Chapter 13

Chapter 1

1. Tsze-lu asked about government. The Master said, “Set the example for the people, and work hard on their behalf.” 2. When he asked for more, the answer was, “Don’t grow weary of doing these things.”

Chapter 2

1. Chung-kung, while serving as chief minister to the head of the Chi family, asked about government. The Master said, “Put your officers to work first, overlook minor mistakes, and promote people of virtue and ability.”
2. Chung-kung asked, “How can I recognize the virtuous and able so as to promote them?” The Master answered, “Promote those you do know. As for those you don’t know, will others let them be overlooked?”

Chapter 3

1. Tsze-lu said, “The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you to help him govern. What would you tackle first?”
2. The Master replied, “What’s needed is to set names right.”
3. “Really?” said Tsze-lu. “You’re off the mark! Why bother with that?”
4. The Master said, “How crude you are, Yu! A superior man holds back cautiously about what he doesn’t understand.
5. If names aren’t correct, language doesn’t match reality. If language doesn’t match reality, business can’t be carried through successfully.
6. When business can’t be carried through, ceremonies and music don’t flourish. When ceremonies and music don’t flourish, punishments aren’t handed down fairly. When punishments aren’t handed down fairly, the people don’t know where to put their hands and feet.
7. So a superior man insists that the names he uses can be spoken sensibly, and that what he says can be acted on properly. What the superior man requires is simply that there be nothing careless in his words.”

Chapter 4

1. Fan Ch’ih asked to be taught farming. The Master said, “I’m not as good for that as an experienced farmer.” He also asked to be taught gardening, and was told, “I’m not as good for that as an experienced gardener.”
2. After Fan Ch’ih left, the Master said, “What a small-minded man Fan Hsu is!
3. If a leader loves propriety, the people won’t dare be disrespectful. If he loves righteousness, the people won’t dare disobey his example. If he loves good faith, the people won’t dare be insincere. When this is so, people from every direction will come to him, carrying their children on their backs. What need does he have to know farming?”

Chapter 5

The Master said, “Someone may be able to recite all three hundred odes, but if you put him in charge of government and he doesn’t know what to do, or send him on a mission abroad and he can’t answer on his own, then no matter how much he’s studied, what practical good is it?”

Chapter 6

The Master said, “When a ruler’s own conduct is correct, his government works without his having to give orders. If his own conduct is not correct, he can give orders, but they won’t be obeyed.”

Chapter 7

The Master said, “The governments of Lu and Wei are brothers.”

Chapter 8

The Master said of Ching, a member of the ducal family of Wei, that he managed his household well. When he first had some means, he said, “Ha, I’ve got a bit put together!” When his means grew a little, he said, “Ha, now it’s complete!” When he became wealthy, he said, “Ha, this is splendid!”

Chapter 9

1. When the Master traveled to Wei, Zan Yu drove his carriage.
2. The Master remarked, “How many people there are!”
3. Yu said, “Since they are so many, what more should be done for them?” “Make them prosperous,” was the reply.
4. “And once they are prosperous, what next?” The Master said, “Educate them.”

Chapter 10

The Master said, “If any of the princes would employ me, within a year I would have accomplished something significant. In three years, the government would be brought to perfection.”

Chapter 11

The Master said, “‘If good men were to govern a country one after another for a hundred years, they would be able to reform the violent and do away with executions.’ How true this saying is!”

Chapter 12

The Master said, “Even if a truly royal ruler appeared, it would still take a generation before virtue prevailed.”

Chapter 13

The Master said, “If a minister keeps his own conduct correct, what trouble will he have helping in government? If he can’t put himself right, how can he put others right?”

Chapter 14

When the disciple Zan came back from court, the Master asked him, “Why so late?” He replied, “There was government business.” The Master said, “It must have been family business. If it had been real government business, even though I’m not currently in office, I would have been consulted.”

Chapter 15

1. Duke Ting asked whether there was a single saying that could make a country prosperous. Confucius replied, “You can’t expect that much from just one saying.
2. But there is a saying: ‘It’s hard to be a prince, and not easy to be a minister.’
3. If a ruler grasps this—how hard it is to be a prince—couldn’t that one saying bring his country prosperity?”
4. The duke then asked, “Is there a single saying that can ruin a country?” Confucius replied, “You can’t expect that much from one saying either. But there’s a saying people use: ‘I take no pleasure in being a prince except that no one can contradict what I say.’
5. If a ruler’s words are good, isn’t it also good that no one opposes them? But if his words are not good, and no one opposes them, couldn’t that one saying ruin his country?”

Chapter 16

1. The Duke of Sheh asked about government.
2. The Master said, “Good government exists when those nearby are made happy and those far off are drawn in.”

Chapter 17

Tsze-hsia, while governor of Chu-fu, asked about government. The Master said, “Don’t be eager for quick results, and don’t look only at small gains. Eagerness for quick results keeps things from being done thoroughly. Focusing on small gains keeps great things from being accomplished.”

Chapter 18

1. The Duke of Sheh told Confucius, “In our region there are people who can be called upright. If their father steals a sheep, they will testify against him.”
2. Confucius said, “In our region, those who are upright behave differently. The father covers up for the son, and the son covers up for the father. Uprightness is found in that.”

Chapter 19

Fan Ch’ih asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, “It is to be calm and dignified at home, careful and attentive in handling business, and completely sincere in dealing with others. Even if a man goes among rough, uncivilized tribes, these qualities must not be abandoned.”

Chapter 20

1. Tsze-kung asked, “What qualities must a person have to be called an officer?” The Master said, “Someone who maintains a sense of shame in his own conduct, and who, when sent on a mission anywhere, doesn’t disgrace his ruler’s charge—he deserves to be called an officer.”
2. Tsze-kung went on, “May I ask who ranks just below that?” The answer was, “Someone whose relatives regard as filial, and whose neighbors and fellow villagers regard as respectful to elders.”
3. The disciple asked again, “And the next class below that?” The Master said, “Those determined to keep their word and follow through on what they do. They’re stubborn little men, but perhaps they can be counted in the next group.”
4. Finally Tsze-kung asked, “What about those who hold government office today?” The Master said, “Pooh! They’re just so many measures and baskets—not worth counting.”

Chapter 21

The Master said, “Since I can’t find men following the proper middle path to teach, I must settle for the ardent and the cautiously decisive. The ardent will press forward and grasp the truth; the cautiously decisive will keep themselves clear of what’s wrong.”

Chapter 22

1. The Master said, “The people of the south have a saying: ‘A man without constancy can’t even be a shaman or a doctor.’ Well said!
2. ‘If one is inconstant in his virtue, he will meet with disgrace.’”
3. The Master said, “This simply comes from not heeding the omen.”

Chapter 23

The Master said, “The superior man is agreeable but not fawning; the mean man is fawning but not agreeable.”

Chapter 24

Tsze-kung asked, “What would you say about a man whom everyone in his neighborhood loves?” The Master replied, “We can’t approve him on that basis.” “And what about someone whom everyone in the neighborhood hates?” The Master said, “We can’t conclude on that basis that he’s bad. Better than either is the man whom the good people in the neighborhood love, and the bad people hate.”

Chapter 25

The Master said, “The superior man is easy to serve but hard to please. If you try to please him in a way that isn’t right, he won’t be pleased. But when he employs people, he uses them according to their abilities. The mean man is hard to serve but easy to please. If you try to please him, even in a way that isn’t right, he may be pleased. But when he employs people, he expects them to be able to do everything.”

Chapter 26

The Master said, “The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”

Chapter 27

The Master said, “Firmness, endurance, simplicity, and reserve are close to virtue.”

Chapter 28

Tsze-lu asked, “What qualities must a man have to be called a scholar?” The Master said, “He must be like this—earnest, pressing, and gentle: earnest and pressing with his friends, gentle with his brothers.”

Chapter 29

The Master said, “Let a good man teach the people for seven years, and they can then be used in war.”

Chapter 30

The Master said, “To lead an untrained people into war is to throw them away.”