Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
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Mencius foretold Peng Chengkuo’s execution. Though the official had minor talent, he lacked the gentleman’s moral Way. Mencius warns cleverness without core virtue leads people to ruin amid dangerous political struggles.
8.11The Master said, “If a man has gifts as wonderful as those of the Duke of Zhou, yet is arrogant and mean, all the rest is of no account.”