The Analects
Book 18 · The Viscount of Wei
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Weizi · 18.1
Weizi left; Jizi became a slave; Bi Gan remonstrated and died. Confucius said, “Yin had three humane men.”
Weizi · 18.2
Liuxia Hui served as a judge and was dismissed three times. Someone said, “Is it not time for you to leave?” He replied, “If I serve others according to the straight Way, where could I go without being dismissed three times? If I bend the Way in serving others, why leave the land of my parents?”
Weizi · 18.3
Duke Jing of Qi, discussing how to treat Confucius, said, “I cannot treat him like the head of the Ji family. I will treat him at a level between the Ji and Meng families.” Later he said, “I am old. I cannot employ him.” Confucius left.
Weizi · 18.4
The people of Qi sent female musicians and dancers. Ji Huanzi accepted them and did not attend court for three days. Confucius left.
Weizi · 18.5
Jieyu, the madman of Chu, passed Confucius singing:
“Phoenix! Phoenix!
How your virtue has declined!
What is past cannot be corrected;
what is to come can still be pursued.
Give it up! Give it up!
Those who govern today are in danger!”
Confucius got down from his carriage, wishing to speak with him. Jieyu hurried away, and Confucius could not speak with him.
Weizi · 18.6
Chang Ju and Jie Ni were plowing together. Confucius passed by and sent Zilu to ask where the ford was.
Chang Ju said, “Who is that holding the reins?”
Zilu said, “Kong Qiu.”
“Is that Kong Qiu of Lu?”
“Yes.”
“Then he must know where the ford is!”
Zilu asked Jie Ni. Jie Ni said, “Who are you?”
“Zhong You.”
“Are you a disciple of Kong Qiu of Lu?”
“I am.”
He said, “The whole world is swept along like a flood. With whom will you change it? Besides, rather than follow a man who avoids particular people, would you not do better to follow men who avoid the whole age?” He continued covering the seeds with earth without stopping.
Zilu returned and reported this. The Master said sadly, “We cannot live in the company of birds and beasts! If I do not associate with these people, with whom shall I associate? If all under Heaven already followed the Way, I, Qiu, would not be trying to change it.”
Weizi · 18.7
Zilu, following the Master, fell behind. He met an old man carrying a weeding basket on his staff. Zilu asked, “Have you seen my teacher?”
The old man said, “Your four limbs do no work, and you cannot distinguish the five grains. Who is your teacher?” He planted his staff in the ground and went on weeding. Zilu stood with his hands respectfully clasped.
The old man invited Zilu to stay the night, killed a chicken, cooked millet for him, and introduced his two sons.
The next day, Zilu went on and reported the encounter. The Master said, “He is a recluse,” and sent Zilu back to see him. When Zilu arrived, the old man had gone out.
Zilu said, “To refuse office is to neglect rightness. If the proper relations between old and young cannot be discarded, how can the right relations between ruler and minister be discarded? Wishing only to keep oneself pure, one disrupts the great human relationships. The exemplary person takes office to carry out what is right. That the Way will not prevail is something we already know.”
Weizi · 18.8
Those who withdrew from public life included Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Yu Zhong, Yi Yi, Zhu Zhang, Liuxia Hui, and Shao Lian.
The Master said, “Those who would neither lower their aspirations nor disgrace themselves—were they not Bo Yi and Shu Qi?”
Of Liuxia Hui and Shao Lian he said, “They lowered their aspirations and suffered disgrace, yet their words accorded with proper relationships and their actions with careful judgment. That is what they achieved.”
Of Yu Zhong and Yi Yi he said, “They lived in seclusion and spoke freely. They kept themselves pure, and their withdrawal suited the circumstances.”
“I differ from these men. I have no fixed rule that something must be done or must not be done.”
Weizi · 18.9
Chief Music Master Zhi went to Qi. Gan, the musician for the second meal, went to Chu; Liao, for the third meal, went to Cai; and Que, for the fourth, went to Qin. The drummer Fangshu went to the region of the River, and Wu, who played the hand drum, went to the region of the Han. Assistant Music Master Yang and Xiang, who played the stone chime, went to the sea.
Weizi · 18.10
The Duke of Zhou said to the Duke of Lu, “The exemplary person does not neglect his kin or cause great ministers to resent being left unused. Do not discard old retainers and friends unless they have committed a serious fault. Do not demand every perfection from one person.”
Weizi · 18.11
Zhou had eight men of distinction: Bo Da, Bo Kuo, Zhong Tu, Zhong Hu, Shu Ye, Shu Xia, Ji Sui, and Ji Gua.
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