The Analects – Chapter 207 (8.21). The selfless sage: Confucius’ praise of Yu

8.21

The Master said,”In Yu I can find no semblance of a flaw. Abstemious in his own food and drink, he displayed the utmost devotion in his offerings to spirits and divinities. Content with the plainest clothes for common wear, he saw to it that his sacrificial apron and ceremonial headdress were of the utmost magnificence. His place of habitation was of the humblest, and all his energy went into draining and ditching. In him I can find no semblance of a flaw.”

子曰：「禹，吾無間然矣。菲飲食，而致孝乎鬼神；惡衣服，而致美乎黻冕；卑宮室，而盡力乎溝洫。禹，吾無間然矣。」

Notes

This passage from the Analects records Confucius’ praise for the ancient Sage-King Yu. Yu was strict with himself yet wholly devoted to public service; he practiced extreme frugality in personal life but demonstrated utmost dedication to public responsibilities.

Yu’s diet was exceedingly simple, yet he showed deep reverence in sacrifices to ancestors and celestial spirits; his daily clothing was coarse, but his ritual robes and caps for ceremonies and court assemblies were exquisite; his own dwelling was humble and rudimentary, yet he poured all his energy into public projects like controlling floods and constructing field irrigation channels.

“To govern a state of a thousand chariots, one must be reverent in handling affairs and trustworthy, economical in expenditures and caring for the people, and employ the labor of the people only at the proper times.”(Analects 1.5)

This is consistent with the principle of being frugal in personal diet and humble in living quarters as advocated in the maxim about Yu the Great. It emphasizes that a ruler should practice economy in expenditures to care for the people and refrain from competing with the people for benefits.