This article re-evaluates Feng Dao, a Five Dynasties prime minister serving nine emperors, long condemned for disloyalty. It records his benevolent deeds aiding civilians amid chaos and cites his poems revealing his pragmatic creed: focus on good deeds rather than personal fame.
The Master said, “To have faults and not correct them – that is truly a fault.”
The Master said, “If a person speaks without any sense of shame, it will be difficult for him to carry out what he says.”
Yuan Xian asked Confucius what constituted “shame.”The Master said, “When the state is well governed, it is right to draw a salary as an official; but when the state is poorly governed, to still draw a salary is shameful.”Yuan Xian then asked, “If someone can suppress competitiveness, boastfulness, resentment, and desire, can he be…
The Master said, “People of the south have a saying: ‘A person without constancy cannot even become a shaman or physician.’ How excellent this saying is!”He then quoted the Book of Changes: “If one does not maintain his virtue consistently, he will surely bring shame upon himself.”The Master added, “Such a person need not…