CHAPTER 1

1. The head of the Ke family was going to attack Chuen-yu.

2. Yen Yew and Ke-Loo had an interview with Confucius, and said, "Our chief, Ke, is going to commence operations against Chuen-yu."

HEADING OF THIS BOOK—季氏第十六. 'The chief of the Ke—No XVI.' Throughout this Book, Confucius is spoken of as 孔子, 'The philosopher K'ung', and never by the designation 子, or 'The Master'. Then, the style of several of the chapters (IV – XI) is not like the utterances of Confucius to which we have been accustomed. From these circumstances, one commentator, Hung Kwo?h (洪适), supposed that it belonged to the Ts'e(齐) recensus of these analects; the other books belonging to the Loo(鲁) recensus. This supposition, however, is not otherwise supported.

1. CONFUCIUS EXPOSES THE PRESUMPTUOUS AND IMPOLITIC CONDUCT OF THE CHIEF OF THE KE FAMILY IN PROPOSING TO ATTACK A MINOR STATE, AND REBUKES YEN YEW AND TSZE-LOO FOR ABETTING THE DESIGN. 1. 季氏and 季孙 below,—see III.

3. Confucius said, "K'ew, is it not you who are in fault here?

4. "Now, in regard to Chuen-yu, long ago, a former king appointed it to preside over the sacrifices to the eastern Mung; moreover, it is in the midst of the territory of our state; and its ruler is a minister in direct connexion with the emperor:— What has your chief to do with attacking it?"

5. Yen Yew said, "Our master wishes the thing; neither of us two ministers wishes it."

6. Confucius said, "K'ew, there are the words of Chow Jin, —'When he can put forth his ability, he takes his place in the ranks of office; when he finds himself unable to do so, he retires from it. How can he be used as a guide to a blind man, who does not support him when tottering, nor raise him up when fallen?'

7. "And further, you speak wrongly. When a tiger or wild bull escapes from his cage; when a tortoise or gem is injured in its repository:—whose is the fault?"

1. Chuen-yu was a small territory in Loo, whose ruler was of the 子, or 4th order of nobility. It was one of the states called 附庸, or 'attached', whose chiefs could not appear in the presence of the emperor, excepting in the train of the prince within whose jurisdiction they were embraced. Their existence was not from a practice like the sub-infeudation, which belonged to the feudal system of Europe. They held of the lord paramount or emperor, but with the restriction which has been mentioned, and with a certain subservience also to their immediate superior. Its particular position is fixed by its proximity to Pe, and to the Mung hill. 伐 is not merely 'to attack', but 'to attack and punish', an exercise of judicial authority, which could emanate only from the emperor. The term is used here, to show the nefarious and presumptuous character of the contemplated operations. 2. There is some difficulty here, as, acc. to the 'Historical Records', the two disciples were not in the service of the Ke family, at the same time. We may suppose, however, that Tszeloo, returning with the sage from Wei on the invitation of duke Gae, took service a second time, and for a short period, with the Ke family, of which the chief was then Ke K'ang. This brings the time of the transaction to B.C.483, or 482. 将有事,—lit., 'is going to have an affair'.

8. Yen Yew said, "But at present, Chuen-yu is strong and near to Pe; if our chief do not now take it, it will hereafter be a sorrow to his descendants."

9. Confucius said. "K'ew, the superior man hates that declining to say—'I want such and such a thing', and framing explanations for the conduct.

10. "I have heard that rulers of states and chiefs of families are not troubled lest their people should be few, but are troubled lest they should not keep their several places; that they are not troubled with fears of poverty, but are troubled with fears of a want of contented repose among the people in their several places. For when the people keep their several places, there will be no poverty; when harmony prevails, there will be no scarcity of people; and when there is such a contented repose, there will be no rebellious upsettings.

3. Conf. addresses himself only to K'ew, as he had been a considerable time, and very active, in the Ke service. 4. It was the prerogative of the princes to sacrifice to the hills and rivers within their jurisdictions;—here was the chief of Chuen-yu, imperially appointed (the 'former king' is probably 成, the second emperor of the Chow dynasty) to be the lord of the Mung mountain, that is, to preside over the sacrifices offered to it. This raised him high above any mere ministers or officers of Loo. The mountain Mung is in the present district of Pe, in the department of E-chow. It was called eastern, to distinguish it from another of the same name in Shen-se, which was the wastern Mung. 且在邦域之中,—this is mentioned, to show that Chuen-yu was so situated as to give Loo no occasion for apprehension. 社稷之臣, 'a minister of the altars to the spirits of the land and grain'. To those spirits only, the prince had the prerogative of sacrificing. The chief of Chuen-yu having this, how dared an officer of Loo to think of attacking him? The臣is used of his relation to the emperor. Choo He makes the phrase=公家之臣, 'a minister of the ducal house', saying that the three families had usurped all the dominions proper of Loo, leaving only the chiefs of the attached states to appear in the ducal court. I prefer the former interpretation. 何以伐为 must be understood with reference to the Ke. 为 appears to be an expletive, unless we conceive it joined with the 何, the two characters together being simply= 'why' or 'how'. 5. 夫子, our 'master' i.e., the chief of the Ke family.

11. "So it is.—Therefore, if remoter people are not submissive, all the influences of civil culture and virtue are to be cultivated to attract them to be so; and when they have been so attracted, they must be made contented and tranquil.

12. "Now, here are you, Yew and K'ew, assisting your chief. Remoter people are not submissive, and, with your help, he cannot attract them to him. In his own territory there are divisions and downfalls, leavings and separations, and, with your help, he cannot preserve it.

13. "And yet he is planning these hostile movements within our state.—I am afraid that the sorrow of the Ke-sun family will not be on account of Chuen-yu, but will be found within the screen of their own court."

6. Chow Jin is by Choo He simply called—'a good historiographer of ancient times'. Some trace him back to the Shang dynasty, and others only to the early times of the Chow. There are other weighty utterances of his in vogue, besides that in the text. 7. Choo He explains 兕 by 野牛, 'a wild bull'. The dict. says it is like an ox, and goes on to describe it as 'one-horned'. The 本草, 兽部, says that 兕 and 犀 are different terms for the same animal, i.e., the rhinoceros. I cannot think that 龟 here is the living tortoise. That would not be kept in a 柜, or 'coffer', like a gem. Perhaps the term is, by mistake, for 圭. 9. The regimen of 疾extends down to the end of the par. 夫,—as in XI. 24.为之辞is the same idiom as 为之宰, V. 7. 10. Conf. uses the term 患 here, with ref. to the 忧 in p. 8. 均, 'equality', 谓各得其分, 'means—every one getting his own proper name and place'. From this point, Conf. speaks of the general disorganization of Loo under the management of the three families, and especially of the Ke. By 远人we certainly cannot unstand the people of Chuen-yu. 11. 来 is to be understood with a hiphil force, 'to make to come', 'to attract'. 12. 不能来, 不能守, are to be understood of the head of the Ke family, as controlling the government of Loo, and as being assisted by the two disciples, so that the reproof falls heavily on them. 13. 在萧墙之内,—Choo He simply says 萧墙, 屏也, 'seaou-ts'eang means a screen'. In the dict., after Ch'ing K'ang-shing, seaou in this pass.=萧, 'reverent', and 墙 alone means 'screen', and the phrase is thus explained:—'Officers, on reaching the screen, which they had only to pass, to find themselves in the presence of their head, were supposed to become more reverential'; and hence, the expression in the text= 'among his own immediate officers'.