The Analects
Book 17 · Yang Huo
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Yang Huo · 17.1
Yang Huo wished to see Confucius, but Confucius would not see him. Yang Huo sent him a piglet. Confucius timed his visit of thanks for when Yang Huo was away, but met him on the road.
Yang Huo said, “Come here. I want to speak with you. Can someone be called humane if he hides his treasure of ability and lets his state go astray?”
“No.”
“Can someone be called wise if he wishes to take part in affairs, yet repeatedly misses the right time?”
“No.”
“The days and months are passing. The years will not wait for us.”
Confucius said, “Yes. I shall take office.”
Yang Huo · 17.2
The Master said, “By nature, people are close to one another; through acquired habits, they grow far apart.”
Yang Huo · 17.3
The Master said, “Only the very wise and the very foolish do not change.”
Yang Huo · 17.4
The Master went to Wucheng and heard string music and singing. He smiled and said, “Why use an ox knife to kill a chicken?”
Ziyou replied, “Previously I heard you say, ‘When those in authority learn the Way, they love people; when common people learn the Way, they are easy to direct.’”
The Master said, “My disciples! Yan's words are right. What I said before was only a joke.”
Yang Huo · 17.5
Gongshan Furao, holding Bi in rebellion, summoned the Master, who wished to go. Zilu was displeased and said, “If there is nowhere to go, let it be! Why must you go to Gongshan's household?”
The Master said, “Would someone who summons me do so for nothing? If someone were to employ me, might I not revive the Zhou Way here in the east?”
Yang Huo · 17.6
Zizhang asked Confucius about humaneness. Confucius said, “To be able to practice five things everywhere under Heaven is humaneness.”
“May I ask what they are?”
“Respectfulness, generosity of spirit, trustworthiness, diligence, and kindness. Respectfulness prevents insult; generosity of spirit wins the people; trustworthiness makes others rely on you; diligence brings results; and kindness enables you to enlist people's service.”
Yang Huo · 17.7
Bi Xi summoned the Master, who wished to go. Zilu said, “Previously I heard you say, ‘The exemplary person does not join someone who personally does what is wrong.’ Bi Xi is holding Zhongmou in rebellion. How can you go to him?”
The Master said, “Yes, I said that. But is it not said that what is truly hard cannot be ground thin? Is it not said that what is truly white cannot be dyed black? Am I a bottle gourd? How could I simply hang there and never eat?”
Yang Huo · 17.8
The Master said, “You, have you heard of the six qualities and their six blind spots?”
He replied, “No.”
“Sit down. I will tell you. Loving humaneness without loving learning has the blind spot of foolishness. Loving wisdom without loving learning has the blind spot of unrestrained speculation. Loving trustworthiness without loving learning has the blind spot of causing harm. Loving uprightness without loving learning has the blind spot of harshness. Loving courage without loving learning has the blind spot of disorder. Loving firmness without loving learning has the blind spot of reckless extremism.”
Yang Huo · 17.9
The Master said, “My young friends, why do you not study the Odes? The Odes can stir the feelings, sharpen observation, bring people together, and give expression to grievances. Close at hand, they help one serve one's father; farther afield, they help one serve one's ruler. They also teach the names of many birds, beasts, plants, and trees.”
Yang Huo · 17.10
The Master said to Boyu, “Have you studied the Zhounan and Shaonan? Someone who has not studied them is like a person standing directly in front of a wall!”
Yang Huo · 17.11
The Master said, “‘Ritual, ritual!’ Is it merely jade and silk that we mean? ‘Music, music!’ Is it merely bells and drums that we mean?”
Yang Huo · 17.12
The Master said, “Someone fierce in appearance but timid within—compared with people of low standing, is he not like a thief who bores through a wall or climbs over it?”
Yang Huo · 17.13
The Master said, “The village conformist is a thief of virtue.”
Yang Huo · 17.14
The Master said, “To hear something on the road and pass it straight on along the road is to throw virtue away.”
Yang Huo · 17.15
The Master said, “Can a base-minded person serve a ruler alongside you? Before gaining a position, he worries that he will not get it. Once he has gained it, he worries that he will lose it. If he worries only about losing it, there is nothing he will not do!”
Yang Huo · 17.16
The Master said, “In antiquity, people had three failings; today even those older forms may have disappeared. The bold in antiquity were unrestrained in small matters; the bold today are completely undisciplined. The proud in antiquity had sharp principles; the proud today are angry and quarrelsome. The foolish in antiquity were straightforward; the foolish today are simply deceitful.”
Yang Huo · 17.17
The Master said, “Clever words and an ingratiating expression seldom go with humaneness.”
Yang Huo · 17.18
The Master said, “I dislike purple displacing vermilion. I dislike the music of Zheng disrupting proper ceremonial music. I dislike glib tongues that overthrow states and great households.”
Yang Huo · 17.19
The Master said, “I wish to stop speaking.”
Zigong said, “If you do not speak, what will we disciples have to pass on?”
The Master said, “What does Heaven say? The four seasons proceed, and the hundred kinds of things are born. What does Heaven say?”
Yang Huo · 17.20
Ru Bei wished to see Confucius. Confucius declined on the grounds of illness. As soon as the messenger went out of the door, Confucius took up his zither and sang, making sure Ru Bei could hear him.
Yang Huo · 17.21
Zai Wo asked, “Three years of mourning—surely a full year is already a long time! If an exemplary person does not practice ritual for three years, ritual will fall into decay. If he does not practice music for three years, music will fall apart. The old grain has been used up, the new grain has come in, and the woods used for kindling fire have completed their seasonal cycle. A year should be enough.”
The Master said, “Would you feel at ease eating fine rice and wearing brocade?”
He replied, “I would.”
“If you feel at ease, do it! When an exemplary person is in mourning, fine food has no sweetness, music brings no joy, and comfortable surroundings give no ease. That is why he does not do these things. Since you feel at ease, do it!”
Zai Wo went out. The Master said, “How lacking in humaneness Yu is! Only after three years does a child leave its parents' arms. Three years of mourning is the mourning observed throughout the world. Did Yu not receive three years of love from his parents?”
Yang Huo · 17.22
The Master said, “To eat one's fill all day and never apply one's mind—how difficult it is to make progress! Are there not board games and the game of encirclement? Even playing those would be better than doing nothing!”
Yang Huo · 17.23
Zilu asked, “Does the exemplary person prize courage?” The Master said, “The exemplary person puts rightness first. A person in authority with courage but without rightness creates disorder. A common person with courage but without rightness becomes a robber.”
Yang Huo · 17.24
Zigong asked, “Does the exemplary person also have dislikes?”
The Master said, “Yes. He dislikes those who recount others' faults, those who occupy a low position and slander their superiors, those who are courageous without ritual propriety, and those who are decisive and daring but closed-minded.”
He asked, “Ci, do you also have dislikes?”
“I dislike those who pry into others' affairs and call it wisdom, those who are immodest and call it courage, and those who expose others' private faults and call it uprightness.”
Yang Huo · 17.25
The Master said, “Women and household servants are the most difficult to deal with! If you draw close to them, they become disrespectful; if you keep them at a distance, they become resentful.”
Yang Huo · 17.26
The Master said, “If someone is still disliked at forty, that may be how he remains to the end.”
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