SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

  • The Analects – Chapter 10 (1.10). Confucius’ Character

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    Juan

    Ziqin said to Zigong, “When our Master arrives in a fresh country he always manages to find out about its policy. Does he do this by asking questions, or do people tell him of their own accord?”

  • The Analects – Chapter 9 (1.9). Ritual as moral cultivation

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    Juan

    Master Zeng said, “When people attend carefully to their parents at the ends of their lives and worship their ancestors with reverence, their virtue will naturally deepen.”

  • The Analects – Chapter 8 (1.8). Pillars of nobility

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    Juan

    The Master said, “If a gentleman is frivolous, he will lose the respect of his inferiors and lack firm ground upon which to build up his education. First and foremost he must learn to be faithful to his superiors, to keep promises, to refuse the friendship of all who are not faithful or trustworthy.…

  • The Analects – Chapter 7 (1.7). Beyond book learning

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    Juan

    Zixia said, “A man who values people for their virtue and talent, and honoring noble qualities above external appearances, who into serving father and mother knows how to put his whole strength, who in the service of his prince will lay down his life, who in intercourse with friends is true to his word…

  • The Analects – Chapter 6 (1.6). Virtue before knowledge

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    Juan

    The Master said, “A young man’s duty is to behave well to his parents at home and to his elders abroad, to be cautious in giving promises and punctual in keeping them, to have kindly feelings towards everyone, but seek the intimacy of the Good. If, when all that is done, he has any…

  • The Analects – Chapter 5 (1.5). Virtuous Rule

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    Juan

    The Master said, “A country of a thousand war-chariots cannot be administered unless the ruler attends strictly to business, punctually observes his promises, is economical in expenditure, shows affection towards his subjects in general, and uses the labour of the peasantry only at the proper times of year.”