Book VI

Confucius commends Yung as possessing the qualities necessary to occupy the position of a prince.

Chung-kung asks about Tsze-sang Po-tsze's suitability, and Confucius affirms he may pass despite being lax in small matters.

Chung-kung raises a distinction between having reverence for business while being easy in small matters versus actually practicing such laxity, arguing the latter is excessive.

Confucius agrees that Chung-kung's interpretation and concern about excessive laxity are correct.

Confucius identifies Yen Hui as the supreme lover of learning, who controlled his emotions and never repeated faults, but died young.

When the disciple Zan requests grain for his mother, Confucius carefully calibrates the amount based on her needs, demonstrating judicious charity.

Confucius explains that a superior man should aid those in distress but should not increase the wealth of those already rich.

When the Master appoints Yuan Sze as governor and offers him nine hundred measures of grain, Sze declines the offer.

Confucius persuades Yuan Sze not to decline by suggesting he distribute the grain to the neighborhoods and villages rather than keep it.

Confucius uses an analogy of an unusual calf to suggest that Chung-kung's uncommon virtue would be recognized and valued even if people initially rejected it.

Confucius praises Hui for achieving three months of unbroken perfect virtue, surpassing all other disciples who achieve it only intermittently.

Chi K'ang asks if Chung-yu is fit to be an officer, and Confucius affirms his decisiveness qualifies him for such a role.

Chi K'ang asks about Ts'ze, and Confucius affirms his intelligence qualifies him for governmental office.

Chi K'ang asks about Ch'iu, and Confucius affirms his varied abilities qualify him for governmental office.

Min Tsze-ch'ien refuses an offer to become governor of Pi, declaring he would emigrate rather than accept a second invitation.

When visiting the ill Po-niu, Confucius expresses profound sorrow that such a virtuous man should suffer such illness, lamenting it as Heaven's decree.

Confucius praises Hui's remarkable virtue, whereby he maintained joyful composure despite extreme poverty and deprivation.

Yen Ch'iu claims his strength is insufficient to follow Confucius's doctrines, attributing his failure to limitation rather than abandonment.

Confucius argues that those whose strength fails do abandon the path midway, whereas Yen Ch'iu is self-limiting rather than genuinely incapable.

Confucius advises Tsze-hsia to be a scholar in the manner of the superior man rather than the mean man.

When asked if he has good men as governor, Tsze-yu describes Tan-t'ai Mieh-ming, who avoids shortcuts and attends to official business only.

Confucius commends Mang Chih-fan for not boasting of his merit, exemplifying humility by attributing his late retreat to his horse's unwillingness rather than his own caution.

Confucius argues that without eloquent speech and physical beauty, it is difficult to survive in the present corrupt age.

Confucius poses a rhetorical question suggesting that just as one must exit through a door, people should follow proper ways rather than circumvent them.

Confucius explains that excess substance without accomplishments produces rusticity, excess accomplishments without substance produces superficiality, but their equal blend produces virtue.

Confucius asserts that humans are born with an innate uprightness, and survival without it depends merely on fortunate circumstances.

Confucius establishes a progression where those who love truth surpass those who merely know it, and those who delight in it surpass those who merely love it.

Confucius argues that the highest subjects should be taught to those of above-average talent but withheld from those below average.

Confucius defines wisdom as attending earnestly to human duties while respecting but remaining aloof from spiritual beings.

Confucius defines perfect virtue as making the overcoming of difficulty one's primary concern while treating success as secondary.

Confucius contrasts the wise who find pleasure in water and activity with the virtuous who find pleasure in hills and tranquility, with corresponding effects on longevity and joy.

Confucius suggests that the State of Ch'i could approach the virtue of Lu through one reform, and Lu could approach a state of true principles through another.

Confucius makes a cryptic remark about a cornered vessel without corners, repeating it twice in apparent puzzlement or irony.

Tsai Wo proposes that a benevolent man would rescue someone drowning in a well, testing the limits of benevolence.

Confucius argues that a superior man might be deceived into approaching a well but cannot be fooled into jumping in, distinguishing between innocence and stupidity.

Confucius affirms that extensive study combined with adherence to propriety enables the superior man to avoid transgressing what is right.

When Tsze-lu disapproves of Confucius's visit to Nan-tsze, Confucius swears an oath invoking Heaven's judgment on whether he acted improperly.

Confucius asserts that the virtue of the Constant Mean is perfect but has been rarely practiced among the people for a long time.

Tsze-kung asks whether a man who extensively benefits people would be perfectly virtuous, challenging Confucius's standard.

Confucius reframes the question, arguing that such achievement requires not merely virtue but the qualities of a sage, noting that even Yao and Shun were concerned about this.

Confucius explains that the perfectly virtuous man seeks to establish and enlarge others just as he seeks to establish and enlarge himself.

Confucius summarizes that judging others by applying what one knows of oneself constitutes the art of virtue.