Carl Clausewitz - The Strategy of Warfare – Boxed Set

Chapter V. The philosopher Tsang said, "Gifted with ability, and yet putting questions to those who were not so; possessed of much, and yet putting questions to those possessed of little; having, as though he had not; full, and yet counting himself as empty; offended against, and yet entering into no altercation; formerly I had a friend who pursued this style of conduct."

Chapter VI. The philosopher Tsang said, "Suppose that there is an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a state of a hundred li, and whom no emergency however great can drive from his principles:—is such a man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed."

Chapter VII. 1. The philosopher Tsang said, "The officer may not be without breadth of mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is heavy and his course is long.

2. "Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to sustain;—is it not heavy? Only with death does his course stop;—is it not long?

Chapter VIII. 1. The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.

2. "It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established.

3. "It is from Music that the finish is received."

Chapter IX. The Master said, "The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it."

Chapter X. The Master said, "The man who is fond of daring and is dissatisfied with poverty, will proceed to insubordination. So will the man who is not virtuous, when you carry your dislike of him to an extreme."

Chapter XI. The Master said, "Though a man have abilities as admirable as those of the Duke of Chau, yet if he be proud and niggardly, those other things are really not worth being looked at."

Chapter XII. The Master said, "It is not easy to find a man who has learned for three years without coming to be good."

Chapter XIII. 1. The Master said, "With sincere faith he unites the love of learning; holding firm to death, he is perfecting the excellence of his course.

2. "Such an one will not enter a tottering State, nor dwell in a disorganized one. When right principles of government prevail in the kingdom, he will show himself; when they are prostrated, he will keep concealed.

3. "When a country is well-governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill-

governed, riches and honour are things to be ashamed of."

Chapter XIV. The Master said, "He who is not in any particular office, has nothing to do with plans for the administration of its duties."

Chapter XV. The Master said, "When the music master Chih first entered on his office, the finish of the Kwan Tsu was magnificent;—how it filled the ears!"

Chapter XVI. The Master said, "Ardent and yet not upright; stupid and yet not attentive; simple and yet not sincere:—such persons I do not understand."

Chapter XVII. The Master said, "Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were always fearing also lest you should lose it."

Chapter XVIII. The Master said, "How majestic was the manner in which Shun and Yu held possession of the empire, as if it were nothing to them!"

Chapter XIX. 1. The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it.

2. "How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!"

Chapter XX. 1. Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well-governed.

2. King Wu said, "I have ten able ministers."

3. Confucius said, "Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true? Only when the dynasties of T'ang and Yu met, were they more abundant than in this of Chau, yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more than nine men.

4. "King Wan possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin. The virtue of the house of Chau may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."

Chapter XXI. The Master said, "I can find no flaw in the character of Yu. He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water-channels. I can find nothing like a flaw in Yu."

Table of Contents

Chapter I. The subjects of which the Master seldom spoke were—profitableness, and also the appointments of Heaven, and perfect virtue.

Chapter II. 1. A man of the village of Ta-hsiang said, "Great indeed is the philosopher K'ung! His learning is extensive, and yet he does not render his name famous by any particular thing."

2. The Master heard the observation, and said to his disciples, "What shall I practise? Shall I practise charioteering, or shall I practise archery? I will practise charioteering."

Chapter III. 1. The Master said, "The linen cap is that prescribed by the rules of ceremony, but now a silk one is worn. It is economical, and I follow the common practice.

2. "The rules of ceremony prescribe the bowing below the hall, but now the practice is to bow only after ascending it. That is arrogant. I continue to bow below the hall, though I oppose the common practice."

Chapter IV. There were four things from which the Master was entirely free. He had no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no egoism.

Chapter V. 1. The Master was put in fear in K'wang.

2. He said, "After the death of King Wan, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me?

3. "If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of K'wang do to me?"

Chapter VI. 1. A high officer asked Tsze-kung, saying, "May we not say that your Master is a sage? How various is his ability!"

2. Tsze-kung said, "Certainly Heaven has endowed him unlimitedly. He is about a sage. And, moreover, his ability is various."

3. The Master heard of the conversation and said, "Does the high officer know me? When I was young, my condition was low, and therefore I acquired my ability in many things, but they were mean matters. Must the superior man have such variety of ability? He does not need variety of ability."

4. Lao said, "The Master said, 'Having no official employment, I acquired many arts.'"

Chapter VII. The Master said, "Am I indeed possessed of knowledge? I am not knowing. But if a mean person, who appears quite empty-like, ask anything of me, I set it forth from one end to the other, and exhaust it."

Chapter VIII. The Master said, "The fang bird does not come; the river sends forth no map:—it is all over with me!"

Chapter IX. When the Master saw a person in a mourning dress, or any one with the cap and upper and lower garments of full dress, or a blind person, on observing them approaching, though they were younger than himself, he would rise up, and if he had to pass by them, he would do so hastily.

Chapter X. 1. Yen Yuan, in admiration of the Master's doctrines, sighed and said, "I looked up to them, and they seemed to become more high; I tried to penetrate them, and they seemed to become more firm; I looked at them before me, and suddenly they seemed to be behind.

2. "The Master, by orderly method, skilfully leads men on. He enlarged my mind with learning, and taught me the restraints of propriety.

3. "When I wish to give over the study of his doctrines, I cannot do so, and having exerted all my ability, there seems something to stand right up before me; but though I wish to follow and lay hold of it, I really find no way to do so."