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PT. II. SECT. X.
THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE.
mean;—these characteristics are subject to no regular rule.
5. 'A battering ram may be used against the wall of a city, but it cannot be employed to stop up a hole ;—the uses of implements are different. The (horses) Khih-kî and Hwâ-liû 1 could in one day gallop 1000 lî, but for catching rats they were not equal to a wild dog or a weasel ;—the gifts of creatures are different. The white horned owl collects its fileas in the night-time, and can discern the point of a hair, but in bright day it stares with its eyes and cannot see a mound or a hill;—the natures of creatures are different.
'Hence the sayings, “Shall we not follow and honour the right, and have nothing to do with the wrong? shall we not follow and honour those who secure good government, and have nothing to do with those who produce disorder ? ” show a want of acquaintance with the principles of Heaven and Earth, and with the different qualities of things. It is like following and honouring Heaven and taking no account of Earth; it is like following and honouring the Yin and taking no account of the Yang. It is clear that such a course cannot be pursued. Yet notwithstanding they go on talking so :-if they are not stupid, they are visionaries. The Ti sovereigns resigned their thrones to others in one way, and the rulers of the three dynasties transmitted their thrones to their successors in another. He who acts differently from the requirements of his time and contrary to its custom is called an usurper; he who complies with the time
1 Two of king Mu's team of eight famous steeds.
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| SR No. | 007675 |
| Book Title | Text of Confucianism Part 01 |
| 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 |