Carl Clausewitz - The Strategy of Warfare – Boxed Set

Chapter XI. Chi Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead. The Master said, "While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?" Chi Lu added, "I venture to ask about death?" He was answered, "While you do not know life, how can you know about death?"

Chapter XII. 1. The disciple Min was standing by his side, looking bland and precise; Tsze-lu, looking bold and soldierly; Zan Yu and Tsze-kung, with a free and straightforward manner. The Master was pleased.

2. He said, "Yu, there!—he will not die a natural death."

Chapter XIII. 1. Some parties in Lu were going to take down and rebuild the Long Treasury.

2. Min Tsze-ch'ien said, "Suppose it were to be repaired after its old style;—why must it be altered and made anew?"

3. The Master said, "This man seldom speaks; when he does, he is sure to hit the point."

Chapter XIV. 1. The Master said, "What has the lute of Yu to do in my door?"

2. The other disciples began not to respect Tsze-lu. The Master said, "Yu has ascended to the hall, though he has not yet passed into the inner apartments."

Chapter XV. 1. Tsze-kung asked which of the two, Shih or Shang, was the superior. The Master said, "Shih goes beyond the due mean, and Shang does not come up to it."

2. "Then," said Tsze-kung, "the superiority is with Shih, I suppose."

3. The Master said, "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short."

Chapter XVI. 1. The head of the Chi family was richer than the duke of Chau had been, and yet Ch'iu collected his imposts for him, and increased his wealth.

2. The Master said, "He is no disciple of mine. My little children, beat the drum and assail him."

Chapter XVII. 1. Ch'ai is simple.

2. Shan is dull.

3. Shih is specious.

4. Yu is coarse.

Chapter XVIII. 1. The Master said, "There is Hui! He has nearly attained to perfect virtue. He is often in want.

2. "Ts'ze does not acquiesce in the appointments of Heaven, and his goods are increased by him. Yet his judgments are often correct."

Chapter XIX. Tsze-chang asked what were the characteristics of the good man. The Master said, "He does not tread in the footsteps of others, but moreover, he does not enter the chamber of the sage."

Chapter XX. The Master said, "If, because a man's discourse appears solid and sincere, we allow him to be a good man, is he really a superior man? or is his gravity only in appearance?"

Chapter XXI. Tsze-lu asked whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard. The Master said, "There are your father and elder brothers to be consulted;—why should you act on that principle of immediately carrying into practice what you hear?" Zan Yu asked the same, whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard, and the Master answered, "Immediately carry into practice what you hear." Kung-hsi Hwa said, "Yu asked whether he should carry immediately into practice what he heard, and you said, 'There are your father and elder brothers to be consulted.' Ch'iu asked whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard, and you said, 'Carry it immediately into practice.' I, Ch'ih, am perplexed, and venture to ask you for an explanation." The Master said, "Ch'iu is retiring and slow; therefore, I urged him forward. Yu has more than his own share of energy; therefore I kept him back."

Chapter XXII. The Master was put in fear in K'wang and Yen Yuan fell behind. The Master, on his rejoining him, said, "I thought you had died." Hui replied, "While you were alive, how should I presume to die?"

Chapter XXIII. 1. Chi Tsze-zan asked whether Chung Yu and Zan Ch'iu could be called great ministers.

2. The Master said, "I thought you would ask about some extraordinary individuals, and you only ask about Yu and Ch'iu!

3. "What is called a great minister, is one who serves his prince according to what is right, and when he finds he cannot do so, retires.

4. "Now, as to Yu and Ch'iu, they may be called ordinary ministers."

5. Tsze-zan said, "Then they will always follow their chief;—will they?"

6. The Master said, "In an act of parricide or regicide, they would not follow him."

Chapter XXIV. 1. Tsze-lu got Tsze-kao appointed governor of Pi.

2. The Master said, "You are injuring a man's son."

3. Tsze-lu said, "There are (there) common people and officers; there are the altars of the spirits of the land and grain. Why must one read books before he can be considered to have learned?"

4. The Master said, "It is on this account that I hate your glib-tongued people."

Chapter XXV. 1. Tsze-lu, Tsang Hsi, Zan Yu, and Kung-hsi Hwa were sitting by the Master.

2. He said to them, "Though I am a day or so older than you, do not think of that.

3. "From day to day you are saying, 'We are not known.' If some ruler were to know you, what would you like to do?"

4. Tsze-lu hastily and lightly replied, "Suppose the case of a State of ten thousand chariots; let it be straitened between other large States; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables:—if I were intrusted with the government of it, in three years" time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognise the rules of righteous conduct." The Master smiled at him.

5. Turning to Yen Yu, he said, "Ch'iu, what are your wishes?" Ch'iu replied, "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy li square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it;—in three years" time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the principles of propriety, and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that."

6. "What are your wishes, Ch'ih," said the Master next to Kung-hsi Hwa. Ch'ih replied, "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should wish to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the princes with the sovereign, I should like, dressed in the dark square-made robe and the black linen cap, to act as a small assistant."

7. Last of all, the Master asked Tsang Hsi, "Tien, what are your wishes?" Tien, pausing as he was playing on his lute, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose. "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen." "What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes." Tien then said, "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the I, enjoy the breeze among the rain altars, and return home singing." The Master heaved a sigh and said, "I give my approval to Tien."

8. The three others having gone out, Tsang Hsi remained behind, and said, "What do you think of the words of these three friends?" The Master replied, "They simply told each one his wishes."

9. Hsi pursued, "Master, why did you smile at Yu?"

10. He was answered, "The management of a State demands the rules of propriety. His words were not humble; therefore I smiled at him."

11. Hsi again said, "But was it not a State which Ch'iu proposed for himself?" The reply was, "Yes; did you ever see a territory of sixty or seventy li or one of fifty or sixty, which was not a State?"

12. Once more, Hsi inquired, "And was it not a State which Ch'ih proposed for himself?" The Master again replied, "Yes; who but princes have to do with ancestral temples, and with audiences but the sovereign? If Ch'ih were to be a small assistant in these services, who could be a great one?

Table of Contents

Chapter I. 1. Yen Yuan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?"