The Chinese Classics (Prolegomena), James Legge [popular books of all time TXT] 📗

Tsze-ch’ang [al. Tsze-chih], (���M�� [al. ��], �r�l�� [al. �l��]), has his tablet next to that of Pu-ch’i. He was son-in-law to Confucius. His nativity is assigned both to Lu and to Ch’i.

17. Nan-kung Kwo, styled Tsze-yung (�n�c�A [al. �� and, in the ‘Narratives of the School,’ �� (T’ao)], �r�l�e), has the place at the east next to Yuan Hsien. It is a question much debated whether he was the same with Nan-kung Chang-shu, who accompanied Confucius to the court of Chau, or not. On occasion of a fire breaking out in the palace of duke Ai, while others were intent on securing the contents of the Treasury, Nan-kung directed his efforts to save the Library, and to him was owing the preservation of the copy of the Chau Li which was in Lu, and other ancient monuments.

18. Kung-hsi Ai, styled Chi-ts’ze [al. Chi-ch’an] (�����s, �r�u �� [al. �u�I]). His tablet follows that of Kung-ye. He was a native of Lu, or of Ch’i. Confucius commended him for refusing to take office with any of the Families which were encroaching on the authority of the princes of the States, and for choosing to endure the severest poverty rather than sacrifice a tittle of his principles.

19. Tsang Tien, styled Hsi (����[al. �I], �r��). .He was the father of Tsang Shan. His place in the temples is the hall to Confucius’s ancestors, where his tablet is the first, west.

20. Yen Wu-yao, styled Lu (�C�L��, �r��). He was the father of Yen Hui, younger than Confucius by six years. His sacrificial place is the first, east, in the same hall as the last.

21. Following the tablet of Nan-kung Kwo is that of Shang Chu, styled Tsze-mu (����, �r�l��). To him, it is said, we are indebted for the preservation of the Yi-ching, which he received from Confucius. Its transmission step by step, from Chu down to the Han dynasty, is minutely set forth.

22. Next to Kung-hsi Ai is the place of Kao Ch’ai, styled Tsze-kao and Chi-kao (����, �r�l�� [al. �u��; for �� moreover, we find �o, and ��]), a native of Ch’i, according to the ‘Narratives

 

of the School,’ but of Wei, according to Sze-ma Ch’ien and Chang Hsuan. He was thirty (some say forty) years younger than Confucius, dwarfish and ugly, but of great worth and ability. At one time he was criminal judge of Wei, and in the execution of his office condemned a prisoner to lose his feet. Afterwards that same man saved his life, when he was flying from the State. Confucius praised Ch’ai for being able to administer stern justice with such a spirit of benevolence as to disarm resentment.

23. Shang Chu is followed by Ch’i-tiao K’ai [prop. Ch’i], styled Tsze-k’ai, Tsze-zo, and Tsze-hsiu (���J�} [pr. ��], �r�l�}, �l �Y, and �l����), a native of Ts’ai (��), or according to Chang Hsuan, of Lu. We only know him as a reader of the Shu-ching, and refusing to go into office.

24. Kung-po Liao, styled Tsze-chau (���B��, �r�l�P). He appears in the Analects, XIV. xxxiii, slandering Tsze-lu. It is doubtful whether he should have a place among the disciples.

25. Sze-ma Kang, styled Tsze-niu (�q����, �r�l��), follows Ch’i-tiao K’ai; also styled ����. He was a great talker, a native of Sung, and a brother of Hwan T’ui, to escape from whom seems to have been the labour of his life.

26. The place next Kao Ch’ai is occupied by Fan Hsu, styled Tsze-ch’ih (����, �r�l��), a native of Ch’i, or, according to others, of Lu, and whose age is given as thirty-six and forty-six years younger than Confucius. When young, he distinguished himself in a military command under the Chi family.

27. Yu Zo, styled Tsze-zo (���Y, �r�l�Y). He was a native of Lu, and his age is stated very variously. He was noted among the disciples for his great memory and fondness for antiquity. After the death of Confucius, the rest of the disciples, because of some likeness in Zo’s speech to the Master, wished to render the same observances to him which they had done to Confucius, but on Tsang Shan’s demurring to the thing, they abandoned the purpose. The tablet of Tsze-zo is now the sixth, east among ‘The Wise Ones,’ to which place it was promoted in the third year of Ch’ien-lung of the present dynasty. This was done in compliance with a memorial from the president of one of the Boards, who said he was moved by a dream to make the request. We may suppose that his real motives were a wish to do Justice to the merits of Tsze-zo, and to restore the symmetry of the tablets in the ‘Hall of the

 

Great and Complete One,’ which had been disturbed by the introduction of the tablet of Chu Hsi in the preceding reign.

28. Kung-hsi Ch’ih, styled Tsze-hwa (������, �r�l��), a native of Lu, younger than Confucius by forty-two years, whose place is the fourth, west, in the outer court. He was noted for his knowledge of ceremonies, and the other disciples devolved on him all the arrangements about the funeral of the Master.

29. Wu-ma Shih [or Ch’i], styled Tsze-Ch’i (�����I [al. ��], �r �l�� [al. �l�X]), a native of Ch’an, or, according to Chang Hsuan, of Lu, thirty years younger than Confucius. His tablet is on the east, next to that of Sze-ma Kang. It is related that on one occasion, when Confucius was about to set out with a company of the disciples on a walk or journey, he told them to take umbrellas. They met with a heavy shower, and Wu-ma asked him, saying, ‘There were no clouds in the morning; but after the sun had risen, you told us to take umbrellas. How did you know that it would rain?’ Confucius said, ‘The moon last evening was in the constellation Pi, and is it not said in the Shih-ching, “When the moon is in Pi, there will be heavy rain?” It was thus I knew it.’

30. Liang Chan [al. Li], styled Shu-yu (���� [al. �U] �r����), occupies the eighth place, west, among the tablets of the outer court. He was a man of Ch’i, and his age is stated as twenty-nine and thirty-nine years younger than Confucius. The following story is told in connexion with him.— When he was thirty, being disappointed that he had no son, he was minded to put away his wife. ‘Do not do so,’ said Shang Chu to him. ‘I was thirty-eight before I had a son, and my mother was then about to take another wife for me, when the Master proposed sending me to Ch’i. My mother was unwilling that I should go, but Confucius said, ‘Don’t be anxious. Chu will have five sons after he is forty.’ It has turned out so, and I apprehend it is your fault, and not your wife’s, that you have no son yet.’ Chan took this advice, and in the second year after, he had a son.

31. Yen Hsing [al. Hsin, Liu, and Wei], styled Tsze-liu (�C�� [al. ��, �h, and ��], �r�l�h), occupies the place, east, after Wu-ma Shih. He was a native of Lu, and forty-six years younger than Confucius.

32. Liang Chan is followed on the west by Zan Zu, styled Tsze-lu [al. Tsze-tsang and Tsze-yu] (�T�� [al. ��] �r*�l�| [al. �l��

* Digitizer’s note: This is �t in the source text; I have corrected what is an obvious misprint.

 

and �l��]), a native of Lu, and fifty years younger than Confucius.

33. Yen Hsing is followed on the east by Ts’ao Hsu, styled Tsze-hsun (����, �r�l�`), a native of Ts’ai, fifty years younger than Confucius.

34. Next on the west is Po Ch’ien, styled Tsze-hsi, or, in the current copies of the ‘Narratives of the School,’ Tsze-ch’iai (�B�@, �r�l�� [al. �l�R] or �l��), a native of Lu, fifty years younger than Confucius.

35. Following Tsze-hsun is Kung-sun Lung [al. Ch’ung] styled Tsze-shih (���]�s [al. �d], �r�l��), whose birth is assigned by different writers to Wei, Ch’u, and Chao (��). He was fifty-three years younger than Confucius. We have the following account:— ‘Tsze-kung asked Tsze-shih, saying, “Have you not learned the Book of’ Poetry?” Tsze-shih replied, “What leisure have I to do so? My parents require me to be filial; my brothers require me to be submissive; and my friends require me to be sincere. What leisure have I for anything else?” “Come to my Master,” said Tsze-kung, “and learn of him.”’

Sze-ma Ch’ien here observes: ‘Of the thirty-five disciples which precede, we have some details. Their age and other particulars are found in the Books and Records. It is not so, however, in regard to the fifty-two which follow.’

36. Zan Chi, styled Tsze-ch’an [al. Chi-ch’an and Tsze-ta] (�T �u, �r�l�� [al. �u�� and �l�F), a native of Lu, whose place is the

11th, west, next to Po Ch’ien.

37. Kung-tsu Kau-tsze or simply Tsze, styled Tsze-chih (�� ������ [or simply ��], �r�l��), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 23rd, east, in the outer court.

38. Ch’in Tsu, styled Tsze-nan (����, �r�l�n), a native of Ch’in. His tablet precedes that of the last, two places.

39. Ch’i-tiao Ch’ih, styled Tsze-lien (���J�G [al. ��], �r�l��), a native of Lu. His tablet is the 13th, west.

40. Yen Kao, styled Tsze-chiao (�C���r�l��). According to the ‘Narratives of the School,’ he was the same as Yen K’o (��, or �g), who drove the carriage when Confucius rode in Wei after the duke and Nan-tsze. But this seems doubtful. Other

 

authorities make his name Ch’an (��), and style him Tsze-tsing (�l ��). His tablet is the 13th, east.

41. Ch’i-tiao Tu-fu [al. . Ts’ung], styled Tsze-yu, Tsze-ch’i, and Tsze-wan (���J�{�� [al. �q], �r�l�� or �l�� [al. �l�� and �l��]), a native of Lu, whose tablet precedes that of Ch’i-tiao Ch’ih.

42. Zang Sze-ch’ih, styled Tsze-t’u, or Tsze-ts’ung (�[ [al. ��] �o��, �r�l�{ [al. �l�q]), a native of Ch’in. Some consider Zang-sze (�[�o) to be a double surname. His tablet comes after that of No.

 

40.

 

43. Shang Chai, styled Tsze-Ch’i and Tsze-hsiu (���A, �r�l�u [al. �l�q]), a native of Lu. His tablet is immediately after that of Fan Hsu, No. 26.

44. Shih Tso [al. Chih and Tsze]-shu, styled Tsze-ming (���@ [al. �� and �l], ��, �r�l��). Some take Shih-tso (���@) as a double surname. His tablet follows that of No. 42.

45. Zan Pu-ch’i, styled Hsuan (������, �r��), a native of Ch’u, whose tablet is next to that of No. 28.

46. Kung-liang Zu, styled Tsze-chang (���}�� [al. ��], �r�l��), a native of Ch’in, follows the preceding in the temples. The ‘Sacrificial Canon’ says:— ‘Tsze-chang was a man of worth and bravery. When Confucius was surrounded and stopped in P’u, Tsze-chang fought so desperately, that the people of P’u were afraid, and let the Master go, on his swearing that he would not proceed to Wei.’

47. Hau [al. Shih] Ch’u [al. Ch’ien], styled Tsze-li [al. Li-ch’ih] (�Z [al. ��] �B [al. �@], �r�l�� [al. ����]), a native of Ch’i, having his tablet the 17th, east.

48. Ch’in Zan, styled K’ai (���T, �r�}), a native of Ts’ai. He is not given in the list of the ‘Narratives of the School,’ and on this account his tablet was put out of the temples in the ninth year of Chia-tsing. It was restored, however, in the second year of Yung-chang, A.D. 1724, and is the 33rd, east, in the outer court.

49. Kung-hsia Shau, styled Shang [and Tsze-shang] (���L�� [al. �u], �r�� [and �l��]), a native of Lu, whose tablet is next to that of No. 44.

50. Hsi Yung-tien [or simply Tien], styled Tsze-hsi [al. Tsze-

 

chieh and Tsze-ch’ieh] (�t�e�� [or �I], �r�l�� [al. �l�� and �l��]), a native of Wei, having his tablet the 18th, east.

51. Kung Chien-ting [al. Kung Yu], styled Tsze-chung (���� [al. ��] �w [al. ����], �r�l�� [al. �� and