CONFUCIAN ANALECTS 論語

學○一三十而立。四十○二而不惑。五十○三而知天命。六十○四而耳順。七十○五而從心所欲、不踰矩。

孟○一懿子問孝。子曰、無違。樊○二遲御、子告之曰、孟孫問

2. "At thirty, I stood firm.
3. "At forty, I had no doubts.
4. "At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven.
5. "At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth.
6. "At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."

CHAPTER V. 1. Măng Î asked what filial piety was. The Master said, "It is not being disobedient."
2. Soon after, as Fan Ch‘ih was driving him, the Master told him, saying, "Măng-sun asked me what

entire ease," they say that he here conceals his sagehood, and puts himself on the level of common men, to set before them a stimulating example. We may believe that the compilers of the Analects, the sage's immediate disciples, did not think of him so extravagantly as later men have done. It is to be wished, however, that he had been more definite and diffuse in his account of himself. 1. 有, in fourth tone, = "and." The "learning," to which, at 15, Confucius gave himself, is to be understood of the subjects of the "Superior Learning." See Chû Hsî's preliminary essay to the Tâ Hsio Great Learning. 2. The "standing firm" probably indicates that he no more needed to bend his will. 3. The "no doubts" may have been concerning what was proper in all circumstances and events. 4. "The decrees of Heaven," = the things decreed by Heaven, the constitution of things making what was proper to be so. 5. "The ear obedient" is the mind receiving as by intuition the truth from the ear. 6 矩 carpenter's square, "an instrument for determining the square." 不踰矩, "without transgressing the square." The expressions describing the progress of Confucius at the different periods of his age are often employed as numerical designations of age.

5. FILIAL PIETY MUST BE SHOWN ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF PROPRIETY. 1. Măng Î was a great officer of the State of Lû, by name Ho-chî (何忌), and the chief of one of the three great families by which in the time of Confucius the authority of that State was grasped. Those families were descended from three brothers, the sons by a concubine of the duke Hwan (711-694 B.C.), who were distinguished at first by the prænomens of 仲 Zhong, 叔 Shu, and 季 Ji. To these was subsequently added