Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Chapter 18, Part 8 - Confucius

The men who have retired to privacy from the world have been Po-i, Shu-ch'i, Yuchung, I-yi, Chu-chang, Hui of Liu-hsia, and Shao-lien.

The Master said, "Refusing to surrender their wills, or to submit to any taint in their persons; such, I think, were Po-i and Shu-ch'i.

"It may be said of Hui of Liu-hsia! and of Shaolien, that they surrendered their wills, and submitted to taint in their persons, but their words corresponded with reason, and their actions were such as men are anxious to see. This is all that is to be remarked in them.

"It may be said of Yu-chung and I-yi, that, while they hid themselves in their seclusion, they gave a license to their words; but in their persons, they succeeded in preserving their purity, and, in their retirement, they acted according to the exigency of the times.

"I am different from all these. I have no course for which I am predetermined, and no course against which I am predetermined."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~
Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

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