This passage recounts Yang Huo’s etiquette trap to force Confucius into office: sending a steamed piglet, then cornering him with Ren (benevolence), wisdom, and “time waits for no one.” It reveals Confucius’ moral dilemma between avoiding a usurper minister and his enduring ideal of practicing the Way (Dao) to save the world.
Baboons are the wisest beasts who know the past, but lack foresight for the future.
Once I saw a man travelling on foot at Lvliang. He saw a boat, and offered the boat-owner fifty coins to take him to Pengmen.