The Analects
Book 13 · Zilu
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Zilu · 13.1
Zilu asked about government. The Master said, “Lead the people by your own example and labor on their behalf.” Zilu asked for more. The Master said, “Do not grow weary.”
Zilu · 13.2
Zhonggong, serving as steward to the Ji family, asked about government. The Master said, “Begin by letting the responsible officers do their work. Pardon small faults. Raise up the worthy and capable.”
Zhonggong said, “How can I recognize the worthy and capable in order to raise them up?”
“Raise up those you know. As for those you do not know, will others really overlook them?”
Zilu · 13.3
Zilu said, “The ruler of Wei is waiting for you to govern. What would you do first?” The Master said, “Surely I would rectify names.”
Zilu said, “Really? How impractical you are! What is there to rectify?”
The Master said, “How rough you are, You! An exemplary person leaves aside what he does not understand. If names are not correct, speech does not follow properly; if speech does not follow properly, affairs cannot be accomplished. If affairs cannot be accomplished, rites and music do not flourish. If rites and music do not flourish, punishments do not fit their cases. If punishments do not fit their cases, the people do not know where to put hand or foot.
“Therefore, what an exemplary person names must be capable of being stated, and what he states must be capable of being carried out. In his speech, an exemplary person is simply never careless.”
Zilu · 13.4
Fan Chi asked to learn farming. The Master said, “I am not as good as an experienced farmer.” He asked to learn vegetable gardening. The Master said, “I am not as good as an experienced gardener.”
When Fan Chi had gone out, the Master said, “How limited Fan Xu's aspirations are! If those above love ritual propriety, none of the people will dare be disrespectful. If those above love rightness, none will dare be disobedient. If those above love trustworthiness, none will dare conceal the truth. If things are like this, people from every direction will come carrying their children on their backs. What need would there be for the ruler himself to learn farming?”
Zilu · 13.5
The Master said, “A person may recite the three hundred Odes, yet fail to manage government affairs when entrusted with them, and be unable to respond independently when sent on a mission to other states. Though he has learned much, what use is it?”
Zilu · 13.6
The Master said, “When one's own conduct is upright, things are carried out without commands. When one's own conduct is not upright, even commands will not be obeyed.”
Zilu · 13.7
The Master said, “The governments of Lu and Wei are like brothers.”
Zilu · 13.8
The Master said that Prince Jing of Wei managed his household well: “When he first acquired a little, he said, ‘It is coming together well enough.’ When he had somewhat more, he said, ‘It is complete enough.’ When he became wealthy, he said, ‘It is fine enough.’”
Zilu · 13.9
The Master went to Wei, with Ran You driving his carriage. The Master said, “How numerous the people are!” Ran You said, “Once they are numerous, what more should be done?” “Make them prosperous.” “Once they are prosperous, what more should be done?” “Educate them.”
Zilu · 13.10
The Master said, “If someone were to employ me, a year would be enough to establish a beginning; in three years there would be results.”
Zilu · 13.11
The Master said, “‘If good people governed a state for a hundred years, they could overcome brutality and dispense with executions.’ How true these words are!”
Zilu · 13.12
The Master said, “Even if a true king arose, it would take a generation for humaneness to prevail.”
Zilu · 13.13
The Master said, “If one has set one's own conduct right, what difficulty would there be in governing? If one cannot set oneself right, how can one set others right?”
Zilu · 13.14
Ran You returned from an audience. The Master said, “Why so late?” He replied, “There were government affairs.” The Master said, “Those must have been the Ji family's private affairs. If they were affairs of state, even though I am not employed, I would surely have been allowed to hear of them.”
Zilu · 13.15
Duke Ding asked, “Can a single saying make a state flourish?”
Confucius replied, “A saying cannot be expected to have quite that effect. But people do say, ‘Being a ruler is difficult; being a minister is not easy.’ If one understood the difficulty of being a ruler, would that not come close to a single saying making a state flourish?”
The duke asked, “Can a single saying destroy a state?”
Confucius replied, “A saying cannot be expected to have quite that effect. But people do say, ‘I take no pleasure in being a ruler except that no one contradicts what I say.’ If what the ruler says is good and no one contradicts it, is that not good? But if what he says is bad and no one contradicts it, would that not come close to a single saying destroying a state?”
Zilu · 13.16
The Lord of She asked about government. The Master said, “Make those nearby content, and those far away will come.”
Zilu · 13.17
Zixia, as steward of Jufu, asked about government. The Master said, “Do not seek haste, and do not fix your eye on small gains. Seeking haste, you will not reach your goal; fixing your eye on small gains, you will not accomplish great affairs.”
Zilu · 13.18
The Lord of She told Confucius, “In our community there is a man of upright conduct. His father stole a sheep, and the son testified against him.”
Confucius said, “The upright people in our community are different. Fathers conceal their sons' offenses, and sons conceal their fathers' offenses. Uprightness is found within this.”
Zilu · 13.19
Fan Chi asked about humaneness. The Master said, “Be respectful in everyday conduct, reverent in carrying out affairs, and wholehearted in dealing with others. Even on going among the Yi and Di peoples, do not abandon these commitments.”
Zilu · 13.20
Zigong asked, “What must someone be like to be called a person of service?”
The Master said, “Conducting oneself with a sense of shame, and not disgracing the ruler's commission when sent to other states: such a person may be called a person of service.”
“May I ask about the next level?”
“One's clan praises one's filial conduct, and one's community praises one's respect for elder brothers.”
“May I ask about the next level?”
“Insisting that every word be kept and every action carried through, rigid and narrow-minded: such a person is petty, yet may still count at the next level.”
“What about those who govern today?”
The Master said, “Alas! People whose capacity is no greater than a grain measure or a small bamboo basket—how could they be counted?”
Zilu · 13.21
The Master said, “If I cannot find people who follow the balanced way to associate with, I must turn to the bold and aspiring or the firmly restrained. The aspiring press forward; the restrained have things they refuse to do.”
Zilu · 13.22
The Master said, “Southerners have a saying: ‘A person without constancy cannot serve as a spirit medium or physician.’ Well said! ‘If one does not remain constant in virtue, one may incur disgrace.’”
The Master said, “This is simply a failure to heed the divination.”
The brief final remark is rendered here in line with the Chinese reading edition: the warning in the Changes has not been taken to heart.
Zilu · 13.23
The Master said, “The exemplary person lives in harmony without merely agreeing. The petty person merely agrees without living in harmony.”
Zilu · 13.24
Zigong asked, “What if everyone in the village likes someone?” The Master said, “That is not enough to judge.”
“What if everyone in the village dislikes him?”
The Master said, “That is not enough either. Better that the good people in the village like him, and the people who are not good dislike him.”
Zilu · 13.25
The Master said, “An exemplary person is easy to serve but difficult to please. If you try to please him by means contrary to the Way, he is not pleased; when employing people, he assigns them according to their abilities.
“The petty person is difficult to serve but easy to please. Even if you please him by means contrary to the Way, he is pleased; when employing people, he expects them to possess every ability.”
Zilu · 13.26
The Master said, “The exemplary person is at ease without arrogance. The petty person is arrogant without being at ease.”
Zilu · 13.27
The Master said, “Firmness, resolve, simplicity, and restraint in speech are close to humaneness.”
Zilu · 13.28
Zilu asked, “What must someone be like to be called a person of service?” The Master said, “Earnest in mutual advice and encouragement, and warm in companionship: such a person may be called a person of service. Friends should earnestly advise and encourage one another; brothers should live together warmly.”
Zilu · 13.29
The Master said, “If a good person educated the people for seven years, they could then be sent to military service.”
Zilu · 13.30
The Master said, “To send people into battle without educating and training them is to abandon them.”
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