XX. Tsze-Kung Said, 'Chau's Wickedness Was Not So Great
As That Name Implies.
Therefore, the superior man hates to dwell
In a low-lying situation, where all the evil of the world will flow in
upon him.'
CHAP. XXI. Tsze-kung said, 'The faults of the superior man are
like the eclipses of the sun and moon. He has his faults, and all men
see them; he changes again, and all men look up to him.'
CHAP. XXII. 1. Kung-sun Ch'ao of Wei asked Tsze-kung,
saying, 'From whom did Chung-ni get his learning?'
2. Tsze-kung replied, 'The doctrines of Wan and Wu have not
yet fallen to the ground. They are to be found among men. Men of
talents and virtue remember the greater principles of them, and
others, not possessing such talents and virtue, remember the
smaller. Thus, all possess the doctrines of Wan and Wu. Where
could our Master go that he should not have an opportunity of
learning them? And yet what necessity was there for his having a
regular master?'
CHAP. XXIII. 1. Shu-sun Wu-shu observed to the great
officers in the court, saying, 'Tsze-kung is superior to Chung-ni.'
2. Tsze-fu Ching-po reported the observation to Tsze-kung,
who said, 'Let me use the comparison of a house and its
encompassing wall. My wall only reaches to the shoulders. One may
peep over it, and see whatever is valuable in the apartments.
3. 'The wall of my Master is several fathoms high. If one do
not find the door and enter by it, he cannot see the ancestral
temple with its beauties, nor all the officers in their rich array.
4. 'But I may assume that they are few who find the door.
Was not the observation of the chief only what might have been
expected?'
CHAP. XXIV. Shu-sun Wu-shu having spoken revilingly of
Chung-ni, Tsze-kung said, 'It is of no use doing so. Chung-ni cannot
be reviled. The talents and virtue of other men are hillocks and
mounds which may be stepped over. Chung-ni is the sun or moon,
which it is not possible to step over. Although a man may wish to
cut himself off from the sage, what harm can he do to the sun or
moon? He only shows that he does not know his own capacity.
CHAP. XXV. 1. Ch'an Tsze-ch'in, addressing Tsze-kung, said,
'You are too modest. How can Chung-ni be said to be superior to
you?'
2. Tsze-kung said to him, 'For one word a man is often
deemed to be wise, and for one word he is often deemed to be
foolish. We ought to be careful indeed in what we say.
3. 'Our Master cannot be attained to, just in the same way as
the heavens cannot be gone up to by the steps of a stair.
4. 'Were our Master in the position of the ruler of a State or
the chief of a Family, we should find verified the description which
has been given of a sage's rule:
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