The Chinese Classics
Confucius (James Legge translation)
783 passages indexed from The Chinese Classics (Confucius (James Legge translation)) — Page 15 of 16
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The Chinese Classics, passage 567
I will mention two important subjects in regard to which there is a conviction in my mind that he came short of the faith of the older sages. The first is the doctrine of God. This name is common in the Shih-ching and Shu-ching. Ti or Shang-Ti appears there as a personal being, ruling in heaven and on earth, the author of man's moral nature, the governor among the nations, by whom kings reign and princes decree justice, the rewarder of the good, and the punisher of the bad.
The Chinese Classics, passage 617
The man among them most distinguished for intelligence becomes chief ruler, and ought to prove himself the parent of the people [1].' And again, 'Heaven, protecting the inferior people, has constituted for them rulers and teachers, who should be able to be assisting to God, extending favour and producing tranquillity throughout all parts of the kingdom [2].' The moment the ruler ceases to be a minister of God for good, and does not administer a government that is beneficial to the people, he forfeits the title by which he holds the throne, and perseverance in oppression will surely lead to his overthrow.
The Chinese Classics, passage 365
The reader must have it clearly before him, if he would understand the position of the sage, and the reforms which, we shall find, it was subsequently his object to introduce. Arrived at Chau, he had no intercourse with the court or any of 1 See 左氏傳, 昭公七年. 2 何忌. 3 孟懿子. 4 南宮敬叔. 5 The 家語 makes Chang-shu accompany Confucius to Chau. It is difficult to understand this, if Chang-shu were really a son of Mang Hsi who had died that year. 6 洛. 7 敬王 (B.C. 519-475) the principal ministers.
The Chinese Classics, passage 361
Their wealth and standing in the State gave him a position which he had not had before, and he told Chang-shu of a wish which he had to visit the court of Chau, and especially to confer on the subject of ceremonies and music with Lao Tan. Chang-shu represented the matter to the duke Ch'ao, who put a carriage and a pair of horses at Confucius's disposal for the expedition [5]. At this time the court of Chau was in the city of Lo [6].
The Chinese Classics, passage 569
I do [footnote continued from previous page] its scope and meaning, and up to this time I have not been able to master it so as to speak positively about it.
The Chinese Classics, passage 233
In the case of a man, who gets up at cock-crowing to practise what is good and continues sedulous in the endeavour till midnight, and says at the same time that he does not wish men to know it, lest they should praise him, I must say of such a man, that, if he be not deceitful, he is stupid."' Another day, the duke asked Tsze-sze, saying, 'Can my state be made to flourish?' 'It may,' was the reply.
The Chinese Classics, passage 316
Five generations had now elapsed since the dukedom was held in the direct line of his ancestry, and it was according to the rule in such cases that the branch should cease its connexion with the ducal stem, and merge among the people under a new surname. K'ung Chia was Master of the Horse in Sung, and an officer of well-known loyalty and probity.
The Chinese Classics, passage 4
SECTION I. BOOKS INCLUDED UNDER THE NAME OF THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 1. The Books now recognised as of highest authority in China are comprehended under the denominations of 'The five Ching [1]' and 'The four Shu [2].' The term Ching is of textile origin, and signifies the warp threads of a web, and their adjustment. An easy application of it is to denote what is regular and insures regularity. As used with reference to books, it indicates their authority on the subjects of which they treat.
The Chinese Classics, passage 290
cupimusque negata,' are a more correct expression of the facts of human consciousness and conduct than the high-flown praises of Confucius. 7. But Tsze-sze adopts the dicta of his grandfather without questioning them, and gives them forth in his own style at the commencement of the fourth part of his Treatise.
The Chinese Classics, passage 499
Tsze- lu uses a freedom with him on which none of the other disciples dares to venture, and there is not one among them all, for whom, if I may speak from my own feeling, the foreign student comes to form such a liking. A pleasant picture is presented to us in one passage of the Analects. It is said, 'The disciple Min was standing by his side, looking bland and precise; Tsze-lu (named Yu), looking bold and soldierly; Yen Yu and Tsze-kung, with a free and straightforward manner.
The Chinese Classics, passage 283
I have quoted the words of Confucius that it is 'singleness' by which the three virtues of knowledge, benevolence, and energy are able to carry into practice the duties of universal obligation. He says also that it is this same 'singleness' by which 'the nine standard rules of government' can be effectively carried out [3]. This 'singleness' is merely a name for 'the states of Equilibrium 1 Par. 8. 2 Par. 12. 3 Par. 15.
The Chinese Classics, passage 12
627-649), and which appeared in the reign of his successor, there are thirteen Ching, viz. the Yi, the Shih, the Shu, the three editions of the Ch'un Ch'iu, the Li Chi, the Chau Li, the I Li, the Confucian Analects, the R Ya [14], a sort of ancient dictionary, the Hsiao Ching [15], or 'Classic of Filial Piety,' and the works of Mencius. 5. A distinction, however, was made among the Works thus 1 四子之書. 2 論語. 3 大學. 4 曾參. 5 中庸. 6 孔伋. 7 樂記. 8 周禮. 9 儀禮. 10 春秋三傳 11 左丘明. 12 公羊高. 13 穀梁赤. 14 爾雅. 15 孝經.
The Chinese Classics, passage 363
There were thirteen principalities of greater note, and a large number of smaller dependencies. During the vigorous youth of the dynasty, the sovereign or lord paramount exercised an effective control over the various chiefs, but with the lapse of time there came weakness and decay. The chiefs -- corresponding somewhat to the European dukes, earls, marquises, barons, &c. -- quarrelled and warred among themselves, and the stronger among them barely acknowledged their subjection to the sovereign.
The Chinese Classics, passage 57
Thus, eleven years were all which intervened between the order for the burning of the Books and rise of that family, which signaled itself by the care which it bestowed for their recovery; and from the edict of the tyrant of Ch'in against private individuals having copies in their keeping, to its express abrogation by the emperor Hsiao Hui, there were only twenty-two years.
The Chinese Classics, passage 395
510, on which event the rightful heir was set aside, and another member of the ducal House, known to us by the title of Ting [5], substituted in his place. The ruling authority of the principality became thus still more enfeebled than it had been before, and, on the other hand, the chiefs of the Chi, the Shu, and the Mang, could hardly keep their ground against their own officers. Of those latter, the two most conspicuous were Yang Hu [6], called also Yang Ho [7], and 1 See the 史記, 孔子世家, p. 2.
The Chinese Classics, passage 342
[Sidebar] Commencement of his labors as a teacher. The death of his mother. B.C. 531-527. However small the fee his pupils were able to afford, he never refused his instructions [2]. All that he required, was an ardent desire for improvement, and some degree of capacity. 'I do not open up the truth,' he said, 'to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself.
The Chinese Classics, passage 165
The method which is laid down for the attainment of the great object proposed, consists of seven steps:-- the investigation of things; the completion of knowledge; the sincerity of the thoughts; the rectifying of the heart; the cultivation of the person; the regulation of the family; and the government of the state. These form the steps of a climax, the end of which is the kingdom tranquillized. Pauthier calls the paragraphs where they occur instances of the sorites, or abridged syllogism.
The Chinese Classics, passage 381
Ch'i was then under the government of a ruler (in rank a marquis, but historically called duke) , afterwards styled Ching [2], who 'had a thousand teams, each of four horses, but on the day of his death the people did not praise him for a single virtue [3].' His chief minister, however, was Yen Ying [4], a man of considerable ability and worth. At his court the music of the ancient sage-emperor, Shun, originally brought to Ch'i from the State of Ch'an [5], was still preserved.
The Chinese Classics, passage 331
When Heh was told of it, he said, 'The creature must be the Ch'i-lin.' As her time drew near, Chang-tsai asked her husband if there was any place in the neighborhood called 'the hollow mulberry tree.' He told her there was a dry cave in the south hill, which went by that name. Then she said, 'I will go and be confined there.' Her husband was surprised, but when made acquainted with her former dream, he made the necessary arrangements.
The Chinese Classics, passage 68
Among the patrons of the Lu copy are mentioned the names of Hsia-hau Shang, grand-tutor of the heir- apparent, who died at the age of 90, and in the reign of the emperor Hsuan (B.C. 73-49) [1]; Hsiao Wang-chih [2], a general-officer, who died in the reign of the emperor Yuan (B.C. 48-33); Wei Hsien, who was a premier of the empire from B.C. 70-66; and his son Hsuan-ch'ang [3]. As patrons of the Ch'i copy, we have Wang Ch'ing, who was a censor in the year B.C.
The Chinese Classics, passage 540
the monuments of antiquity, and the exemplifier and expounder of [Sidebar] The causes of his influence. the maxims of the golden age of China; and the devotion to him of his immediate disciples and their early followers. The national and the personal are thus blended in him, each in its highest degree of excellence. He was a Chinese of the Chinese; he is also represented as, and all now believe him to have been, the beau ideal of humanity in its best and noblest estate. 4.
The Chinese Classics, passage 484
The philosopher had been consulted a little before by K'ung Wan [1], an officer of Wei, about how he should conduct a feud with another officer, and disgusted at being referred to on such a subject, had ordered his carriage and prepared to leave the State, exclaiming, 'The bird chooses its tree. The tree does not choose the bird.' K'ung Wan endeavoured to excuse himself, and to prevail on Confucius to remain in Wei, and just at this juncture the messengers from Lu arrived [2].
The Chinese Classics, passage 537
In the schoolrooms there is a tablet or inscription on the wall, sacred to the sage, and every pupil is required, on coming to school on the morning of the first and fifteenth of every month, to bow before it, the first thing, as an act of reverence [1]. Thus all in China who receive the slightest tincture of learning do so at the fountain of Confucius. They learn of him and do homage to him at once.
The Chinese Classics, passage 255
The language, according to Chu Hsi, 'describes the meritorious achievements and transforming influence of sage and spiritual men in their highest extent.' From the path of duty, where we tread on solid ground, the writer suddenly raises us aloft on wings of air, and will carry us we know not where, and to we know not what. 3. The paragraphs thus presented, and which constitute Chu Hsi's first chapter, contain the sum of the whole Work.
The Chinese Classics, passage 734
1530 to be 'The Ancient Scholar,' but in 1642 it was raised to that of 'Ancient Worthy.' To him we owe the most distinguished of the annotated editions of the Ch'un Ch'iu. But whether he really was a disciple of Confucius, and in personal communication with him, is much debated. The above are the only names and surnames of those of the disciples who now share in the sacrifices to the sage.
The Chinese Classics, passage 199
The composition of the Chung Yung is attributed to K'ung Chi, the grandson of Confucius [2]. Chinese inquirers and critics are agreed on this point, and apparently on sufficient grounds. There is indeed no internal evidence in the Work to lead us to such a conclusion. Among the many quotations of Confucius's words and references to him, we might have expected to find some indication that the sage was the grandfather of the author, but nothing of the kind is given.
The Chinese Classics, passage 200
The external evidence, however, or that from the testimony of authorities, is very strong. In Sze-ma Ch'ien's Historical Records, published about B.C. 100, it is expressly said that 'Tsze- sze made the Chung Yung.' And we have a still stronger proof, a century earlier, from Tsze-sze's own descendant, K'ung Fu, whose words are, 'Tsze- sze compiled the Chung Yung in forty-nine p'ien [3].' We may, therefore, accept the received account without hesitation. 2.
The Chinese Classics, passage 296
We are told that the possessor of entire sincerity is like a spirit and can foreknow, but the foreknowledge is only a judging by the milfoil and tortoise and other auguries! But the author recovers himself, and resumes his theme about sincerity as conducting to self-completion and the completion of other men and things, describing it also as possessing all the qualities which can be predicated of Heaven and Earth.
The Chinese Classics, passage 622
China was to him 'The Middle Kingdom [1],' 'The multitude of Great States [2],' 'All under heaven [3].' Beyond it were only rude and barbarous tribes. He does not speak of them bitterly, as many Chinese have done since his time.
The Chinese Classics, passage 10
The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean are both found in the Record of Rites, being the thirty-ninth and twenty-eighth Books respectively of that compilation, according to the best arrangement of it. 4. The oldest enumerations of the Classical Books specify only the five Ching. The Yo Chi, or 'Record of Music [7],' the remains of which now form one of the Books in the Li Chi, was sometimes added to those, making with them the six Ching.
The Chinese Classics, passage 221
If I should wish to requite it with good words, I am afraid that what I should say would not suit your ideas, so that I should speak in vain and not be listened to. The only way in which I can requite it, is by recommending to your notice men of worth.' The duke said. 'Men of worth are exactly what I desire.' 'Nay,' said Chi.
The Chinese Classics, passage 354
He was approaching his thirtieth year when, as he tells us, 'he stood [3]' firm, that is, in his convictions on the subjects of learning to which he had bent his mind fifteen years before.
The Chinese Classics, passage 69
99 [4]; Yung Shang [5]; and Wang Chi [6], a statesman who died in the beginning of the reign of the emperor Yuan. 3. But a third copy of the Analects was discovered about B.C. 150. One of the sons of the emperor Ching was appointed king of Lu [7] in the year B.C. 154, and some time after, wishing to enlarge his palace, he proceeded to pull down the house of the K'ung family, known as that where Confucius himself had lived. 1 太子大傳夏侯勝. 2 前將軍, 蕭望之. 3 丞相, 韋賢, 及子, 玄成. 4 王卿. 5 庸生. 6 中尉王吉.
The Chinese Classics, passage 138
1522-1566), when Wang Wan-ch'ang [2] published a copy of the Great Learning, taken from the T'ang edition of the Thirteen Ching, all the officers and scholars looked at one another in astonishment, and were inclined to supposed that the Work was a forgery. Besides adopting the reading of sin for ch'in from the Ch'ang, and modifying their arrangements of the text, Chu Hsi made other innovations.
The Chinese Classics, passage 239
From this statement it is argued by some, that the arrangement of it in thirty-three chapters, which originated with Chu Hsi, is wrong [2]; but this does not affect the question of integrity, and the character p'ien is so vague and indefinite, that we cannot affirm that K'ung Fu meant to tell us by it that Tsze-sze himself divided his Treatise into so many paragraphs or chapters.
The Chinese Classics, passage 576
You need not wish, Tsze, to know whether the dead have knowledge or not. There is no present urgency about the point. Hereafter you will know it for yourself [4].' Surely this was not the teaching proper to a sage. 1 Ana. XIV. xxxvii. 2 Ana. III. xii. 3 Ana. XI. xi. 4 家語, 卷二, art. 致思, towards the end. He said on one occasion that he had no concealments from his disciples [1]. Why did he not candidly tell his real thoughts on so interesting a subject?
The Chinese Classics, passage 539
This position and influence of Confucius are to be ascribed, I conceive, chiefly to two causes:-- his being the preserver, namely of l During the present dynasty, the tablet of 文昌帝君, the god of literature, has to a considerable extent displaced that of Confucius in schools. Yet the worship of him does not clash with that of the other. He is 'the father' of composition only. 2 The Chinese, vol. ii. p. 45.
The Chinese Classics, passage 161
But the above account of the object of the Great Learning leads us to the conclusion that the student of it should be a sovereign. What interest can an ordinary man have in it? It is high up in the clouds, far beyond his reach. This is a serious objection to it, and quite unfits it for a place in schools, such as Chu Hsi contends it once had.
The Chinese Classics, passage 693
Corresponding to the preceding, on the west, is the tablet of Fu Pu-ch'i styled Tsze-tsien (宓 [al. 密 and 虙, all = 伏] 不齊, 字子賤). He was a native of Lu, and, according to different accounts, thirty, forty, and forty-nine years younger than Confucius. He was commandant of Tan-fu ( 單父宰), and hardly needed to put forth any personal effort. Wu-ma Ch'i had been in the same office, and had succeeded by dint of the greatest industry and toil.
The Chinese Classics, passage 350
He had in it a presentiment of much of his future course. He was 'a man of the north, the south, the east, and the west.' He might not confine himself to any one State. He would travel, and his way might be directed to some 'wise ruler,' whom his counsels would conduct to a benevolent sway that would break forth on every side till it transformed the empire. 4. When the mourning for his mother was over, Confucius remained in Lu, but in what special capacity we do not know.
The Chinese Classics, passage 637
He says, 'What I do not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men;' but the master tells him, 'Tsze, you have not attained to that.' It would appear from this reply, that he was aware of the difficulty of obeying the precept ; and it is not found, in its condensed expression at least, in the older classics. The merit of it is Confucius's own.
The Chinese Classics, passage 300
Hence it is said,-- He is the equal of Heaven!' 'Who can know him but he who is indeed quick in apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, and all-embracing knowledge, possessing all heavenly virtue?' 8.
The Chinese Classics, passage 368
Sze-ma Ch'ien, favourable to Lao-tsze, makes him lecture his visitor in the following style:-- 'Those whom you talk about are dead, and their bones are moldered to dust; only their words remain. When the superior man gets his time, he mounts aloft; but when the time is against him, he moves as if his feet were entangled.
The Chinese Classics, passage 142
He was a fine scholar, and had taken the second degree, or that of Chu-zan. He applied to me in 1843 for Christian baptism, and, offended by my hesitancy, went and enrolled himself among the disciples of another missionary. He soon, however, 1 嘉靖. 2 王文成. 3 王魯齊. 4 李彭山. 5 高景逸. 6 葛屺瞻 7 聖經古本,南海羅仲藩註辨. withdrew into seclusion, and spent the last years of his life in literary studies. His family have published the Work on the Great Learning, and one or two others.
The Chinese Classics, passage 556
Since there were living men until now, there never was another Confucius;' and then he proceeded to fortify his 1 Ana. XIX. xxiii. 2 Ana. XIX. xxiv. 3 Ana. XIX. xxv. opinion by the concurring testimony of Tsai Wo, Tsze-kung, and Yu Zo, who all had wisdom, he thought, sufficient to know their master.
The Chinese Classics, passage 695
He was noted for his purity and modesty, and for his happiness in the principles of the master amid deep poverty. After the death of Confucius, he lived in obscurity in Wei. In the notes to Ana. VI. iii, I have referred to an interview which he had with Tsze-kung. 16. Kung-ye Ch'ang [al. Chih], styled Tsze-ch'ang [al. Tsze- chih], (公冶長 [al. 芝], 字子長 [al. 子芝]), has his tablet next to that of Pu-ch'i. He was son-in-law to Confucius. His nativity is assigned both to Lu and to Ch'i. 17.
The Chinese Classics, passage 307
He has exalted their sages above all that is called God or is worshipped, and taught the masses of the people that with them they have need of nothing from without. In the meantime it is antagonistic to Christianity. By-and-by, when Christianity has prevailed in China, men will refer to it as a striking proof how their fathers by their wisdom knew neither God nor themselves. CHAPTER V. CONFUCIUS AND HIS IMMEDIATE DISCIPLES.
The Chinese Classics, passage 568
Confucius preferred to speak of Heaven. Instances have already been given of this. Two others may be cited:-- 'He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray [3]?' 'Alas! ' said he, 'there is no one that knows me.' Tsze-kung said, 'What do you mean by thus saying that no one knows you?' He replied, 'I do not murmur against Heaven.
The Chinese Classics, passage 675
Yu replied, 'My master is a man who would rejoice in a government where right principles were carried out, and can find his joy in himself when that is not the case. Now right principles and virtue are as it were in a state of slumber. His wish is to rouse and put them in motion. Could he find a prince really anxious to rule according to them, he would walk on foot to his court and be glad to do so.
The Chinese Classics, passage 245
SECTION IV. ITS SCOPE AND VALUE. 1. The Doctrine of the Mean is a work not easy to understand. 'It first,' says the philosopher Chang, 'speaks of one principle; it next spreads this out and embraces all things; finally, it returns and gathers them up under the one principle.