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numerous disciples. Rising in reputation, he was invited to the court of Chow, where he investigated
the traditional ceremonies and maxims of the ruling dynasty; and in the following year visited another
state where he studied the ancient music. When he was nearly fifty, in the year 500 B. C., he again
took office, becoming in turn chief magistrate of the town of Chung-too, Assistant-Superintendent of
Works to the Ruler of Loo, and finally Minister of Crime. In spite of almost miraculous efficiency, he
lost the support of his ruler in 496 B. C.; and until his death in 478 B. C., he wandered from state to
state, sometimes well-treated, sometimes enduring severe hardships, always saddened by the refusal of
the turbulent potentates to be guided by his beneficent counsels. No sooner was he dead, however, than
his wisdom was recognized by peasant and emperor alike; admiration rose to veneration, veneration to
worship. Sacrifices were offered to him, temples built in his honor, and a cult established which has
lasted almost two thousand years.
Confucius did not regard himself as an innovator, but as the conservator of ancient truth and 2
ceremonial propriety. He dealt with neither theology nor metaphysics, but with moral and political
conduct.
The Lun Yu, Analects or Sayings of Confucius, were probably compiled, says Legge, “by the 3
disciples of the disciples of the sage, making free use of the written memorials concerning him which
they had received, and the oral statements which they had heard, from their several masters. And we
shall not be far wrong, if we determine its date as about the beginning of the third, or the end of the
fourth century before Christ.”






Nonfiction > Harvard Classics > The Sayings of Confucius
CONTENTS • BOOK CONTENTS • BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
The Sayings of Confucius.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
I
[1] THE MASTER said: “In learning and straightway practising is there not pleasure also? When friends
gather round from afar do we not rejoice? Whom lack of fame cannot vex is not he a gentleman?”
[2] Yu-tzu 1 said: “A dutiful son and brother is seldom fond of thwarting those over him: a man
unwilling to thwart those over him is never given to crime. A gentleman nurses the roots: when the
root has taken, the truth will grow; and what are the roots of love, but the duty of son and of
brother?”
[3] The Master said: “Honeyed words and flattering looks seldom speak of love.”
[4] Tseng-tzu 2 said: “Thrice daily I ask myself: ‘Have I been unfaithful in dealing for others? Have I
been untrue to friends? Do I practise what I preach?’”
[5] The Master said: “To guide a land of a thousand chariots, honour business, be true and sparing,
love the people, and time thy claims upon them.”
[6] The Master said: “The young should be dutiful at home, modest abroad, heedful and true, full of
goodwill for the many, close friends with love; and should they have strength to spare, let them
spend it upon the arts.”
[7] Tzu-hsia 3 said: “If a man honour worth and forsake lust, serve father and mother with all his
strength, be ready to give his life for the king, and keep faith with his friends; though men may call
him rude, I call him learned.”
[8] The Master said: “Of a gentleman who is frivolous none stand in awe, nor can his learning be
sound. Make faithfulness and truth thy masters: have no friends unlike thyself: be not ashamed to
mend thy faults.”