[Footnote 16:  In reference to his editing the six Classics of his time.]

[Footnote 17:  This was one of his “beloved ancients,” famous for what he did in helping to found the dynasty of Chow, a man of great political wisdom, a scholar also, and poet.  It was the “dream” of Confucius’s life to restore the country to the condition in which the Duke of Chow left it.]

[Footnote 18:  These were six in number, viz.:  Ceremonial, Music, Archery, Horsemanship, Language, and Calculation.]

[Footnote 19:  Lit., three forces.  Each force consisted of 12,500 men, and three of such forces were the equipment of a greater State.]

BOOK VIII

Sayings of Tsang—­Sentences of the Master

Speaking of T’ai-pih the Master said that he might be pronounced a man of the highest moral excellence; for he allowed the empire to pass by him onwards to a third heir; while the people, in their ignorance of his motives, were unable to admire him for so doing.

“Without the Proprieties,” said the Master, “we have these results:  for deferential demeanor, a worried one; for calm attentiveness, awkward bashfulness; for manly conduct, disorderliness; for straightforwardness, perversity.

“When men of rank show genuine care for those nearest to them in blood, the people rise to the duty of neighborliness and sociability.  And when old friendships among them are not allowed to fall off, there will be a cessation of underhand practices among the people.”

The Scholar Tsang was once unwell, and calling his pupils to him he said to them, “Disclose to view my feet and my hands.  What says the Ode?—­

  ’Act as from a sense of danger,
    With precaution and with care,
  As a yawning gulf o’erlooking,
    As on ice that scarce will bear,’

At all times, my children, I know how to keep myself free from bodily harm.”

Again, during an illness of his, Mang King, an official, went to ask after him.  The Scholar had some conversation with him, in the course of which he said—­

  “’Doleful the cries of a dying bird,
      Good the last words of a dying man,’

There are three points which a man of rank in the management of his duties should set store upon:—­A lively manner and deportment, banishing both severity and laxity; a frank and open expression of countenance, allied closely with sincerity; and a tone in his utterances utterly free from any approach to vulgarity and impropriety.  As to matters of bowls and dishes, leave such things to those who are charged with the care of them.”

Another saying of the Scholar Tsang:  “I once had a friend who, though he possessed ability, would go questioning men of none, and, though surrounded by numbers, would go with his questions to isolated individuals; who also, whatever he might have, appeared as if he were without it, and, with all his substantial acquirements, made as though his mind were a mere blank; and when insulted would not retaliate;—­this was ever his way.”