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EXTRACT FROM THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS (LUN YU) Confucius, 479 BC (CE)
Note: Confucius (Kong Qiu or K'ung Ch'iu, 551 BC-479 BC) was the most famous philosopher and "the Grand Master of All Ages" throughout Chinese history. The Analects of Confucius, compiled by pupils after his death, has been the essence of Confucianism for more than 2,500 years. It is a treasure of Chinese culture and a paragon of world philosophical thought. The following extracts from the Analects are based on the Lun Yu in Chinese, English, French, and Japanese (Hong Kong: Confucius Publishing Co., Ltd., 1996). I wish to thank the Confucius Hall of Hong Kong for providing a free copy. -- Yuegen Yu, Ph.D.
Chapter One: To Learn
· Confucius said: "To learn and to practice what is learned time and again is pleasure, is it not? To have friends come from afar is happiness, is it not? To be unperturbed when not appreciated by others is gentlemanly, is it not?"
· Tseng Tzu said: "Each day I examine myself on three counts: whether or not I am loyal to those in whose behalf I act; whether or not I am trustworthy in my dealings with friends; whether or not I practise what is imparted."
· Tzu Hsia said: "To revere virtue instead of beauty, to devote all strength to serve parents, to be willing to die in serving the lord, to speak with trustwothiness with friends: even though it is said this is not to have learned, I say this is."
· Confucius said: "Do not be concerned about others not appreciating you. Be concerned about your not appreciating others."
Chapter Two: To Rule
· Confucius said: "To rule with virtue is like the North Star in its place, around which all other stars revolve, in homage."
· Confucius said: "Lead through policies, discipline through punishment, and the people may be restrained but without a sense of shame. Lead through virtue, discipline through the rites, and there will be a sense of shame and conscientious improvements.
· Confucius said: "At fifteen, I aspired to learning. At thirty, I established my stand. At forty, I had no delusions. At fifty, I knew my destiny. At sixty, I knew truth in all I heard. At seventy, I could follow the wishes of my heart without doing wrong."
· Confucius said: "To acknowledge what is known as known, and what is not known as not known is knowledge."
Chapter Three: Eight Rows of Eight Dancers
· Duke Ting asked: "What do you say about how the lord should employ his subjects and how the subjects should serve their lord." Confucius replied: "The lord should employ his subjects in accordance with the rites. The subjects should serve their lord with loyalty.
Chapter Four: To Live Among the Benevolent
· Confucius said: "During your parents' lifetime, do not journey afar. If a journey has to be made, your direction must be told."
· Confucius said: "The gentleman understands righteousness, the petty man understands profit."
Chapter Five: Kung-Yeh Chang
· Tzu Kung said: "I do not wish to be imposed upon by others, nor do I wish to impose upon others." Confucius said: "Tsu, that you have not attained."
· Confucius said: "He was quick and devoted to learning, and unshamed to ask of those below him. That is why was called 'wen' (learned)."
Chapter Seven: To Relate
· Confucius said: "When three men walk together, there is always something I can learn. Choose what is good in them and correct what is not good."
· The four teachings of Confucius: literature, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness.
· Confucius said: "The gentleman is free and bountiful, the petty man is bound and grieving."
Chapter Eight: Tai Po
· Tseng Tsu said: " A scholar must not be without scope and persistence, for his responsibility is weighty and his way is long. Benevolence is the responsibility he has taken upon himself: is it not weighty? Only after his death does it end: is it not long?"
· Confucius said: "The people may be made to follow, but may not be made to know?"
· Confucius said: "When not in the official position, do not be involved with its policies."
Chapter Nine: Confucius Seldom Spoke of Profit
· Confucius said: "The three armies can be deprived of their commanding officer, but a common man can not be deprived of his aspirations."
Chapter Twelve: Yen Yuen
· Confucius said: "To discipline self to fulfill the rites is benevolence. The day when self-discipline fulfils the rites, all under heaven would be with benevolence. Indeed, the practices of benevolence originate from self and not from others!" "Do not look at what is not inaccordance with the rites; do not listen to what is not inaccordance with the rites; do not speak when it is not inaccordance with the rites, do not act when it is not inaccordance with the rites.
· Confucius said: "What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others."
· Tzu Hsia said: "Life and death are predestined, riches and position are up to heaven. The gentleman is respectful and does no wrong, courteous towards others, and is with the rites. All within the four seas are his brothers."
· Yu Jo said to Duke Ai: "If it is sufficient for the people, how could it be insufficient for the lord? If it is insufficient for the people, how could it be sufficient for the lord?"
· Confucius said: "Let the lords be lords, the subjects be subjects, the fathers be fathers, the sons be sons."
· Confucius said: "The gentleman helps others to accomplish good. He does not help others to accomplish vice. The petty man does the reverse."
Chapter Fourteen: Hsien Asked
· Confucius said: "A man who has virtue is sure to have something to say. A man who has something to say is not sure to have virtue. A man who has benevolence is sure to have courage. A man who has courage is not sure to have benevolence."
· Confucius said: "When not in the official position, do not be involved with its policies."
· Confucius said: "Do not be concerned about others not appreciating you. Be concerned about your own inabilities."
· Confucius said: "A gentleman is ashamed if his words outshine his actions."
· Someone said: "'Repay complaint with virtue.' What do you say?" Confucius said: "And how should virtue be repaid? Repay complaint with honesty, and virtue with virtue."
Chapter Fifteen: Duke Ling of Wei
· Confucius said: "Men who do not care about the future, will soon have trouble."
· Confucius said: "The gentleman does not elevate a man because of what he speaks, nor abandon what is spoken because of the speaker."
· Confucius said: "Clever talk disorder virtue. Intolerance in small matters disorders big plans."
· Confucius said: "Having made a mistake, not to correct it is a mistake indeed."
· Confucius said: "Teach without discrimination."
Chapter Sixteen: Chi
· Confucius said: ". . . I have heared that the lord of a state or a family concerns himself not with scarcity, but rather with uneven distribution, not with poverty but with discontent."
Chapter Seventeen: Yang Huo
· Confucius said: "So close to each other in nature, yet so far from each other through experience."
· Confucius said: "Only the wisest and the most dull-witted are unchangeable."
· When asked about benevolence, Confucius said: "The ability to enact the five everywhere under heaven is benevolence." "Courtesy, tolerance, trustworthiness, quickness and generosity."
· Confucius said: "Only women and petty men are difficult to handle. Be close to them and they are not humble, keep them at arm's length and they complain."
Chapter Nineteen: Tzu Chang
· Tzu Hsia said: "Excel in public office and learn. Excel in learning and assume public office."