Book III · Ba Yi

3.1

Confucius said of the head of the Ji family: "He has eight rows of dancers performing in his courtyard.¹ If this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated?"

3.2

The Three Families had the Yong ode sung as the sacrificial vessels were cleared away. The Master said: "'Assisting are the lords of the states; the Son of Heaven, august and solemn.'² What place can these words have in the halls of the Three Families?"

3.3

The Master said: "If a man is not humane, what has he to do with ritual? If a man is not humane, what has he to do with music?"

3.4

Lin Fang asked about the root of ritual. The Master said: "A great question indeed! In ritual, rather than lavishness, prefer frugality. In mourning, rather than smooth observance, prefer true grief."

3.5

The Master said: "The barbarian tribes with their rulers are not equal to the states of China without them."

3.6

The head of the Ji family was going to sacrifice to Mount Tai. The Master said to Ran You: "Can you not prevent it?" He replied: "I cannot." The Master said: "Alas! Will it be said that Mount Tai knows less than Lin Fang?"³

3.7

The Master said: "The gentleman has nothing to compete for — except, perhaps, in archery. Bowing and yielding, he ascends the hall; coming down, he drinks the forfeit. Even in competing, he is a gentleman."

3.8

Zixia asked: "'Her artful smile so dimpled, her lovely eyes so clear, plain silk on which colours are laid.' What does this mean?" The Master said: "The painting comes after the plain ground." Zixia said: "So ritual comes after?" The Master said: "It is Shang who has drawn me out! Now at last I can talk with him about the Songs."

3.9

The Master said: "I can speak of the rites of the Xia, but Qi cannot furnish sufficient evidence. I can speak of the rites of the Yin, but Song cannot furnish sufficient evidence.⁴ That is because their records and their learned men are insufficient. Were they sufficient, I could support my words with them."

3.10

The Master said: "At the great di sacrifice, from the pouring of the libation onward, I have no wish to look on."

3.11

Someone asked about the meaning of the di sacrifice. The Master said: "I do not know. One who knew its meaning would deal with all under heaven as easily as with this" — and he pointed to his palm.

3.12

He sacrificed as if they were present; he sacrificed to the spirits as if the spirits were present. The Master said: "If I do not take part in the sacrifice myself, it is as if I had not sacrificed."

3.13

Wangsun Jia asked: "'Better to pay court to the stove than to the southwest corner.'⁵ What does this mean?" The Master said: "Not so. One who offends against Heaven has nowhere left to pray."

3.14

The Master said: "The Zhou could look back upon the two dynasties before it. How rich in culture it is! I follow the Zhou."

3.15

When the Master entered the Grand Temple, he asked about everything. Someone said: "Who says the son of the man from Zou knows ritual? When he entered the Grand Temple, he asked about everything." The Master heard of it and said: "That is ritual."

3.16

The Master said: "In archery, piercing the target is not the main thing, for men are not of equal strength. This was the way of old."

3.17

Zigong wished to do away with the sheep offered at the announcement of the new moon. The Master said: "Ci, you care about the sheep; I care about the rite."

3.18

The Master said: "Serving one's lord with every courtesy that ritual requires is taken by others for flattery."

3.19

Duke Ding asked: "How should a ruler employ his ministers, and how should ministers serve their ruler?" Confucius answered: "A ruler should employ his ministers according to ritual; ministers should serve their ruler with loyalty."

3.20

The Master said: "The Ospreys⁶ is joyful without excess, sorrowful without being hurtful."

3.21

Duke Ai asked Zai Wo about the altar of the soil. Zai Wo replied: "The Xia used the pine, the Yin used the cypress, and the people of Zhou used the chestnut, saying: 'It makes the people tremble.'"⁷ The Master heard of it and said: "Of what is accomplished, one does not speak; of what is done, one does not remonstrate; what is past, one does not blame."

3.22

The Master said: "Guan Zhong's capacity was small indeed!"⁸ Someone said: "Was Guan Zhong frugal?" He said: "Guan had three residences, and his officers did not double their duties. How could he be frugal?" "Then did Guan Zhong know ritual?" He said: "The ruler of a state sets up a screen at his gate; Guan too set up a screen at his gate. The ruler of a state, when entertaining another ruler, has a stand for the inverted cups; Guan too had such a stand. If Guan knew ritual, who does not know ritual?"

3.23

The Master spoke to the Grand Music Master of Lu about music, saying: "Music can be understood. It begins in unison; as it unfolds, it is harmonious, clear and unbroken, and so it is brought to completion."

3.24

The border warden at Yi asked to be presented, saying: "Whenever a gentleman has come here, I have never failed to see him." The followers presented him. When he came out, he said: "My friends, why be troubled at his loss of office? The world has long been without the Way; Heaven is going to use your Master as a wooden-tongued bell."⁹

3.25

The Master said of the Shao music that it was perfectly beautiful and also perfectly good. He said of the Wu music that it was perfectly beautiful but not perfectly good.¹⁰

3.26

The Master said: "Holding high place without generosity, performing ritual without reverence, attending a funeral without grief — how could I bear to look on such things?"

1. Eight rows of eight dancers was a rite reserved for the Son of Heaven; the Ji, ministers in Lu, were entitled to four. ↩
2. From the Yong, an ode of the royal Zhou temple. The Three Families — Meng, Shu and Ji — were the great ministerial houses of Lu. ↩
3. Only a ruler could sacrifice to the great mountains; Confucius implies that the spirit of the mountain will no more accept an improper rite than Lin Fang, who asked about the root of ritual, would. ↩
4. Qi and Song were small states ruled by descendants of the Xia and Yin dynasties. ↩
5. The southwest corner of the house was the place of honour; the stove god was lowly but close to daily affairs. Wangsun Jia, a powerful minister of Wei, was hinting that Confucius should court him rather than the ruler. ↩
6. The opening ode of the Book of Songs, on the longing for a fair bride. ↩
7. A play on li, "chestnut", and zhanli, "to tremble". ↩
8. Guan Zhong (7th century BC), chief minister of Qi, who made his ruler the leading power among the states. ↩
9. The bell rung by officials when proclaiming instructions to the people. ↩
10. The Shao was the music of the sage-king Shun, who received the throne by abdication; the Wu was that of King Wu of Zhou, who won it by war. ↩