DOI article:
Waley, Arthur: Confucius
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29343#0015
. . . He carried the ducal mace with bent back
as if unequal to its weight; . . . his expression
was perturbed and anxious, and he dragged his
feet as if something were trailing behind him.”
Such was his public demeanour. At home,
uHe did not exclude ginger from his meals, but
was no great eater of it. .. . He did not converse
whileeatingnortalk wheninbed.... Hewould
not sit on his mat unless it were straight.”
He found the motjuste with which to accept a
present of medicine:
“As I am not well acquainted with it, I dare
not taste it.”
HE exhibition of unadulterated
rectitude is usually more likely
to arouse ridicule than admira-
tion. But, in an age of Puritan
revival such as that of Hannah
More or Confucius, it can be
tolerated. TheChinese sagefrequently reminds
us of the Good Squire as depicted in the pietistic
fiction of a hundred years ago:
“The Master fishedwith a line but not with a
net; when shooting he never aimed at a resting
bird. . . . He made himself no set rule about
wine, but always stopped short of mental con-
fusion.”
For Thought he had no place in his system.
“I once spent the whole day without food and
the whole night without sleep in order to think.
But it was no good. It is better to learn.”
By learning he meant research into the obser-
vances of the past. He once said of himself, “I
am a transmitter, not an originator; I love and
lean upon antiquity.”
He had a purely didactic conception of art.
He advised his pupils to read poetry in order
that they might “become widely acquainted
with the names of birds, beasts,plantsand trees.”
HEN reading The Fairchild
Fa?nily we come with immense
relicf to the passages where the
children are naughty. So with
Confucius. His few lapses stand
out in interesting relief upon an
unsulliedbackground of virtue. Hetold two lies.
Once when travelling towards the Kingdom of
W ei he was caught by rebels and took an oath not
to proceed on his journey. But when they set
him free he at once made for Wei. On another
occasion, when an unwelcome visitor called he
declined the visit, sending word that he was
unwell. This deception hemitigated by playing
ostentatiously on the lyre as the guest departed,
as if unequal to its weight; . . . his expression
was perturbed and anxious, and he dragged his
feet as if something were trailing behind him.”
Such was his public demeanour. At home,
uHe did not exclude ginger from his meals, but
was no great eater of it. .. . He did not converse
whileeatingnortalk wheninbed.... Hewould
not sit on his mat unless it were straight.”
He found the motjuste with which to accept a
present of medicine:
“As I am not well acquainted with it, I dare
not taste it.”
HE exhibition of unadulterated
rectitude is usually more likely
to arouse ridicule than admira-
tion. But, in an age of Puritan
revival such as that of Hannah
More or Confucius, it can be
tolerated. TheChinese sagefrequently reminds
us of the Good Squire as depicted in the pietistic
fiction of a hundred years ago:
“The Master fishedwith a line but not with a
net; when shooting he never aimed at a resting
bird. . . . He made himself no set rule about
wine, but always stopped short of mental con-
fusion.”
For Thought he had no place in his system.
“I once spent the whole day without food and
the whole night without sleep in order to think.
But it was no good. It is better to learn.”
By learning he meant research into the obser-
vances of the past. He once said of himself, “I
am a transmitter, not an originator; I love and
lean upon antiquity.”
He had a purely didactic conception of art.
He advised his pupils to read poetry in order
that they might “become widely acquainted
with the names of birds, beasts,plantsand trees.”
HEN reading The Fairchild
Fa?nily we come with immense
relicf to the passages where the
children are naughty. So with
Confucius. His few lapses stand
out in interesting relief upon an
unsulliedbackground of virtue. Hetold two lies.
Once when travelling towards the Kingdom of
W ei he was caught by rebels and took an oath not
to proceed on his journey. But when they set
him free he at once made for Wei. On another
occasion, when an unwelcome visitor called he
declined the visit, sending word that he was
unwell. This deception hemitigated by playing
ostentatiously on the lyre as the guest departed,