CHAPTER 1

The Master said, "T'ae-pih may be said to have reached the highest point of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the empire, and the people in ignorance of his motives could not express their approbation of his conduct."

THE HEADING OF THIS BOOK.—泰伯第八, 'T'ae-pih, Book eighth.' As in other cases, the first words of the book give name to it. The subjects of the chapter are miscellaneous, but it begins and ends with the character and deeds of ancient sages and worthies, and on this account it follows the seventh chapter, where we have Confucius himself described.

1. THE EXCEEDING VIRTUE OF T'AE-PIH. T'ae-pih was the eldest son of king T'ae (大), the grandfather of Wa?n, the founder of the Chow dynasty. T'ae had formed the intention of upsetting the Yin dyn., of which T'ae-pih disapproved. T'ae moreover, because of the sage virtues of his grandson Ch'ang(昌), who afterwards became king Wa?n, wished to hand down his principality to his 3d son, Ch'ang's father. T'ae-pih observing this, and to escape opposing his father's purpose, retired with his second brother among the barbarous tribes of the south, and left their youngest brother in possession of the state. The motive of his conduct T'ae-pih kept to himself, so that the people 不得而称之, 'could not find how to praise him'. There is a difficulty in making out the refusal of the empire three times, there being different accounts of the times and ways in which he did so. Choo He cuts the knot, by making 'thrice' = 'firmly', in which solution we may acquiesce. There is as great difficulty to find out a declining of the empire in T'aepih's withdrawing from the petty state of Chow. It may be added that king Woo, the first emperor of the Chow dyn., subsequently conferred on T'ae-pih the posthumous title of Chief of Woo (吴), the country to which he had withdrawn, and whose rude inhabitants gathered round him. His second brother succeeded him in the government of them, and hence the ruling house of Woo had the same surname as the imperial house of Chow, that namely of Tsze (子). See VII.30也已矣 give emphasis to the preceding declaration. Comp.I.14.