3 confucius said of the head of the chi family, who had eight rows ofpantomimes in his area, "if he can bear to do this, what may he not bear to do?" the three families used the yungode, while the vessels were being removed,at the conclusion of the sacrifice. the master said, "'assisting are theprinces;-the son of heaven looks profound and grave';-what application can thesewords have in the hall of the three families?" the master said, "if a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, whathas he to do with the rites of propriety? if a man be without the virtues properto humanity, what has he to do with music?" lin fang asked what was the first thing to be attended to in ceremonies. the master said, "a great question indeed! "in festive ceremonies, it is better to be sparing than extravagant. in theceremonies of mourning, it is better that there be deep sorrow than in minuteattention to observances." the master said, "the rude tribes of the east and north have their princes,and are not like the states of our great land which are without them." the chief of the chi family was about to sacrifice to the t'ai mountain. themaster said to zan yu, "can you not save him from this?" he answered, "icannot." confucius said, "alas! will you say that the t'ai mountain is not sodiscerning as lin fang?" the master said, "the student of virtue has no contentions. if it be said hecannot avoid them, shall this be in archery? but he bows complaisantly to hiscompetitors; thus he ascends the hall, descends, and exacts the forfeit ofdrinking. in his contention, he is still the chun-tsze." tsze-hsia asked, saying, "what is the meaning of the passage-'the prettydimples of her artful smile! the well-defined black and white of her eye! theplain ground for the colors?'" the master said, "the business of laying on the colors follows thepreparation of the plain ground." "ceremonies then are a subsequent thing?" the master said, "it is shang whocan bring out my meaning. now i can begin to talk about the odes with him." the master said, "i could describe the ceremonies of the hsia dynasty, butchi cannot sufficiently attest my words. i could describe the ceremonies of theyin dynasty, but sung cannot sufficiently attest my words. they cannot do sobecause of the insufficiency of their records and wise men. if those weresufficient, i could adduce them in support of my words." the master said, "at the great sacrifice, after the pouring out of thelibation, i have no wish to look on." some one asked the meaning of the great sacrifice. the master said, "i donot know. he who knew its meaning would find it as easy to govern the kingdom asto look on this"-pointing to his palm. he sacrificed to the dead, as if they were present. he sacrificed to thespirits, as if the spirits were present. the master said, "i consider my not being present at the sacrifice, as if idid not sacrifice." wang-sun chia asked, saying, "what is the meaning of the saying, 'it isbetter to pay court to the furnace then to the southwest corner?'" the master said, "not so. he who offends against heaven has none to whom hecan pray." the master said, "chau had the advantage of viewing the two past dynasties.how complete and elegant are its regulations! i follow chau." the master, when he entered the grand temple, asked about everything. someone said, "who say that the son of the man of tsau knows the rules of propriety!he has entered the grand temple and asks about everything." the master heard theremark, and said, "this is a rule of propriety." the master said, "in archery it is not going through the leather which isthe principal thing;-because people's strength is not equal. this was the oldway." tsze-kung wished to do away with the offering of a sheep connected with theinauguration of the first day of each month. the master said, "ts'ze, you love the sheep; i love the ceremony." the master said, "the full observance of the rules of propriety in servingone's prince is accounted by people to be flattery." the duke ting asked how a prince should employ his ministers, and howministers should serve their prince. confucius replied, "a prince should employhis minister according to according to the rules of propriety; ministers shouldserve their prince with faithfulness." the master said, "the kwan tsu is expressive of enjoyment without beinglicentious, and of grief without being hurtfully excessive." the duke ai asked tsai wo about the altars of the spirits of the land. tsaiwo replied, "the hsia sovereign planted the pine tree about them; the men of theyin planted the cypress; and the men of the chau planted the chestnut tree,meaning thereby to cause the people to be in awe." when the master heard it, he said, "things that are done, it is needless tospeak about; things that have had their course, it is needless to remonstrateabout; things that are past, it is needless to blame." the master said, "small indeed was the capacity of kwan chung!" some one said, "was kwan chung parsimonious?" "kwan," was the reply, "hadthe san kwei, and his officers performed no double duties; how can he beconsidered parsimonious?" "then, did kwan chung know the rules of propriety?" the master said, "theprinces of states have a screen intercepting the view at their gates. kwan hadlikewise a screen at his gate. the princes of states on any friendly meetingbetween two of them, had a stand on which to place their inverted cups. kwan hadalso such a stand. if kwan knew the rules of propriety, who does not know them?" the master instructing the grand music master of lu said, "how to play musicmay be known. at the commencement of the piece, all the parts should soundtogether. as it proceeds, they should be in harmony while severally distinct andflowing without break, and thus on to the conclusion." the border warden at yi requested to be introduced to the master, saying,"when men of superior virtue have come to this, i have never been denied theprivilege of seeing them." the followers of the sage introduced him, and when hecame out from the interview, he said, "my friends, why are you distressed byyour master's loss of office? the kingdom has long been without the principlesof truth and right; heaven is going to use your master as a bell with its woodentongue." the master said of the shao that it was perfectly beautiful and alsoperfectly good. he said of the wu that it was perfectly beautiful but notperfectly good. the master said, "high station filled without indulgent generosity;ceremonies performed without reverence; mourning conducted without sorrow;-wherewith should i contemplate such ways?" |
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