Chapter 12

Chapter 1

1. Yen Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, “To master yourself and return to propriety—that is perfect virtue. If a person can master himself and return to propriety for a single day, everyone under heaven will credit him with perfect virtue. Does the practice of perfect virtue come from oneself, or from others?”
2. Yen Yuan said, “May I ask what steps are involved?” The Master replied, “Don’t look at anything contrary to propriety; don’t listen to anything contrary to propriety; don’t say anything contrary to propriety; don’t make any movement contrary to propriety.” Yen Yuan then said, “Though I lack intelligence and energy, I will make it my work to put this teaching into practice.”

Chapter 2

Chung-kung asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, “When you go out, treat everyone as though you were receiving an important guest. When you put the people to work, do it as though you were assisting at a great sacrifice. Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to yourself. Then no one will resent you, whether in the state or in the family.” Chung-kung said, “Though I lack intelligence and energy, I will make it my work to put this teaching into practice.”

Chapter 3

1. Sze-ma Niu asked about perfect virtue.
2. The Master said, “A person of perfect virtue is careful and slow to speak.”
3. “Careful and slow to speak!” said Niu. “Is that what is meant by perfect virtue?” The Master said, “When someone feels how hard it is to do something, can he be anything but careful and slow in speaking about it?”

Chapter 4

1. Sze-ma Niu asked about the superior man. The Master said, “The superior man is free from anxiety and free from fear.”
2. “Free from anxiety and fear!” said Niu. “Is that what makes someone a superior man?”
3. The Master said, “When self-examination finds nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?”

Chapter 5

1. Sze-ma Niu, full of distress, said, “Everyone else has brothers; I alone have none.”
2. Tsze-hsia said to him, “I have heard this saying:
3. ‘Death and life are determined; wealth and honor depend on Heaven.’
4. Let the superior man be reverent in ordering his own conduct, respectful toward others, and observant of propriety—then everyone within the four seas will be his brothers. Why should the superior man be troubled about having no brothers?”

Chapter 6

Tsze-chang asked what constitutes intelligence. The Master said, “The person on whom slander that seeps in gradually, and accusations that sting like a wound, have no effect—he may truly be called intelligent. Yes, the person on whom seeping slander and stinging accusations have no effect—he may be called farseeing.”

Chapter 7

1. Tsze-kung asked about government. The Master said, “The essentials of government are enough food, enough weapons, and the people’s trust in their ruler.”
2. Tsze-kung said, “If it can’t be helped and one of these has to be given up, which should go first?” “The weapons,” said the Master.
3. Tsze-kung asked again, “If it can’t be helped and one of the remaining two has to be given up, which should go?” The Master answered, “Give up the food. From ancient times, death has been the fate of everyone; but if the people have no trust in their rulers, the state cannot stand.”

Chapter 8

1. Chi Tsze-ch’ang said, “In a superior man only substantial qualities matter—why should we look for ornamental refinements?”
2. Tsze-kung said, “What a shame! Your words, sir, sound like those of a superior man, but a team of four horses can’t catch the tongue once it’s spoken.
3. Refinement is as important as substance; substance is as important as refinement. The hide of a tiger or leopard, stripped of its hair, looks just like the hide of a dog or goat stripped of its hair.”

Chapter 9

1. Duke Ai asked Yu Zo, “It’s a year of scarcity, and the revenue isn’t enough for my expenses. What should I do?”
2. Yu Zo replied, “Why not simply tithe the people?”
3. “Even with two tenths,” said the duke, “I find it not enough—how could I manage with a tithe of one tenth?”
4. Yu Zo answered, “If the people have plenty, their ruler will not be left wanting on his own. If the people are in want, how can their ruler alone enjoy plenty?”

Chapter 10

1. Tsze-chang asked how to exalt virtue and recognize delusions. The Master said, “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as your first principles, and keep moving toward what is right—this is the way to exalt your virtue.
2. You love someone and wish them to live; you hate them and wish them to die. Having wished them to live, you then wish them to die. That is a case of delusion.
3. ‘It may not really be because she is rich, yet you treat her differently.’”

Chapter 11

1. Duke Ching of Ch’i asked Confucius about government.
2. Confucius replied, “There is government when the ruler acts as ruler and the minister as minister, when the father acts as father and the son as son.”
3. “Excellent!” said the duke. “If the ruler is not ruler, the minister not minister, the father not father, and the son not son, then even though I have my revenue, how could I enjoy it?”

Chapter 12

1. The Master said, “Ah, Yu—he could settle a lawsuit with just half a sentence!”
2. Tsze-lu never let a promise wait overnight.

Chapter 13

The Master said, “In hearing lawsuits, I am no different from anyone else. What’s necessary, though, is to bring it about that there are no lawsuits at all.”

Chapter 14

Tsze-chang asked about government. The Master said, “The art of governing is to keep its affairs constantly in mind without growing weary, and to carry them out with steady consistency.”

Chapter 15

The Master said, “By studying widely in all branches of learning and keeping oneself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may also avoid straying from what is right.”

Chapter 16

The Master said, “The superior man helps bring out the good qualities in others and does not bring out their bad qualities. The petty man does the opposite.”

Chapter 17

Chi K’ang asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, “To govern is to set right. If you lead the people with rightness, who will dare not to be right?”

Chapter 18

Chi K’ang, troubled by the number of thieves in his state, asked Confucius how to get rid of them. Confucius said, “If you yourself, sir, were not greedy, then even if you offered rewards for stealing, no one would steal.”

Chapter 19

Chi K’ang asked Confucius about government, saying, “What if I were to execute the unprincipled for the sake of the principled?” Confucius replied, “Sir, in running your government, why use killing at all? If you show that your own desires are for what is good, the people will be good. The relationship between those above and those below is like that between the wind and the grass: when the wind blows across it, the grass must bend.”

Chapter 20

1. Tsze-chang asked, “What kind of officer can be called truly distinguished?”
2. The Master said, “What do you mean by ‘distinguished’?”
3. Tsze-chang replied, “Being known throughout the state and known throughout his clan.”
4. The Master said, “That is notoriety, not distinction.
5. The truly distinguished man is solid and straightforward, and loves what is right. He weighs people’s words and observes their expressions. He is careful to put himself below others. Such a man will be distinguished in his state and distinguished in his clan.
6. As for the merely notorious man—he takes on the appearance of virtue, but his actions contradict it, and he is comfortable in this role without any self-doubt. Such a man will be talked about in the state and talked about in the clan.”

Chapter 21

1. Fan Ch’ih, walking with the Master under the trees by the rain altars, said, “May I ask how to exalt virtue, correct hidden faults, and recognize delusions?”
2. The Master said, “What a good question!
3. Putting the work itself first and success second—isn’t that the way to exalt virtue? Attacking your own faults rather than the faults of others—isn’t that the way to correct hidden evil? Letting a morning’s anger make you disregard your own life, and even involve your parents in the consequences—isn’t that a case of delusion?”

Chapter 22

1. Fan Ch’ih asked about benevolence. The Master said, “It is to love all people.” He asked about knowledge. The Master said, “It is to know all people.”
2. Fan Ch’ih did not understand these answers right away.
3. The Master said, “Employ the upright and set aside the crooked—this way the crooked can be made upright.”
4. Fan Ch’ih withdrew, and meeting Tsze-hsia, said to him, “A little while ago I went to see our Master and asked him about knowledge. He said, ‘Employ the upright and set aside the crooked—this way the crooked can be made upright.’ What did he mean?”
5. Tsze-hsia said, “How rich that saying is!
6. When Shun held the empire, he chose Kao-yao from among all the people and employed him, and everyone without virtue vanished. When T’ang held the empire, he chose I Yin from among all the people and employed him, and everyone without virtue vanished.”

Chapter 23

Tsze-kung asked about friendship. The Master said, “Faithfully advise your friend and skillfully guide him. If he won’t listen, stop. Don’t bring disgrace on yourself.”

Chapter 24

The philosopher Tsang said, “The superior man meets his friends through shared culture, and through their friendship he furthers his virtue.”