The philosopher Tsa?ng being sick, he called to him the disciples of his school, and said, "Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'We should be apprehensive and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin ice,' and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape from all injury to my person, O ye, my little children."

2. THE VALUE OF THE RULES OF PROPRIETY; AND OF EXAMPLE IN THOSE IN HIGH STATIONS. 1. We must bear in mind that the ceremonies, or rules of propriety, spoken of in these books, are not mere conventionalities, but the ordinations of man's moral and intelligent nature in the line of what is proper. 绞, 'to strangle', is here explained by Chow He by急切. Ho An, after Ma Yung (early part of 2d century), makes it =绞刺, 'sarcasm'. 2. There does not seem any connection between the for. paragraph and this, and hence this is by many considered to be a new chap., and assigned to the philosopher Tsa?ng. 君子, diff. here from its previous usage, having reference more to the 位or station of the individuals indicated, than to their 德or virtue. 故旧=旧臣旧交, 'old ministers and old intimacies' 偷, often a verb, 'to steal'; here an adj., 'mean'.

3. THE PHILOSOPHER TSANG'S FILIAL PIETY SEEN IN HIS CARE OF HIS PERSON. We get our bodies perfect from our parents, and should so preserve them to the last. This is a great branch of filial piety with the Ch., and this ch. is said to illustrate how Tsa?ng-tsze had made this his life-long study. He made the disci. uncover his hands and feet to show them in what preservation those members were. 诗云,—see the She-king, II.v.i.st.6. In 而今, we must take 而=自. The whole clause indicates, comm. say, not so much Tsa?ng's satisfaction in the preservation of his person, as the anxiety which he had had, and would continue to have, if life were prolonged, in preserving it.