Book XVII

Yang Ho confronts Confucius with two rhetorical questions about benevolence and wisdom, arguing that one should engage in public service rather than withdraw. Confucius concedes and agrees to take office.

Confucius teaches that people are born nearly alike in nature, but become different through practice and cultivation.

Confucius identifies two classes of people who cannot be changed: the wisest of the highest class and the most stupid of the lowest class.

Confucius questions why one would use an ox knife to kill a fowl, implying criticism of Tsze-yu's overly elaborate instruction. Tsze-yu defends himself by citing Confucius's own teaching about instruction's value regardless of station.

Kung-shan invites Confucius to visit during his rebellion, and Confucius considers accepting, believing he might transform the political situation if employed.

Confucius defines perfect virtue as the practice of five things: gravity, generosity, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness, each producing specific benefits.

When Pi Hsi, who is in rebellion, invites Confucius, Tsze-lu objects based on Confucius's own principle against associating with the morally corrupt. Confucius responds with metaphors of immutable properties, suggesting he cannot compromise his virtue.

Confucius identifies six virtues (benevolence, wisdom, sincerity, straightforwardness, boldness, and firmness) that become corrupted when pursued without learning, each leading to a distinct vice.

Confucius explains seven functions of poetry: stimulating the mind, self-examination, learning sociability, regulating resentment, learning duties to father and prince, and acquiring knowledge of natural things.

Confucius compares one who has not studied the Chau-nan and Shao-nan to someone facing a wall, emphasizing the importance of these foundational poetic texts.

Confucius criticizes people who reduce propriety to mere material trappings (gems and silk) and music to mere instruments (bells and drums), implying these traditions have deeper spiritual meanings.

Confucius condemns those who present a stern exterior while being internally weak, comparing them to thieves who break through walls under false pretenses.

Confucius identifies the overly cautious and careful people of villages as 'thieves of virtue,' suggesting they undermine genuine virtue through excessive propriety.

Confucius teaches that repeating hearsay while traveling casts away one's virtue, condemning idle talk.

Confucius characterizes mean-spirited people as incapable of serving a prince, showing restless anxiety about gaining and keeping worldly advantages at any cost.

Confucius contrasts the virtues of antiquity with present-day corruptions: high-mindedness replaced by wild license, stern dignity by quarrelsomeness, and honest stupidity by deceit.

Confucius teaches that fine words and insinuating appearance are seldom found together with genuine virtue.

Confucius expresses hatred for three things: the way purple diminishes vermilion's luster, the way Chang's songs confound proper music, and those who use sharp words to overthrow kingdoms.

Confucius prefers not speaking, and when pressed about how disciples would record his teachings, compares himself to Heaven, which acts through the seasons without words.

Confucius declines to see Zu Pei due to illness, but takes his lute and sings so that Pei may hear him, demonstrating communication through action rather than direct meeting.

Tsai Wo argues that one year of mourning is sufficient since propriety and music need constant practice, but Confucius refutes this by showing that a superior person feels genuine discomfort during mourning and that three years reflects the natural debt to parents.

Confucius concludes that Tsai Wo's position reveals his lack of virtue, emphasizing that children remain dependent on parents for three years and this reciprocal duty should be honored universally.

Confucius criticizes those who eat all day without applying their minds to good, suggesting that even games and chess are preferable to such complete idleness.

When asked if the superior man esteems valour, Confucius clarifies that righteousness is paramount; valour without righteousness leads to insubordination in superiors and robbery in inferiors.

Confucius lists four things he hates: those who proclaim others' evils, those of low station who slander superiors, the merely valorous who ignore propriety, and the narrow-minded who are stubborn. Tsze-kung similarly identifies three hatreds.

Confucius identifies girls and servants as the most difficult group to manage: familiarity causes them to lose humility while distance causes discontent.

Confucius teaches that a man who is disliked at forty will remain unchanged throughout his life, implying that character becomes set at this age.