The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-01-21
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AObertiser.
SATURDAY JANUARY u. 1852.
The Chinese Classics.
(COHtinusd.)
CONFUCIUS AND MENCICS.
CONEuCTAG ANATECTS

D
We continue extracts from the sayings of
these distinguished Chinese sages =
IKE Loo asked about serving the spirits :
Of the dead. The Master said While you
are not able to serve men, how can you
serve their spirits p"
"Tze Kung asked-which OF the two. Ze
or Kung, was the superior? lie goes be-
yond the due mean, and Kung does not
come up to it. lie must be the superior.
The Master said To go beyond is as wrong
as to fall short"
COnfucius said Behold Hugs. He has
nearly attained to perfect virtue. He is
often in want. But there is TIE who does
not acquiesce in the Judgments of Heaven
celestial powers), and his goods are in
creased"
The above is a reminder that the believers
are not always the prosperous ones in this
world.
Now follows a remarkable sentence, to
be uttered 2,I3O years ago =
What is called a great Minister is one
who serves his Prince according to what is
right and when he finds he cannot do so
he til es."-Chap. 23.3.
"Ordinary Ministers will always follow
their Prince"
"Yen Yuen asked: What was perfect
virtue p The Master said To subdue
ones self, and act rightly"
Again, Chung Kung inquired about per-
feet virtue. The Master said d" 1t is, not
to do to others what you would not wish
done to yourself" The golden rule uttered
by the Ongolian sage.
"Ze Ma New spoke about anxiety and
fear. The Master said when self-ex-
animation perceives nothing wrong, what
is there to fear p"
It Chang asked what constituted IN
te~lligence. The Master said He over
whom neither Islander that gradually soaks
into the mind, nor statements that startle
like a wound in the flesh prevail, may be
called intelligent indeed. Yea, he with
whom neither and nor startling state
ments prevail, may be called far-seeing.'"
TIE Kung inquired about the requisites
of government. COnfucius said "The re-
quisites of government are, that there be
sufficiency of food, an efficient military
force, and the confidence of the people in
their ruler.'
tie Kung asked IF it cannot be
helped, and one of these must be dispensed
with, which of these three must be forgone
frstS' The military equipment said the
Master"
Il INhlS aSdF1 dShcu Ii IL dlltl u
helped, and one of the remaining two must
be dispensed with, which of them should be
~foregone?" The Master answered part
with the food. From of old, death has been
the lot of all men but if the people have
no faith in the rulers, there is no standing
for the State"
1.-The Master said If doing what is to
be done be made the first business, and
S1aoaGa a SaaOnHary annoiIarafion 10 not
this the way to exalt virtue p"
"Fan Che asked What is benevolence ?
The Master said: 1T is to love all men,
What is knowledge? 1T is TO know all
men,"
Confucius said 1.-THE superior man is
affable, but not adulatory. The mean man
is adulatory, but not affable."
the Master said when good govern
ment prevails in a State, language may be
lofty and bold.'"
eileen asked What was shameful =?
The Master said when good govern
ment prevails in a State, to be thinking
only of his salary and when PAD govern
ment prevails, to be thinking in the same
way-only OF his salary"
"Who is a complete man ? The man
who, in the view of gain, thinks of right
eousness; who, in the view of danger, is
prepared to give up his life and who does
not forget an old agreement, however far
back il extends. Such a man MAJ be
reckoned a complete man."
"Tze Loo asked how q sovereign should
be served The Master said DO not i'm
pose on him; and. moreover, Withstand
him to his face"
"Tze wrote these counsels on the end of
his SASH"
"The man of virtue will not seek to live
at the expense of injuring virtue. He will
even sacrifice life to preserve virtue COM
plete."
The above was Roman principle about
the same period of time.
1.-THE superior man is distressed by his
want of ability. He is not distressed by
mems not knowing him"
What the superior man seeks is In him
self. What the mean seeks is in Others"
"want of forbearance in small matters
confounds great plans"
Use had a thousand teams, each of four
horses, but, on the day of his death, the
people did not praise him for q single
virtue. Shuh died of hunger, and people
down to the present time praise him."
This is like the case of CamOens, the POr-
tuguese poet.
The Master said 81 hate these who pry
out matters, and ascribe the knowledge to
their wisdom. 1 hate those who make
known secrets, and think that they are
straightforward" These words are as APP
plicable to-day in Honolulu as they were in
China 24OO years ago.
We commend the following declaration
to careful consideration ct this time:-
"The declaration Of the Prince of Tsin {:
Let me have but one Minister, plain and
sincere-not pretending to other abilities,
but with a simple, upright mind, and pos
sessed of generosity, regarding the talents
Of others as though ne himself possessed
them and where he finds perspicacious
men, regarding them in his heart more
than his mouth expresses, and really show
ing himself able to bear them. Such a
Minister will be able to preserve my SONS