Confucius: Not Easy to Know a Person 孔子：知人不易

Yan Hui 颜回

Yan Hui, also known as Zi Yuan and Yan Yuan, was one of the outstanding students in the early teaching career of Confucius. He is from the country Lu. He also followed Confucius as he travelled around the countries. He was the most accomplished student in the category of morality and had great success in virtue and the classics. He was the only person to be praised by Confucius as a humane man. His hair went white when he was twenty-nine, and he died when he was thirty-one years old.

It was recorded that a small action by Yuan Hui had caused Confucius to misunderstand him. Although the misunderstanding was finally cleared up, the incident led Confucius to sigh with emotion that it is not easy to know a man well. Even a sage like Confucius can be confused, how about ordinary people like us?

Here is a story selected from the Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals:

Confucius and his followers were once stranded in the bordering area between the state of Chen and the state of Cai, where he was in such adversity that for seven days he hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice and had to relieve his hunger with only weeds from the woods. As he was taking his nap at midday, his pupil Yan Hui brought back some rice obtained by begging and started cooking. As the rice was almost done, Confucius saw Yan Hui eating some of it. When the rice was done, Yan Hui offered the rice to Confucius with great respect. Confucius pretended not to have seen anything, got up and said, "I have seen my deceased father in my dream, and would like to make an offering to him with this meal."

"You can’t offer the rice, it is not pure," Yan Hui said. "During the cooking, there was coal dust in the pan. Since it is a pity to throw away food messed with coal dust, I picked out the dirty grains and ate them."

After a deep sigh, Confucius said, "I always rely on my eyes to judge, but at times my eyes cannot be trusted; I always rely on our hearts to judge, but our judgment is not always reliable. People, please take note: it is not easy to know a man well."

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颜回，又称子渊与颜渊，是孔子早期的一个杰出的学生。他来自鲁国，跟随孔子周游诸国。在孔子的弟子中，颜渊以“贤”而著称，是唯一被孔子称赞为仁者。他的头发29岁时变白，31岁就去世。

据说，有一次颜回的一个小小的举动，却招致了孔子的误会。虽然误会最终冰释，孔子却不由得发出“知人不易”的感慨。连“圣人”孔子在“知人”方面都有困惑的时候，何况我们常人呢!

以下故事选自《吕氏春秋》：

孔子穷乎陈蔡之间，藜羹不斟,七日不尝粒，昼寝。颜回索米，得而 之，几熟，孔子望见颜回攫其甑中而食之。选间食熟，谒孔子而进食。孔子佯装不见之。孔子起曰："今者梦见先君，食洁而后馈。"

颜回对曰："不可，向者煤 入甄中，弃食不祥，回攫而饮之。"

孔子叹曰："所信者目也，而目犹不可信;所恃者心也，而心犹不足恃。弟子记之，知人固不易矣！"

Wong Bo Showed Off His Talent 王勃显能

Wang Bo 王勃

Wang Bo (ca. 648–675), courtesy name Zi'an, was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. He is one of the Four Literary Eminences in Early Tang. He opposed the spread of the Gong Ti Style of the Sui Dynasty, and advocated a style rich in emotions. His fame was boosted by the publishing of Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavilion, a poem which is widely recognised as one of the finest Tang Dynasty poems. The style of this poem greatly influenced later generations of poets. His poem, titled ‘Seeing Du Shaofu off to His Post in Shu Zhou’, is widely recognised as one of the masterpieces of poetry of the Tang Dynasty. The line in this poem, ‘A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near’, has become a famous and frequently quoted phrase throughout the ages. It has touched the hearts of ancient and modern people.

The story of his writing of the poem was told by Wang Dingpao in his book ‘Anecdotes of the Tang Dynasty’ as follows:

When Wang Bo (648-675) wrote his masterpiece ‘Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavilion’, he was only fourteen years old. Knowing little about him, the governor Yan of Hongzhou did not recognise the lad’s talent. Although he had invited Wang to the celebration for rebuilding of the tower, has asked his son-in-law, a scholar called Meng, to write for the occasion a composition which in fact was prepared beforehand.

When all the guests had assembled for the event, they were invited (as a matter of courtesy) to prepare a composition, and only Wang accepted. Yan was furious. He rose, and told a servant to watch what Wang was writing and report to him immediately. The first sentence came to his ears: ‘This tower in the former capital, Nanchang, is now the new centre of Hongzhou.’ This was nothing special, he thought.

The second sentence arrived: ‘In the sky, fight above this place, are the stars Yi and Zhen; on the earth, this spot is connected with the famous mountains Heng and Lu.’ This couplet moved Yan to silent thought.

Then the following sentence soon reached his ears: ‘The evening clouds drift with a solitary goose in company, and the hue of the autumn river blends with that of the endless sky.’ On hearing this, Yan jumped up, shouting: ‘What a talent! This couplet will be remembered forever!’

Hurriedly he invited Wang Bo to have dinner together, and they had a wonderful time.

Text of Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavillion 《滕王阁序》全文

王勃（大约648-675），字子安，是唐代诗人。他是初唐四杰之一。他反对宫体诗风的流行，推行感情丰富的风格。他的《滕王阁序》提高了他的声名。这首诗赋至今还为中学生所读。

五代王定保的《唐摭言》中叙述他写《滕王阁序》的故事：

Prince of Teng's Pavillion 滕王阁

王勃著《腾王阁序》，年十四，都督阎公不之信，勃虽在座，而阎公意属于婿孟学士为之，已宿构矣。

及以纸笔巡让宾客，勃不辞让。公大怒，拂衣而起，专令人伺其下笔。第一报云：‘豫章故郡，洪都新府。’ 公曰：‘亦是老生常谈。’

又报云：‘星分翼轸，地接衡庐。’公闻之，沉吟不语。

又云：‘落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色。’瞿然而起曰：‘此真天才，当垂不朽矣！’

遂亟请宴所，极欢而罢。

Qin Scholar loved Antiques 秦士好古

The following story is found in the book ‘A Vast Collection of Records of Things and Events’, which is written by Chen Yuanjing of Song Dynasty.

A scholar of the Qin dynasty was fond of antiques that he would acquire them regardless of how much they cost.

One day, a man appeared at his gate, hauling a broken mat, and said, ‘In the past Duke Ai Gong of the state of Lu presented this mat to Confucius. This is the very mat slept on by the great sage.’ The scholar, greatly pleased by such a rare find, obtained it at the cost of a piece of fertile land he owned outside the outer city wall.

Later, another man appeared with an old walking stick. He was selling the old stick, and he said, ‘this is the walking stick used by King Tai of Zhou dynasty as he was on his way to Bin in order to escape the barbarian invaders from the north. By the way, this stick is several hundred years older than that mat of Confucius. What price can you offer?’ The scholar paid the man with all his family savings.

Thereafter, another man came to the house with a rotten wooden bowl and said, ‘neither your mat nor your stick can be called antiques by comparison with this treasure. It was made during the days of Tyrant Jie (the last King of Shang dynasty), much earlier than the Zhou dynasty.’ Considering this was a product of an even earlier era, he paid by transferring the title of his house to the man.

In order to obtain the three antiques now in his possession, he had given up his arable land, his home and exhausted his savings. Nothing remained for his subsistence. Nevertheless, he refused to think of trying to dispose of the three articles. Hence, draping the Duke Ai Gong’s mat on his shoulders, leaning on King Tai’s stick and using Tyrant Jie’s bowl as he went begging in the streets, he pleaded to the passers-by, ‘thank you for supporting my living. If you have coins made by Jiang Tai Gong (famous politician of Zhou dynasty), please spare me one.’

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以下故事来自宋朝陳元靚所著《事林广记》。

秦朝有一士人，酷好古物，价虽贵必求之。

一日，有人携败席踵门告曰：‘昔鲁哀公命席以问孔子，此孔子所坐之席。’秦士大惬意，以为古，遂以附郭田易之。

逾时，又一人持古杖以售之，曰：‘此乃太王避狄太王(周文王的祖父)杖策去豳时所操之棰也，盖先孔子之席数百年，子何以偿我？’秦士倾家资与之。

既而又有人持朽一只，曰：‘席与杖皆未为古，此椀乃桀造，盖商又远于周。’秦士愈以为远，遂虚所居之宅而予之。

三器既得，而田资罄尽，无以衣食，然好古之心，终未忍舍三器，于是披哀公之席，把太王之杖，执桀所作之椀，行丐于市，曰：‘衣食父母，有太公九府钱，乞一文！’

Literati Disdain Each Other 文人相轻

Cai Pi was the son of the great general and warlord Cao Cao of the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220). Cao Pi succeeded his father as king of Wei upon the latter’s death in 220. At the same time, Cao Pi formally proclaimed the end of the Han and the inauguration of the Wei dynasty, of which he was the first emperor. He retired the last Han emperor with great honours and married the emperor’s two daughters. He then undertook administrative reforms in his domains. Cao Pi’s Wei dynasty never controlled more than the northern part of China and lasted less than 50 years.

Cao Pi's collection of essays ‘Discussing the Norms for Literature’ (Dianlun), established him as a major figure in the history of Chinese literature. He discussed the function of literature, the relationship between the author’s character and his style and basic features of the genres. The most important chapter being ‘A Discourse on Literature’ (Lunwen), in which he explained why men of letters always disdain each other since old times.

Since ancient times, men of letters disdain each other. For example, Ban Gu (d. 92 AD) is more or less on par with Fu Yi in capability and knowledge, but he scorned the latter concerning his literary works. In a letter to his brother Ban Zhao, Ban Gu wrote: ‘Fu Yi (Wuzhong) is just able to compose some small essays, and that was enough to become director of the imperial Lantai 'Orchid Terrace' library, but he does not know when to lay down his writing brush.’

Often people only look at their own strengths without considering that a writer's ability is not exhausted in one literary style. Very few writers are able to master all different literary styles, and that is the reason why most people measure other writers' weaknesses with their own strengths.

A proverb says, ‘In your own house, even a broken broom is worth a thousand golden coins.’ This is just the fault of not looking at oneself from another standpoint.

Usually, people esteem things from far away, not the things accustomed to them, and they trust what is said without asking if it is really true. Further, most people make worries about something invisible to them and think they to be better than others.

The frame for writing has a common character, while the content of a text is unique. Memoranda and petitions (zou yi) should be elegant, letters and treatises (shu lun) should be logical and ordered, inscriptions and elegies (ming lei) should report the truth, and poems and rhapsodies (shi fu) require beauty. These four types are different to each other, and people that are expert in one of them cannot be expert in another. Only persons with universal abilities are able to master all of them.

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曹丕为汉将军与军阀曹操之子。曹操于220年死后，曹丕承继其父之魏王位。曹丕正式宣布汉朝之终止，成立魏朝，为其开朝皇帝。他体面地让汉皇退位并娶她的两个女儿。他接着在他的领土内实行行政改革。曹丕的魏朝一直只有统治北方，统治少过50年。

曹丕所写文集《典论》使他成为中国文学史里一个重要人物。他讨论文学的功能，作者个性与他的风格的关系，与艺术类型的特征。其中《论文》是最重要的一章，谈到为何自古以来文人相轻。

文人相轻，自古而然。傅毅之于班固，伯仲之间耳，而固小之，与弟超书曰：“武仲以能属文，为兰台令史，下笔不能自休。”

夫人善于自见，而文非一体，鲜能备善，是以各以所长，相轻所短。

理话曰：“家有弊帚，享之千金。”斯不自见之患也。

常人贵远贱近，向声背实，又患闇於自见，谓己为贤。

夫文，本同而末异。盖奏议宜雅，书论宜理，铭诔尚实，诗赋欲丽。此四科不同，故能之者偏也；惟通才能备其体。

Liu Ling: The Alcoholic 刘伶病酒

Liu Ling was an ancient Chinese Daoist poet notorious for his love of alcohol, who, according to legend, asked that he be buried with a gourd of wine after his death.

He is known as one of The Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove.

The following story comes from ‘A New Account of Tales of the World’ (Shi Shuo Xin Yu).

Liu Ling was ill after drinking too much wine, but he still wanted to drink some more, so he asked his wife for it.

After pouring out all the wine and smashing the vessels, his wife pleaded with tears in her eyes, “You're drinking far too much. It's not the way to preserve your life. You'll have to stop drinking."

Ling said, "Fine. But I find it very hard to stop by myself. It can only be done if I pray to the ghosts and spirits and take an oath that I'll stop it. So you may get ready the wine and meat for the sacrifice."

His wife said, "As you said," and setting out wine and meat before the spirits, requested Ling to pray and take his oath.

Ling knelt down and prayed, "Heaven produced Liu Ling, and took 'wine' for his name. At one gulp he will down a gallon - five dipperfuls to ease the hangover. As for this woman's complaint, be careful not to listen."

He then finished off the wine and meat, and soon he was drunk again.

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刘伶是中国古代以爱喝酒而闻名的道家诗人。传说他要求死后以酒陪葬。

他是有名的竹林七贤之一。以下故事来自《世说新语》。

刘伶病酒，渴甚，从妇求酒。

妇捐酒毁器，涕泣谏曰：“君饮太甚，非摄生之道，必宜断之！”

伶曰：“甚善。我不能自禁，唯当祝鬼神自誓断之耳。便可具酒肉。”

妇曰：“敬闻命。”供酒肉于神前，请伶祝誓。

伶跪而祝曰：“天生刘伶，以酒为名，一饮一斛，五斗解酲。妇人之言，慎不可听！”

便引酒进肉，隗然已醉矣。

Smart When Young 小时了了

Kong Rong (Kong Wenju 153 – 208) was a bureaucrat, poet, and minor warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. A well-known story commonly used to educate children even nowadays on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves the four-year-old Kong Rong giving up the larger pears to his elder and younger brothers. This story is also mentioned in the Three Character Classic, a text used for elementary education since the Song Dynasty.

Kong Rong showed his quick wits since his young age. Here is a story recorded about him in ‘A New Account of Tales of the World’ (Shi Shuo Xin Yu).

Kong Wenju came to Luoyang with his father when he was ten.

At that time Li Yuanli (110-169) enjoyed great prestige in Luoyang as the Attorney-General. Only prominent figures or his close relatives were allowed to visit him.

Wenju approached his gate and said to the door man, ‘I’m a relative of Mr Li.’

After he was allowed in and sat down, Li asked him, ‘How is it that you are my relative?’

Wenju replied, ‘Long ago, my ancestor Confucius called your ancestor Laozi (note: Laozi’s surname is said to be Li) by the title of Master, therefore you and I have a relationship spanning many generations.’

Li and his guests were impressed by his reply. A while later, Chen Wei, an adviser of the Emperor, came and other told him the words of the boy. He uttered, ‘Being smart at a young age doesn’t mean he’ll be somebody when he grows up.’

Wenju answered, ‘I’m sure you must be smart when you were young.’

Chen was choked up.

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孔融(孔文举153-208) 是东汉三国时期的官僚、诗人、小军阀。他四岁时让梨给兄弟的故事至今还是教育儿童礼让与友爱的有名教材。三字经就有提到这个故事。

他从小就显示才智过人。这里是《世说新语》里记录有关他的一个故事。

孔文举年十岁，随父到洛阳。

时李元礼（110-169）有盛名，为司隶校尉。诣门者，皆俊才清称及中表亲戚乃通。

文举至门，谓吏曰：“我是李府君亲。”

既通，前坐。元礼问曰：“君与仆有何亲?”

对曰：“昔先君仲尼与君先人伯阳有师资之尊，是仆与君奕世为通好也。”

元礼及宾客莫不奇之。太中大夫陈韪后至，人以其语语之，韪曰：“小时了了，大未必佳。”文举曰：“想君小时必当了了。”

韪大踧踖。

Xun Jubo 荀巨伯

Here is a story found in ‘A New Account of Tales of the World’ (Shi Shuo Xin Yu) about Xun Jubo, who lived during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220).

Xun Jubo travelled far to visit a friend who was badly ill. In that period the Hun invaders were making an attack on the county in which his friend lived. The friend said to Xun, ‘I am dying, please go.’

Xun said, ‘I came a long distance to see you, but you want me to leave. Being disloyal to a friend only to save myself is an unrighteous act that is beneath me.’

The invaders arrived at last and asked Xun, ‘Our troops are coming, all the people in the county have fled, But what kind of man are you, who dare to remain here alone?’

‘My friend is terribly sick,’ Xun said, ‘I can’t bear to leave him alone. I prefer to be killed in his place.’

The invaders said to themselves, ‘We are unrighteous. How can we make an attempt on a righteous county?’

Then they withdraw the troops and the whole county was saved.

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荀巨伯,汉朝（前202年－220年）人。以下是‘世说新语’记载有关他的故事。

荀巨伯远看友人疾，值胡贼攻郡，友人语巨伯曰：“吾今死矣，子可去！”

巨伯曰：“远来相视，子令吾去，败义以求生，岂荀巨伯所行邪！”

贼既至，谓巨伯曰：“大军至，一郡尽空，汝何男子，而敢独止？”

巨伯曰：“友人有疾，不忍委之，宁以吾身代友人命。”

贼相谓曰：“吾辈无义之人，而入有义之国。”

遂班军而还，郡并获全。

One Who Stops Thinking about Words 忘言之人

Zhuangzi once said: ‘A basket-trap is for catching fish, but when one got the fish, one need think no more about the trap. Words are for holding ideas, but when one got the idea, one need no longer think about the words. If only I could find someone who had stopped thinking about words and could have him with me to talk to!’
To talk to someone who has stopped thinking about words is not to talk with words.
A New Account of Tales of the World (Shi Shuo Xin Yu) tells this story about Wang Ziyou (Huizhi):
“Wang travelled to Nanjing by boat. The boat was parked at the river bank. Wang had heard of Huan Ziye’s fame as a flute player but he was not acquainted with him. Wang was inside the boat when Huan was travelling by land along the river bank. Someone told Wang that the man travelling on the bank was Huan. Wang sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Wang heard that you are good at the flute, please play it for him.’ Huan had also heard of Wang. Although at that time Huan was already a man of noble position, he descended from his chariot, sat on the chair, and played the flute three times. After that, he ascended his chariot and went away. The two men did not exchange even a single word. ”
They did so because what they wished to enjoy was only the pure beauty of music. Wang asked Huan to play for him, because he knew he could play it well. Huan played for him, because Huan knew he could appreciate Huan’s playing. When this had been done, what else was there to talk about?
Note: The site of the ferry is Yaodibu (the ferry with flute-play invited), at Fuzi Temple district in Nanjing. It is said that the music played by Huan was the famous Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms.
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庄子说过：‘荃者所以在鱼，得鱼而忘荃；蹄者所以在兔，得兔而忘蹄；言者所以在意，得意而忘言。吾安得夫忘言之人而与之言哉！’
遇到忘言之人而和他谈话，这时两人不是用语言来交谈。
《世说新语·任诞》就这么记载了关于王子猷（徽之）的故事。
“王子猷出都，尚在渚下。旧闻桓子野善吹笛，而不相识。遇桓于岸上过，王在船中，客有识之者，云是桓子野。王便令人与相闻云：‘闻君善吹笛，试为我一奏。’桓时已贵显，素闻王名，即便下车，踞胡床为作三调。弄毕，便上车去，客主不交一言。”
他们没有交谈，因为他们所要的只是享受美好的音乐。王子猷请桓伊为他奏乐，因为他知道桓伊会奏。桓伊为王子猷奏乐，是因为他知道王子猷会欣赏。演奏完毕，还有什么好谈的呢？

注：据说桓伊吹笛所在地在南京秦淮河夫子庙的邀笛步, 旧名萧家渡。传说桓伊所奏的乐曲就是著名的‘梅花三弄’。

王子猷:：乘兴而行 Wang Ziyou: On the Impulse of Pleasure

It is said that Chinese literati who cultivate their mind must have a more subtle sensitivity for pleasure and more refined needs than sheer sensual ones. They would act according to pure impulsive, but not with any thought of sensuous pleasure.
Here is a story on Wang Ziyou, as recorded in Shi Shuo Xin Yu, A New Account of Tales of the World.
Wang Ziyou, also known as Huizhi (died in 388), was a son of the Chinese calligraphy sage, Wang Xizhi (321 - 379).
Wang lived at Shanyin, near present Hangzhou. One night he was awakened by a heavy snowfall. He opened the door and told his servant to bring some wine.
Looking outside, everything within sight was covered by a shimmering layer of snow. Feeling a little restless, he started reciting Zuosi’s poem ‘Ode to the Recluse’.
Suddenly he thought of his friend Dai Andao, who lived in San. Immediately he took a boat and went to see Dai. It required the whole night for him to reach Dai’s house. But when he was just about to knock at the door, he stopped and returned home.
When asked about the reason for this act, he replied, ‘I came on the impulse of my pleasure, and now it is ended, so I go back. Why should I see Dai?’
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通常说，中国文人修身养性，对快乐要有更深层领悟和高深需求，而不只是物欲享受。他们的行动率性纯真，但无意于物欲快感。
这里有个王子猷的故事，出自‘世说新语’。
王子猷（死于388年）就是王徽之，书圣王羲之（321-379）的儿子。
‘王子猷居山阴，夜大雪，眠觉，开室，命酌酒。
四望皎然，因起彷徨，咏左思《招隐诗》。
忽忆戴安道，时戴在剡，即便夜乘小船就之。经宿方至，造门不前而返。
人问其故，王曰：“吾本乘兴而行，兴尽而返，何必见戴？”’