its strength but for its character."

Someone said, "What of repaying a wrong with kindness?" The Master said, "Then with what will you repay kindness? Repay a wrong with what is straight, and repay kindness with kindness."

The Master said, "No one knows me!" Zigong said, "How can you say that no one knows you?" The Master said, "I do not resent Heaven and I do not blame others. I learn here below and get through to what is above. Heaven is the one who knows me!"

Gongbo Liao spoke against Zilu to Jisun, and Zifu Jingbo reported it, saying, "My lord has certainly been led astray by Gongbo Liao, but I have strength enough to have his body laid out in the market place." The Master said, "If the Way is to go forward, it is fate. If the Way is to be cast aside, it is fate. What can Gongbo Liao do against fate?"

The Master said, "The worthy withdraw from the world. Next come those who withdraw from a place, next those who withdraw at a look, next those who withdraw at a word."

The Master said, "There were seven who rose and went."

Zilu spent the night at Shimen. The gatekeeper said, "Where are you from?" Zilu said, "From the house of Kong." The gatekeeper said, "Is that the man who knows it cannot be done and does it anyway?"

The Master was playing the stone chimes in Wei. A man carrying a straw basket passed the gate of the house of Kong and said, "There is a heart in that playing of the chimes!" After a while he said, "How mean that stiff sound is! If no one knows you, then let it be, and that is all. Does it not say, 'Where the water is deep, wade through as you are, and where it is shallow, lift your skirts'?" The Master said, "How bold he is! There is no difficulty in living that way."

Zizhang said, "The Book of Documents says, 'Gaozong stayed in the mourning hut and did not speak for three years.' What does that mean?" The Master said, "Why only Gaozong? The men of old all did so. When a ruler died, the hundred officers each took charge of their own duties and followed the chief minister for three years."

The Master said, "If those above love ritual, the people are easy to lead."

Zilu asked about the noble man. The Master said, "He cultivates himself with reverence (敬)." "Is that all?" The Master said, "He cultivates himself and so brings others peace." "Is that all?" The Master said, "He cultivates himself and so brings peace to the people. To cultivate oneself and bring peace to the people, even Yao and Shun found that hard."

Yuan Rang sat waiting with his legs stretched out. The Master said, "Young, you were not respectful to your elders. Grown, you have done nothing worth naming. Old, you do not die. This is what a robber is." And he struck him on the shin with his staff.

A boy of Quedang was carrying messages. Someone asked about him, "Is he a boy who is making progress?" The Master said, "I have seen him sitting in the seats of grown men, and I have seen him walking abreast of his elders. He is not a boy seeking to make progress. He is one who wants quick results."