Confucius
The Wisdom of Confucius
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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
BOOK I
BOOK II
BOOK III
BOOK IV
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII
BOOK VIII
BOOK IX
BOOK X
BOOK XI
BOOK XII
BOOK XIII
BOOK XIV
BOOK XV
BOOK XVI
BOOK XVII
BOOK XVIII
BOOK XIX
BOOK XX
THE SAYINGS OF MENCIUS
INTRODUCTION
BOOK I
Books II, III, and IV are omitted
BOOK V
THE SHI-KING
INTRODUCTION
BOOK I
BOOK II
BOOK III
Selections from Books IV, V, and VI have been omitted.
BOOK VII
BOOK VIII
BOOK IX
BOOK X
BOOK XI
BOOK XII
BOOK XIII
BOOK XIV
BOOK XV
PART II.—MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM
PART III.—GREATER ODES OF THE KINGDOM
PART IV.—ODES OF THE TEMPLE AND ALTAR
INTRODUCTION
The
strangest figure that meets us in the annals of Oriental thought is
that of Confucius. To the popular mind he is the founder of a
religion, and yet he has nothing in common with the great religious
teachers of the East. We think of Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism,
as the very impersonation of romantic asceticism, enthusiastic
self-sacrifice, and faith in the things that are invisible. Zoroaster
is the friend of God, talking face to face with the Almighty, and
drinking wisdom and knowledge from the lips of Omniscience. Mohammed
is represented as snatched up into heaven, where he receives the
Divine communication which he is bidden to propagate with fire and
sword throughout the world. These great teachers lived in an
atmosphere of the supernatural. They spoke with the authority of
inspired prophets. They brought the unseen world close to the minds
of their disciples. They spoke positively of immortality, of reward
or punishment beyond the grave. The present life they despised, the
future was to them everything in its promised satisfaction. The
teachings of Confucius were of a very different sort. Throughout his
whole writings he has not even mentioned the name of God. He declined
to discuss the question of immortality. When he was asked about
spiritual beings, he remarked, "If we cannot even know men, how
can we know spirits?"Yet
this was the man the impress of whose teaching has formed the
national character of five hundred millions of people. A temple to
Confucius stands to this day in every town and village of China. His
precepts are committed to memory by every child from the tenderest
age, and each year at the royal university at Pekin the Emperor holds
a festival in honor of the illustrious teacher.The
influence of Confucius springs, first of all, from the narrowness and
definiteness of his doctrine. He was no transcendentalist, and never
meddled with supramundane things. His teaching was of the earth,
earthy; it dealt entirely with the common relations of life, and the
Golden Rule he must necessarily have stumbled upon, as the most
obvious canon of his system. He strikes us as being the great Stoic
of the East, for he believed that virtue was based on knowledge,
knowledge of a man's own heart, and knowledge of human-kind. There is
a pathetic resemblance between the accounts given of the death of
Confucius and the death of Zeno. Both died almost without warning in
dreary hopelessness, without the ministrations of either love or
religion. This may be a mere coincidence, but the lives and teachings
of both men must have led them to look with indifference upon such an
end. For Confucius in his teaching treated only of man's life on
earth, and seems to have had no ideas with regard to the human lot
after death; if he had any ideas he preserved an inscrutable silence
about them. As a moralist he prescribed the duties of the king and of
the father, and advocated the cultivation by the individual man of
that rest or apathy of mind which resembles so much the disposition
aimed at by the Greek and Roman Stoic. Even as a moralist, he seems
to have sacrificed the ideal to the practical, and his loose notions
about marriage, his tolerance of concubinage, the slight emphasis
which he lays on the virtue of veracity—of which indeed he does not
seem himself to have been particularly studious in his historic
writings—place him low down in the rank of moralists. Yet he taught
what he felt the people could receive, and the flat mediocrity of his
character and his teachings has been stamped forever upon a people
who, while they are kindly, gentle, forbearing, and full of family
piety, are palpably lacking not only in the exaltation of Mysticism,
but in any religious feeling, generally so-called.The
second reason that made the teaching of Confucius so influential is
based on the circumstances of the time. When this thoughtful, earnest
youth awoke to the consciousness of life about him, he saw that the
abuses under which the people groaned sprang from the feudal system,
which cut up the country into separate territories, over which the
power of the king had no control. China was in the position of France
in the years preceding Philippe-Auguste, excepting that there were no
places of sanctuary and no Truce of God. The great doctrine of
Confucius was the unlimited despotism of the Emperor, and his moral
precepts were intended to teach the Emperor how to use his power
aright. But the Emperor was only typical of all those in
authority—the feudal duke, the judge on the bench, and the father
of the family. Each could discharge his duties aright only by
submitting to the moral discipline which Confucius prescribed. A
vital element in this system is its conservatism, its adherence to
the imperial idea. As James I said, "No bishop, no king,"
so the imperialists of China have found in Confucianism the strongest
basis for the throne, and have supported its dissemination
accordingly.The
Analects of Confucius contain the gist of his teachings, and is
worthy of study. We find in this work most of the precepts which his
disciples have preserved and recorded. They form a code remarkable
for simplicity, even crudity, and we are compelled to admire the
force of character, the practical sagacity, the insight into the
needs of the hour, which enabled Confucius, without claiming any
Divine sanction, to impose this system upon his countrymen.The
name Confucius is only the Latinized form of two words which mean
"Master K‘ung." He was born 551 B.C., his father being
governor of Shantung. He was married at nineteen, and seems to have
occupied some minor position under the government. In his
twenty-fourth year he entered upon the three years' mourning for the
death of his mother. His seclusion gave him time for deep thought and
the study of history, and he resolved upon the regeneration of his
unhappy country. By the time he was thirty he became known as a great
teacher, and disciples flocked to him. But he was yet occupied in
public duties, and rose through successive stages to the office of
Chief Judge in his own country of Lu. His tenure of office is said to
have put an end to crime, and he became the "idol of the people"
in his district. The jealousy of the feudal lords was roused by his
fame as a moral teacher and a blameless judge. Confucius was driven
from his home, and wandered about, with a few disciples, until his
sixty-ninth year, when he returned to Lu, after accomplishing a work
which has borne fruit, such as it is, to the present day. He spent
the remaining five years of his life in editing the odes and historic
monuments in which the glories of the ancient Chinese dynasty are set
forth. He died in his seventy-third year, 478 B.C. There can be no
doubt that the success of Confucius has been singularly great, owing
especially to the narrow scope of his scheme, which has become
crystallized in the habits, usages, and customs of the people.
Especially has it been instrumental in consolidating the empire, and
in strengthening the power of the monarch, who, as he every year
burns incense in the red-walled temple at Pekin, utters sincerely the
invocation: "Great art thou, O perfect Sage! Thy virtue is full,
thy doctrine complete. Among mortal men there has not been thine
equal. All kings honor thee. Thy statutes and laws have come
gloriously down. Thou art the pattern in this imperial school.
Reverently have the sacrificial vessels been set out. Full of awe, we
sound our drums and bells."E.
W.
BOOK I
On
Learning—Miscellaneous Sayings"To
learn," said the Master, "and then to practise opportunely
what one has learnt—does not this bring with it a sense of
satisfaction?"To
have associates in study coming to one from distant parts—does not
this also mean pleasure in store?"And
are not those who, while not comprehending all that is said, still
remain not unpleased to hear, men of the superior order?"A
saying of the Scholar Yu:—"It
is rarely the case that those who act the part of true men in regard
to their duty to parents and elder brothers are at the same time
willing to turn currishly upon their superiors: it has never yet been
the case that such as desire not to commit that offence have been men
willing to promote anarchy or disorder."Men
of superior mind busy themselves first in getting at the root of
things; and when they have succeeded in this the right course is open
to them. Well, are not filial piety and friendly subordination among
brothers a root of that right feeling which is owing generally from
man to man?"The
Master observed, "Rarely do we meet with the right feeling due
from one man to another where there is fine speech and studied mien."The
Scholar Tsang once said of himself: "On three points I examine
myself daily, viz., whether, in looking after other people's
interests, I have not been acting whole-heartedly; whether, in my
intercourse with friends, I have not been true; and whether, after
teaching, I have not myself been practising what I have taught."The
Master once observed that to rule well one of the larger States meant
strict attention to its affairs and conscientiousness on the part of
the ruler; careful husbanding of its resources, with at the same time
a tender care for the interests of all classes; and the employing of
the masses in the public service at suitable seasons."Let
young people," said he, "show filial piety at home,
respectfulness towards their elders when away from home; let them be
circumspect, be truthful; their love going out freely towards all,
cultivating good-will to men. And if, in such a walk, there be time
or energy left for other things, let them employ it in the
acquisition of literary or artistic accomplishments."The
disciple Tsz-hiá said, "The appreciation of worth in men of
worth, thus diverting the mind from lascivious desires—ministering
to parents while one is the most capable of so doing—serving one's
ruler when one is able to devote himself entirely to that
object—being sincere in one's language in intercourse with friends:
this I certainly must call evidence of learning, though others may
say there has been 'no learning.'"Sayings
of the Master:—"If
the great man be not grave, he will not be revered, neither can his
learning be solid."Give
prominent place to loyalty and sincerity."Have
no associates in study who are not advanced somewhat like yourself."When
you have erred, be not afraid to correct yourself."A
saying of the Scholar Tsang:—"The
virtue of the people is renewed and enriched when attention is seen
to be paid to the departed, and the remembrance of distant ancestors
kept and cherished."Tsz-k‘in
put this query to his fellow disciple Tsz-kung: said he, "When
our Master comes to this or that State, he learns without fail how it
is being governed. Does he investigate matters? or are the facts
given him?"Tsz-kung
answered, "Our Master is a man of pleasant manners, and of
probity, courteous, moderate, and unassuming: it is by his being such
that he arrives at the facts. Is not his way of arriving at things
different from that of others?"A
saying of the Master:—"He
who, after three years' observation of the will of his father when
alive, or of his past conduct if dead, does not deviate from that
father's ways, is entitled to be called 'a dutiful son.'"Sayings
of the Scholar Yu:—"For
the practice of the Rules of Propriety,
[1]
one excellent way is to be natural. This naturalness became a great
grace in the practice of kings of former times; let everyone, small
or great, follow their example."It
is not, however, always practicable; and it is not so in the case of
a person who does things naturally, knowing that he should act so,
and yet who neglects to regulate his acts according to the Rules."When
truth and right are hand in hand, a statement will bear repetition.
When respectfulness and propriety go hand in hand, disgrace and shame
are kept afar-off. Remove all occasion for alienating those to whom
you are bound by close ties, and you have them still to resort to."A
saying of the Master:—"The
man of greater mind who, when he is eating, craves not to eat to the
full; who has a home, but craves not for comforts in it; who is
active and earnest in his work and careful in his words; who makes
towards men of high principle, and so maintains his own
rectitude—that man may be styled a devoted student."Tsz-kung
asked, "What say you, sir, of the poor who do not cringe and
fawn; and what of the rich who are without pride and haughtiness?"
"They are passable," the Master replied; "yet they are
scarcely in the same category as the poor who are happy, and the rich
who love propriety.""In
the 'Book of the Odes,'" Tsz-kung went on to say, "we read
of onePolished,
as by the knife and file,The graving-tool, the smoothing-stone.Does
that coincide with your remark?""Ah!
such as you," replied the Master, "may well commence a
discussion on the Odes. If one tell you how a thing goes, you know
what ought to come.""It
does not greatly concern me," said the Master, "that men do
not know me; my great concern is, my not knowing them."Footnote[1]
An important part of a Chinaman's education still. The text-book,
"The Li Ki," contains rules for behavior and propriety for
the whole life, from the cradle to the grave.
BOOK II
Good
Government—Filial Piety—The Superior Man
Sayings
of the Master:—
"Let
a ruler base his government upon virtuous principles, and he will be
like the pole-star, which remains steadfast in its place, while all
the host of stars turn towards it.
"The
'Book of Odes' contains three hundred pieces, but one expression in
it may be taken as covering the purport of all, viz., Unswerving
mindfulness.
"To
govern simply by statute, and to reduce all to order by means of
pains and penalties, is to render the people evasive, and devoid of
any sense of shame.
"To
govern upon principles of virtue, and to reduce them to order by the
Rules of Propriety, would not only create in them the sense of shame,
but would moreover reach them in all their errors.
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
