Confucian Canon phần 10 pdf

benevolence will be the result. All men have some things which they will not do;-- extend that feeling to the things

which they do, and righteousness will be the result.

911

2. 'If a man can give full development to the feeling which makes him shrink from injuring others, his benevolence will

be more than can be called into practice. If he can give full development to the feeling which refuses to break through,

or jump over, a wall, his righteousness will be more than can be called into practice.

912

3. 'If he can give full development to the real feeling of dislike with which he receives the salutation, "Thou," "Thou," he

will act righteously in all places and circumstances.

913

4. 'When a scholar speaks what he ought not to speak, by guile of speech seeking to gain some end; and when he

does not speak what he ought to speak, by guile of silence seeking to gain some end;-- both these cases are of a piece

with breaking through a neighbour's wall.'

914

1. Mencius said, 'Words which are simple, while their meaning is far-reaching, are good words. Principles which, as

held, are compendious, while their application is extensive, are good principles. The words of the superior man do not

go below the girdle, but great principles are contained in them.

915

2. 'The principle which the superior man holds is that of personal cultivation, but the kingdom is thereby tranquillized.

916

3. 'The disease of men is this:-- that they neglect their own fields, and go to weed the fields of others, and that what

they require from others is great, while what they lay upon themselves is light.'

917

1. Mencius said, 'Yýo and Shun were what they were by nature; T'ang and Wÿ were so by returning to natural virtue.

918

2. 'When all the movements, in the countenance and every turn of the body, are exactly what is proper, that shows the

extreme degree of the complete virtue. Weeping for the dead should be from real sorrow, and not because of the

living. The regular path of virtue is to be pursued without any bend, and from no view to emolument. The words should

all be necessarily sincere, not with any desire to do what is right.

919

3. 'The superior man performs the law of right, and thereby waits simply for what has been appointed.'

920

1. Mencius said, 'Those who give counsel to the great should despise them, and not look at their pomp and display.

Confucian Canon, Retrieved from HolyBooks.net

921

2. 'Halls several times eight cubits high, with beams projecting several cubits;-- these, if my wishes were to be realized,

I would not have. Food spread before me over ten cubits square, and attendants and concubines to the amount of

hundreds;-- these, though my wishes were realized, I would not have. Pleasure and wine, and the dash of hunting, with

thousands of chariots following after me;-- these, though my wishes were realized, I would not have. What they esteem

are what I would have nothing to do with; what I esteem are the rules of the ancients.-- Why should I stand in awe of

them?' Mencius said, 'To nourish the mind there is nothing better than to make the desires few. Here is a man whose

desires are few:-- in some things he may not be able to keep his heart, but they will be few. Here is a man whose

desires are many:-- in some things he may be able to keep his heart, but they will be few.'

922

1. Mencius said, 'Tsang Hsþ was fond of sheep-dates, and his son, the philosopher Tsang, could not bear to eat

sheep-dates.'

923

2. Kung-sun Ch'ýu asked, saying, 'Which is best,-- minced meat and broiled meat, or sheep-dates?' Mencius said,

'Mince and broiled meat, to be sure.' Kung-sun Ch'ýu went on, 'Then why did the philosopher Tsang eat mince and

broiled meat, and would not eat sheep-dates?' Mencius answered, 'For mince and broiled meat there is a common

liking, while that for sheep-dates was peculiar. We avoid the name, but do not avoid the surname. The surname is

common; the name is peculiar.'

924

1. Wan Chang asked, saying, 'Confucius, when he was in Ch'an, said: "Let me return. The scholars of my school are

ambitious, but hasty. They are for advancing and seizing their object, but cannot forget their early ways." Why did

Confucius, when he was in Ch'an, think of the ambitious scholars of Lÿ?'

925

2. Mencius replied, 'Confucius not getting men pursuing the true medium, to whom he might communicate his

instructions, determined to take the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent would advance to seize their object;

the cautiously-decided would keep themselves from certain things. It is not to be thought that Confucius did not wish to

get men pursuing the true medium, but being unable to assure himself of finding such, he therefore thought of the next

class.'

926

3. 'I venture to ask what sort of men they were who could be styled "The ambitious?"'

927

4. 'Such,' replied Mencius, 'as Ch'in Chang, Tsang Hsþ, and Mÿ P'ei, were those whom Confucius styled "ambitious."'

928

5. 'Why were they styled "ambitious?"'

929

6. The reply was, 'Their aim led them to talk magniloquently, saying, "The ancients!" "The ancients!" But their actions,

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