Text of Confucianism Part 01

SR No.: 007675
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: James Legge
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1879
Total Pages: 2829
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 50 MB

Page 1834

216
THE LI ki.
BK. XX1.
of pleasure, his demeanour will be mild and compliant. A filial son will move as if he were carrying a jade symbol, or bearing a full vessel. Still and grave, absorbed in what he is doing, he will seem as if he were unable to sustain the burden, and in danger of letting it fall. A severe gravity and austere manner are not proper to the service of parents ;-—such is the manner of a full-grown man.
13. There were five things by means of which the ancient kings secured the good government of the whole kingdom :—the honour which they paid to the virtuous; to the noble; and to the old ; the reverence which they showed to the aged; and their kindness to the young. It was by these five things that they maintained the stability of the kingdom.
Why did they give honour to the virtuous ? Because of their approximation to the course of duty! They did so to the noble because of their approximation to the position of the ruler; and to the old because of their approximation to that of parents. They showed reverence to the aged, because of their approximation to the position of elder brothers; and kindness to the young, because of their approximation to the position of sons.
" P. Callery translates this by-Parce qu'ils sont proche de la vérité,' saying in a note :-'According to the Chinese philosophers, they understand by teh ) that which man has obtained by his own efforts or the virtue he has acquired, and by tâo ) that which all men should be striving to reach, what is suitable, what is in order, or virtue in the abstract. Now, as I think, there is nothing but truth which satisfies these conditions, for, according to the Christian philosophy, God Himself is the truth,' &c. Zottoli's translation is, 'Quia hi appropinquant ad perfectionem.
Digitized by Google