Confucius Said, 'Among Us, In Our Part Of The Country, Those
Who Are Upright Are Different From This.
The father conceals the
misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the
father.
Uprightness is to be found in this.'
CHAP. XIX. Fan Ch'ih asked about perfect virtue. The Master
said, 'It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management
of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others,
to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude, uncultivated
tribes, these qualities may not be neglected.'
CHAP. XX. 1. Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'What qualities must a
man possess to entitle him to be called an officer? The Master said,
'He who in his conduct of himself maintains a sense of shame, and
when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince's commission,
deserves to be called an officer.'
3. Tsze-kung pursued, 'I venture to ask who may be placed in
the next lower rank?' And he was told, 'He whom the circle of his
relatives pronounce to be filial, whom his fellow-villagers and
neighbours pronounce to be fraternal.'
3. Again the disciple asked, 'I venture to ask about the class
still next in order.' The Master said, 'They are determined to be
sincere in what they say, and to carry out what they do. They are
obstinate little men. Yet perhaps they may make the next class.'
4. Tsze-kung finally inquired, 'Of what sort are those of the
present day, who engage in government?' The Master said 'Pooh!
they are so many pecks and hampers, not worth being taken into
account.'
CHAP. XXI. The Master said, 'Since I cannot get men pursuing
the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I
must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will
advance and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided will keep
themselves from what is wrong.'
CHAP. XXII. 1. The Master said, 'The people of the south have
a saying - "A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a
doctor." Good!
2. 'Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace.'
3. The Master said, 'This arises simply from not attending to
the prognostication.'
CHAP. XXIII. The Master said, 'The superior man is affable,
but not adulatory; the mean man is adulatory, but not affable.'
CHAP. XXIV. Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'What do you say of a
man who is loved by all the people of his neighborhood?' The
Master replied, 'We may not for that accord our approval of him.'
'And what do you say of him who is hated by all the people of his
neighborhood?' The Master said, 'We may not for that conclude that
he is bad. It is better than either of these cases that the good in the
neighborhood love him, and the bad hate him.'
CHAP. XXV. The Master said, 'The superior man is easy to
serve and difficult to please.
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