The Chinese Classics
Confucius (James Legge translation)
783 passages indexed from The Chinese Classics (Confucius (James Legge translation)) — Page 13 of 16
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The Chinese Classics, passage 356
Seventeen years before, he had painfully felt his ignorance of ceremonial observances, and had made it his subsequent business to make himself acquainted with them. On his deathbed, he addressed his chief officer, saying, 'A knowledge of propriety is the stem of a man. Without it he has no means of standing firm. I have heard that there is one K'ung Ch'iu, who is thoroughly versed in it.
The Chinese Classics, passage 51
The investigation was committed to the Censors [1], and it being discovered that upwards of 460 scholars had violated the prohibitions, they were all buried alive in pits [2], for a warning to the empire, while degradation and banishment were employed more strictly than before against all who fell under suspicion.
The Chinese Classics, passage 120
SECTION I. HISTORY OF THE TEXT, AND THE DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENTS OF IT WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. 1. It has already been mentioned that 'The Great Learning' frms one of the Books of the Li Chi, or 'Record of Rites,' the formation of the text of which will be treated of in its proper place. I will only say here, that the Records of Rites had suffered much more, after the death of Confucius, than the other ancient Classics which were supposed to have been collected and digested by him.
The Chinese Classics, passage 775
Williams, 'good definitions of all the common characters, whose ancient forms are explained.' The Pei Wan Yun Fu (佩文韻府), generally known among foreigners as 'The Kang-hsi Thesaurus.' It was undertaken by an imperial order, and published in 1711, being probably, as Wylie says, 'the most extensive work of a lexicographical character ever produced.' It does for the phraseology of Chinese literature all, and more than all, that the Kang-hsi dictionary does for the individual characters.
The Chinese Classics, passage 449
Confucius was practising ceremonies with his disciples, we are told, under the shade of a large tree. Hwan T'ui, an ill-minded officer of Sung, heard of it, and sent a band of men to pull down the tree, and kill the philosopher, if they could get hold of him.
The Chinese Classics, passage 214
distress, sent a messenger to him with a coat of fox-fur, and being afraid that he might not receive it, he added the message,-- "When I borrow from a man, I forget it; when I give a thing, I part with it freely as if I threw it away." Tsze-sze declined the gift thus offered, and when Tsze- fang said, "I have, and you have not; why will you not take it?" he replied, "You give away as rashly as if you were casting your things into a ditch.
The Chinese Classics, passage 314
He is known as the duke Li [4], and to his elder brother belongs the honour of having the sage among his descendants. Three descents from Fu Ho, we find Chang K'ao-fu [5], who was a distinguished officer under the dukes Tai, Wu, and Hsuan [6] (B.C. 799- 728). He is still celebrated for his humility, and for his literary tastes.
The Chinese Classics, passage 324
'The two elder daughters were silent, but Chang-tsai said, 'Why do you ask us, father? It is for you to determine.' 'Very well,' said her father in reply, 'you will do.' Chang-tsai, accordingly, became Heh's wife, and in due time gave 1 防叔. 2 伯夏. 3 叔梁紇. 4 偪陽. 5 孟皮, 一字伯尼. 6 顏氏. 7 徵在. 8 其人, 身長十尺. See, on the length of the ancient foot, Ana. VIII. vi, but the point needs a more sifting investigation than it has yet received.
The Chinese Classics, passage 378
4 Quoted by Chiang Yung from the 'Narratives of the School.' of them may have done so. We shall find Confucius hereafter always moving amid a company of admiring pupils; but the greater number must have had their proper avocations and ways of living, and would only resort to the Master, when they wished specially to ask his counsel or to learn of him. 5. In the year succeeding the return to Lu, that State fell into great confusion.
The Chinese Classics, passage 439
See also Mencius, V. Pt. II. i. 4.; et al. 2 See Chiang Yung's Life of Confucius, 去魯周遊考. 3 Ana. III. xxiv. Confucius's fame, however, had gone before him, and he was in little danger of having to suffer from want. On arriving at the capital of Wei, he lodged at first with a worthy officer, named Yen Ch'au-yu [1].
The Chinese Classics, passage 96
Of these, in addition to 'The Great Learning,' 'The Doctrine of the Mean,' and 'The Works of Mencius,' I have looked over the Works of Hsun Ch'ing [2] of the orthodox school, of the philosophers Chwang and Lieh of the Taoist school [3], and of the heresiarch Mo [4]. In the Great Learning, Commentary, chapter iv, we have the words of Ana. XII. xiii. In the Doctrine of the Mean, ch. iii, we have Ana. VI. xxvii; and in ch. xxviii. 5, we have substantially Ana. III. ix. In Mencius, II. Pt. I. ii.
The Chinese Classics, passage 771
歷代疆域表, 'The Boundaries of the Nation in the successive Dynasties.' This Work by the same author, and published in 1817, does for the boundaries of the empire the same service which the preceding renders to its chronology. 歷代沿革表, 'The Topography of the Nation in the successive Dynasties.' Another Work by the same author, and of the same date as the preceding.
The Chinese Classics, passage 457
Tsze-lu was always the mentor on such occasions. He said to him, 'Master, I have heard you say, 1 See the 史記, 孔子世家, p. 6. 2 司城貞子. See Mencius, V. Pt. I. viii. 3. 3 Chiang Yung digests in this place two foolish stories,-- about a large bone found in the State of Yueh, and a bird which appeared in Ch'ia and died, shot through with a remarkable arrow. Confucius knew all about them. 4 吳. 5 蒲. 6 This ia related by Sze-ma ch'ien 孔子世家, p.
The Chinese Classics, passage 124
By those old copies, he intends the Work of Chang Hsuan, who published his commentary on the Classic, soon after it was completed by the additions of Ma Yung; and t is possible that the tablets were in confusion, and had not been arranged with sufficient care; but such a thing does not appear to have been suspected until the 1 戴德 2 戴聖 Shang was a second cousin of Teh. twelfth century, nor can any evidence from ancient monuments be adduced in its support.
The Chinese Classics, passage 726
His tablet is the next to that of No. 64. 67. Pu Shu-shang, styled Tsze-ch'e (步叔乘 [in the 'Narratives of the School' we have an old form of 乘], 字子車), a native of Ch'i. Sometimes for Pu (步) we find Shao (少). His tablet is the 30th, west. 68. Yuan K'ang, styled Tsze-chi (原亢, 字子籍), a native of Lu. Sze-ma Ch'ien calls him Yuan K'ang-chi, not mentioning any designation. The 'Narratives of the School' makes him Yuan K'ang (抗), styled Chi. His tablet is the 23rd, west. 69. Yo K'o [al.
The Chinese Classics, passage 435
Confucius regretfully took his departure, going away slowly and by easy stages [1]. He would have welcomed a message of recall. But the duke continued in his abandonment, and the sage went forth to thirteen weary years of homeless wandering. 8. On leaving Lu, Confucius first bent his steps westward to the State of Wei, situate about where the present provinces of Chih-li and Ho-nan adjoin. [Sidebar] He wanders from State to State. B.C. 497-484.
The Chinese Classics, passage 152
He felt that he had a higher mission than that with which the greater part of ancient and modern philosophers have contented themselves; and his immense love for the happiness of humanity, which dominated over all his other sentiments, has made of his 1 唐氏秦疏有曰,虞松校刻石經于魏表,引漢賈逵之言,曰,孔伋窮居于宋,懼先聖之學不 明,而帝王之道墜,故作大學以經之,中庸以緯之; see the 大學證文,一, p. 5.
The Chinese Classics, passage 400
To myself there seems nothing remarkable in it but a somewhat questionable dexterity. But it was well for the fame of Confucius that his time was not occupied during those years with official services. He turned them to better account, prosecuting his researches into the poetry, history, ceremonies, and music of the nation. Many disciples continued to resort to him, and the legendary writers tell us how he employed their services in digesting the results of his studies.
The Chinese Classics, passage 265
In the twelfth chapter Tsze-sze speaks again himself, and we seem at once to know the voice. He begins by saying that 'the way of the superior man reaches far and wide, and yet is 1 In the version in 'The Sacred Books of the East,' I call the Treatise 'The State of Equilibrium and Harmony.' 2 Ch. ix. 3 Ch. iv. 4 Ch. vi. 5 Ch. viii. 6 Ch. x. 7 Ch. xi. 8 Encyclopædia Britannica, Preliminary Dissertations, p. 318, eighth edition.
The Chinese Classics, passage 309
In the reign of K'ang-hsi, twenty-one centuries and a half after the death of the sage, they amounted to eleven thousand males. But their ancestry is carried back through a period of equal extent, and genealogical tables are common, in which the descent of Confucius is traced down from Hwang-ti, in whose reign the cycle was invented, B.C. 2637 [1]. The more moderate writers, however, content themselves with exhibiting his ancestry back to the commencement of the Chau dynasty, B.C. 1121.
The Chinese Classics, passage 619
First, they are adapted to a primitive, unsophisticated state of society. He is a good counsellor for the father of a family, the chief of a clan, and even the head of a small principality. But his views want the comprehension which would make them of much service in a great dominion. Within three centuries after his death,the government of China passed into a new phase.
The Chinese Classics, passage 205
Or is it that, in your admiration of the ways of Yao and Shun, you are vexed that you fall short of them?' 'Child,' replied Confucius, 'how is it that you know my thoughts?' 'I have often,' said Tsze-sze, 'heard from you the lesson, that when the father has gathered and prepared the firewood, if the son cannot carry the bundle, he is to be pronounced degenerate and unworthy. The remark comes frequently into my thoughts, and fills me with great apprehensions.' The sage was delighted. He 1.
The Chinese Classics, passage 46
While they make a pretense of vaunting their Master, they consider it fine to have extraordinary views of their own. And so they lead on the people to be guilty of murmuring and evil speaking. If these things are not prohibited, Your Majesty's authority will decline, and parties will be formed.
The Chinese Classics, passage 308
SECTION I. LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. 1. 'And have you foreigners surnames as well?' This question has often been put to me by Chinese. It marks the ignorance which belongs to the people of all that is external to [Sidebar] His ancestry. themselves, and the pride of antiquity which enters largely as an element into their character. If such a pride could in any case be justified, we might allow it to the family of the K'ung, the descendants of Confucius.
The Chinese Classics, passage 716
子期 and 子文]), a native of Lu, whose tablet precedes that of Ch'i-tiao Ch'ih. 42. Zang Sze-ch'ih, styled Tsze-t'u, or Tsze-ts'ung (壤 [al. 穰] 駟赤, 字 子徒 [al. 子從]), a native of Ch'in. Some consider Zang-sze (壤駟) to be a double surname. His tablet comes after that of No. 40. 43. Shang Chai, styled Tsze-Ch'i and Tsze-hsiu (商澤, 字子季 [al. 子秀 ]), a native of Lu. His tablet is immediately after that of Fan Hsu, No. 26. 44. Shih Tso [al. Chih and Tsze]-shu, styled Tsze-ming (石作 [al. 之 and 子], 蜀, 字子明).
The Chinese Classics, passage 38
From the highest antiquity there has been no one in awful virtue like Your Majesty." 'The emperor was pleased with this flattery, when Shun-yu Yueh [3], one of the Great Scholars, a native of Ch'i, advanced and said, "The sovereigns of Yin and Chau, for more than a thousand years, invested their sons and younger brothers, and meritorious ministers, with domains and rule, and could thus depend upon them for support and aid;-- that I have heard.
The Chinese Classics, passage 323
There were three daughters in the family, the youngest being named Chang-tsai [7]. Their father said to them, 'Here is the commandant of Tsau. His father and grandfather were only scholars, but his ancestors before them were descendants of the sage sovereigns. He is a man ten feet high [8], and of extraordinary prowess, and I am very desirous of his alliance. Though he is old and austere, you need have no misgivings about him. Which of you three will be his wife?
The Chinese Classics, passage 471
'It is impossible to associate with birds and beasts as if they were the same with us. If I associate not with these people,-- with mankind,-- with whom shall I associate? If right principles prevailed through the kingdom, there would be no need for me to change its state [1].' About the same time he had an encounter with another recluse, who was known as 'The madman of Ch'u.' He passed by the carriage of Confucius, singing out, 'O phoenix, O phoenix, how is your virtue degenerated!
The Chinese Classics, passage 744
It is a book for the student who is somewhat advanced, rather than for the learner. I have often perused it with interest and advantage. 四書遵註合講, 'The Four Books, according to the Commentary, with Paraphrase.' Published in the eighth year of Yung Chang, A.D. 1730, by Wang Fu [al. K'eh-fu] (翁復 [al. 克夫]). Every page is divided into two parts. Below, we have the text and Chu Hsi's commentary. Above, we have an analysis of every chapter, followed by a paraphrase of the several paragraphs.
The Chinese Classics, passage 188
This may not be a sufficient account of that object, but it is much to have it so clearly laid down to 'all kings and governors,' that they are to love the people, ruling not for their own gratification but for the good of those over whom they are exalted by Heaven. Very important also is the statement that rulers have no divine right but what springs from the discharge of their duty. 'The decree does not always rest on them. Goodness obtains it, and the want of goodness loses it [1].' Second.
The Chinese Classics, passage 371
Today I have seen Lao-tsze, and can only compare him to the dragon [3].' While at Lo, Confucius walked over the grounds set apart for the great sacrifices to Heaven and Earth; inspected the pattern of the Hall of Light, built to give audience in to the princes of the kingdom; and examined all the arrangements of the ancestral temple and the court.
The Chinese Classics, passage 224
Yet if you examine their beginnings, you will find that from the business of husbandry they came forth to found their States. I did certainly have my doubts that in the selection of your officers you did not have regard to their real character and capacity.' With this the conversation ended. The duke was silent [1]. Tsze-sze was naturally led to Sung, as the K'ung family originally sprang from that principality. One account, quoted in 'The 1 See the 氏姓譜,卷一百二,孔氏,孔伋.
The Chinese Classics, passage 680
In my serving of Confucius, I am like a thirsty man who goes with his pitcher to the river, and there he drinks his fill, without knowing the river's depth.' He took leave of Confucius to become commandant of Hsin-yang (信陽宰), when the master said to him, 'In dealing with your subordinates, there is nothing like impartiality; and when wealth comes in your way, there is nothing like moderation. Hold fast these two things, and do not swerve from them.
The Chinese Classics, passage 550
Tsze-kung on several occasions spoke in a different style. Having heard that one of the chiefs of Lu had said that he himself -- Tsze-kung -- was superior to Confucius, he observed, 'Let me use the comparison of a house and its encompassing wall. My wall 1 Ana. IX. i. 2 Ana. IX. iii. 3 Ana. IX. x. only reaches to the shoulders. One may peep over it, and see whatever is valuable in the apartments. The wall of my master is several fathoms high.
The Chinese Classics, passage 445
3 see the 史記, 孔子世家, p. 5. 4 陳國. 5. 匡. 6 Ana. IX. v. In Ana. XI. xxii, there is another reference to this time, in which Yen Hui is made to appear. 7 See the Li Chi, II. Sect. I. ii. 16. honourable mention is made in the Analects [1]. But this time he did not remain long in the State. The duke was [Sidebar] B.C. 495. married to a lady of the house of Sung, known by the name of Nan-tsze, notorious for her intrigues and wickedness.
The Chinese Classics, passage 176
Proceeding from the view of human nature that it is entirely good, and led astray only by influences from without, the sage of China and his followers attribute to personal example and to instruction a power which we do not find that they actually possess. 7. The steps which precede the cultivation of the person are more briefly dealt with than those which we have just considered.
The Chinese Classics, passage 647
In the second Book of the Li Chi there is the following passage:-- 'With the slayer of his father, a man may not live under the same heaven; against the slayer of his brother, a man must never have to go home to fetch a weapon; with the slayer of 1 Ana. XIII. xix. 2 Ana. XIV. xxxvi. 3 禮記, 表記, par. 12. 4 非禮之正. 5 See notes in loc., p. 288. his friend, a man may not live in the same State [1].' The lex talionis is here laid down in its fullest extent.
The Chinese Classics, passage 602
There are five women who are not to be taken in marriage:-- the daughter of a rebellious house; the daughter of a disorderly house; the daughter of a house which has produced criminals for more than one generation; the daughter of a leprous house; and the daughter who has lost her father and elder brother. A wife may be divorced for seven reasons, which, however, may be overruled by three considerations.
The Chinese Classics, passage 28
136 a special Board was constituted, consisting of literati, who were put in charge of the five Ching [4]. 4. The collections reported on by Liu Hsin suffered damage in the troubles which began A.D. 8, and continued till the rise of the second or eastern Han dynasty in the year 25. The founder of it (A.D. 25-57) zealously promoted the undertaking of his predecessors, and additional repositories were required for the Books which were collected.
The Chinese Classics, passage 97
19, we have Ana. VII. xxxiii, and in vii. 2, Ana. IV. i; in III. Pt. I. iv. 11, Ana. VIII. xviii, xix; in IV. Pt. I. xiv. 1, Ana. XI. xvi. 2; in V. Pt. II. vii. 9, Ana. X. xiii. 4; and in VII. Pt. II. xxxvii. 1, 2, 8, Ana. V. xxi, XIII. xxi, and XVII. xiii. These quotations, however, are introduced by 'The Master said,' or 'Confucius said,' no mention being made of any book called 'The Lun Yu,' or Analects. In the Great Learning, Commentary, x. 15, we have the words of Ana. IV.
The Chinese Classics, passage 678
Confucius used to say, 'From the time that I got Ts'ze, scholars from a distance came daily resorting to me.' Several instances of the language which he used to express his admiration of the master have been given in the last section. Here is another:-- The duke Ching of Ch'i asked Tsze-kung how Chung-ni was to be ranked as a sage. 'I do not know,' was the reply.
The Chinese Classics, passage 652
If the principal on whom the revenge devolves can take it, he has only to stand behind with his weapon in his hand, and support him [3].' Sir John Davis has rightly called attention to this as one of the objectionable principles of Confucius [4]. The bad effects of it are evident even in the present day. Revenge is sweet to the Chinese.
The Chinese Classics, passage 21
On this, Hsin collected all the Books, and presented a report of them, under seven divisions.' The first of these divisions seems to have been a general catalogue [8] containing perhaps only the titles of the works included in the other six. The second embraced the Classical Works [9].
The Chinese Classics, passage 708
How did you know that it would rain?' Confucius said, 'The moon last evening was in the constellation Pi, and is it not said in the Shih-ching, "When the moon is in Pi, there will be heavy rain?" It was thus I knew it.' 30. Liang Chan [al. Li], styled Shu-yu (梁鱣 [al. 鯉] 字叔魚), occupies the eighth place, west, among the tablets of the outer court. He was a man of Ch'i, and his age is stated as twenty-nine and thirty-nine years younger than Confucius.
The Chinese Classics, passage 416
But he signalized himself most of all in B.C. 500, by his behavior at an interview between the dukes of Lu and Ch'i, at a place called Shih-ch'i [3], and Chia-ku [4], in the present district of Lai-wu, in the department of T'ai-an [5]. Confucius was present as master of ceremonies on the part of Lu, and the meeting was professedly pacific. The two princes were to form a covenant of alliance.
The Chinese Classics, passage 193
SECTION I. ITS PLACE IN THE LI CHI, AND ITS PUBLICATION SEPARATELY. 1. The Doctrine of the Mean was one of the treatises which came to light in connexion with the labors of Liu Hsiang, and its place as the thirty-first Book in the Li Chi was finally determined by Ma Yung and Chang Hsuan. In the translation of the Li Chi in 'The Sacred Books of the East' it is the twenty-eighth Treatise. 2.
The Chinese Classics, passage 438
When they arrived at the borders of Wei at a place called I, the warden sought an interview, and on coming out from the sage, he tried to comfort the disciples, saying, 'My friends, why are you distressed at your master's loss of office? The world has been long without the principles of truth and right; Heaven is going to use your master as a bell with its wooden tongue [3].' Such was the thought of this friendly stranger. The bell did indeed sound, but few had ears to hear. 1 史記, 孔子世家, p. 5.
The Chinese Classics, passage 206
魯穆(or 繆)公. 2. 聖廟祀典圖考. 3. 或以六十二似八十二之誤. Eighty-two and sixty-two may more easily be confounded, as written in Chinese, than with the Roman figures. 4 See the 四書集證, on the preface to the Chung Yung, -- 年百餘歲卒. 5 Li himself was born in Confucius's twenty-first year, and if Tsze-sze had been born in Li's twenty-first year, he must have been 103 at the time of duke Mu's accession. But the tradition is, that Tsze-sze was a pupil of Tsang Shan who was born B.C. 504.
The Chinese Classics, passage 170
It is said at once, 'What is meant by "The making the whole kingdom peaceful and happy depends on the government of the State," is this:-- When the sovereign behaves to his aged, as the aged should be behaved to, the people become filial; when the sovereign behaves to his elders, as elders should be behaved to, the people learn brotherly submission; when the sovereign treats compassionately the young and helpless, the people do the same [2].' This is nothing but a repetition of the preceding chapter, instead of that chapter's being made a step from which to go on to the splendid consummation of the good government of the whole kingdom.
The Chinese Classics, passage 610
We laugh at the 'self-denying ordinance,' and the 'new model' of 1644, but there lay beneath them the principle which Confucius so broadly propounded,-- the importance of personal virtue in all who are in authority.