The Analects
Book 12 · Yan Yuan
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Yan Yuan · 12.1
Yan Yuan asked about humaneness. The Master said, “To master oneself and return to ritual propriety is humaneness. If one could master oneself and return to ritual propriety for even a day, all under Heaven would turn toward humaneness. Practicing humaneness depends on oneself. Could it depend on others?”
Yan Yuan said, “May I ask for its specific requirements?”
The Master said, “Do not look at what is contrary to ritual propriety. Do not listen to what is contrary to ritual propriety. Do not say what is contrary to ritual propriety. Do not act contrary to ritual propriety.”
Yan Yuan said, “Though I, Hui, am not quick to understand, let me put these words into practice.”
Yan Yuan · 12.2
Zhonggong asked about humaneness. The Master said, “When going out to attend to affairs, act as though receiving an honored guest. When directing the people, act as though assisting at a great sacrifice. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not want. Give no cause for resentment in the state or in a great officer's household.”
Zhonggong said, “Though I, Yong, am not quick to understand, let me put these words into practice.”
Yan Yuan · 12.3
Sima Niu asked about humaneness. The Master said, “The humane person is cautious and slow to speak.” Sima Niu said, “Is being cautious and slow to speak what you call humaneness?” The Master said, “When doing it is difficult, how could speaking of it fail to require caution?”
Yan Yuan · 12.4
Sima Niu asked about the exemplary person. The Master said, “The exemplary person is free from worry and fear.” Sima Niu said, “Is being free from worry and fear what you call being an exemplary person?” The Master said, “If looking within reveals nothing to be ashamed of, what is there to worry about or fear?”
Yan Yuan · 12.5
Sima Niu said sorrowfully, “Everyone else has brothers; I alone have none.” Zixia said, “I, Shang, have heard this: ‘Life and death depend on the mandate; wealth and honor lie with Heaven.’ If an exemplary person is reverent and makes no errors, and treats others with respect and ritual propriety, then all within the four seas are his brothers. Why should an exemplary person worry about having no brothers?”
Yan Yuan · 12.6
Zizhang asked about clear understanding. The Master said, “If slander that seeps in little by little, and accusations that make an injury feel as close as one's own skin, find no foothold with you, you may be called clear-sighted. If such slander and accusations find no foothold with you, you may also be called far-sighted.”
Yan Yuan · 12.7
Zigong asked about government. The Master said, “Sufficient food, sufficient arms, and the people's trust.”
Zigong said, “If you were forced to give up one of these three, which would go first?”
“Give up arms.”
Zigong said, “If you were forced to give up one of the remaining two, which would go first?”
“Give up food. Since ancient times, everyone has had to die; without the people's trust, the state cannot stand.”
Yan Yuan · 12.8
Ji Zicheng said, “An exemplary person needs only genuine substance. What use is refinement?” Zigong said, “What a pity, sir, that you should speak this way about the exemplary person! A team of four horses cannot catch a spoken word. Refinement is as necessary as substance, and substance as necessary as refinement. Stripped of their patterned fur, the hides of tigers and leopards are like those of dogs and sheep.”
Yan Yuan · 12.9
Duke Ai asked You Ruo, “The harvest has failed and our expenditures cannot be met. What should be done?” You Ruo replied, “Why not adopt the one-tenth tax?”
The duke said, “Even two-tenths is not enough for me. How could I manage with one-tenth?”
You Ruo replied, “If the people have enough, with whom would their ruler share insufficiency? If the people do not have enough, with whom would their ruler share abundance?”
Yan Yuan · 12.10
Zizhang asked how to elevate virtue and distinguish confusion. The Master said, “Make wholeheartedness and trustworthiness your foundation, and move toward what is right: that is elevating virtue. Loving someone, you wish them to live; hating them, you wish them to die. Wishing them both to live and to die: that is confusion.”
“It is certainly not because of wealth;
it is simply because feelings have changed.”
Yan Yuan · 12.11
Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, “Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, and the son a son.” The duke said, “Well said! Indeed, if the ruler is not a ruler, the minister not a minister, the father not a father, and the son not a son, even if there were grain, could I enjoy eating it?”
Yan Yuan · 12.12
The Master said, “Someone who could settle a lawsuit with a single statement—would that not be You?” Zilu never left a promise unfulfilled overnight.
Yan Yuan · 12.13
The Master said, “In hearing lawsuits, I am no different from others. What I would surely seek is to bring it about that there are no lawsuits.”
Yan Yuan · 12.14
Zizhang asked about government. The Master said, “Occupy your post without weariness, and carry out its duties with wholehearted devotion.”
Yan Yuan · 12.15
The Master said, “Broaden your learning through cultural texts and discipline yourself through ritual propriety. In this way you may avoid departing from the Way.”
This saying also appears in the Yong Ye book.
Yan Yuan · 12.16
The Master said, “The exemplary person helps others fulfill what is good in them, and does not help them fulfill what is bad. The petty person does the reverse.”
Yan Yuan · 12.17
Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, “To govern is to set things right. If you lead by being upright yourself, who would dare not be upright?”
Yan Yuan · 12.18
Ji Kangzi was troubled by theft and asked Confucius about it. Confucius replied, “If you yourself were free from greed, the people would not steal even if you rewarded them for it.”
Yan Yuan · 12.19
Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about government: “What if we killed those without the Way in order to advance those who possess it?”
Confucius replied, “In governing, what need have you of killing? If you desire goodness, the people will be good. The virtue of the exemplary person is like wind; that of the common people is like grass. When wind passes over grass, the grass is sure to bend.”
Yan Yuan · 12.20
Zizhang asked, “What must a person of service be like to be called accomplished?” The Master said, “What do you mean by ‘accomplished’?”
Zizhang replied, “Surely being renowned in the state and renowned in a great officer's household.”
The Master said, “That is being renowned, not being accomplished. An accomplished person is genuine and upright, loves what is right, attends to words and observes expressions, and is mindful of placing himself below others. He will be accomplished in the state and in a great officer's household.
“The renowned person puts on an appearance of humaneness while acting against it, and rests in this without doubt. He will be renowned in the state and in a great officer's household.”
Yan Yuan · 12.21
Fan Chi accompanied the Master on a walk below the Rain Dance Terrace. He said, “May I ask how to elevate virtue, correct hidden faults, and distinguish confusion?”
The Master said, “An excellent question! Put the work first and its rewards afterward—is that not elevating virtue? Attack your own faults, not those of others—is that not correcting hidden faults? In a moment of anger, forget your own safety and endanger your family as well—is that not confusion?”
Yan Yuan · 12.22
Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, “Love people.” He asked about wisdom. The Master said, “Know people.” Fan Chi did not understand. The Master said, “Raise up the upright and place them above the crooked; this can make the crooked upright.”
Fan Chi withdrew and met Zixia. He said, “Just now I saw the Master and asked about wisdom. He said, ‘Raise up the upright and place them above the crooked; this can make the crooked upright.’ What did he mean?”
Zixia said, “How rich those words are! When Shun ruled all under Heaven, he selected from the multitude and raised up Gao Yao; those lacking humaneness kept far away. When Tang ruled all under Heaven, he selected from the multitude and raised up Yi Yin; those lacking humaneness kept far away.”
Yan Yuan · 12.23
Zigong asked about friendship. The Master said, “Advise your friend wholeheartedly and guide them skillfully toward what is good. If that proves impossible, stop; do not bring humiliation on yourself.”
Yan Yuan · 12.24
Master Zeng said, “The exemplary person gathers friends through shared cultural learning, and through friends sustains humaneness.”
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