Zigong asked, “Is there one word that can be practiced for a lifetime?” The Master said, “Perhaps it is ‘shu’ (reciprocity)! Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”
Yu the Great and Hou Ji lived in times of peace. Yu passed by his own home three times while controlling floods but never entered; Hou Ji tirelessly taught farming to feed the people. Confucius praised them.
Mencius said: “Shun was born in Zhufeng, moved to Fuxia, and died in Mingtiao – he was a man of the Eastern Yi (eastern frontier peoples).King Wen of Zhou was born in Qizhou and died in Biying – he was a man of the Western Yi (western frontier peoples).” “Their homelands were over a…