Zixia

  • The Analects – Chapter 13.17

    Zixia, serving as magistrate of Jufu, asked Confucius about governance. The Master said, “Do not seek speed; do not pursue small gains. If you rush, you will not succeed; if you focus on petty profits, you will never accomplish great things.”

  • The Analects – Chapter 12.5

    Sima Niu lamented, “Everyone has brothers, but I alone have none.”Zixia consoled him, saying, “I once heard it said: ‘Life and death are determined by fate; wealth and honor depend on Heaven.’ If a noble person is reverent and never careless in conduct, and treats others with respect and propriety, then all within the…

  • Mencius – Chapter 3.2 The Unmoved Heart

    Gongsun Chou asked Mencius: “If you should be the prime minister in Qi and be able to put your principles into practice, it would be no wonder that Qi achieve the hegemony or even true kingship. In such a momentous situation, would your mind be stirred?”

  • The Analects – Chapter 131 (6.13). The scholar’s moral compass

    6.13 The Master said to Zixia,”You must practice the style of a noble scholar, not that of a petty scholar.”

  • The Analects – Chapter 24 (2.8). Beyond family duties

    Zixia asked about the treatment of parents. The Master said, “It is the demeanour that is difficult. Filial piety does not consist merely in young people undertaking the hard work, when anything has to be done, or serving their elders first with wine and food. It is something much more than that.”

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

    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…